Happy New Year.
Well, it is New Year's Day! This morning, "even" cells had inside Rec.
The TV was on CNN showing the tsunami coverage. It is good to see stories of individual acts of heroism. A German pilot landing on a damaged runway so he could repair it for more planes. I am sure I am not alone, but my whining and lack of creature comforts sure seems small at this point.
I wonder, if I was out right now, would I sign up to help? I would like to think so. Of course I might not be wanted, but hey, I have to believe my technical and organization skills could do wonders; and having no reason to stay in the USA right now, well, unless things move quickly and I do get out; but it is a moot point and I will not beat my breast and claim such mighty goals at this point.
As I lay in bed last night I was struck by one of the many ironies of prison.
Oops, we have this tiny Rec yard with a pintsized handball court against the building wall with windows and absolutely no room to walk around. I just asked the officer if you could take a book outside and he said no! So since I choose not to play handball, yeah, I do not care to prove to the world my lack of hand-eye coordination. I guess I will stay in my room this afternoon. I already left the inside Rec time early because I cannot sit (or stand) idle right now. Too much stuff flying around in the gray matter. It is a beautiful day out. Yeah I guess it sucks for skiing, but I have my window open and I am getting plenty of fresh air.
So back to the irony. I have received three different sets of rules. The first is a 3x5 sized thirty-two page booklet titled "
Standards of Inmate Behavior All Institutions." It is actually two books, because on one side you get thirty-two pages in English; turn it over and then you get thirty-two pages in Spanish.
Rule 113.27
"
An inmate shall not solicit, possess, or exchange any document which contains crime and sentence information pertaining to another inmate who is not a co-defendant without authorization from the Superintendent."
On page 24 of an 8½ x 11 rulebook specific to the rules at this institution, on the topic of Internet Website Information:
"
Inmates are hereby notified that Internet web site information regarding other inmates is contraband and unauthorized. Any inmate found in possession of such information, starting three days from the date of this memo, may be charged with a violation of the Standards of Inmate Behavior, Rule 113.23 Contraband."
This book carries a revision date of July 2002. So to be sure, today is not in that three day window.
So for now I just get to lay sleepless in my bunk, pondering all of my life's errors, omissions, and grand fuck-ups and seek strength to carry on.
I am currently in a "sleep as last resort" mode. This does not mean I function till I drop; on the contrary, it means my body refuses to sleep until I am way past the point of tiredness and then it is sure to pull me back awake as soon as possible.
I spent some time last night or early this morning (I have no timepiece to judge by) lying in bed too tired to read but unable to get back to sleep. I am going to lie back down a bit now, since lunch is due to be served sometime in the next hour. I will continue the epic later this afternoon.
Methinks your zip is 11706
[Editor: Oops, it is not, not even close, and this letter took three weeks to reach me], so I will be able to mail this Sunday evening. I have gotten two rations of paper, used two of them including this page, so I will have six full pages left till tonight when I can get four more. So that is it for now.
