Woohoo! I just finished transcribing all my handwritten journals from April and early May. There were just under 100 pages and it took me just about a month and I wasn’t even working all that consistently on transcribing them. Now Justin can print off my journals from CA and send them to me to start transcribing. I had about 675 pages so that should take me about 7 months. Not like I have much else to spend my time on. *chuckle*

 

Today I was asked if I wanted to go to my parole hearing. At first I thought that sounded very strange since I won’t be eligible for parole for 7 more years. It turned out to be a preliminary review of my case file to determine when they would next see me prior to my parole eligibility date. They set my next review to be 2020 when they will again review my file and tell me what they expect of me before my real parole hearing in 2023. It was really just a formality to set a timeline for when to review my case but they did ask if I had any questions so I asked if the CSORT (I really have no idea what that acronym means but it’s the sex-offender mental health review committee) had reviewed my case and made any programming recommendations. Mr. Richards (who lead the proceedings) said there was nothing in my file from them yet but that it could literally take years, and he meant literally in the literal sense. LOL He recommended checking in with my case manager every 6 months or so to see if there had been any updates to my file from them. It was polite and succinct and I guess lots of inmates decline to appear for these initial hearings since they are pro forma but I wanted the record to show that I went in person and participated, that I am engaged and motivated to do what’s necessary to get parole. I don’t think it will make much difference, but if there’s anything I can do to even minuscule improve my odds, I’ll do it. *smile*

 

Today was our one day a week we don’t get gym. I guess it alternates between Monday and Tuesday based on the odd/even day schedule. So tomorrow I’ll play handball with George at gym. Oh, and it will be easier to shower since they finally opened the shower up that they had put new tile in. Now we’re up to 3 showers but the one closest to my cell is still not open.

 

This morning Rudy, the buff, shorter, Latino guy in cell 4, was transferred to OCC. Lucky him, he’s out of here and he got to the softest prison in NE. He must have had very little time to serve or he couldn’t have gone to OCC. I never did learn what his charges were. I started reading Travels with Charley by Steinbeck today. I’ll enjoy chatting with mom about it. *smile* I am going to send her this quotation from the opening pages:

 

“A trip, a safari, an exploration, is an entity, different from all other journeys. It has personality, temperament, individuality, uniqueness. A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us. Tour masters, schedules, reservations, brass-bound and inevitable, dash themselves to wreckage on the personality of the trip. Only when this is recognized can the blown-in-the-glass bum relax and go along with it. Only then do the frustrations fall away. In this a journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.”