This morning I had a visit from mom, dad, McK and Justin. This was the first time I got to see Justin since my sentencing hearing 2 months ago. He’s looking good and we got to “geek out” over his job which was nice. Even though it was a Sunday morning, visiting wasn’t totally full so the noise level wasn’t as bad as it could have been, though I still could only talk to Justin and dad on one side or mom and McK on the other which was ok for me but probably kind of boring for them at least part of the time. After the visit I was the last to get strip searched and all the others had been taken back to their units already so the CO took me back alone. He seemed genuinely interested when he asked how my visit went. I said it was good but that it’s always depressing leaving them to which he replied “Then you should behave in the future.” I was kind of liking that CO until he made that patronizing, condescending remark at a time when he knows inmates are touchy. *sigh*

 

Because of the visit I missed out on yard and morning dayroom. Once I got back we were locked down till 2:15 when we flipped schedules, because it’s Sunday, and instead of getting dayroom we went to gym early and then only got 1 hour of dayroom after dinner before getting locked down for the night. Not a good day as far as schedule went. *sigh* Apparently I missed a near fight at yard this morning too. Ness and Mike (Colorado) nearly got into it but they seemed to cool down and were just avoiding each other this afternoon. I can see how people’s tempers get hypersensitive when locked up as much as we are each day, but really, what in here is worth getting in a fight over? *rolls his eyes*

 

This past Friday there was an interesting occurrence. Mike saw a bunch of high ranking COs and sheriffs taking one of the female COs out of here in handcuffs as she cried. Word is she wasn’t the only CO to get in trouble for something illegal either. None of the other COs were saying what went down but some deductive reasoning can be applied to come up with probable scenarios.

 

She was arrested at work, not at home, so the offense probably had something to do with her activities here otherwise they would have picked her up at home. Being a female CO some of the guys were guessing that she had “inappropriate contact” with an inmate. But if she wasn’t the only CO to get in trouble then it isn’t likely that it was some intimate affair she was having. That leads me to believe it was likely smuggling contraband into D&E, both work related and likely to involve co-conspirators. I should ask my parents to see if there was any news of the arrest.

 

Also, late one evening last week, I think it might have been Thursday night, Mike saw a group of COs bringing someone through the tunnel that connects us to LCC. The guy was strapped into a retraining chair plus a spit-mask as they wheeled him by and the front of his shirt was all bloody from wounds to his chest. Mike assumed he went pycho and cut himself and they were taking him up to medical for treatment and observation. D&E must have better medical facilities than LCC, why else would they bring him over here?

 

Last week it was at least warmer in the unit. I didn’t have to wear my sweatshirt every day and I even uncovered the vent but today the AC seemed to start back up. *sigh* Also, 2 of our showers have been down since last week. One had been closed over a week because they put in a few new tiles and haven’t come back to seal the grout in a week. The drain on the other one was backing up mildly but we fixed it with the plunger, then the plumber came in and decided to snake the drain…and broke the drain cover. He said he’d be back the next day to replace it but of course didn’t show. “There are still 2 working” said the CO on Friday but we’re pushing double capacity so really there were already half as many showers as were needed, and we’re at half that, so at 1/4 the showers there should be. To top it off, we are the most locked down housing unit, because we’re a semi-segregated unit, so we only get 3.5 hrs of dayroom a day at most, 2 hrs total today. So there are 3.5 hrs of dayroom, times 2 showers for a total of 7 hrs of shower time a day which is 420 minutes. there are some 45 of us on A side so we each get about 9 minutes to get in, get set up, get showered and get out.

 

The quickest shower I’ve ever taken here was just over 10 minutes, especially considering that of the 2 working showers, one is at about half pressure and the other points into the side wall making both very inefficient to shower in. I’m hoping they get the drain fixed in the shower closest to my cell sometime this week. *sigh*

 

Tonight at gym George came up to me and aid that if I ever needed a partner to play handball that I should ask him. He’s damn good (he was one of the 2 on the winning team in the tournament) so I’d be lucky to play with him. Plus, I need the practice. LOL Tomorrow I’ll take him up on that.