Happy Halloween

It's not a federal holiday, so nothing special for Halloween. Although, I have heard there may be cupcakes during lunch. You may notice from my posts, that food seems to come up a lot. I've thought about why everyone here is so obsessed with the food - which is often barely edible and sometimes wonderful... I think it's because in prison, it is the only nourishment we get. Prison takes away our right to nourish most parts of our life - we are not allowed to love openly, we cannot have any touch with anyone, we can only learn what they allow us to learn, we can't express ourselves through style, we can't take a bath - all the ways we nourish ourselves on the outside are pretty much taken away from us.

They have to feed us, though, and once in a while - the food is good. Everyone talks about the "treats" they give us once in a while and it brings a smile to many faces. If, in fact, there is a cupcake today, the lines will be very long for lunch, as everyone wants a little bit of nourishment. It will be even better if it is decorated for Halloween!

I will spend most of today under desks and tables... I am hooking up computers in the education department. All classes are cancelled for the rest of the week, while we get the department fully computerized to help make the shift for all our GED testing to be done via computer (which is mandated for January 1st). For two hours yesterday afternoon, Freckles and I crawled under tables and unplugged old computers and plugged in the new computers. It was hot, and for the first time, I was allowed to take off my outer buttoned shirt (down to my t-shirt) in the education department. Freckles and I knew we'd both feel the strain of crawling around on the ground in our bodies later, but for the first time since I have been here, I was feeling like my old self again... Everyone at home calls me for their electronics help, and now I was able to do it here. We hooked up 26 new computer systems yesterday. Overall, the department is getting well over 100 new computers installed this week.

It does cause a problem for the GED team, however. Many, many, many of our students do not know how to type. I sit in the email lab, and most people are searching and pecking on their keyboards. If they are going to take a timed GED test using computers, we have to get them comfortable typing - otherwise, they will run out of time on their tests.

Also, these computers will NOT have Internet at all. So, still no googling. In fact, I learned that if an inmate somehow gets on the Internet, it is considered, "escape by computer" - a MAJOR offense. Since it is an unlawful connection with the outside world - it is equivalent to escaping from prison. It's no different than how they treat inmate death - "escape by death." I kid you not...

Well, happy Halloween. Today, I decided to dress as a prisoner. Unfortunately, everyone else around me have the same costume on!