Monday, December 12 -
I didn’t sleep well last night -- too noisy. “J” didn’t come in till 11:30 or so and made a fair amount of noise, then others downstairs carried on loudly till almost midnight – even though it’s supposed to be quiet after 10:30. I found out last night I had three call-outs this morning. The first was at 8:00 at Psychology. “J” gets up around 4:00 every morning as it’s his job to clean the showers every weekday. I normally don’t hear him, but this morning he made a lot of noise. I set the alarm on my watch for 7:15 or so to give me enough time to fix a cup of coffee. I barely had enough time to drink it. I was so glad I took with me the book I started reading last night, “The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life.” It is excellent and confirms what I have discovered throughout my 63 years. When I try to live a holy life and overcome sin on my own, I’ll fall flat on my face. Only when I fully surrender to Christ, surrendering my struggles or burdens I have for Him to death with, will victory ensue. I wasn’t worried or to be concerned about anything. Nothing at home and nothing here in federal prison in Ashland, KY. God has it all under control.
Psychology was merely a matter of filling out a form (all no answers), and confirming the answers with the doctor. I then had to wait there 50 minutes till the next “move” and went to the “hospital.” I had two appointments there. They first took my BP, and it was 205/105. They got somewhat concerned, and I told them I hadn’t had my meds for a week. The one guy actually went and got them for me, and they had me take the Losartan right then and there. I then waited a while longer and was called into the nurse practitioner. She was very nice and I asked her about my prosthetics for my feet and medic alert necklace. She said they should have let me bring them in, and that they’d fill out an order to have them sent from home. She went through my medical history, asking about my heart attack and a bunch of other stuff.
I then went out and waited for the doctor, who was a nice guy as well – from Puerto Rico. He did an examination, including my feet, which he said look great. Oh, the NP said doctors prescribe the pills I have sitting next to the coffee pot (Omeprazole), but I shouldn’t continue to take them – they cause bone deterioration, memory loss and other bad things over time. I am really glad she told me that. They only gave me some for “as needed” for indigestion or acid reflux, but not for every day. He said they’ll check my blood pressure 2x weekly to see if it comes down, for a while.
I went from the hospital to lunch (at 10:00 am), and then back to the “cell.” “J” hadn’t read The Daily Bread yet and asked me to read it with him, along with the Scripture passage, which I did. I then asked him if he wanted me to read him the Proverb for today to him, as well, and so I did. He left then, and I read three or four chapters in John, prayed for you all, listened to Rush Limbaugh some, read several chapters in “Thinking Fast and Slow,” which is getting kind of boring, talked to “J” a while, and listened to Hannity a while. “J” came to me around 3:30 or 4:00 saying the other black guys from KY who hang together were going to try to talk me into moving out and letting another black guy from KY move in instead. He said “don’t tell them I told you, but I wanted you to get a heads up.” He said they were also going to talk to “S” to help convince me. “J” said they had already spoken to a homosexual about me rooming with him and he said okay. “J” said they told him I was a “sex offender” because I was charged with kidnapping. “J” can’t stand these guys (there is only one other black guy he gets along with). And so he tried to straighten them out, saying I was a Christian, involved very much in ministry, and the opposite was true, that the homosexuals put me here, and that it was all political, and he didn’t want me to go anywhere. He said we get along fine and didn’t want me to move out. Thank God!
It’s now 6:20, and “S”, the new Christian next door, hasn’t mentioned it, nor anyone else. They did have mail call about 5:45, and the only thing I got was my PAC# -- finally. The “counselor” chewed me out when he gave it to me that he didn’t like anyone going over his head, referring to the fact I got the case manager to give it to me yesterday. But the highlight of my day came between 11:00 and noon, when I got two emails from Kathie and was finally able to speak to her! YEAH!! It is going to be really, really hard not to call often, but I don’t want to run out of minutes (I think they use “monthly” from the date you arrive. I will find out though.) They have us 400 minutes this month because of Christmas, I’d like to call Victoria but don’t know her phone number. I’ve asked in my emails for everyone’s phone numbers and addresses, but haven’t gotten them yet.
The talk for 50 minutes at the Psychology office this morning among the inmates (especially among the blacks) is all about how brilliant Trump is, and how so many may be sent home if the legislation passes or the President signs the executive order. Tomorrow morning I will be in “orientation” most of the day, beginning at 6:45 am. Prison is weird. Every face you see, and there are over 900 here, you wonder what their story is, what they did wrong, if anything at all. The average age is a lot older than I would have thought – I’d guess maybe 40-45? There are a lot of men who seem older than me, and I know they’ve probably been here many, many years. “J” says they all look older here. In actuality, you see only a small percentage who seem like they are under 30. Someone told me most of them are in state prison. The vast majority of the blacks here are here for selling drugs (like “J”), although I’ve spoken to a few who are not. The majority of the whites are supposedly sex offenders, which could mean a lot of things, I suppose. Everything is pretty segregated by race in the “chow.” Black Muslims all sit together, the rest of the blacks sit by state (each state has a table “car”). About four out of maybe 16 tables are for “straight” non-sex offenders, which is where I always sit, except for the one time so far when I sat at "J's" table. The blacks here are for the most part very racist although not all ("J" is definitely not). I checked my email two or three times before turning in to sleep at 10:00 (I have to awaken at 5:30) but nobody emailed me. I did get a shower.