An intimate first person non-fiction storytelling experience about incarceration in the United States
Every morning when the sun crests, a nurse is here to take our temperatures with a hand held laser thermometer. With each zap her voice chimes out “97.1” or “97.4” or “97.5”, etc. as she tells each person their result. By now guys have fallen into this morning routine without hesitation, and within 15 minutes everyone will be back to doing whatever it was they were doing. It’s almost my turn. Surprisingly, the line conversation is upbeat this morning.
By now, everyone reading this is suffering from the same thing we prisoners are: boredom. Stuck at home with nowhere to go. Everyday I watch stories on television about how people out there are managing their boredom and self-imposed isolations. Some have rediscovered the love of their pets; walking the dog has suddenly become a favorite pasttime. I’ve taken to watching internet videos on television of animals doing the funniest things. Who can tire of seeing puppies and kittens?
Continue reading “TUESDAY: Mouse Racing & Social Distancing”
The first animal I saw on the yard that was neither bird nor rodent was a white cat. The Summer heat broiled the cell, and on this evening I lay on my bunk half-naked beneath a small clip on fan praying for relief. I had one of those atomic clocks, you know the type: time, date, day of the week, and the temperature for good measure. The digital numbers had just flicked to 9:00PM. I snatched at the clock and eyed the temperature: 95F. Puh.
Early this morning– Sometime before the birds wake I find myself sitting up in bed. Man that was a shitty dream. Something about tornadoes and volcanoes suddenly appearing out of nowhere. What the hell is that all about? Looking around the dorm and it’s peacefully quiet. It’s still very early and almost everyone is asleep except for the usual suspects. I make my way down the long aisle to the bathroom because I need to take a leak. My cube is located at the farthest distance away from the bathroom as possible because I am in a dog cube (as I am a dog trainer and handler in the staff dog program). The location of my cube is a blessing really, because I have the entire corner to myself and it’s traffic free. No one has any business being there except for myself and my cubemates. It’s a curse because by the time I return I’ll be half awake having walked all over tarnation. Thankfully I get back to sleep. **
Continue reading “Monday: Training Murphy, and A Perv Strikes”
In my last post about inmate service companies (see Are You Being Served?), I introduced you to a handful of small companies catering to the specific needs of inmates. This week in the series I’m introducing you to some of the large players involved. The most prominent of these large companies are Global Tel Link (GTL), CorrLinks, and JPay. Each company contracts with dozens of states providing electronic services to prisoners in state and federal facilities. I first mentioned these three companies in my 9/23/19 post Captured Clientele.