My first week of ACE classes went well. Tuesdays I am in History of WWII, Wednsdays Ancient Civilizations, Thursday is Future Marketing (internet marketing), and Friday I am in Earth Science.
The HoWWII and AC classes are the same corriculium as the first teacher taught it, but this current teacher lacks the enthusiasm and seemingly infinite depth of knowledge on these subjects when compared to our former teacher. It will be harder to stay focused, but none the less, I am confident that I will complete this round with good results.
The Future Marketing class is all about the dos and don'ts of using the internet to market your business. It should be interesting despite the fact that the BOP decided that my bunky couldn't teach it as originally planned. They feel it is too closely related to his crime. Funny thing is they have let him teach it four times in the past 2 years. The current teacher is simply not a teacher nor a good public speaker. While that is frustrating, I know that there is still a lot of quality information to be attained from this class.
The final class is an all movie class. We will be watching the Earth series and the Blue Planet series on DVD and then we will have a test at the end of each class. We also had a pre-test which means we will have a final test at the end of ten weeks. I have a distinct advantage to most of my classmates as I not only watched both these series before, I own them too and have watched them multiple times. It still is never boring to watch. The great thing is for the third quarter classes, the teacher is ordering the Life series that has just debue and will have a class on that as well. I am looking forward to that as no one here wanted to watch it in the TV rooms...
Anyway, I will be very busy with those four classes this quarter and am looking forward to it. I will write again at the end of next week.
Friday, May 14, 2010
4/26/10
Today is my first day of yet another kitchen assignment. I was in the 'pit' (scrubbing pots and pans), then I was moved to spraying trays (a pseudo promotion as it is more of a lateral move in the higharcy), and now I am on the line (serving food). All this within three weeks of my return from the hole.
There are plenty who envy my position as you supposedly get extra servings of food and if the cop is nice, he may let you take some left overs home. In all honesty, that means nothing to me as all the food looks, tastes, and smells like shit. Not to mention horrible for you in terms of health. While the work is fast and furious, making the time pass quickly, it is annoying how much bullshit I have to put up with. Not only from the other inmates bitching about what a lousy piece of cake I gave them, or how small the fruit was, but the fucking cop today had some demeaning line for me every other minute. I don't care for it. Besides that, the guy can't take what he dishes out. If you speak up or take a verbal jab back, he runs for the paperwork to give you a shot. I am not going to be putting up with it for long, I want off the line immediately. Luckily, my allergies are kicking in and that may be the ticket off the line. Can't have someone sneezing all over the food, not that that would be the only unsanitary thing to happen to the food on it's way to the trays.
So for now, I will be sticking it out on the line until further notice. My question is, if the job is so envied, why can't I get switched out? Well, I found out why when I showed up to work. I am the first white server since I first got here. Remember that guy in my wing that went to the hole my first week here? He was working on the line when he got taken in, the last of the cacassions. For some resemblance of fairness, they stuck me there.
Otherwise, ACE classes start today, not next week as I originally thought. There was a teacher who took over the two history classes from last round, so I will take those again (History of WWII and Ancient Civilizations). I am also taking a class on Blue Planet, based off of the discovery series. Not sure how it will be structured, but I do know that we will have a pre-test on day one and a final test on the last day of class and will watch a bit of the series in class. Should be interesting to say the least. Much to my dismay, there will not be any credit smart classes this round.
There was one other class I signed up for, but now I am not sure I want to take it. It is called Future Marketing and it deals with the subject of internet marketing. What changed my mind is that the BOP won't let the original teacher (my current bunky) teach it again despite that he has for the past 4 rounds of classes. They suddenly decided it is too closely related to a crime of his past. They didn't feel that way before, but a change in the ranks suddenly changed some minds as well. Anyway, they guy that is replacing him doesn't have nearly the qualifications to be teaching it and doesn't have any hands on experience doing it, only what he has read and retained during prison. So after a class or two, I will make my final decision on if I will drop it or not.
There are plenty who envy my position as you supposedly get extra servings of food and if the cop is nice, he may let you take some left overs home. In all honesty, that means nothing to me as all the food looks, tastes, and smells like shit. Not to mention horrible for you in terms of health. While the work is fast and furious, making the time pass quickly, it is annoying how much bullshit I have to put up with. Not only from the other inmates bitching about what a lousy piece of cake I gave them, or how small the fruit was, but the fucking cop today had some demeaning line for me every other minute. I don't care for it. Besides that, the guy can't take what he dishes out. If you speak up or take a verbal jab back, he runs for the paperwork to give you a shot. I am not going to be putting up with it for long, I want off the line immediately. Luckily, my allergies are kicking in and that may be the ticket off the line. Can't have someone sneezing all over the food, not that that would be the only unsanitary thing to happen to the food on it's way to the trays.
So for now, I will be sticking it out on the line until further notice. My question is, if the job is so envied, why can't I get switched out? Well, I found out why when I showed up to work. I am the first white server since I first got here. Remember that guy in my wing that went to the hole my first week here? He was working on the line when he got taken in, the last of the cacassions. For some resemblance of fairness, they stuck me there.
Otherwise, ACE classes start today, not next week as I originally thought. There was a teacher who took over the two history classes from last round, so I will take those again (History of WWII and Ancient Civilizations). I am also taking a class on Blue Planet, based off of the discovery series. Not sure how it will be structured, but I do know that we will have a pre-test on day one and a final test on the last day of class and will watch a bit of the series in class. Should be interesting to say the least. Much to my dismay, there will not be any credit smart classes this round.
There was one other class I signed up for, but now I am not sure I want to take it. It is called Future Marketing and it deals with the subject of internet marketing. What changed my mind is that the BOP won't let the original teacher (my current bunky) teach it again despite that he has for the past 4 rounds of classes. They suddenly decided it is too closely related to a crime of his past. They didn't feel that way before, but a change in the ranks suddenly changed some minds as well. Anyway, they guy that is replacing him doesn't have nearly the qualifications to be teaching it and doesn't have any hands on experience doing it, only what he has read and retained during prison. So after a class or two, I will make my final decision on if I will drop it or not.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
4/17/10
Today was my first day off in my two on two off schedule and I planned on sleeping in a bit. However, around 7:30am I got a paged. The cop said over the loud speaker, "Dodd, report to the kitchen immediately if you want out of kitchen duty." I quickly rolled out of bed and got dressed. I walked into the office not sure of what to expect from this cop as he is a notorious bullshitter and way full of himself. He asked me if I wanted out of the dish pit, and of course I said yes. Then he asked me if I wanted an AM kitchen orderly position. Now that would entail going to work at 4am five days a week, working seven hours, and getting paid $20 a month. Not even close to worth it as it would interfere with my taking ACE classes that are usually scheduled for a 6-8pm time slot.
After I turned that down, he offered a bakers position. Working at 4:30am, less pay, and again interfering with my ACE classes. He even suggested that the added benefit of taking food home as a baker might make it worth it to me. Now that was a poorly laid trap by this very inept cop. You see, ANYTHING taken from the kitchen is stealing. Punishment includes; A 200 series shot for stealing (same series as a shot for fighting), going to the hole, loss of good time, and upon return, going to work in the dish pit. Not only that, that statement is from the cop who enforces these rules more strictly than any other cop on the kitchen roster. Besides, the only reason I have the opportunity to move out of the pit is because he is punishing someone he caught doing something he didn't like and he wants to stick them in the pit. When I told him no, I added, "The main line offers three squares a day that keep me plenty full, so no thanks."
Finally he offered the job I wanted: emptying food trays (banger), spraying food trays, or loading/unloading food trays from the dishwasher. I listed those three shifts because it will be decided which specific chore I get when I talk to the rest of the crew (three people total). It's the same schedule I already work (two days on two off) and I will be switching to the "B" schedule where I already know almost everyone I will be working with. The last benefit, while only a short term, is I get 4 days off in a row in order to catch up to the "B" schedule. It's a win win!
All in all, I am happy with the outcome of today's events. ACE registration starts in two weeks and available classes will be posted in one week. I know what I want to take, but that doesn't mean it will be offered the time around. I'll let ya know what I do next week.
After I turned that down, he offered a bakers position. Working at 4:30am, less pay, and again interfering with my ACE classes. He even suggested that the added benefit of taking food home as a baker might make it worth it to me. Now that was a poorly laid trap by this very inept cop. You see, ANYTHING taken from the kitchen is stealing. Punishment includes; A 200 series shot for stealing (same series as a shot for fighting), going to the hole, loss of good time, and upon return, going to work in the dish pit. Not only that, that statement is from the cop who enforces these rules more strictly than any other cop on the kitchen roster. Besides, the only reason I have the opportunity to move out of the pit is because he is punishing someone he caught doing something he didn't like and he wants to stick them in the pit. When I told him no, I added, "The main line offers three squares a day that keep me plenty full, so no thanks."
Finally he offered the job I wanted: emptying food trays (banger), spraying food trays, or loading/unloading food trays from the dishwasher. I listed those three shifts because it will be decided which specific chore I get when I talk to the rest of the crew (three people total). It's the same schedule I already work (two days on two off) and I will be switching to the "B" schedule where I already know almost everyone I will be working with. The last benefit, while only a short term, is I get 4 days off in a row in order to catch up to the "B" schedule. It's a win win!
All in all, I am happy with the outcome of today's events. ACE registration starts in two weeks and available classes will be posted in one week. I know what I want to take, but that doesn't mean it will be offered the time around. I'll let ya know what I do next week.
4/12/10
I woke up this morning around 1am and noticed my bunky (Bruce) was gone. All day he had been complaining of chest pains and saying he very well may go to the hospital if it kept up. He is a huge guy who eats shitty processed food all day, plus eats all three meals served at the chow hall. At the time, I just thought he went to watch TV somewhere or was taking a deuce.
When I got back from work, he was still gone and I was being asked if I knew where he went. I didn't and said so, but another inmate saw him lumbering downstairs, saying he looked pale and was drenched in sweat. He apparently called the admin office using the emergency phone and was taken to the hospital.
The really strange part of all this was when the cop came into our wing for the 8:30am census count. We asked him about Bruce and he said not to worry, he'll be back. They always keep guys for observation, especially when dealing with someone like Bruce who already has a slew of medical conditions. However, after saying that, the cop only referred to Bruce in the past tense. How much did he weigh? How good was his diet? How old was he? We all caught onto it, but no one called him out on it.
I must remind you that most inmates, after doing some, time become rather conspiratorial; nothing is a coincidence. We had a 6:00pm emergency count and we all had to show ID and state our inmate number. When the cop got to our cube, the three of us still there did so, and the cop looked all confused at the empty bunk and asked where my bunky was. In the hospital, we all replied unanimously. Then he asked his name, and after telling him, he looked at the master roster and said, "That's weird, he isn't even on the roster." and walked out. So of course, the negative speculation on his status spread like wild fire. I am certain he is okay only because they haven't come to clean out his locker. That is always the sure sign that someone isn't coming back.
In other news, the new ACE classes registration should begin in 3-4 weeks. So hopefully I can get through my selected classes without going to the hole this round. The computer classes I want don't begin until June, and I am still on the cusp of whether or not I make it into that quarter. It is the same exact story with the Building Trades class I want to get into. I will just have to hope somebody doesn't sign up and I get to take there spot.
When I got back from work, he was still gone and I was being asked if I knew where he went. I didn't and said so, but another inmate saw him lumbering downstairs, saying he looked pale and was drenched in sweat. He apparently called the admin office using the emergency phone and was taken to the hospital.
The really strange part of all this was when the cop came into our wing for the 8:30am census count. We asked him about Bruce and he said not to worry, he'll be back. They always keep guys for observation, especially when dealing with someone like Bruce who already has a slew of medical conditions. However, after saying that, the cop only referred to Bruce in the past tense. How much did he weigh? How good was his diet? How old was he? We all caught onto it, but no one called him out on it.
I must remind you that most inmates, after doing some, time become rather conspiratorial; nothing is a coincidence. We had a 6:00pm emergency count and we all had to show ID and state our inmate number. When the cop got to our cube, the three of us still there did so, and the cop looked all confused at the empty bunk and asked where my bunky was. In the hospital, we all replied unanimously. Then he asked his name, and after telling him, he looked at the master roster and said, "That's weird, he isn't even on the roster." and walked out. So of course, the negative speculation on his status spread like wild fire. I am certain he is okay only because they haven't come to clean out his locker. That is always the sure sign that someone isn't coming back.
In other news, the new ACE classes registration should begin in 3-4 weeks. So hopefully I can get through my selected classes without going to the hole this round. The computer classes I want don't begin until June, and I am still on the cusp of whether or not I make it into that quarter. It is the same exact story with the Building Trades class I want to get into. I will just have to hope somebody doesn't sign up and I get to take there spot.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Wanna Send some Books?
These are a current list of books I would really like to read. If you want to ship one in, email i.am.irrelevant to stake claim in a certain book so I don't get duplicates. Wait to order until you get confirmation on the availability of that book.
They are all from one author, Michael Connelly:
Blood Work
Chasing the Dime
Lost Light
A Darkness More Than Night
The Overlook
The Last Coyote
The Scarecrow
Brass Verdict
Murder in Vegas (collab with other authors)
They are all from one author, Michael Connelly:
Blood Work
Chasing the Dime
Lost Light
A Darkness More Than Night
The Overlook
The Last Coyote
The Scarecrow
Brass Verdict
Murder in Vegas (collab with other authors)
Finally Back to Camp
*Please enjoy the next few weeks e-mails in a few bulk installments....
04/05/10
Well, well, well... The age of false promises and dis information finally ceases - temporarily I am sure. I was told I am going back to camp today and they actually followed up on that information. They pulled me out of my cell at 4:30pm and I stayed in a dry cell (no sink, no toilet, and one concrete bench) until 7:00pm. Why? I don't know, it doesn't make any sense to me. As to be expected, I was assigned a new bunk and I will get a new job assignment. Both were held for me until the end of the third week, at which time it was assumed I was not coming back.
My reception back was as I expected. Shock at the fact that after five weeks I returned combined with the relief and enthusiasm in knowing that the assailant Enos will not return. There is not one person who is sad to see him go, not even his own people. I found out he had gotten into it with someone else earlier that day, verbally provoking the guy until it was broke up. It is obvious now what his intentions where that day - checking out (getting kicked out of this facility and transferred to a different one - usually to avoid paying debts). It just so happened that he chose me to aid him in his plan.
I am getting settled into my new cube here in the "morgue". It is called that because this wing's average age is 55-60 and most are in bed by 8pm. While this wing is highly coveted by many inmates for it's quiet atmosphere, I hate it. I really want to move but it won't happen for months... if ever. The admins hate doing bed moves and it rarely happens the way you want it to.
Well, it's good to be back. Time to get some sleep.
04/06/10
I woke up early to hit the laundry to get fitted for my new set of greens since the cops take and cycle your old one when you go to the hole. Then at 7am I got a T.B. test at medical and then immediately reported to the kitchen to get my assignment and schedule. I start Thursday at pots and pans (the lowest position - usually reserved for those who are being punished). Shitty!
I asked the councilor in charge of the orderly positions if she had anything coming up for me as far as a job goes. She immediately said no and that I don't have anything coming. She also added that I should expect a shot (incident report) in the next week for fighting. I could hardly keep from laughing in her face at her absurd comment. I told her that I was cleared of all wrong doing and that policy clearly states I would not be back at camp if I was guilty of fighting. Her rebuttal was to say that she was just repeating what she was told. Truth of the matter is, she lost her head orderly and his actions make her look bad. She is mad at me because she isn't adult enough to recognize and admit she made a terrible mistake in hiring that guy. So now I have a felling this lady is gunning for me and that sucks. I will steer clear of her and let her cool down.
04/08/10
My day started at 4:30am so as to be ready for work by 5am. I scrubbed dishes until 7am, did it all again from 10am until 12pm, and once more from 3pm until 6pm. It really wouldn't be bad if the sink wasn't built at a height for oompa-loompas and they gave us gloves as the industrial strength sanitizer is murder on my skin. I have a nasty rash after only one day and I am not the only one with that same complaint.
Unknown to me, my buddy is the new assistant head orderly and asked to hire me for a position coming up in a few weeks. The councilor said absolutely not, she will never sign off on it. In addition, she told him she blames me for what happened. She said I caused him to hit me by verbally assaulting him. Fuck, this lady is bat-shit crazy! She just can't come to terms with all this, and is absolutely blind to the facts in this case. I told him thanks anyway, but it sounds like I need to find work outside of the orderly area.
Aside from that, I am fully unpacked after getting all my property back. I am so wiped out, I may actually sleep all the way through the night.
04/05/10
Well, well, well... The age of false promises and dis information finally ceases - temporarily I am sure. I was told I am going back to camp today and they actually followed up on that information. They pulled me out of my cell at 4:30pm and I stayed in a dry cell (no sink, no toilet, and one concrete bench) until 7:00pm. Why? I don't know, it doesn't make any sense to me. As to be expected, I was assigned a new bunk and I will get a new job assignment. Both were held for me until the end of the third week, at which time it was assumed I was not coming back.
My reception back was as I expected. Shock at the fact that after five weeks I returned combined with the relief and enthusiasm in knowing that the assailant Enos will not return. There is not one person who is sad to see him go, not even his own people. I found out he had gotten into it with someone else earlier that day, verbally provoking the guy until it was broke up. It is obvious now what his intentions where that day - checking out (getting kicked out of this facility and transferred to a different one - usually to avoid paying debts). It just so happened that he chose me to aid him in his plan.
I am getting settled into my new cube here in the "morgue". It is called that because this wing's average age is 55-60 and most are in bed by 8pm. While this wing is highly coveted by many inmates for it's quiet atmosphere, I hate it. I really want to move but it won't happen for months... if ever. The admins hate doing bed moves and it rarely happens the way you want it to.
Well, it's good to be back. Time to get some sleep.
04/06/10
I woke up early to hit the laundry to get fitted for my new set of greens since the cops take and cycle your old one when you go to the hole. Then at 7am I got a T.B. test at medical and then immediately reported to the kitchen to get my assignment and schedule. I start Thursday at pots and pans (the lowest position - usually reserved for those who are being punished). Shitty!
I asked the councilor in charge of the orderly positions if she had anything coming up for me as far as a job goes. She immediately said no and that I don't have anything coming. She also added that I should expect a shot (incident report) in the next week for fighting. I could hardly keep from laughing in her face at her absurd comment. I told her that I was cleared of all wrong doing and that policy clearly states I would not be back at camp if I was guilty of fighting. Her rebuttal was to say that she was just repeating what she was told. Truth of the matter is, she lost her head orderly and his actions make her look bad. She is mad at me because she isn't adult enough to recognize and admit she made a terrible mistake in hiring that guy. So now I have a felling this lady is gunning for me and that sucks. I will steer clear of her and let her cool down.
04/08/10
My day started at 4:30am so as to be ready for work by 5am. I scrubbed dishes until 7am, did it all again from 10am until 12pm, and once more from 3pm until 6pm. It really wouldn't be bad if the sink wasn't built at a height for oompa-loompas and they gave us gloves as the industrial strength sanitizer is murder on my skin. I have a nasty rash after only one day and I am not the only one with that same complaint.
Unknown to me, my buddy is the new assistant head orderly and asked to hire me for a position coming up in a few weeks. The councilor said absolutely not, she will never sign off on it. In addition, she told him she blames me for what happened. She said I caused him to hit me by verbally assaulting him. Fuck, this lady is bat-shit crazy! She just can't come to terms with all this, and is absolutely blind to the facts in this case. I told him thanks anyway, but it sounds like I need to find work outside of the orderly area.
Aside from that, I am fully unpacked after getting all my property back. I am so wiped out, I may actually sleep all the way through the night.
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