The move made me realize that I need to downsize before I move to another facility. I had waaaaaay too much property. My books and paperwork alone were almost too heavy for me to carry, especially without ripping the garbage bag we’re given to pack in. I double bagged my books/paperwork and had 2 more garbage bags of stuff, my foot locker (approximately 1.5’x2’x3′), and all of my beading supplies. My new cellie, Kleetus (sp?) was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I was moving in with. Luckily, I had friends in F to help me load it all into a cart and there were plenty of guys I know in A who helped me unload into my new cell.
Now that I’ve settled in a bit I have come to the conclusion that there are 3 things I’m not happy with about the move. First, that Jeff and I were separated even though we were great cellies who caused no problems. Second, that I have to walk on eggs around CO Gilbert for fear of petty write ups ruining my 191 good time though I am successfully staying off her radar…so far. Finally and most importantly, I am on a top bunk now which isn’t in and of itself a huge problem but I am directly in the path of the vent which is blowing like an industrial fan. Even then it’s in the 90s outside I am in full sweats with a beanie on and sometimes even have to wrap up in a blanket to keep the breeze off my neck. At night I take my 1.5’x2′ drawing board and stick it on end between my mattress and the bunk’s lip to form a wind break. It helps but the wind blows over it, bounces off the back wall and hits me from the opposite side still. That is my biggest complaint because my cellie has a lower bunk pass so I’ll never get to the lower bunk. *sigh*
Now, on the up-side, I am lucky to have been assigned a really good cellie. Keelus is what he goes by. Picture an 1800’s prospector named Kleetus and that’s exactly what he looks like. *smile* He’s been very friendly and is an up-beat, positive guy, which can be hard to come by in here. We also have virtually identical political views so there’s no conflict there. Though I’m sad to have lost Jeff, I’m happy I got Kleetus.
I was also was lucky with my new mattress. When I got to my new cell there was no mattress no mattress on my bunk so the evening CO, Vander Putin, took me to the supply closet and I got the only mattress there was. It is not the regular style mattress. It’s an inch or so thinner, clear plastic instead of opaque, and has some sort of almost organic looking spider web like foam on the inside instead of being stuffed with padding. At first, I was upset to have to get a thinner mattress but I woke up the next day and my hips weren’t sore from going through the mattress’s padding. I eventually found out that it was a special “medical” mattress that cost about 3x what the regular ones cost. Even though it is thinner, it is firmer and the padding doesn’t slide around inside the outer shell so you don’t end up with all the padding at the ends and nothing in the middle. Woohoo! I’ll take this mattress with me if they every move me anywhere else within TSCI. *smile*
I’m also enjoying the company here though I can’t even go out to get ice at the ice machine without someone I know wanting to chat. I suppose that it will become less of an imposition once everyone gets used to me being here but it’s been nice to have some good conversations. I even had an hour conversation with McKenzie, the current Toastmaster’s president, about gerunds, sentence diagramming, and linking verbs. *chuckle* In F gallery, where we couldn’t cross over into E gallery, there were only 64 guys to choose from for conversation. A and B gallery have an open doorway between them and even though you’re not officially supposed to go from one to the other everyone does. That means there are twice as many options for people to talk to. *smile*
As A and F are still in housing unit 1, the visiting schedule is the same. That means friends and family don’t have to make any changes to how they come to see me. Today, my parents came for their first visit in a couple of months because they just got back from an Airstream caravan that they led. They brought KK too but McK didn’t come because if there are more than 3 visitors we can’t sit at the tables and have to use the rows of seats. The problem with that is that those sitting across from you can’t really hear you well, especially dad with his hearing aid. So we like to keep it to 3 visitors at a time. It was great to see KK though it may be the last time I get to see her at a visit. She has successfully sold her parent’s home and is only staying in Lincoln until they close escrow then she’s moving back to Snowflake to sell her home there. I hope she can sign up for email or that I’ll still be able to call her. I look forward to visiting her once I get out. *smile*
I’m settling in OK. I just need to come up with a solution to the vent issue.
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