Greetings from hot and muggy western New York. I was typing a letter to my Nom and Dad, and it was three-quarters of a page and I just gave up and cleared the memory.

After skipping the walking for two days, I did 95 laps on Friday. Yes it took two hours and I was really wiped out after doing that. I still managed to get forty-five laps in yesterday and today. I actually jogged the last two laps, to get them in before they closed the yard for breakfast.

I watched all three movies this weekend. Friday night was Under the Sea, the Bobby Darin story, Saturday "She Hate Me," a Spike Lee joint. A silly story, while trying to paint whistle blowers as heroes. Today we got to see a good uplifting story. The movie was "Coach Carter" with Samuel Jackson. It is amazing how one person can make a difference, yet the message is so easily lost. Tom complains it is hard to watch this type of movie in prison where you need to hold back the tears. Yes, we see the softer side of a hired gun.

Friday night I actually cooked a meal and included Frank in our group. It was a pasta meal and he has one of those pots that actually boil. I was able to cook the pasta in two batches and it took less than 20 minutes for each batch including heating the water. I ended up making three different sauces, one non-spicy for Tom, one with the crushed red pepper for Frank, and Bill and I had the jalapeño pepper sauce.

Frank has been trying to lose weight, and when he got on the scale this week and found he only lost seven pounds I think he was a little disappointed.

He has been asking for my advice, and I have been spoon feeding him little bits of info here and there. I am not working from the point of him being my friend; I am maintaining control, and not going overboard. I told him just because he thinks he is eating healthy, he still has to watch the calories.

For example, the other day he made a meal of rice, a can of black beans and a can of tuna. I told him he should have only had two of those items. The can of tuna and the rice was more than enough; the beans are a mean in themselves.

Tonight I offered to include him and he said he was cooking with someone else. No problem, I was not insulted. They used almost three times the caloric count for the two of them compared to the meal I made the other night. Frank was talking about how great the soy sauce was in the meal. I had a good laugh. The major ingredient for soy sauce besides water is salt. Real healthy when your food is drenched in that!

This letter is not a real page turner. I am on edge, have a few very important things to do and am waiting to see if Monday's mail brings any good news.  ¶ 2:33 PM