Stark living. I am off the phone and I have taken my shower. Since I got my commissary order, I had Dial soap, shampoo, and flip-flops. It sure beats barefoot and lye soap!

So now I am writing to you with the rest of my out of cell time. I am sitting at the table in the Day Area. The cells are 6' X 8'. There are twenty of these cells.

There are five tables, each sitting four in the Day area. For three hours each day, four or five inmates are let out to roam up and down the Day area, shower, and use the phone.

In addition, or as part of the three hours, you get one hour of outside Rec. That has not happened yet today.

I guess life is getting brighter for you with the approach of Christmas.

I am enclosing the commissary list from here. The mackerel is apparently a vacuum-pack deal. I have not purchased any yet. I am going to try to make do with the food they serve here, but I did buy two bags of M&M's Peanut along with the above mentioned items. I was saving the M&M's, but I ended up opening the pack after our phone call.

This is really stark living in terms of creature comforts. They used to allow inmates to have a cassette Walkman, but no longer, so the real black hole will be audio.

I can see the TV from my cell, but hearing it is another story. So I will write.
  ¶ 1:11 AM