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Friday, September 19, 2008

September 16, 2008

Dear Sis~
Two more days until my birthday (I've read that, statistically, more people are born in September than any other month) and at the top of my list of things I'm thankful for must be the fact that I'm alive. Being a glass-half-full type of guy, I'm in accord with the old maxim that every day above ground is a good day. Having said that, things continue to deteriorate here in a general sense. Our already terrible food has gotten even worse under the current budget crisis here in Virginia (the governor has told all state agencies to cut their budgets by up to 15%). The portions are tiny and the quality abysmal, mostly cold and starchy. The vegetables and potatoes are consistently rotten and full of sand, the "meat" is all fake ( a soy-based mystery meat which makes you gag) and all the food is served cold 90% of the time. We get these rotten potatoes with every meal, including every breakfast. You already know we get a "bag lunch" (a single bread bun with rotten lunch meat and 2 slices of fake American cheese) and on weekends we only get 2 meals a day (no lunch at all). Now, the latest budget move is that we are no longer issued a bar of state soap each week; we have to pay for our soap now. Traditionally, in all jails and prisons, the state provides soap and toilet paper each week (in some prisons, this extends to toothpaste, paper and envelopes). This is because most prisoners are dirt poor, with little or no money on their books. Now soap is no longer issued (as with most prisons, the soap we were issued were bars of crude, lye-based soap made by prisoners themselves). From now on, unless you have no money on the books you cannot get a bar of state soap, you must buy your soap from the canteen. Those who qualify for a bar of state soap will have a lien placed on their account, so when ever do receive any money, the cost of the state soap will be deducted from their funds. Rumor is that toilet paper will be next, but fortunately so far, that is just a rumor (first they'll have to start selling it in the canteen, something not presently done). I'm not a chronic complainer (I know things could be a lot worse) but things are really bad here now and destined to get worse. And yet, I'm still alive for another B-day, so in the end, it's all good!
Give the doggies a hug for me and give my regards to C.P. (at 90 years old, he's in better shape than many guys 25 years younger).
Love, Bill
P.S. We will be going on quarterly lockdown at the end of the week.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey bill,
wow, thanks for writing back. well you was right, brett sure didnt help your dolphins out. but it looks like they got over it. how about that ronnie brown? he didnt just open a cup of whoop-as_, he opened up a 55 gallon drum of the stuff. hopefully for them they can keep the momentum going. looks like the honeymoon is over for matt c. and arron rodgers. i hate to get all serious on you and put you on the spot, but enquiring minds need to know- you think the Cubs will win the world series this year?
jesse

Unknown said...

Hi Bill,,, as an ex-offender from VA-DOC I know all to well about the cuts.... But at the same I will check the ACA standards; as I believe that soap and toilet paper is a necessary item for survival and must be furnished. i will be sure to let you know of my findings. In the meantime keep your chin-up and know that I too am a longtime DOLPHIN fan myself. I have even met Larry Czonka as a little girl (smile)...

Anonymous said...

If I had to survive on death row based on the descriptions you gave on this long, detailed summary of what life is like day by day, I'd just drop my appeals and demand my execution (literally). Of course I don't encourage this, I just speak for myself. The conditions there just seem unlivable, I'd free myself of all the suffering knowing my chances of ever going free are almost 1 in a trillion. There would be no point to continue living on in such an environment

Hopefully Gov. Crist decides not to sign a warrant for your execution bill, I enjoy reading your blog entries and there are many others who should be high up on that list before yourself. I should mention I am pro-death penalty and in reviewing the Commission On Capital Cases website, ALOT of those guys do deserve to be executed. I had no sympathy for Richard Henyard or that scum Mark Schwab (both child killers), but we are convinced of your innocence along with the case of Tommy Zeigler.

James