Well ACE has begun once again. Unfortunately, I was working during registration so I only am signed up for two classes this round. The only reason I got into those two classes is because I was automatically enrolled when I took the prerequisite for them. So this quarter I will be taking Life (Discovery Video Series) and Modern Marketing II. It will be nice to lighten up the load for the summer quarter, so I am not too bummed.
The computer class is going great. I am one chapter from being completely finished while the rest of the class is about 25% done. I can work on other programs and more resumes for the inmates going home along with continuing to help the teacher (an inmate) with the students.
Otherwise, the weather has been great and my allergies have finally subsided along with my third cold of the year. I am now participating in an intense work out class 5 days a week, which has been tough. Soon enough, I should be getting a job change off the serving line out to the dining room to wipe tables or sweep. Many kitchen workers do this when they are 6 months from the door or less. They call this the 'retirement plan' because instead of working three times a day, you only work once a day. That way I can do more running in the morning and I don't have to leave the workout class early on the days that I work. Besides, being on the line is a tad stressful because everyone blames you for their small portions, or if they don't like the piece of cake/fruit/chicken/etc. That shit is annoying and I can do without it.
Well, that's all. Things are moving along spectacularly. Soon enough, I will be out of here and on to the next phase of this process.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
7/4/10
Well, my ace classes are finished. These last 10 weeks have gone by at a decent pace. I guess we get a slightly longer break until the next round starts on the 17th of July. I am not sure what all will be available yet, but I will definitely be signing up for a few things. My computer class really makes time go by. I am further along on finishing the required material than anybody else, I am constructing resumes for inmates leaving soon, as well as other misc. projects, and I am helping the inmate teacher with the other inmates who are struggling. When my required work is done, I should be able to mess around with a 3-D modeling program called Google Sketch-Up, which is the class I wanted to take originally in lieu of this current MS Word class. In any case, I will be enrolled in that until Sept 25th when it unfortunately ends.
In piccle ball league news, my partner and I just dropped from first place to second in points. Today was a frustrating set of three games that we lost two of. We beat ourselves, but since it's for cumulative points and not wins, we are still in it. This league will go until August at which time the top 8 point leaders will do a double elimination tourney to determine this years top team. It has been a lot of fun so far, and should be another great distraction in which to keep the time rollin bye.
The 12th of this month will officially be my 6th full month in this place. All things considered, that's not too shabby. I have found enough things to keep myself occupied to not let extreme boredom set in and wear me down.
Happy 4th of July everybody!
In piccle ball league news, my partner and I just dropped from first place to second in points. Today was a frustrating set of three games that we lost two of. We beat ourselves, but since it's for cumulative points and not wins, we are still in it. This league will go until August at which time the top 8 point leaders will do a double elimination tourney to determine this years top team. It has been a lot of fun so far, and should be another great distraction in which to keep the time rollin bye.
The 12th of this month will officially be my 6th full month in this place. All things considered, that's not too shabby. I have found enough things to keep myself occupied to not let extreme boredom set in and wear me down.
Happy 4th of July everybody!
Monday, June 28, 2010
6/15
Okay, so last Monday was my birthday, something I was hoping to keep quiet around here. However, when my neighbor saw me open two cards on the same day, he said "Hey Dodd, that's your second card today... somethin tells me there's somethin your not tellin me" I replied as I left in a hurry, "Oh, these are just, 'hang in there cards'." Well, in my rush to leave, I forgot my ID was sitting out and it says the birth date right on it. Needless to say, shenanigans ensued for the rest of the day. Birthday in prison, makes for a good story sometime - but not anytime soon!
Anyway, classes are great and I finally got into the computer class. However, the course I wanted was full and I had to settle for a 100 hour course on Word 2007. While I don't feel that it will benefit me as much as the 100 hour 3D design class, I am sure I will learn a thing or two I didn't know. So far, I have spent most my time helping the teacher with the students because he is just one inmate to help all the other 25 inmates. He is the piccle ball league organizer and helped a lot with squeezing me into the computer classes this round; otherwise I would still be waiting until Sept. to get in.
Something funny about this place is all the wild life. There is a stock fish pond behind us that attracts hawks and a bald eagle diving in for the fish, so that is cool. Last year, the bald eagle got a goose and a duck. This year, only a duck - as far as anyone has seen anyway. I am surprised they don't try and get these cats running around here. There is about six skunks running amock, spraying all the cats. Every night we get inundated with the stench of skunk... that part sucks. We have a male and female duck that just had chicks, they are pretty cool; they have been running around here for a month or so. Then there is the raccoon gang. Those fuckers are relentless garbage diggers, so we have had to adjust our garbage dump routines. There are a couple of deer around along with a fox or two. Finally, the cats. One of them just had kittens, but we rarely see them out and about. The funny thing is, whenever the cats fight, EVERYONE runs to the windows to watch the fur fly. Some of the cats have earned nicknames like: Battle Cat (the fiercest fighter on the compound), Stretch (has a super elongated body), and CoonFucker (almost all white except its tail is a brownish grey color and has rings, just like a raccoon). Almost forgot, one of the raccoons is appropriately named tripod as he has only three legs. Oh, the things that entertain the mind of the detained.
Otherwise, I am still waiting on the official release date to the halfway house. That is the next most important mile stone to reach. Barring something news worthy, I probably won't write again for a week or so.
Anyway, classes are great and I finally got into the computer class. However, the course I wanted was full and I had to settle for a 100 hour course on Word 2007. While I don't feel that it will benefit me as much as the 100 hour 3D design class, I am sure I will learn a thing or two I didn't know. So far, I have spent most my time helping the teacher with the students because he is just one inmate to help all the other 25 inmates. He is the piccle ball league organizer and helped a lot with squeezing me into the computer classes this round; otherwise I would still be waiting until Sept. to get in.
Something funny about this place is all the wild life. There is a stock fish pond behind us that attracts hawks and a bald eagle diving in for the fish, so that is cool. Last year, the bald eagle got a goose and a duck. This year, only a duck - as far as anyone has seen anyway. I am surprised they don't try and get these cats running around here. There is about six skunks running amock, spraying all the cats. Every night we get inundated with the stench of skunk... that part sucks. We have a male and female duck that just had chicks, they are pretty cool; they have been running around here for a month or so. Then there is the raccoon gang. Those fuckers are relentless garbage diggers, so we have had to adjust our garbage dump routines. There are a couple of deer around along with a fox or two. Finally, the cats. One of them just had kittens, but we rarely see them out and about. The funny thing is, whenever the cats fight, EVERYONE runs to the windows to watch the fur fly. Some of the cats have earned nicknames like: Battle Cat (the fiercest fighter on the compound), Stretch (has a super elongated body), and CoonFucker (almost all white except its tail is a brownish grey color and has rings, just like a raccoon). Almost forgot, one of the raccoons is appropriately named tripod as he has only three legs. Oh, the things that entertain the mind of the detained.
Otherwise, I am still waiting on the official release date to the halfway house. That is the next most important mile stone to reach. Barring something news worthy, I probably won't write again for a week or so.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
5/23
The last week has been crazy with all the new changes coming through. We got a new Camp Admin. and he is flexing on us to show off for the big wigs. Of course, that means disrupting the natural flow of things here just to suit his needs. First, he took away all of the benches with padding on them from the rec. yard that we used to do dips on. He said people were lifting the benches and that was deemed illegal. A couple days later, he took away the incline ab benches because people were doing bench presses with them. Again, the actions of few are costing everyone that uses them properly. They bolted down other pieces of equipment in the past, why can't they just do that again. When asked, he said they shouldn't have to and we should be disciplined enough to know better. FUCK THAT. Rule number one: do your own time. No one is going to stop someone for lifting the equipment, to each their own. Bolt the shit down and be done with it. Finally, he is saying no fruit can leave the chow hall what so ever. That sucks as many of us liked to enjoy a piece at night in lue of the normal shit they sell on commissary.
In a really basic way, it's like this guy is only taking things away that we use to stay healthy. I'm not sure if I said this before, but this guy claims this camp is outta control. Go to any other facility on the west coast and you will see cell phones, drugs, guys gettin laid, McDonalds being snuck in, booze, tobacco, etc. No joke. In the last year, there has been no failed UA's, breathalizers, no cell phones found, and on the rare occasion some tobacco has been reported. Otherwise, this is prolly the most tame camp on the west coast, maybe in the entire country. FYI, the DOJ (department of justice) passed a new law that makes posession of a cell phone in prison a crime and you can get another 12 months sentence. I highly doubt that someone is going to risk that here. So how he can come up with a statement like that is absolutely ridiculous. Again, flexing for the boss. Problem is, he is just taking people to the hole for the most minor of infractions, which goes against the regulations. He will be filed on for doing it, but that process is overseen by the BOP, so I wonder who they will side with... Nothing will get done from within, it has to come from a lawsuit.
Anyway, I just need to focus on making it through as I don't have that long to go.
BTW, I am outta good books to read so if you can, please send me a book off that list from a week ago!!! I would really appreciate it!!!
I'll write again soon.
In a really basic way, it's like this guy is only taking things away that we use to stay healthy. I'm not sure if I said this before, but this guy claims this camp is outta control. Go to any other facility on the west coast and you will see cell phones, drugs, guys gettin laid, McDonalds being snuck in, booze, tobacco, etc. No joke. In the last year, there has been no failed UA's, breathalizers, no cell phones found, and on the rare occasion some tobacco has been reported. Otherwise, this is prolly the most tame camp on the west coast, maybe in the entire country. FYI, the DOJ (department of justice) passed a new law that makes posession of a cell phone in prison a crime and you can get another 12 months sentence. I highly doubt that someone is going to risk that here. So how he can come up with a statement like that is absolutely ridiculous. Again, flexing for the boss. Problem is, he is just taking people to the hole for the most minor of infractions, which goes against the regulations. He will be filed on for doing it, but that process is overseen by the BOP, so I wonder who they will side with... Nothing will get done from within, it has to come from a lawsuit.
Anyway, I just need to focus on making it through as I don't have that long to go.
BTW, I am outta good books to read so if you can, please send me a book off that list from a week ago!!! I would really appreciate it!!!
I'll write again soon.
5/17
So I had a Team Meeting today. This is my second meeting. Normally you have the meetings with your case manager and your councilor. Of course, "normal" does not apply to this backwoods ran facility. My first Team was with only my case manager, as the councilor didn't feel the need to be there. Luckily, your first Team is just to prep you for your later Teams. The job description for case managers and councilor alike are to outline a plan for success on the outside by helping you obtain things like your Birth Certificate, Social Security Card, State Identification, and a resume. Also, they help you plan financially if you have court ordered reprimandations, get into drug education classes, and to guide you through the six RPP (release preparation programming) classes. Again, that is all under "normal" circumstances or at a "normal" facility. Here, they just slough you off as another headache, collect their pay checks and go home; 20-25 years to retire and they are set for life with a modest budget to live on.
Sorry for the little tangent, lets get back to the Team Meeting. As I walk in, the first thing I notice is that this isn't my councilor nor is it my case manager. I ask what happened to my case manager and I got a very casual response of, "Oh, he got another job a couple of weeks ago." Umm, wow, that's nice to know, a few weeks later. "So where is my councilor," I asked. "She is busy," was the only response. Really? That's quite the effort she is putting into being a councilor, especially since she hasn't seen me once since my arrival! After all that, the next thing out of the councilor's mouth was a jab at me about three stamps. Remember, she was the one who fucked me out of my orderly job because her precious snitch decided to hit me. I couldn't believe her gall to sit there and belittle me over something that I had no part in causing. So I said, "You are so funny you should quit your day job and become a comedian. Seriously, do us a favor and just quit." Needless to say, it was a little awkward for the first few minutes in there, until the case manger, who had a look of total disbelief, steered the conversation back on track. I should note that this councilor is a stand up guy who makes my old councilor look like a total tool in terms of accountability and credibility. He is the only councilor or case manager here who doesn't treat us like we are sub-human. Anyway, he praised me for my ability to have everything in early (resume, birth cert., ssc, drivers license) and to be on top of my RPP classes. My points are zero (0-11 can be at camp, 12-21 are designated to lows, 22+ goes to mediums), I have no incident reports (shots), and I haven't been assigned extra duty (most minor of punishments for small infractions). It was a good to know that I am doing so well and that is transcribed on paper as it will only benefit me when I go on probation.
So aside from the snide comments from that councilor, it went well. My classes are entering the 4th week, so only 6 more weeks to go. In order to keep on track with ACE schedule, we will only get a week off in between this and the next round of classes instead of the normal 3 weeks. I guess somewhere along the way over the past year and a half, the BOP staff here let them fall behind schedule. I am okay with that as the two hour classes certainly help time pass, especially when taking four of them a week.
I am getting increasingly excited as summer approaches. I am co-hosting a piccle ball tournament, providing we get enough teams together. I opted out of softball league and volleyball league as the injuries are plentiful every year, especially to the ankles and knees. Prison is not the place to get injured as the medical staff here are completely inept in dealing with anything more than a headache. If you can't hack it in a real hospital environment, you sign up for a position with the BOP. After all, once your union, you can totally fuck up a patient with no consequences (well, anything short of causing death that is) and not get fired. Rumor has it that the local hospital has logged so many complaints against the mistreatment of patients prior to them being received, that the head medical guy is going into early retirement.
Well, I feel better now that I got those couple of complaints off my chest. While it's not a perfect place, it could always be worse - believe that. So again, I am bitching over relatively minor shit, so pay no mind. I just need to vent in order to move on from it!
Sorry for the little tangent, lets get back to the Team Meeting. As I walk in, the first thing I notice is that this isn't my councilor nor is it my case manager. I ask what happened to my case manager and I got a very casual response of, "Oh, he got another job a couple of weeks ago." Umm, wow, that's nice to know, a few weeks later. "So where is my councilor," I asked. "She is busy," was the only response. Really? That's quite the effort she is putting into being a councilor, especially since she hasn't seen me once since my arrival! After all that, the next thing out of the councilor's mouth was a jab at me about three stamps. Remember, she was the one who fucked me out of my orderly job because her precious snitch decided to hit me. I couldn't believe her gall to sit there and belittle me over something that I had no part in causing. So I said, "You are so funny you should quit your day job and become a comedian. Seriously, do us a favor and just quit." Needless to say, it was a little awkward for the first few minutes in there, until the case manger, who had a look of total disbelief, steered the conversation back on track. I should note that this councilor is a stand up guy who makes my old councilor look like a total tool in terms of accountability and credibility. He is the only councilor or case manager here who doesn't treat us like we are sub-human. Anyway, he praised me for my ability to have everything in early (resume, birth cert., ssc, drivers license) and to be on top of my RPP classes. My points are zero (0-11 can be at camp, 12-21 are designated to lows, 22+ goes to mediums), I have no incident reports (shots), and I haven't been assigned extra duty (most minor of punishments for small infractions). It was a good to know that I am doing so well and that is transcribed on paper as it will only benefit me when I go on probation.
So aside from the snide comments from that councilor, it went well. My classes are entering the 4th week, so only 6 more weeks to go. In order to keep on track with ACE schedule, we will only get a week off in between this and the next round of classes instead of the normal 3 weeks. I guess somewhere along the way over the past year and a half, the BOP staff here let them fall behind schedule. I am okay with that as the two hour classes certainly help time pass, especially when taking four of them a week.
I am getting increasingly excited as summer approaches. I am co-hosting a piccle ball tournament, providing we get enough teams together. I opted out of softball league and volleyball league as the injuries are plentiful every year, especially to the ankles and knees. Prison is not the place to get injured as the medical staff here are completely inept in dealing with anything more than a headache. If you can't hack it in a real hospital environment, you sign up for a position with the BOP. After all, once your union, you can totally fuck up a patient with no consequences (well, anything short of causing death that is) and not get fired. Rumor has it that the local hospital has logged so many complaints against the mistreatment of patients prior to them being received, that the head medical guy is going into early retirement.
Well, I feel better now that I got those couple of complaints off my chest. While it's not a perfect place, it could always be worse - believe that. So again, I am bitching over relatively minor shit, so pay no mind. I just need to vent in order to move on from it!
Friday, May 14, 2010
5/1/10
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.
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.
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.
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