Settling in...

Well Lorne is settling in down at Southern Desert.  He still hates it, not that I blame him.  For being a supposedly newer facility, it actually is worse for the inmates than NSP was.  There are far fewer phones per inmate...or should I say working phones.  The other day Lorne called and the connection was absolutely terrible, all full of static and there was even some crossover from other conversations! I think there are two or three phones on his tier, but only one was functional.  On the upside, he did get over to the gym the other day and worked out and he said that he felt much better afterwards.  Because of his eating less, he's also dropped almost 17 pounds since he was transferred. 

His grievances that he filed as a result of his cell searches, damaged property and loss of religious materials have all been denied.  Not surprising especially since it appears that the warden didn't even read the grievances and just decided to add his interpretation of the facts (mixing up dates and times, etc) when denying Lorne's grievance.  The letters that I have sent to the warden at NSP asking for his assistance in these matters have been met with zero responses other than, (I'm going to paraphrase here) I work with fine, professional officers who have an excellent work ethic and your fiancee is making unfounded accusations.  Not a single question that I asked was given a response...not a one.  The fact of the matter is, while I understand that everyone perceives events differently, his continued reluctance to answer even the simplest of questions gives ME the perception that he is hiding or tying to cover up a very big screw up on the part of his officers. 

For me personally, this has been a trying time.  The lack of phone access (and no money to put on the phones) means contact with Lorne is even more limited.  Our discussions have a tendency to focus on doing things for him, updating him on outside assistance and him requesting me to do more stuff for him.  Little sharing of thoughts and feelings and the day to day stuff is ever done. 

I have a feeling that it will be Lorne and only Lorne who can get himself out of that place.  Let's hope he's a fast learner.

View from the Inside...Lorne's Voice Pt. 4 and 5

Lorne sent me a couple of blog updates that I think would make for interesting reading for the blog followers.  The first one can be seen here. 

The second one can be found here. This one by far, is the most moving document that Lorne has written to date.  I think if you read it, it will bring you to tears.  People who didn't know very much about Lorne will get an intimate look at his heart and his soul...and see just how wounded he is. 

Today's random musings....

I am not happy that Lorne has been moved to SDCC.  The phone system sucks there...and I mean sucks.  But my bigger concern is for Lorne's mental state. 

Today I got his latest blog update (I will get it posted this weekend for everyone to read) it highlighted just how deeply he feels about the injustice he sees all around him.  The sad part is, he is right. 

I knew that being sent south would be hard on him since he really considers Las Vegas to be his adopted home.  Nothing is the same anymore for him and he feels that all that time he spent there was wasted and that all he has is his memories of the place.  If he was here this is what I would tell him....

Everything changes, nothing stays the same.  It is not natural for you to expect that Las Vegas would stay the same.  Putting Las Vegas in a time capsule is not fair to you nor to the city itself...a city you love and want to be in when you get out.  Instead of mourning the loss of your favorite casinos, think of all the new casinos that you will be able to explore and learn about.  In the same way that people change and grow, cities do as well.  Certainly your current location is not what you think is ideal but perhaps it is the God's way of forcing you to acknowledge that even while you are incarcerated, life is still going on around you.  Perhaps they are forcing you to acknowledge that which scares you the most...that you are scared that the world is passing you by and there isn't a damned thing you can do about it.  Perhaps they are trying to tell you that They, not you decide your fate...yes, you can make choices but in the end, you have a destiny that must be fulfilled and They will make sure that you do that. 

It is time for you to embrace your fears my love...you aren't alone.

The latest NDOC hilarity of the day

http://tinyurl.com/3tmsaqv

This is an article in the Nevada Appeal, a local Carson City/Reno newspaper.  I've known about this for sometime since Lorne was one of the affected inmates.  It's quite the racket the state has going on, letting people buy things and them 2 years later, tell them they can't have them anymore.  even worse still is the fact that it appears that NDOC feels that the CO's were the one bringing that stuff in but yet their solution to the problem is to punish the inmates.  Somewhere that makes sense...not to me but somewhere I am sure it does. 

http://tinyurl.com/3g3bsox
Another piece regarding the closure of NSP.  It would appear that the unions are pissed off that they are closing NSP so quickly.  I have been telling anyone who would listen that CO's will not move to other prisons...if they have roots in Carson City (house, kids in school) unless they can get placed at NNCC or Warm Springs or one of the several camps in the area, they are not going to re-locate to the southern prisons like High Desert and Southern Desert.  You can't commute to there and financially most people just can't sell a home they are most likely upside down with their mortgage and buy another one in the Vegas area.  But anyhow, the union is upset that NSP is being cleared out quicker than they expected (predicted that too) and since at this point, NDOC has not made clear how the moves to other facilities will be accomplished...if it is done on seniority, then people will be pushed out of jobs they have had in a location that they like and be sent to a facility they don't want to be at.  

It's bad enough many correctional officers act like assholes and treat the inmates like crap, forcing a CO to work in a place that is inconvenient to them will just make it worse.

Thank you NDOC!!

Yes, the thank  you is a comment that is just ooooozing with sarcasm.  At this very moment it is dripping from every pore in my body. 

Lorne's transfer to Southern Desert Correctional Center (SDCC) has been an absolute nightmare.  First off was all the grievances that Lorne filed while he was at NSP...not a single one has been addressed.  No one has yet to respond to any of my please of assistance with regard to getting Lorne's financial information returned to him nor to help me with finding out why the state of NV felt that it was okay to dispose of all of his religious materials.  The change of phone calls with ICSolutions has been a bit of a challenge too...despite NV Bell saying that Indian Springs has two phone exchange number (702-447 and 702-879) apparently it is considered long distance to call from Indian Springs to Indian Springs...when I called the lady told me "but this is an excellent rate!" I'm sure it is but when I had a local number to the facility in Carson City, I was only charged $1.95 for a 30 min phone call...not an $.85 connection fee and $.11 a minute.  Which means that a 30 minute phone call with Lorne costs me $4.15...double what I used to pay.

To top all THAT off (as if it weren't enough) Lorne has not been eating hardly at all.  Because of the timing of his arrival, he has had to wait almost a week to put in a commissary order and will have to wait another week for it to arrive...so for the most part, Lorne has just not eaten.  Of course if that was not enough to worry about, Lorne informed me today that there was a roach infestation in the chow hall.  Yup...I wouldn't ever eat there either. 

Would someone please tell me again why I am doing this????