Chrome Dome. Now sporting my new chrome dome, I finally made it to my housing init. I actually have a single cell! I have several Rec periods during the day when I can mix with others. At this point I have had one meal and two Rec periods. They have two inmates that act as "orderlies" and I gave one of them the four packs of sugar that came with my breakfast. Tomorrow I will offer him my coffee cup too, to at least show I might not be a bad guy.

The room is about the same size as the one in Club Fed and I can actually open the window! Methinks this means no AC, but for now that is not a problem and last night was the first time in eight and a half years that I actually had fresh air in my face as I slept! Well, sort of slept.

They have a bookcase with an eclectic selection, but the CO said you could send books in any time, so when you get the chance, let us try a test shipment, OK? That would also help me win some hearts, as I could put them in the bookcase as I finish them. I started reading Brass Ring by Diane Chamberlain. The opening chapter starts with the heading "Harpers Ferry, WV." Now that is really déjà vu.

Hey, I actually got four pages to write on. Since it is only lined on one side I am going to write on the four pages now. After dinner we have a Rec period from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM so I will probably watch the TV news for an hour and then come back to my room. As I said, I can get more paper at the start of Rec so maybe I can get eight pages.

I might be able to shop next week at the Commissary, but if not, I will have to wait two more weeks. We shop by proxy; we fill out a list and they deliver. I might be able to send you a sample Commissary list. I have an old one from September that one officer gave me, but the current one will not be out till Tuesday night.

Yes, I can get up to thirty-five pounds of foodstuff sent in per month. It can all be in one box or split into two smaller boxes adding up to thirty-five pounds. I can buy a hot pot for $13 and they actually sell cans of soup; one of them is clam chowder.

Actually the really cool thing is I can have fresh fruit and vegetables sent in. I was thinking of getting some nice grapefruit and maybe some carrots to munch on. I am still trying to figure out what is and what is not allowed, but I am putting dibs on a Toblerone bar.

As luck would have it, prices at the Commissary are very cheap. M&M's (plain or peanut) and Hershey bars are olny 37¢ each. Unfortunately, they do not sell mackerel or instant rice, and I am not sure if I can even get the rice sent in. They say nothing that needs "cooking" but the rice only needs boiling water and that is what the hot pot is for.

They actually drop newspapers off each morning it seems, provided you have a subscription. I am going to ask my Dad to check out getting me the New York Times. That would certainly give me plenty of daily reading material.

BTW, do not worry about getting any phone calls from me; I can make only one five-minute call every two weeks, and currently my scheduled telephone time is Friday nights at 7:00 PM. I lucked out that last night. I got my one shot at my arrival call (also only five minutes) and then I get to go over tonight again for my regular biweekly phone call.
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