Nothing enjoyable. I am down here at Rec on a Thursday evening all pissed off to hell, but I need to send a letter to you, and in my current state (yeah, I know I have been in West Virginia the whole time) if I hand write it, you would probably give up.

So, what is the state? Well, we went back to the unit early yesterday afternoon, and everything seemed normal with my Rec job. By the time I came back to work at 5:00 PM, I was told by the Rec cop in charge of Hobbycraft that from now on I was not "allowed" to do anything that was not directly related to the job of Hobbycraft clerk. No floor mopping, no sound system, no kiln repair, no staff office supply purchases, in other words, all the good things that I "enjoyed" doing - such as anything in prison can be enjoyable. Also, those things that it is clear to the "stupidvisor" that I get pleasure from.

The fact that he did not take the time to tell me himself is just another poor people person skill item, and raises my blood pressure as I type this. So, after muddling through till this morning's work call, I arrived at Rec to find both my direct boss and the SV (stupidvisor) standing by the gate checking all of us in. I refrained from asking SV what the fuck was up and proceeded to wait an hour until he finally showed up in his office, which, as luck would have it, is directly next (yeah, redundant) to the room where I work.

I knock at his door and wait till he acknowledges my presence. He waves me in and I ask him what the problem is. He repeats the message of the previous day and as to the specific item of working on staff office supplies I tell him that the Supervisor of Education (SV's direct boss) had actually requested that I prepare a list of the usual supplies and the prices. By the way, the catalog shows a price of $26.58 for case of 11"x17" paper. That is five reams, or the equivalent of ten reams of 8.5"x11". Tell me if you can find 8.5"x11" for $2.66 a ream.

His response is that he is my boss, not the Supervisor of Education. I tell him I think he is being unfair (but without whining), and he responds that he has his reasons and he does not care to discuss the issue with me any further.

This is the same man (using the word loosely) that at l:00 PM yesterday agreed that today he would review the sound system with me. So, I am still feeling bummed out, and at 9:30 AM I make a trip up to my friendly neighborhood shrink (PhD, not MD), and, as luck would have it, she was free. I gave her a quick update and we kicked it around for about twenty minutes.

In a nutshell, the dilemma is that the logical side of me knows this whole thing is beyond my control and what is the downside of being told to do less work; but the emotional side of me is pissed, hurt, and puzzled. It felt good to be able to kick it around with someone that has gotten to know me over the last six years, and I always feel a little better after I leave her place. Yes, I do realize how lucky I am to be able to leave my job site and get twenty minutes of staff time without an appointment.

Yes, all this happened from the time we talked on the phone.
  ¶ 8:51 AM