shitty news at work yesterday in that we found out that the rather cozy schedule we've been enjoying of working 3 12-hour days, followed by 4 days off, 3 12s & an 8-hour day followed by 3 days off is coming to an end, to be replaced by 5 8 hour days with 2 days off (in the middle of the week, no less) makes me kinda regret not sticking to the whole college thing.
this, & some other groovy things that have been happening like the utter eradication of overtime, advancements, promotions & a freeze on any transfers, & a reduction of the minimum number of officers required to safely run the prison from 68 to 38 over the past few months are an effort to correct a serious deficit incurred last year (& none of it by this institution, which miraculosly stayed in the black almost since it opened)--which is cool & understandable, but the methods are remarkably similar to some of Preznit Bush's policies like suggesting that we could prevent forest fires by chopping down the trees, or making the air cleaner by redefining just what we mean by "clean" air, or making the world safe for democracy by getting rid of all those pesky civil liberties, or...
hell, I could go on like this for hours...
I also found out today that in a couple of weeks I'll be transferred to Unit Six, which is sort of a transitional unit, in theory, where inmates who have proven themselves reasonably well-behaved during a stretch in the Hole work their way up to join the General Population. in practice, most of the inmates in 6 won't make it to G.P. because almost all are gang members, mostly the hispanic gangs, most or all of which have some sort of war, declared or incipient. (a truce between two factions--one from Nevada, one from Cali, was declared null & void a couple of months so theres been no little aprehension of some slicing & dicing since. the past couple of months there HAVE been a fair share of gang-related shankings, almost all of it perpetrated by the whites. which just goes to show you.)
incidentally, unit 6 was where I spent my first day "on line" the senior officer, the dude in charge of the unit, was the same officer who'd given us our training in d.t.s (defensive tactics) in Academy, & I think he'd been less than impressed with my coordination & physical prowess (which are virtually non-existent. I've always found it better to talk my way out of trouble.) plus I was probably the only person in the history of the Academy to show up on the first day sporting a mohawk, which I definitely did NOT have when they'd given me the interview beforehand. I just like to fuck with people's heads sometimes.
anyway, this guy was ex-military & built along the lines of a sequoia, while I bring to mind a willow sapling that hasn't been getting much rain of late.
anyway, the first day the only instruction was, "Go out on the tier. We need Officer Presence out there on the tier."
dutifully, I went out on tier. where I had absolutely no idea what the fuck I was doing. it didn't take me long to realize that 95% of what I learned in Academy was absolutely worthless.
so I kinda stood for a while with my arms crossed. then I sat at one of the steel tables. the inmates were doing all kindsa shit around me but I wasn't sure what I should be doing about it. mostly they seemed to be checking me out & sizing me up.
after maybe an hour & a half the senior came out & said, "You look nervous, kid. Are you nervous? Don't be nervous. I mean, any one of these sadistic motherfuckers is willing & capable of throwing you down, fucking you up the ass, cutting your throat, & fucking you in the throat. But don't be nervous about it. I'll be right there in the bubble (the control room in the center of the unit) with the shotgun & the mini-14 & I GOT YOUR BACK!" & then he chuckled & went back to the bubble where he presumably spent the rest of the shift laughing his ass off.
during the next 4 or five hours I think I exhaled 3 times.
such was my first day (at the end of which I went to the parking lot, ass unmolested & throat intact) to find that I'd left my headlights on & my battery was dead.
this, & some other groovy things that have been happening like the utter eradication of overtime, advancements, promotions & a freeze on any transfers, & a reduction of the minimum number of officers required to safely run the prison from 68 to 38 over the past few months are an effort to correct a serious deficit incurred last year (& none of it by this institution, which miraculosly stayed in the black almost since it opened)--which is cool & understandable, but the methods are remarkably similar to some of Preznit Bush's policies like suggesting that we could prevent forest fires by chopping down the trees, or making the air cleaner by redefining just what we mean by "clean" air, or making the world safe for democracy by getting rid of all those pesky civil liberties, or...
hell, I could go on like this for hours...
I also found out today that in a couple of weeks I'll be transferred to Unit Six, which is sort of a transitional unit, in theory, where inmates who have proven themselves reasonably well-behaved during a stretch in the Hole work their way up to join the General Population. in practice, most of the inmates in 6 won't make it to G.P. because almost all are gang members, mostly the hispanic gangs, most or all of which have some sort of war, declared or incipient. (a truce between two factions--one from Nevada, one from Cali, was declared null & void a couple of months so theres been no little aprehension of some slicing & dicing since. the past couple of months there HAVE been a fair share of gang-related shankings, almost all of it perpetrated by the whites. which just goes to show you.)
incidentally, unit 6 was where I spent my first day "on line" the senior officer, the dude in charge of the unit, was the same officer who'd given us our training in d.t.s (defensive tactics) in Academy, & I think he'd been less than impressed with my coordination & physical prowess (which are virtually non-existent. I've always found it better to talk my way out of trouble.) plus I was probably the only person in the history of the Academy to show up on the first day sporting a mohawk, which I definitely did NOT have when they'd given me the interview beforehand. I just like to fuck with people's heads sometimes.
anyway, this guy was ex-military & built along the lines of a sequoia, while I bring to mind a willow sapling that hasn't been getting much rain of late.
anyway, the first day the only instruction was, "Go out on the tier. We need Officer Presence out there on the tier."
dutifully, I went out on tier. where I had absolutely no idea what the fuck I was doing. it didn't take me long to realize that 95% of what I learned in Academy was absolutely worthless.
so I kinda stood for a while with my arms crossed. then I sat at one of the steel tables. the inmates were doing all kindsa shit around me but I wasn't sure what I should be doing about it. mostly they seemed to be checking me out & sizing me up.
after maybe an hour & a half the senior came out & said, "You look nervous, kid. Are you nervous? Don't be nervous. I mean, any one of these sadistic motherfuckers is willing & capable of throwing you down, fucking you up the ass, cutting your throat, & fucking you in the throat. But don't be nervous about it. I'll be right there in the bubble (the control room in the center of the unit) with the shotgun & the mini-14 & I GOT YOUR BACK!" & then he chuckled & went back to the bubble where he presumably spent the rest of the shift laughing his ass off.
during the next 4 or five hours I think I exhaled 3 times.
such was my first day (at the end of which I went to the parking lot, ass unmolested & throat intact) to find that I'd left my headlights on & my battery was dead.