Well it was a stormy evening today. There were tornadoes in East Lincoln and I got very worried for a while. Luckily I was able to find a radio station with live weather coverage and they said all the tornado activity was east of 84th street. Then I worried about hail which was coming down all over and some as large as baseballs. I know the wood shake shingle roof is already a total write off from earlier hail but mom told me that both motor homes were parked at home while they transferred stuff from the old to the new one so I was worried the might both get damaged but all I could do was sit and listen to the radio reports of where the storm was and where it was heading. We didn’t even get to go out to the day-room for dinner because of the tornado warnings so the COs had to dish up the food and bring the trays to our cells. Prison room service. LOL We also lost our gym time and part of our evening day-room time before they decide it was safe for us to be let out of our cells. Once we got out I promptly called to make sure mom and dad weren’t blown away and that the motor homes were ok. Everything was fine though dad was having to run the extra sump pump to keep up with the water again. And the contractors were supposed to have come today to expand the sump pit and start installing the new piping for the super charged sump pump set up dad is having installed for when they travel now. I guess it was too wet for them to start expanding the hole today anyway. Hopefully they can do it soon though.
I also received notice that Justin, Roz and McK were all approved to visit me. Maybe I’ll get a “regular” visit this Friday or Sunday now. *smile* In the institutional mail I also got back the kite I sent to the warden explaining what taiji was and asking for permission to practice while here. His response was short and direct: “You are not allowed to perform that activity while incarcerated here.” Simple and direct, but no explanation as to why which is probably on purpose so you don’t attempt to argue the point. Well, I’m asking Gary (with Roz’s help) and Dr. Newring to write letters to him requesting that he reconsider. We’ll see how he responds to outside request. (cont)
Continuing my intro to the other inmates, in cell 2 there are 2 Latino guys though Joker (from earlier journal entries) used to be there. Both are pretty quiet guys in their late 20s maybe early 30s, one named Victor and I don’t even know the other’s name but he play handball regularly.
In cell 4 are 2 more Latino guys, Rudy (also called Durango) and Guapo. Martin (pronounced Marteen) used to be in there till he was sent off somewhere, and Martin was the one who was stuck on himself and had been fucking Chris in the showers before Chris got moved out of the unit. Rudy is a shorter guy but very buff with a beard and shaved head and probably in his late 30s. He’s polite and almost always in a good mood though his English seems limited. I usually give him the bread or buns that are served with virtually every meal we get. I guess he likes the carbs. LOL When we go to gym he is usually working out on the weights but sometimes he plays basketball. Guapo is in his early 20s, heavy set, diabetic, and not too bright. He had a visit from his mother this past Friday when I did and they sat across from us. Guapo doesn’t seem to have many people to talk to and the only time he talked to me was when I was mentioning superhero movies to someone else and he interrupted to share his knowledge of the Marvel universe and how he couldn’t wait for the Suicide Squad movie. He lacks social awareness, not a good thing in prison.
Cell 5 is the Safe Keep cell apparently. The are younger guys, like 19-20, who are sent by the court before their sentencing to attempt to put the fear of prison into them. One guy is Zach. He’s very buff, a bit of a muscle-head, a rural Nebraska wrestler boy who has to show off and has an ego and temper problem. He’s not bright, but not dumb either. He used to be in other units but kept getting into fights, probably because of both his ego and temper. Hopefully he’ll learn. He has that rural kid’s ingrained respect for his elders when he talks to me so we get along fine. (cont) Then there’s “little” AJ, called little because there’s another older, fatter AJ who’s called “big.” Little AJ isn’t the brightest but he’s enthusiastically friendly. They tried to teach him cribbage and he had a hard time adding cards up to 15. *sigh* He always plays basketball when we go to gym because he seems to crave being a part of a group but he has no ability to control himself and virtually tackles the guy with the ball which is technically a foul but they don’t call it on him because it’s just how he plays and he probably can’t learn better. The 3rd kid in there, who’s name I don’t know, Brad maybe, is newer. He seems pretty well balanced and is also a part of the group that plays basketball. Somehow I see basketball in prison as just asking for a group on group fight. LOL
Cell 6 is a couple of short and quiet Latino guys who’s names I don’t know mostly because they don’t speak English. Cell 7 is where big AJ lives. He’s a typical prison guy, probably my age, overweight, bald with a grey goatee. He’s a porter and very much into everyone else’s business and charges. He’s better than all the “chimos” (child molesters) but he’s been polite to me, probably because I’m white and not “weird” (though he did make some childish remark about my taiji calling it tight cheeks). Here’s an example of his mentality: We were walking the yard one day and he was lying on the side with his shirt off. Each time someone would pass him by he’d make a farting sound with the fat of his back against the cement and say “oh, excuse me.” He did this for the ENTIRE HOUR we were at yard and continued to think it was funny, which it wasn’t even the first time he did it. He has the hyper-competitive, better-than-thou, 13yo mentality that is typical of inmates…and I’m sure I’ll see plenty more just like him. His cellie is Paul who is maybe in his 50s, bald and gray goatee just like AJ but not fat like him and actually adult. Paul doesn’t talk shit about everyone behind their back or get into ego competitions. He has been in prison before but was a successful construction site supervisor on the outside too. He and Jeff used to be pinochle partners and since he had been in NSP (and Tecumseh it turned out) I wanted to get in with him at least to hold a couple conversations. I guess he reads too because Jeff mentioned he wanted to read The Revenant so after I finished it I used it to strike up a conversation with him. He’s polite though sometimes standoffish but once I broke the ice he was quite a conversationalist and told me all about NSP and Tecumseh and even drew map.
Cell 8 has 2 black guys in it, Paul and Luther. Luther is a shorter older man that has some serious heart problems. Supposedly, to keep him close to his doctor they are going to send him to OCC. Lucky him. He is very friendly and outgoing, to the point where I’ll be sitting reading and he’ll come right up and start a conversation. Not that that behavior is that unusual in here, but he won’t let you get back to your reading. LOL He’s into making stuff up in order to “tell a story” and entertain you (or himself) so take him with a grain of salt. His cellie is a taller 52yo guy named Paul who used to have short hair and a mustache till he shaved it all off and sort of shuffled around like a zombie because they had him on heavy meds. Well about a week ago they must have changed his meds because boy is he hyper now. He can’t sit still and not talk. He likes me because I’ve listened to him in the past so he’ll come and interrupt my reading too and talk and talk and talk, often about the same thing. I think he’s manic, as in bipolar, and he doesn’t seem to be able to keep up with his thoughts which is why he continually repeats himself. That and short-term memory loss. I guess he’s had quite a few seizures. He’s going up for parole in a month but he jams in 7-8 so I doubt he’s going anywhere before he leaves.
That’s it for the bottom tier on A side.
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