9k4g
Personal Journal

7/12/18
People coping with the misery of chronic pain face an increasing risk of disability, depression, sleep disorders, drug and alcohol addiction, and suicide. Those bad days, I try to mark them off my calendar the way a convict marks his days on a life sentence.

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7/13/18

Jimmy got a new television yesterday so now it's even going to be harder to get him out of bed in the mornings for breakfast and his classes. Today is Friday, he can sleep in on Fri., Sat., Sun. No classes. I try to tell him he's no longer a teenager. :) But sometimes he acts (most of the time) like a 6 or 12 year old. :)

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7/16/18

It's already staying dark longer here. Dawn not breaking until about 5:12. It is still a beautiful thing.

I remember years back I was in a hole with no windows. Another where the windows were painted over and then there were the years I couldn't see the beauty of the dawn or the sunrise for all the madness, hate, and fear that enveloped me like a shell.

I finally received some medication for my arthritis yesterday, hydroxychloroquine. Me neither. If I wasn't looking at it, I couldn't spell it. They gave me no information on it, only take it twice a day. The doctor bumrushed me out when I saw him last week. Just said the rheumatologist recommends it. If anyone has any information on it and wants to share it with me, it would be appreciated.

Another lockdown day again yesterday. Short on staff. It started with no dayroom because one of the guards in the building left. They opened the yard at 8 just to close it before I even walked a lap around the track. :) They have way too many guards working here to begin with. Look for more of the same today. Or maybe they'll just want to redirect some guards to another part of the prison to help search for some cellphones. :)

Then there is the training time. I've never been to a prison where they train so much, at least three or four times a week. Every Sat. morning between 8-9, sometime until noon. They have fence training here so much the fence should be able to guard the prison without any guards.

I got a ducat last night to work as a PM porter in the building, as long as they understand I can do every little thing with my hands. Maybe wipe tables. I think the doctor will medically unassign me when I see him on 8/6. We'll see how it works out.

When I'm writing, I find I have trouble with spelling of the most simple words. It's not that I don't know the spelling of it, just goes down wrong on paper. Must be something in the brain/hand message. :)

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7/21/18

I was right about the job. All they want me to do is wipe some tables and some phones once a day. No big deal. These people just want everyone to have a job. The good thing is I'm out after dinner before they unlock and can shower without waiting in line. I can get on the phone without arguing about who's in line next. They don't have a phone list here, so you have some people jumping someone off the phone all day. Must be nice to have that kind of money. Rotes have gone down some here, but that still adds up fast.

It is hot here now, a-hundred-in-the-shade-days. As if we were allowed to stand in the shade. :) Now of course, the guards are allowed to stand in the shade of the buildings, but then they're holding the building up, aren't they. :) It is a little cooler in the mornings, between 8-10. When I go out there, it rarely gets to 90 degrees before 10. :)

The way the buildings are set up in a parallel type box. At one time, there were openings between the buildings to let the air flow, but they've built more buildings between the old buildings (all of them) to effectively cut the flow off.

As I was saying, I go out between 8-10 and walk the track for the two hours. Some days, I keep a good pace and some days I have to go real slow. But I go as this is just about the only exercise I get. :)

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7/24/18

I've been taking these hydroxychloroquine pills for a week now, and I notice no difference except my fingers haven't locked u. They only locked up once the week before I started these meds. My fingers and toes are still numb all the time and the pain wakes me up in the night. Locked down again yesterday. Short stuff or some excuse. :)

I did finish the portrait of my sister Linda. I did a good job on it considering the pictures I worked from where the largest shot of the head was only 1/2 inch by 3/4 inch.

6 A.M. It's daylight out, but the sun itself has made it over the hills. People are moving around across the road from my window. Guards are coming and going.

Don't be afraid to leave a message. let me know that my notes are getting out there and someone is reading them.

A lot more people are in love today, but they don't share the same domicile. Thought they are definitely couples. In the future, we will see more people going back and forth between assisted living facilities.

Sure would like for someone to put down a few words on the blog. Make an old man's heart sing in key.