Has it really been 10 days since I've written anything for this blog? Well, it must be because here I am, 10 days from the last post.

Just because I'm not posting here doesn't mean I'm not writing at all but I'm definitely not writing every single day which is my commitment to myself. I think about doing it but don't seem to get to it most days. I have lots of excuses--

• I've had more hours with my regular job which really takes the energy out of me
• My fibro is acting up so I have...

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Written 3/06

As you might guess, pets are not allowed in prison. In fact, they are definitely forbidden. Well, many years before I got there, Pleasanton had a problem with mice. The mythology said that one morning one of the inmates woke up to find a mouse had built a nest in her hair while she slept. I’m not sure how true it is but I was told that mousetraps couldn’t be allowed in the units because they had parts that could be turned into…well, something dangerous, I guess. At...

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written 3/06, took place in 1986

Each December we were allowed to receive one box from an approved person on our correspondence list. There were many regulations about what could be received in the box, how much it could weigh, when it must arrive, and from whom. There were specific regulations on everything.

We could receive some food in those boxes so it was a time of great excitement in the unit. Food was limited to items that could not have been tampered with by an individual prior...

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written prior to the movie of the same name

So, there I was, trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey, in hand cuffs, leg irons and everything neatly joined together by chains to yet another chain around my waist. I was heading for the stairs of a very large airplane which was guarded by very serious-looking guys wearing jackets that said US Marshall across the back of them and holding very menacing looking automatic weapons. They were posted at the nose, tail, and each wing of the airplane...

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written 3/06

Some prison food isn’t half bad—some of it is downright awful—occasionally it’s actually good. The problem is the lack of variety. All food cooked for prison dining rooms ends up in steam pans. It’s impossible to cook food fresh for that many people who eat within an hour or so. Pretty soon it all starts to taste the same.

Then there are those meals when it just isn’t something you want to eat—like liver and onions. Actually, when we had liver and onions...

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