Dancing With Myself

It was kind of a strange and good night. It started out pretty good and stayed good for the rest of the night.

And that was........ good.

Hmm.... I seem to be running low an adjectives. (Note to self: buy more!)

I was scheduled to be an extra on the yard this evening. When I got in Lt Baby Boy says "You got the mail run and then you're on B-yard. I want you to take one of the new guys with you and show him how it's done. Then take him on the yard with you."

Okey dokey. I can do that.

Like I've said before, most days I don't mind starting the day doing the mail run. You don't do a thing until after 3:30 when the mail gets ready and then you drive around and holler on the radio for about half an hour. That's just an easy way to start the day.

Some days I prefer that to starting out my day slamming some knucklehead to the ground. Much less paperwork.

While I was waiting for the mail I lounged around outside and Sgt Uncle T drove up. Or rather, his wife drove up and let him out. Being the curious type, I trotted on over. I've heard so many stories about her but had never really met her before and now was my chance.

To my immense surprise Sgt Uncle T said that Miz T was a new fan of my blog and becoming a regular reader. Then she shook my hand and said she was "honored" to meet me.

I don't think anyone has ever said that to me before. I was a bit stunned.

So I just want to say Hi Miz Cindy! And I was very pleased to meet you too. That was nice.

And I'd also like to say Hi to Miz Cindy's sister who is also apparently reading me. We haven't met, but I would like to. It's always nice to meet people who read this stuff and don't think I'm just some weirdo. (grin)

So anyway, I took the new guy on the mail run and gave him the rundown of how it's done. I told him "Pay attention. You aren't on OJT any more. From now on they will expect you to know how to do this stuff."

Which is pretty much true. When I transferred over here almost eight years ago they all said "Well, he's been a CO for eight months already! He should know everything!" and they threw me out there and expected me to know what I was doing. Heck, I was lucky if I knew what house I was supposed to be in.

But that's another story.

So after the mail was done we trotted out on the yard just as they were closing and went on down to the chow hall where we caught up with the news of the weekend.

Apparently after the two fights on Friday they had three more over the weekend and the big cheeses were getting a little upset about it. And there seemed to be some concern since Sgt Archer got hurt. Which is perfectly understandable.

Before this nonsense started they didn't want up "clumping up" out on the yard. They wanted us all spread out and still wandering around, covering as much of the yard as possible. Which makes sense in one way and none in another.

Now they want us paired up so in case something happens you will always have backup handy. Now they are finally starting to make a little sense. And since we traditionally only have two yard officers and a Sergeant out there, they started sending us extra people.

Like me and the new guy tonight. And Nook, after his little stint in the Moon Room.

When the yards opened Sarge paired Sausage and St Francis together and the new guy with Nook. I said "I guess I'm just the odd man out." Sarge said "Nope! You go get the other cart and patrol in that. That way if something happens somewhere you can get there faster."

I can't remember the last time we had five CO's out on the yard all at the same time. And I guess the extra presence helped because nothing happened.

There was one point when I was sure there was something either happening or fixing to happen. Lots of inmates were watching a certain area of the yard or kept looking back in that direction. And I could see three or four others trying to look like they were standing around randomly but they were very actively standing as lookouts for somebody or something.

I skittered over and told Sarge and St Francis and Sarge sent him and Sausage down there to cover that area. I kept an eye out but also watched other areas just in case they were trying to draw us away.

Either we missed what happened or our reaction stopped it from happening. We may never know. But at least we got through the night with nobody getting hurt and we all went home at the end of the night. That's always a good thing.

So Tuesday will be Flitch Day. I had to look that one up. Check out the link! It's interesting!

I won't be at work tomorrow. I go to see the surgeon about my tennis elbow and find out the results of that hideous MRI. Hopefully I find out exactly what is wrong with it and maybe what we can do to fix it. Wish me luck!