Last night I found out that my friend Will is leaving the unit. I don't have a clue where he's going but he had a parole interview a month and a half ago, so I hope he is headed home. I wanted to talk with him before he left but I was cleaning my usual spot in cell block for shower crew and couldn't trade locations.
After I finished cleaning cell block I just walked down to Will's dorm. The guard on the hallway knew we were friends and didn't care if I was there. He let me into Will's dorm and Will was surprised to see me. I offered him encouragement and told him to write from wherever he ended up, then we prayed together for a bit. I'm going to miss having him around.
I put in a request for the electrician job two days ago. However, Will told me tonight that the boss isn't looking for new guys right now. Apparently the recession has hit here, too... ha, ha.
We went to commissary today for the second time in a week. I was already stocked up on food so all I was going to buy was stamps. Every time we go to commissary, Shawn and Bob have a glutton war to see who can eat the most of the sweetest food. In the past they have done pints of ice cream with multiple add-ins. Each time they keep the ingredients secret from each other to make sure ideas aren't stolen.
This time they decided to split some of the cost, then branch off to their own creations. It sounded like the main ingredient was going to be oatmeal. I decided to join in, trying to make the best creation for the lowest price. They capped their spending at five dollars; I shot for half of that.
Other than the stamps and treats for a few guys who aren't able to go to commissary, I got a small bag of Butterfinger cookies, a Baby Ruth bar, Snickers bar, and two mint sticks. I had class at noon so I had to mix my stuff pretty quickly, as it was already 10:30.
I crushed the cookies, wet them and then flattened them into a crust. Next, I crushed the candy bars and mint sticks and put them in a layer on top of the cookie crust so the whole thing was about 3/4" thick. Lastly, I rolled it up into a burrito thing to dry.
Forty-five minutes later the log was ready to eat. Because it was too much for me to eat alone, I cut it up and spread it around to a bunch of guys. I had about a third of the log to myself and it was great. It was like a tube of candy cookie dough, the stuff that comes in a tube. Very chocolaty, too. It was awesome for $2.46.
I found out about Bob and Shawn's gluttony after class. They had mixed five oatmeal packs each with all kinds of other stuff. They weren't even able to finish half of it and made themselves sick to their stomachs. Crazy guys! I think they beat me in the gluttony but mine tasted far better.
"One's collection of books comes to symbolize the contents of one's mind." - John Updike
"Even after years of God's rescues and surprises and blessing upon blessing, there's part of me that gets irritated when someone says, 'Let's ask God.' The act itself is a disruption. Sometimes it feels like grinding the gears. Stop? Now? Ask God? I'm bugged. That's part of it. And the other part is, if we do hear something, we'll have to obey." - John Eldredge
"Every step the mind takes in its progress toward knowledge makes some discovery, which is not only new, but the best, for the time at least." - John Locke
Last night the chaplain had an open invitation for us to watch a movie called Facing the Giants about a high school football coach who sees his community and football team turn around for the better after he puts his faith in God and allows God to work through him.
From what I understand, the movie was put together by a single church, so the acting and directing isn't the greatest, but it is a good story. Some of it was a bit much for some guys and they just laughed but it was an alright movie.
After the movie I talked to one guy for a while and he asked me if I wanted a job on the electrician crew. I initially said no, but then I said I would think about it. The electrician's boss is a Christian guy who is really active in the community around here. I wouldn't mind working under him, but I also have some cool guys in the dorm with me who are good for a lot of fun conversation. I'll be praying about it until I get a clear answer.
We had our first history exam today on what should have been our day off from classes. For some reason this college has classes either Mon/Wed or Tues/Thurs and always has Fridays free. I remember reading somewhere that schools that have Friday classes have less drinking among students, but I guess they don't have to worry about that here. Anyway, we missed a class last week because the teacher had to go to a funeral, so we had our make-up class today.
I'm usually in a mood where I'm ready and willing to take a test. I don't really know why - maybe I enjoy the challenge or being measured. That was not the case today. I just wanted to get it over with and go back to my dorm to curl up in my bunk and nap for a while, catching up on lost sleep.
I completed the exam and waited for the rest of the class to finish to have the exams graded and returned, wishing I had been a little more careful in starring my notes for things to study. When I saw my grade I was surprised to see an A. I checked it over and realized the teacher had let a couple of answers slide by with approval. Why he did that, I don't know. What I did know is that I did well on the exam and was ready to get some shut-eye.
*History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awaken." - James Joyce
Well, the noise has kicked up again in the dorm. For a while I could go to sleep after work without waking up an hour later to someone next to me yelling across the dorm holding a conversation. I was just getting used yo getting a full night's sleep when it got loud again.
The noise this time is a little different. There are two types: plain old loud talking and people singing. The songs now all all Tejano music so, not only is it loud, but I also can't understand it. The talking wouldn't be so bad if it was two people close together, but instead it's four or more people spread out around the dorm that have to yell to be heard over the singing.
What these guys fail to realize is little more than half the dorm is shower crew, which leaves quite a few who sleep while we work at night. And even some of us on shower crew have school during the day that we need to rest up for. I wish these guys would respect others more. Unfortunately, if anyone says anything about it, someone will get their ego bruised and want to fight before stopping. They think better a bruised eye than a bruised ego. This is a difficult kind of world and I can't wait to get out.
“Ignorant people think it's the noise which fighting cats make that is so aggravating, but it ain't so; it's the sickening grammar they use”- Mark Twain
It was a beautiful day outside today and I had to take full advantage and share it with some other guys. I tried to convince a couple of other guys to come out and play hacky sack with me, but they both wanted to stay in and lay on their bunks. Only when Rabbit, fresh out of cell block, said he would join us from his new dorm did Shawn agree to go out.
It turned out that Rabbit didn't show up anyway. Shawn and I played hacky sack with a few other guys from other dorms. Since we have been playing in the dorm frequently, we were far better and dropped their jaws with a few tricks. About an hour passed and the other guys went back inside, so I got to running.
I only finished a mile before some guys asked me to play soccer with them. The last time I played soccer was late last fall, but I'm always up for kicking the ball around. We played until the sun went down thirty minutes later.
It was so nice to be outside for such a long time (little more than two hours), especially after nightfall. I'm really looking forward to going camping when I get out. Even just walking around or going running on my own time sounds great. It can't come soon enough.
Last night I found out that my friend Will is leaving the unit. I don't have a clue where he's going but he had a parole interview a month and a half ago, so I hope he is headed home. I wanted to talk with him before he left but I was cleaning my usual spot in cell block for shower crew and couldn't trade locations.
