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September 29, 2004
Letters from Club Fed (3/3)
3:30 PM Mail Call.
4:00 PM Stand-up count. This occurs every single day, without fail, and is the most important part of the day in the BOP (Bureau of Prisons). This count goes from every federal prison in the country to Washington DC so our fearless leadership knows how many of us are incarcerated on a daily basis. Do not, under any circumstances, get caught out of your cube at this time. It is almost considered escape!
4:30 PM Dinner time! Thank goodness my dorm is right next to the chow hall. I’m usually #2 or 3 in line. This may not seem like a big deal to most of you unless you realize that the facility houses about 820 inmates. I don’t want to stand in line for 40 minutes waiting to eat, would you?
5:00 PM Dinner’s finished and I head down to the lagoon with whatever bread, cornbread or cake I can smuggle out of the dining hall to feed the fish or seagulls.
5:30 PM – 9PM Off to the visitation room to play cards. This is my major form of entertainment for the week other than reading. We play “jailhouse” spades most often, a simple “either you have it or you don’t” type of game. We have recently managed to get some of the guys to play “real” spades with Nils, blind bids and overbooks, but this is a thinking man’s game and I don’t think 50 of the 800+ men here qualify as thinking men.
There are of course, 2 televisions in every dorm with a variety of programming, but the noise levels and lewd remarks about the anatomy of every female on screen do not make viewing a pleasant experience in general. It reaches new levels when MTV is onscreen.
Then of course, there are sports galore and of course, where would we be without BET? The overall intelligence level here dictates that if there are an ample supply of tits, ass and car crashes in the viewing material, it’s a hit. Both Chicago and The Hours (yes, we get movies every weekend) flopped miserably. There were only 2 of us left in the TV Room after The Hours. Go figure!
9:00PM – 10:30PM Reading in my bunk and off to dreamland. Another day dawns quickly.
This gives you an idea of my life as a guest of the federal gov’t. It may also suggest why I don’t write as often as I would like. I just don’t have an awful lot to say.
My hope is to have Cary post this on his website so you can all have access to what I may have to relate to you. I’m going to try to write every 2 weeks to update everyone on any noteworthy happenings. What you may find interesting is the workings of the federal gov’t through the prison system. If they run the country like they run the prisons, and from my point of view, they do, you might give serious consideration to emigration.
I appreciate your cards and letters. Please think of me from time to time. They really are a bright spot in my life.
Love you all!
Michael
Note from Cary: Mike’s new sneakers will cost $65. Thanks to anyone who may have already donated. Any overage will go to defraying his monthly allowance from me of $75.
You can email Michael at mike@ this domain name.
Posted by Bastique at September 29, 2004 9:37 AM