Okay, I erred. One should not promise things that you are not 100% percent sure you are going to follow up on.

Yes I did write I was going to continue your letter I started on Sunday, on Monday, but I was really wiped out Monday after work and did not do any writing at all. I apologize. I feel especially guilty because you made the extra effort to be sure I received a letter last week.

By the way, your last couple letters seem to contain a little more "humanness" to them. Now it may be nothing different on your part, just my head is in a better place. More likely it is a combination of something that we both are doing.

It is so nice and warm here that all the latex paint is sticky. You have to realize you could measure the overall thickness of the paint in eighths of an inch as opposed to microns, and when it gets hot for a few days in a row the latex seems to go back to its rubbery, sticky form.

I am typing this letter with a full belly. Yes, today was the wonderful bi-weekly commissary shopping day. I have had my pint of mint chocolate ice cream, two twelve ounce cans of Dr. Pepper®, and my three pieces of Banquet® southern style chicken. The box contains two breasts, two thighs (without the wings (or do the wings usually come with the breasts?)) and two legs.

I have mentioned one of the older guys here who has been in prison since 1988. When he was next to me before I moved over to the corner spot, he got me started on the chicken. I am not sure how but he seems to keep coming up with stamps (39¢ ones). The deal I had made with him initially was that I would buy the box of chicken for $4.02 and split it in half with him. So for the last three (or is it four?) shopping days, I have brought the chicken. Unlike the other inmates I do not dare try to keep the chicken; instead it is all eaten in one sitting.

I was going to skip the chicken this week because I would rather spend the $2.00 on something else, but I could not let the older man down. He does get about $10.00 every two weeks from his job here and could certainly buy his own box. But for some reason the way he gets the stamps helps stretch his funds.

One does not ask where he gets the stamps from.

So now I am ready for my third can of soda and than will mean I will be one short for the one-a-day soda treat. That was part of the problem yesterday. Through a combination of events I was out of all possible treats. I had no sodas or chocolate to munch on. Certainly it is not the end of the world, but without the ability to run down to the local 7-Eleven, I had to tough it out.  ¶ 11:41 AM