I Am Sorry.
At first, my excuse for not writing for the blog was the fact that I was on the road. Then once I arrived at my new home I was waiting for my paper and ribbons.
The paper and ribbons arrived and after an initial burst of inspiration I allowed myself to spiral down in a nice dark pit of self pity. I dived into the world of fiction and have read six books in the last ten days, but still no writing escaped from my secured location to be seen by you, my wonderfully faithful blog readers.
I just finished a book, it is now 8:15 PM and if I buckle down I should be able to get this post finished by lights out, 10:00 PM.
I have my hot pot at the ready and will be putting the pasta in and come back to typing while dinner cooks.
I had to really laugh at the lengths I was going to feel wanted. When I reported to my maintenance job at noon today, one of the other inmates told me he could use my help. The job was working on a slop sink drain that was clogged. This particular sink is one of those one foot deep floor mounted types. During the morning the sink was lifted off the floor, and about two feet deep of dirt was removed to get to the source of the problem.
When we arrived this afternoon we removed about two feet of plastic drain pipe, only to discover that the pipe was hopelessly clogged. We used one of those super-sized industrial rotor-rooter type machines. After one hour of toiling away, we managed to clear the line. The sludge from the hole and the pipe smelled of many different noxious odors, and the sediment that ended up on our clothes all combined to leave the two of us reeking like we had not bathed in weeks.
Since we had to have the tools back by 2:00 and needed to let the pit dry out a bit before completing the job, the task will be completed (hopefully) during the morning work period tomorrow. I had somewhat overanxiously told the inmate I was working with that I would be willing to come in early and help him finish the job. He is assigned to work both morning and afternoon, while I am only assigned in the afternoon.
The funny part is I have plenty of things that I need to do. I am off in the mornings, and should be doing reading, writing and other items that need my personal attention at that time.
But even after all these years in prison, some aspects of my being are still there. All through high school, much to my parents' dismay, I would more likely be found working with the plant manager fixing stuff around the school than attending my assigned classes. If I was not working on fixing things, I was doing all things technical in the theatre department.
Here I am again with things that need doing, most with a delayed gratification aspect, but willing to swill around in smelly sewer water instead.
I am now confessing my sins. Making amends by typing this combined apology and informative post and will not be going into work early tomorrow morning but will work on what I have had sitting on the round-to-it pile.
I can hear the giggles now from some of you that have been reading this blog for a while, and the editor is certainly muttering something along the lines of "I will believe that when I see more postings in my snail mail box," but if nothing else, I am willing to attempt to tackle some of my shortcomings yet again.
I can also write one heck of a run on sentence.
It is time for a quick break to eat my pasta. It is just about 9:00 PM and I should have no problem getting this proofed and printed by 10:00 PM.
One more confession, I feel better, my spirits are already well on the way to climbing out of the pit. All just from typing this post, and as always, I wonder what took me so long to get this stuff flowing again. URGH. (I am sending a personal copy of this along to my Mom and Dad. I know they will get a chuckle out of it. Maybe a few "I told you so's"?)
