Letter from Taylor 8/5
So I started working on my cookbook holder and there was this huge card catalog thingy in the shop. It’s about 6 feet tall and has 85 4”x 2“ cubbies and a double door cabinet on the bottom. The CO (Corrections Officer) came to me and asked if I would retrofit it and add shelving to match what was on the top, with the little cubbies. So we (John and I) got started on it right away.
We took off the cabinet doors and cut out the cabinet shelf on the inside. I got started on making the shelves for the inside. I took Cherrywood and plained it down to 11/16” and 5/8” for the vertical walls and new shelves. I cleaned the wood, ripped the wood, sanded it, then most ingenious of all I used to dado saw blade in the table saw to cut ⅛” grooves, to slide the shelves in to. The whole thing is working out really good. The CO was surprised at how far along we got into the project. I’m a little proud about how far along we got. I like getting some of the trust that he gives me for the projects. I really shouldn’t want to do anything for my captores, but I just naturally want to do whatever I do as well as I can do it.
… I guess today the stock market is totally crashing. On Twitter #KamalaCrash was trending number one at some point today. The market crashed like 1000 points today, the Japanese stock market dropped 12%, and they had to stop trading, it was so bad. This is a huge deal. It is another one of these, proof is in the pudding situations about the economy, and that it is super reflective of this regime’s economic policy. It is also a huge thing people will vote for, because the economy touches everybody.
The radio pundits today were all over the place. They are just inundated with the media and don’t always have accurate “feels” for the real world, which can also happen to us. You can get into an echo chamber online or with your media sources all too easily. I like talking to some of the random people in here, because I can get out of my echo chamber. I have been pleased by what I have learned from the black guys I have talked to so far. Clay and Buck were playing a clip on guys in a barbershop saying that Kamala was Asian, and her not being all black, but appropriating it, makes them not want to vote for her. We will see.
Today on the Bongino show he has been talking a lot about the J6 pipe bomb case and how the Secret Service deleted the text messages that day. Also, they didn’t generate any paperwork with regards to Kamala being 25 feet away from the pipe bomb.
The CO on the floor today hasn’t sorted the mail yet. I am still waiting for your photo book. I saw a handful of blue photo packs in the pile. Hopefully one of them has my name on it.
I feel pretty good about commissary this morning. I didn’t buy any candy or sweets. I just bought rice, protein, tortillas, pork, rinds, condiments, deodorant, some cologne oil, juice mix, sausage, and cheese. Next week I will probably keep it to about $40…..
We had chow, or as they call it “mainline”, right after 5 PM. One of the guys in the bunk next to me, when I first got here, got packed out today. He put in for a transfer to a camp and is headed to Pensacola Florida. That’s great for him because he is originally from Mobile, Alabama. He has never had a visit here, so now he’s within an hour of home. I’m happy for him. I will miss him. He was a solid libertarian type person and was always good if you wanted to hear a rant about the government. We actually signed a Bible to send to his grandma who is a fan. Then I went ahead and wrote her a letter and told her about the website. She wrote me back with a little card and I wrote her back again…
This situation in Venezuela is totally crazy. I guess the opposition leaders told the military to stand down and abandon support for Maduro and to stop oppressing protesters. So in response the Maduro government is opening an investigation against the opposition leaders. It’s so sad to see that happening down there. I pray they figure it out. Most reputable countries in the world are recognizing the opposition party. It is shocking how much of a thug Maduro has been. One thing he is reported to have done is drain many prisoners and send them north across the US southern border. Nuts!!
So I went to rec and no one else went, so I just listened to Dan Bongino‘s third hour of his radio show. I also read a couple chapters in the book Heidi sent me called, Falling Upward. It is really good, except in my opinion, the author needs a dose of his own medicine when he talks about the Tea Party and puts them in a box.
I was in the middle of writing an email when the CO came in yelling at us to “all get in your box!”. I didn’t know what was going on. Apparently there was a fight in here. Someone who just got here already got himself into debt and on peoples nerves so he got “crushed”. I don’t think he was too badly hurt. He ran to the bubble, which is the guards office, and “crashed out”, which means by turning himself in he goes to the Special Housing Unit, which is also called “The Hole”. I guess he has been down (in prison) for five years and has been in five prisons. That always means that they get into trouble too much and get moved. Then the guards came into our room to check our hands to see if they were bruised or bloody. They did end up hauling out three or four other Hispanics. So… I think the protocol is the victim goes to the Hole for a couple days, up to a few weeks, then he will just get moved to a different housing unit, likely one with air conditioning. The other guys, depending on their custody score, will end up moving up a security level to a medium/high. Now, if everyone just keeps their mouths shut, it’s also possible they end up back in the yard (being in the yard just means back in general population).
I love you so much. I got an email from Fisher about having a heavy heart and having a hard time breathing. Breaks my heart so much to hear that. I am at a loss as to what to say or do for him. I have to trust that he has you and that you can console him and give him the tools he needs to cope and deal with his emotions. I know we have said so many times, but when this is over, just like our missions, the time will have flown by. When we look forward, time is long. When we look back, it is short, however, in this moment is when we actually exist.
We are just waiting for count. I am going to be calling you at 9:30 my time, which is 7:30 PM your time. The whole fight thing threw me off the normal schedule. I look forward to talking to you. Hopefully, you had some great news for me. Love, Taylor.