Keeping a schedule

Since starting the job in the library I have tried to fit work into my existing schedule instead of working my schedule around the job. This has not served me well in the sleep department. I have to be at work at 7 AM so I wake up at 6 AM to get in some reading and quiet time before heading out. This wouldn't be a problem except that Alan and I stay up talking till 11:30 most nights and I usually read for a while afterwards. I don't know why it's so hard to maintain six hours of sleep after doing it almost all the time before I was incarcerated. The lack of sleep is definitely taking its toll, though.

This morning I woke up at 6 to fit in quiet time before a quick haircut, then work. The haircut took longer than I expected and I didn't hurry out until 7:30. When I reached the library the door was locked and the lights were out. I thought it was strange, so I went to my coworker's dorm to see if he knew what was going on. I reached his cell door and saw him dead asleep. I knocked on the door to waken him and asked if he knew when our boss was coming in.

"Dude, it's Thursday," came the groggy voice.

Thursday is our late day in the library. We don't open up until 10 AM. Oops.

"My bad. Go back to sleep, bro."

Now my lack of sleep is causing others lack of sleep. I'm going to need to start napping after work to recharge just a bit. I can't have my head unscrewed like this.

Goodbye to another friend

My coworker, Matt, left to go home on parole tonight. He had to wait about six months from the time he was supposed to leave because it took forever to get an approved address to go home to. It seems like the system does go out of its way to make things difficult sometimes. He has had a lot of anxiety about his release and how difficult it will be to find work and a good social group. He feels like he is too old for college and his record is too much of a stigma for employers to look past. His past experiences with betrayal aren't an encouragement, either.

I've talked with him about my own positive experience and those of other guys I've encountered. While I was on probation, I was encouraged and accepted by friends I made in college group at my church and had a petty good job for a guy my age. I've met guys with felony records that managed apartment complexes, worked as investors ans started their own businesses, I think that if a person wants a successful life and they do the research to find out how to get where they want to be, with proper effort they can get there. Of course, there are some areas a felon can't go into without having their record expunged.

I hope Matt finds a nurturing community that will continue to encourage him to productivity. I think he'll feel better after he's been out a few months. Now I am left to work alone, which I prefer unless I have a good coworker like Matt.

Different kinds of tests

Last week we took our first test in Sociology without actually covering all the material. Today we finished up those chapters even though we had already been tested over them. Doesn't make much sense to me, but, oh well.

I was really hurting just walking around today. My knees are aching terribly after yesterday's run. I need to strengthen my knees again after being absent from the field for so long. I could barely bend to clean the showers last night and I'm not looking forward to tonight's work, either.

Not a Win-Win Situation

While working today, ideas that I've been reading about came alive for me. A few books have mentioned prison industry as not only a stimulus to the economy but also a way for prisoners to gain a new skill to use when they get out. I've read that places that use such programs for their inmates see a much lower recidivism rate than we see here in Texas (which has alarming recidivism rates (pg.4) however you look at it..) Inmates provide service for the outside world and further their marketability.

As it is here, we have four hoe squads that have about forty people each and are not much different from the legendary chain gangs. The only difference is that we are not linked together on a chain and we can walk freely. We still experience the brow-beating insults from the bosses and the almost meaningless manual labor.

For example, today our squad of twenty-five (about fifteen are enrolled in classes) spent four hours from 7:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. tilling and making rows on a 1/3 acre plot of land while continuously being yelled at and insulted.We didn't even finish making rows on the plot, leaving about four rows undone.

I got to thinking that the work that we did, the twenty-five of us, could have been done by one person using a tractor and a couple of different accessories in maybe two hours. So not only would the work have been completed but you would also have twenty-four other guys to train and put to work doing something useful. Honestly, what business today would hire a person who has been using a hoe to manage land for the past few years? How backwards is this prison system? Not even farmers today work their land by hand like we inmates do.

It would help us inmates and many businesses if we were used for relevant business activity such as manufacturing, assembly, phone support, or anything other than the senseless hitting the ground that we do now. For the first time in history this country has 1 in 99 citizens behind bars. Give inmates training and exposure to a business and in return receive one of the largest workforces on the planet. Win-win.

Work and Play, part two

Today we went to hack up some new dirt. But before I get there I need to explain a project that I'm working on. My mom sent the Power Grid game components - all of them, including cash (play $, of course.) Most of the week I spent copying the cards and main board. I got Tony to help with the cards and Johnny was supposed to do the main board. We got carbon paper to do true copies of the original, not dumb-looking free-hand ones. Unfortunately, Johnny was daunted by the size and detail of the board so I have to do it myself. Looks like it will be a monster job.

Yesterday afternoon I spent two or three hours just prepping the boards: taping the carbon paper tightly, followed by photocopies of the board on top of the carbon paper. I was only able to finish 7 of the 42 cities before we had to go to sleep so I decided to marathon through the night knowing that there was a good possibility of working in the fields the next day. By 3:30 am I was dead on my feet so I finally hit the sack, leaving only 7 cities remaining to trace.

At the usual time - 6:30 am - we got the call for Two hoe to get ready. Reluctantly I got my clothes on and got my usual bowl (actually a cup) of oatmeal, thinking we would be going out in about 30 minutes, after count cleared in the dorm. Silvey had a sore throat and already had a play to get out of work: he dropped his ID off with some laundry buddies so he could say that he lost it. Brilliant!

After I finished with my oatmeal I headed back to bed and dozed off again. I woke up to Silvey tapping my bunk.

"What time is it?!" I asked.

"Almost 8:30. You're about to be called out to work."

"Man, I was expecting a break like we've had earlier this week. Oh, well..."

The patch we were hitting was newly broken ground and had very large, very hard dirt clods that caused the hoe to merely bounce off, even if you hit it with force. We gave the ground at least eight passes and I helped lead the chant with "lean with it, rock with it" in alternating order with the guy in front of me. Not bad for only four hours of sleep.

I was also called to the mailroom to pick up a package. After standing in line for 30 minutes I found out that the package was from Office Depot. Apparently they thought that an inmate needed a business card holder and a catalog. I needed or wanted neither. The business card holder was denied anyway and I gave away the catalog after briefly poring over the pens, pencils, and other office products. Maybe someone is interested in the 70 types of white paper available 24/7 online or by phone.