Sunday 4/28
Looks like should finally be warmer and less wind today and going forward. Just in time!
We have an outdoor jazz concert on the grass this afternoon, I guess its a series they have as the weather gets better. Next weekend a rock back as well. Not a bad way to spend Sunday afternoon incarcerated, of course if something happens between now and then and its cancelled!
Helped my cellmate on framing his enbanc issues and will likely do daily for awhile. Lots of case research will need to be done next.
Outside Derek and I are meeting the pizza guy who has a business idea he wants to run by us. Guess we’ll see what he’s thinking while listening to the music.
Well, turns out he owns 16 acres oceanfront about 45minutes north of Punta Mita Mexico and wants to develop them. Wonder how that would go, 3 ex con’s doing a real estate project together:)?
Jazz music was great this afternoon, impressive what those 4 guys can play. Stevie Wonder etc.. They cancelled it early for some reason, at 2, and we had lockdown immediately till 5:30. Always something it seems. Rumor has it had something to do with visitors, who knows? Anyways went out at 6, had a gorgeous evening and no wind for once!
Monday 4/29
Well, should be another week of undefined schedules here. Guards are getting training , so creates a shortage. Thus library will be closed all week, and supposedly we are on weekend schedule which means extra morning lockdown 9:30-11. Guess we’ll see what actually happens.
My priorities are to chase down the doctor on my letter and the Director of Education on our curriculum. From there its catching up on emails with friends, court restitution next steps, and normal stuff. Weather should be decent, but we still have too much wind.
Good powerwalk workout this afternoon, 12 laps at least. Felt kind of lethargic tonight, plus kind of been a pity party mood yesterday and today so skipped workout as no weights all week. Just doing track, apparently maintenance on weights. Didn’t see any today though:)
Tuesday 4/30
First time I ever slept in till 6:30, felt kind of good:) Other then working out on the track today, and a movie tonight, stuck in the unit today as they’re doing guard training apparently. Probably a good day to work on a book report and a blog as can only read so much.
Derek and I are making some good progress on the book layout. By end of week we will have Table of Contents finalized so we can start assigning sections to each other. Should be interesting:)
Finally feeling better so hit the Yard hard this afternoon, but skipped the evening one.
The movie was cancelled as well which made for a long evening except for when the lieutenant called me down at 9:30 pm. They were tracking emails to find who beat up the guy last Friday evening, and he saw an email I sent to a buddy saying I’d been stuck outside in the cold because of the guy being beaten. Well my buddy asked 3 questions on the email, not related, but I answered quickly stating:
1) I understood he was a snitch and lied about it and 2) I’ll check on the paperwork in response to him wanting to know where his visiting paperwork was, and 3) I was excited for Herbert after the draft(NFL QB). The lieutenant was attacking me about ” what paperwork” for 10 minutes until he finally relented once I convinced him they couldn’t be related per the 3 questions. Who does paperwork on a fight anyways:) Welcome to being in prison with no rights, questioning me about a violent act even though all my records show no prior history of any crime and zero score for risk of recidivism as well.
Wednesday 5/1
Finally beautiful weather this morning and no wind, so had a fabulous workout. Still steamed about what happened last night, with all their insinuations.
Really digging into the book’s Table of Contents this morning, will really be a complete book to help incarnated people focus on what’s important while in prison and then once released those first few years. So many books on pieces of the journey, but haven’t seen any on a one stop shop. We’re building it out around “The End in Mind” and 4 important pathways to get there:
* Career/Vocational Plans
* Survival/Financial Plans
* Network of Family & Community
* Accountability/Self Improvement
Our vision is to have an assessment section and then a plan/implementation on each area. Written in partnership with some industry experts who maybe have release plan content, vocational content or other content so we don’t recreate the wheel. We have a one page overview we are getting ready to send 25 or so prison industry focused experts to get their thoughts on the book, ideas for content, and intro’s on who we might speak with to help us be successful.
Ended up being great weather today, so had a good workout this morning, and pushed Derek for an hour around the track this evening. We had a fight in the unit around 2 right in front of him,(3 hour lockdown) and after his BOP treatment at Sheridan, these things really stress him, so am glad we could get him out and get fresh air and perspective.
Today was my daughter in-law’s birthday, sure wish I could have been there. She is so thoughtful and a wonderful mother. With baby #2 due in 45 days, she has lots going on, but still takes time every month to send me pictures of all 3 of them, really can’t believe how fast my little granddaughter is growing!
Thursday May 2
One more day to commissary, been almost 3 weeks again and the cupboards are pretty empty:) Pretty proud of myself last night- for some reason one menu item every couple weeks for dinner is cheese pizza, spaghetti noodles, and salad. Carb city! So I heated up some sliced pepperoni in my coffee mug with hot water, let them warm up, and then brought to dinner to convert the pizza to pepperoni pizza:) Quite the improvement, now I’ve gone from skipping that carb dinner to a recipe that works!
To no one’s surprise, found out last night the Head of Education has “too much going on” to deal with our new class, and wants to wait a few weeks until dealing with it. We know his real issue is the Head of Classes who approved our curriculum, is transferring to another prison in Texas, and she gave her notice 6-7 weeks ago but they haven’t hired anyone yet to no surprise. Hurry up and wait once again:)
Well the good news is I have time to focus on my blog now so am doing a 3 part series of what to know pre arriving to prison, Day 1, and of course thereafter. Short, crisp and to the point things I would have appreciated knowing on a practical basis.
For some reason there were no guards for library or the Yard, so we were stuck in the Unit all afternoon. Derek and I spent some quality time on our table of contents for the book, assigned responsibilities for the first few sections as well. Part of our strategy to obtain content and relationships is to to send a one page diagram plus table of contents to 25 or so potential partners or experts who might suggest people to speak with or other contacts that might be helpful. Right now we have Hollywood actors to US Senator to journalists and professors to the Head of BOP plus other types. There are many reference manuals on lists of colleges or how to find a job, but we just haven’t seen anything all inclusive from career planning/education to survival skills, to self improvement/accountability all in one. Guess we’ll find out what we’re missing!
Friday 5/3
Finally after almost 3 weeks we have commissary today. Happy for that! Will probably make me miss the morning workout, but that’s fine with me:) We have all afternoon plus after dinner to make up.
Funny how commissary always takes till lunch every time. I tried a new approach with a handler this time who has connections, cost $5 but I got 95%of what I ordered for once, instead of 70%. Good times:)
Two good workouts and an hour with Derek on the book and that’s about it. After dinner Derek pulled me aside and asked if I saw his group meeting in the cell next to his right after we met together, which I hadn’t. Turns out because I sat at his table(black/muslim) and theirs for an hour on the book, even though he approved, they called him out for a “white guy” being at their table. Apparently normally they would do a ” DP” disciplinary hit where they punch him around for awhile, but since he’s in a wheel chair, they will probbaly want some of his commissary food. Welcome to the 21st century!
Saturday 5/4
Nice productive morning on my blog and draft powerpoint we are mailing everyone. I say draft as I need to mail hard copy to my daughter since we have no scanner or software on this PCto put into powerpoint:)
It struck me working out on the track today that today is my official 4 month anniversary at Lompoc! It seems like those first few painful weeks back in cold miserable January were a long time ago. Funny how weeks and months go quickly but days don’t. Always lots of time to fill either trying to be productive/active or reading. Doing a pretty good job on TV, pretty minimal, average 30 minutes a day. Not that one can stop being very aware of things and people, but it does seem the routine and day to day are stabilizing. But as I saw yesterday these random flames of conflict or confrontation flare up weekly if not more often. It’s crazy…… Fortunately for me I’ve been very blessed with the love and support of my family and friends throughout this journey!
Praying for Liberty and Freedom and to see my Family and Friends soon! BJ
