--- FRIDAY MORNING STUFF... AND SOME RESOLUTIONS ---
4th January 2019

I just got back from going to CHOW (breakfast) and I had to go to the pill line. It's 6:38 am EST as I sit here and drink a cup of coffee that's blacker and more bitter than my next-door neighbor. I'm in the last unit on the yard (the compound is rectangular shaped, with the rec yard and gun tower in the middle), which means that I have to travel about 3/4 of a mile and through three metal detectors (and 5 locked fences that have cops standing next to them) just to get to the chow hall. I've been here three days now and they've yet to give me my meds that I keep in my locker (for hypertension). My blood pressure was 163/109 walking in the door on Wednesday, so I imagine that it's even higher today.

Good thing I live with the Doc (my cellie Dr. Paul Volkman), even though I've given him instructions not to resusitate me if I have a heart attack or choke on a honey bun). He's a pretty bitter guy, which is understandable since according to Ohio's state laws that govern physicians, he didn't break the law (see no causation). He's had some problems back here (in prison, and when he was at USP Terre Haute and other joints, and he's gotten himself beaten up a couple of times. You might wonder what kinda scumbag would beat up a 71 yr old man. About 90% of the people back here. No shit. He doesn't help his cause either because his attitude is distant, which back here is perceived as somewhat arrogant and akin to "I'm not supposed to be here." In the world of self-absorbed criminals, that attitude is interpreted as "I'm not supposed to be here, but YOU damn sure are."

Doc is amazed that I don't have and won't buy a lock. I told him simply, I can be a victim, but I promise you that whoever steals my stuff will have their blood splattered all over the cell block and leave on a stretcher. Stealing from me (like putting your hands on me) is "A red line." I'll get busy over it in a minute. But, although I recently had three lesser felons manage to give me a concussion (the first time that's ever happened in all my years of doing time), I've never had my stuff stolen before.

There is no honor among thieves, only consequences. People back here only respond to violence or the threat of it.

I watched the sun go down last night behind the gun tower and it was a nice sight. This place is kinda strange because people aren't clicked up (by gang) like they usually are at other pens (it's allegedly a "Gang free" USP). Our block was locked down for two weeks prior to my arrival because this block (cell block I-2) has the highest number of overdoses in the prison (from k2...synthetic weed). At least one a day. My first night here, the cops came running in the block right after lockdown like they were handing out free donuts because a guy was passed out unconscious on his floor (they said he was twitching and doing the Funky Chicken). I stood at the door watching "Medical" wheel him out in a wheelchair, and glanced over at The Doc and said, "One of your patients, I presume?" He grinned and said, "Touche." He had 13 deaths associated with his practice and was tried and convicted of four deaths, then given consecutive LIFE sentences for them. That means he has to die four times just to fulfill them. Obviously, I don't bitch about my time around him. He (and most here) would gladly welcome my little 20 yr sentence. It's all relative.

Alright, that's all for now. I'm going to play Knock Gin (for a penny a point) with a bank robber from Maine that I was at Lewisburg with. I hope you're sticking to your resolutions and had a fine Christmas... Here's my gift-list if I could travel the DeLorean back to 2009 and even more bitter days:
10) A new Scanner
9) A 5-gallon bucket of dye remover
8) Kevlar underwear and T-Shirts
7) The name of a good defense attorney
6) A guidebook on favorable prisons
5) The name of a good appellate attorney
4) A fake beard
3) New hoodies
2) Performance enhancing drugs, preferably heroin
1) A Mask

Jeffrey P. Frye
murderslim.com
Bank Robber's Blog
bankblogger.weebly.com
@bankblogger2