I always sleep fully dressed in here but last night I had to put on my sweatshirt and sleep under 2 blankets. This morning it was wet again so no yard so no taiji. Oh well, it probably would have been to chilly to enjoy being outside anyway. *chuckle*

 

This morning for breakfast we had toast (gluten), a Captain Crunch knock off (gluten) and grits (gluten?). So I ate the cereal & grits then I checked the lunch and dinner menu: beef-tips in gravy over noodles (gluten) and meat sauce with noodles (gluten). It’s not going to be a good day for meals. I need to figure out ho to get some salt back to my cell because the rice is really bland without any seasoning. At least it’s instant rice but even then our luke warm tap water takes a long time to soften it up. Maybe I’ll just be unhealthy and eat my Snickers and Reeses PB Cups. *chuckle*

 

-break-

 

This was our “short weekend,” meaning tonight we should have had late night dayroom from 7PM-8:30PM but halfway through the day they switched the schedule so B side got late night tonight, and last night and tomorrow. I guess next weekend it flips and we get late night 3 nights in a row. I have no clue how they have to add this extra level of complexity to the schedule. *rolls his eyes*

 

Tonight I finally managed to make the instant rice taste good. I had to smuggle the butter from dinner back to my cell which I’m not supposed to do. I also salted the butter a lot so the butter and salt soaked into the rice and gave it a decent flavor. *smile* I need to figure out an alternative meal I can make out of food from canteen for days like this when there’s too much gluten served with the institutional meals.

 

This evening I helped Jacobs send a letter to the Douglas Co Court Clerk to request the transcript of his sentencing hearing. He says he heard the judge say 10-15 yrs but his Sentencing Order says 15-20. That’s a big difference. So I helped him compose a polite letter to try and get what the judge actually said in court. There have been a couple other times guys have asked me for help with things. Chuck, this “hard” guy probably in his 50s, who used to be Jacobs’s cellie, asked me to help him with a “kite” (or note) to the psych.

 

And the African guy, I now know he’s named Mohamed, asked me to help him resend a letter and figure out why it was returned by the mail room. He had sealed the envelope before dropping it in the mailbox. As an inmate we have to leave our letters unsealed so they can read through them and inspect them before they are sent. I guess I’m getting to be known as the go to guy when you need help with communications. Well, why not? That was one of my Majors in college. LOL

 

Tonight I called McK’s phone…and Justin answered. I guess they spent the whole weekend together and are taking to answering each others phones. *chuckle* They were cleaning out the empty boxes in the corner of the basement to surprise my parents. I warned them that my mom used those boxes. She kept a good selection so she could always find a box to pack something in to mail it or to wrap it if it was a gift. My parents get home tomorrow so we’ll see if Justin still has a place to live. Hahaha I guess it started because they need to move stuff in the basement for the installation of the new sump-pumps and their pipes. Justin also freaked McK out by doing what I suggested and moving my vacuum packed clothing out of my dresser so he could use it. McK is still touchy about anything that displaces me. *smile* I love him.

 

Oh yeah, this morning when I woke I remembered the dream I was having. I don’t usually remember my dreams but lately I’ve been dreaming a lot more than usual and I’m more able to remember at least part of them. The part of this morning’s dream that I remember was being in a big hall, kind of like a banquet hall. I was dressed in the Chinese “pajamas” as Gary calls them and he was there instructing me and other students of his on how to write in Chinese characters. I wasn’t doing too well so I started drawing abstract squiggly lines as some form of art I guess and then I used my drawings to decorate the very large U-shaped buffet table I was setting up. Apparently, Gary was hosting a banquet with lots of good food and as one of his students I was helping to set up but then there was a sadness or disappointment because so few people showed up. That’s when I woke up. At the time I woke up the dream confused me but retelling it now, in retrospect, it seems pretty clear: Gary graciously offers his “banquet” of knowledge but so few appreciate it. Oh, and I’m not a good student of his…at least in calligraphy. *chuckle*