🔵 By Michael Klevene. Photo by lauragrafie.
Michael’s Weekly Diary 28.12.21-02.01.22
Thought for the day –
„We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled.
The trick is knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out“.- Ray Bradbury
Today’s Bible reading – Isaiah 41: 8-13. Mon. Dec. 27, 2021. My friend Al has been up all night trying to get his bloody nose stopped bleeding but has had no luck. It’s gotten worse – he’s losing lots of blood and it’s all over the bathroom floor, walls, toilet, sink. Medical has kept putting him off, but finally at 7am a medic came, checked his condition, and after he passed out again, finally got taken to Medical office. I’ve been told an ambulance was seen at the back entrance so we assume Al has been taken to the hospital for emergency care. I hope he makes it OK. Today our lunch is supposed to be chili cheese fries – but we are served fries, lettuce & tomato, bread, mayo, and a big slice of turkey to make a great sandwich! Only had the turkey twice in the 8 years I’ve been in the BOP. Great lunch! Rec called at noon – I stayed in & napped instead, then made my January calendar for next week’s use. Mail call gave me 2 magazine bills and today’s USA Today paper. Dinner is supposed to be chicken fried rice & black beans, but another surprise was pepper steak, rice & green beans. We were supposed to have that last week but better late than never – it was really tasty.
Today’s Bible reading – Jude 1: 17-23. Tues. Dec. 28. No fog today – breakfast called at 7:07am – stayed in & made a Pop-Tart instead, expecting bran flakes again. I just saw that Al was back from the hospital – he’s looking pretty bad – looks all white and pasty-faced in a wheelchair-big plastic tube in his bloody nose. Will be going back to medical this morning I hear – he shouldn’t be here but in the hospital… Called to lunch at 11:30 – supposed to be chicken patty sandwich – (but we haven’t had that for several weeks now) – all of a sudden chicken seems to be out-of-stock in the kitchen. Got to the chow hall – was served something new again – ground beef – fried rice mixture with carrots, onions & peppers. Green peas for vegetable – Thin Mints Girl Scout cookies for dessert. Wasn’t too bad and something new is always welcomed. Took a nap again today – being up at 4:30am is very tiring for me so an hour or hour & 1/2 really helps. Mail call delivered a beautiful note & copy of a card from Rev. Vicki at Hyde Park Methodist where I worked for 20 years. It was great hearing from her – I’ll send a card back & photo I had taken this month out on the rec yard. Also got 5 magazines & one new one – „Hemmings Muscle Machines“ with lots of photos and articles on the great old 60’s, 70’s & 80’s muscle cars. I had 2 1968 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supremes in my younger days & loved them both. We got the news today we have gone back up to YELLOW LEVEL so some Covid 19 restrictions are back on – not eating in the chow hall & visitation is cancelled for now, among others. We did eat dinner in the chow hall tonight – were expecting chicken cheese steak but had BBQ shred chicken instead with green beans & rice. Haven’t had any chicken for a while so they must have gotten some in today. Went to commissary – they ran us through fast in only 45 minutes today. Only spent $36 though – didn’t need much, or things I would have gotten were out of stock again. Al was called to the Lieutenant’s Office during commissary – he hasn’t come back yet so must be back in the hospital.
Today’s Bible reading – Revelation 5: 1-7. Wed. Dec. 29. Back to LEVEL 2 YELLOW so went to pick up breakfast tray – supposed to be pancakes, potatoes & oatmeal BUT instead got bran flakes & cake. Still no sight of our friend Al, (who was called to the LT’s Office yesterday if you read yesterday’s message). Rec and Education supposed to be called at 7:30 and 8am but not called yet – (I guess they don’t remember how to do the YELLOW level again…) and rec was finally called, but not until after lunch at 1:30 pm. Nope, they don’t know what’s going on – lunch was supposed to be grab-and-go but we were given Styrofoam trays in the chow hall but ate there! Along with C2,3 & 4. We think that the move to YELLOW was not necessary as we have no known Covid cases here at the low. We’ll find out when we go to dinner later how they handle that… and still no sign or word about Al at 2pm. Well, the guidance and latest rules for handling Covid have come out – we can get our grab-and-go meal trays by unit but separated by lower and upper – not together with everyone both at meals and rec yard, also work units and education classes by unit lower/upper only. Masks worn outside again as well as inside. Visitation cancelled. Menu tonight was „chef’s salad“ but we got BBQ pork, baked potato & collards. First pork we’ve been served in almost 2 years! It was really good too. Waiting for late mail call – got one magazine- (People)- & USA Today.
Today’s Bible reading – Proverbs 3:13-18. Thursday Dec. 30. Only 2 days left in the year. Got up at 4:35 this morning & found many people in my sink room – another orderly asked where I’d been – it was 5:37. I didn’t believe him as my clock by my bed said 4:37, so I was an hour late to work. Looked up front at the clock and sure enough, it was 5:40, not 4:40. Got to work fast & cleaned in 20 minutes, showered & still had time before breakfast was called – but barely finished with everything to go get bran flakes & milks – not even any cake today. I feel someone reset my clock somehow at some point during the night – I can’t see how the time could have been advanced 11 hours as it involves changing switches & pushing buttons. Might never figure it out but will keep an eye & ear out to determine what happened… Lots of fog today also which will probably delay any movement on the compound even beyond the Covid restrictions. 11:30 lunch called – fog is all gone. Expecting to pick up baked chicken, sweet potato, mixed vegetables, pie but – picked up fried chicken, green beans & carrots, no pie or dessert. Fried chicken somewhat overcooked as always but mostly pretty good. A/C and shower fans have been broken/not working for 3 days now – Facilities supposed to be „working on them“ but still not on. Urinals & sinks plugged up – also supposed to be „fixed“ today but not yet at 1:45pm. Nope – didn’t get anything fixed today – still no AC, shower fans, sinks or urinals. Now it won’t be until next week because of the Holidays. Dinner call – picked up steak & cheese, rice, carrots, bun. Supposed to be with baked potato & green beans. At least we got the steak & cheese… No AC in the dorm – it’s really warm, stuffy & humid. Going to have to put up with this all weekend.
Today’s Bible reading – Philippians 3: 15-21. Friday Dec. 31 – New Years Eve day. Last day of 2021. Another foggy day but went to pick up breakfast trays – finally had oatmeal after many months without! Also blueberry cake & milks. Holiday schedule so no „inspection ready, lights on“ except everyone had to get up for fog count at 8am. Count was good – everyone is still here… Just waiting to see if we have our New Year’s Holiday meal today or tomorrow – called to lunch pick-up at 12:30 – found out it is our Holiday meal today – so we had 2 trays to pick up, along with a bag of Holiday cookies, bag of baked potato chips, and a piece of frosted Birthday Cake. The first tray held a large slab of roast beef, baked potato, collard greens & black-eyed peas, and bread, peanut butter & jelly in the other tray which is our „dinner“ tonight. Beef was decent – saved some to heat up later for dinner instead of the peanut butter, along with a baked potato from my cellie Tony. Hot in the dorm with no AC working – hard to nap – sweating a lot. 2 haircutters in the bathroom sink room today so we can only get to 2 of the sinks – makes it hard to keep it clean with too many guys in there. So, I heated up my left-over beef and potatoes – was good the second time around. Wasted away the rest of the night reading & doing crossword puzzles again. Tonight is New Year’s Eve – the beginning, and end, of another year. HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!
Today’s Bible reading – John 1: 1-14. Saturday January 1, 2022. Now I’ll have to try to remember this is 2022 and get all the 2’s in there. Another foggy morning – called to pick up breakfast trays and found more bran flakes, milks, yellow cake & a (surprise) banana! Happy New Year! Typical Saturday morning left lights off until 9:30 to get ready for the 10am count. Called first to pick up lunch trays- got scrambled eggs, French toast, tater tots. Not a bad brunch- being first it was still somewhat warm too. Called to rec at noon- I needed my nap so stayed in- rec is 3 hours long and being up at 4:30am leaves me tired enough to need the extra hour/ hour & half nap instead of being out in the hot sun. Supposed to tie or break the record high temperature record (83 deg.) for the date today- doesn’t feel like winter at all yet- cold front due tomorrow so cooler weather maybe on the way. Dinner supposed to be chicken ala king- went to pick up dinner tray and found chili mac & carrots. Not too much food there- must be putting us on a diet. Can’t wait to see what we’ll get tomorrow…
Today’s Bible reading – 2 Colossians 3: 1-10. Sunday Jan. 2. Ice machine is not working right so ran out of ice by 7:15 am this morning. I got what I needed at 5:15 so I’m OK for now – have to keep my 2 milks cold for lunch & dinner use. AC is still out also, so very warm in here today in spite of the fans pulling cooler air from the center offices. They must have their own AC unit back there as it seems to be cooler for the office workers. The fans don’t help much, however. Lunch is called – went to pick up tray – and it’s what was supposed to be served today – surprise! Scrambled eggs, potatoes, biscuits & gravy – it was all pretty good too. Rec is called at noon but I’m staying in to nap until the 1pm NFL Football game of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the New York Jets. The Bucs are 11-4, and the Jets are 4-11 so it should be a good easy game. Well, the Bucs seem slow & lazy so the Jets are leading 24-10 into the 3rd quarter- the Bucs better get going! Finally the Bucs defense and offense are starting to get things going – New York is still leading in the 4th quarter 24-20 – but Tom Brady has the ball with 2 minutes left and works his magic to score the final touchdown, along with a 2-point conversion to lead 28-24 with 15 seconds remaining. The defense holds, causes a fumble & recovers a take-away to finish the game a winner! Unfortunately, during the 3rd quarter wide receiver Antonio Brown has a disagreement with the coach and we find out after the game Antonio is no longer a Buccaneer! Hate to lose him with the playoffs coming up – he was an important weapon for the offense. Hope to find out more about that later on. Stay tuned… Called to dinner – roast beef, mashed potatoes, carrots. Big slab of roast beef- mostly not too overcooked so I made beef stew out of the ingredients. Tasted pretty good. Hot inside tonight – got rid of the blanket after midnight but a cold front has come through so by 4am I needed my blanket again from the cold wind blowing in through my window. Should be colder going to breakfast later this morning… and word is we might be going back to „Level 3 RED“ and more lockdowns – so time will tell. Stay tuned!