Grin and bear it. It is 9:27 PM, and all Federal inmates are being locked into our cozy, 2-man rooms so we can be counted. It is sort of an awkward time in that any good TV movie goes 8-10PM and we will be in our rooms until at least 10:15 PM or so.

While I can see the four TVs through the 6" wide x 2’ window in my door, the TVs are at least 20-30 feet away.

I know, I hear you say, "Hey Pete, you’re in prison".

Instead I am listening to a local rock and roll station playing an ad for the local "gentlemens club" with "the finest looking girls in the two Virginias". Yeah, like that does me a lot of good.

Now Smoke On The Water by Deep Purple is playing! God bless Rock and Roll for lifting one’s spirits!

Rats, I just finished my Nestlé’s Crunch Bar! Writing this letter, listening to rock and roll just lends itself to the munchies!

We get to go to the store once a week, and this month my day is Thursday, so if I eat all my goodies tonight, it is a long wait until next Thursday! Besides which, even though we get paid the grand sum of 40 cents an hour, we still pay "retail" for our commissary stuff.

At 45 cents per candy bar and $1.95 for a 6-pack of 12 oz. cans of soda, you can see how one could easily eat one’s weekly wages in one sitting!

So suck it up Pete, grin and bear it.  ¶ 12:35 PM