Put Your Hands on the Wall
As I am typing this email/NEWSLETTER... next to my friend Doc Randy. We were told to STOP what we are doing and put our hands on the wall. We were then searched and frisked. THE GUARDS ARE IN A MOOD. Its moments like these I think to myself..."WHAT THE F AM I DOING HERE?" Occasionally, I stop and look around and remember I am in a federal prison camp...Surreal!!!!
Why are the guards in a mood you ask? An inmate nicknamed KID ROCK (looks just like him) was caught with the biggest bag you have ever seen from.... wait for it.... APPLEBEES. I mean the whole place was probably "eating good in the neighborhood. “ It was that much stuff. He is in BIG trouble (New charges. Minimum 24 additional months, plus a long stay in the HOLE). The craziest part.... he had less than a year to spend here (out in 5 months). Pretty big risk to (I am assuming this) to make some money. But that is what people do here. They don’t think. WOW
We have ourselves a weight loss challenge. One of the RDAP Staff mentioned that we can organize our own contest, so I have done just that. So far there is about 10 of us...but it is growing every day. We had our weigh in. The contest is for 6 months with a grand prize but also monthly prizes. The loser must cook for the others and do their laundry. Substantial reason to want to win.
I have an unorganized locker.
People are very aware of my idiosyncrasies. The mantra of "Dumbest Smart Guy" that I have been called since college has caught on bigtime here. I have way too much stuff.
Anyway, my locker was frustrating for my friends with OCD. So much so that while I was studying, they gave me a Leavenworth locker makeover. It was funny. I caught them all huddled around my locker. At first, I was stunned until I saw the finished product (wish I had a camera) .... It looks amazing. Still much for me to improve.
I have started playing Pickle ball daily. Have any of you played this? It is basically tennis with a wiffle ball. It is gotten crazy popular here. We have tournaments and daily games. There are some people that are insanely good at it. I am not good. Craziest thing I have heard/seen
at the LPC this week.
This past week one of my coworkers in the kitchen and I were pouring out the grease from the pans (ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING). It is a huge vat so full to the top that takes 2 people to walk it out to a huge metal container that you must open to pour the contents. YUCK...it brutal. Anyway....you must walk in the snow to get to the Vat. Its slippery and wet and very dangerous. My coworker kept reminding me to be careful as I was slipping and sliding. I make it back safely. He decided to go back to get something he left behind. I hear this loud thump and a LOUD crack. Mu coworker fell and snapped his leg. I almost lost it. Brutal. He went to medical and got his ankle taped. The worst part of it is he cannot get XRAYS for 3 days since this occurred on a Friday. He is stuck in bed waiting to find out the extent of the damage. ONLY THE BOP BABY. Absolutely sucks.
"Although the Tongue weighs very little, few people are able to hold it." - UNKNOWN
Dad Comment: Scott is continuing to provide brief comments about some of the books he is reading in camp.
The Coffee Bean - Jon Gordon & Damon West
I was interested in reading this book because Damon West was sentenced to life in prison and his personal story is very popular with some of the smarter folks here. He is now a motivational speaker. The book is ok. I think it is like "Who Stole My Cheese." I was excited to read it bit it did not meet my expectations. It is cute.... but short books with a singular message. Just not my style.
The story is about a kid who growing up in need of a means to deal with the trials existing in his life. A science teacher challenges the student to run some experiments as a comparison or demonstration of life lessons.
Life is like a pot of very hot water. If you put a carrot in hot water what happens? It turns to mush. If you put an egg in hot water...it turns into a hardboiled egg. The egg is hardened by its environment. Basically, you don’t want to be like a carrot or egg. You want to be like a coffee bean. If you put a coffee bean in hot water, it eventually transforms its environment (turns to coffee). You can be like a carrot that is weakened by its environment. You can be like an egg that is hardened by its environment. OR YOU CAN BE LIKE A COFFEE BEAN. Cute Story...but for 20$ I want more than a clever story (I will stay away from books like this moving forward.... I got the point).
Romesh
A very good friend of mine passed away this past week. I found out from an email from my father. My reaction was rather dramatic. I got pretty upset and banged my hands on the computer making a bit of a scene. It is the first time I have really lost my cool in here. These situations sometimes bring about unexpected outcomes. One of the biggest/baldest inmates at LPC camp was right next to me on an adjacent computer (his name/street nickname is BLACK, He is over 6'6 probably 350lbs....He is HUGE/MASSIVE. I have said "HI" to this guy probably fifty times without so much as a head bob acknowledging me. He talks to absolutely NO ONE. Anyway, he saw my reaction and looked over at my computer screen. He read the email. What was I going to SAY???? NO THAT'S PRIVATE BRO... NOPE....After reading it he put his hand on my shoulder and asked if he could help. WHAT???? I was stunned. He knew I was seriously hurting. He told me about how he lost his wife and brother over the past year and could empathize.... from that moment on we bonded. I have spoken to him a great deal every day since then. This random stranger, now friend, is the only person besides my family I have really spoken to about Romesh Passing. For some reason I don’t feel comfortable talking about it in here. It is too painful. I tell this rather random story because even under the worst situations good things can happen. Things like this give me faith in people. People can be rather amazing sometimes.
I am sorry I can’t be there Romesh’s brother Suren...Suren is part of my family...closest thing I have to a brother.... I hate that I can’t be there for him and my other friends who are in pain. Grieving in here...detached from everyone you love is so hard and lonely. I know it will be hard for Suren...but he is resilient...He is one of a kind. Suren is just like his big brother.... Amazing. He will come out of this event stronger. I know it. But for the time being he needs us, and I hope everyone does what they can.
Romesh was someone I looked up to. Everyone loved him. He made people’s lives better. He had a wonderful family that worshipped him. I am not trying to say Romesh was perfect. He battled addiction problems. We had that in common. We had a couple very good conversations about it.... However, neither of us wanted to get better enough we just talked about the half measures we took to try and get better (the things we did to show people we didn’t have a problem). I wish at that point in my life I could have given him better advice. Been more help.
I will honor him by getting better and being there in the future for the people that may need my help. I won’t fail those moving forward. I will beat this for both of us. I will choose to remember Romesh as the amazing person he was. A great father, brother, and friend. I will miss him.
I love you all. Stay safe.
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