Tough Week, New Housing..... in Muddling Through As Best I Can

Well, this work week wasn’t the best on earth but I got through it without strangling anyone, so I count it a victory. It was a near thing at times.
A co-worker failed to complete forms that are required for one of the other departments, and I was also held responsible and will be receiving a disciplinary from the warden. It was not accidental, the woman told the other officer that she wasn’t going to “bleep”-ing do it. Five minutes later our dear warden called. Never a good sign.
My punishment also included standing in front of my entire shift and educating them on the proper way to fill out the form. Since they already know how, it was an exercise in futility. Spoke to the warden yesterday and expressed my displeasure at a couple of things. She blew some smoke and told me how valuable I am as a training resource and that she wants me to continue to be a Mentor. It’s an unpaid position that requires me to train new officers. It’s supposed to be a volunteer position, but it seems like the military wherein you are volunteered whether or not you like it. One of our captains has a habit of putting multiple trainees with me at one time, up to seven. For whatever reason he does not care for me and uses this as a petty punishment of some sort. I can’t adequately monitor that many people at once in an OJT setting. That many officers on a cell block also serves to get the inmates in a tizzy and makes it much more taxing to keep things running smoothly throughout the day. Our population has a large percentage of mental illness, schizophrenia, manic depressives, etc. Add to that the fact that many are violent offenders and it’s just not a bad recipe, it’s a dangerous one. Despite what the movies and television portray, managing these folks does take a certain amount of skill. While I may have an excellent reputation in this area (if you believe the smoke signals Warden Flippo was blowing up my nether regions) I am not Superman and someone is going to get hurt if it continues. She seemed receptive to my complaints, or rant as it might have been perceived, so we’ll see.
As I hope to make a habit of though, I am going to close on a high note. After much thought, I decided to go with an alternate housing idea. I am going today to pick up my large camper. It has two bedrooms, bath, shower and kitchen. It needs a little work, it was pre owned, but is ready to go. My plan is to settle into it in the next 60 days and begin building my home this summer rather than buy pre-fab housing and having it erected. This can accomplish several things I would not otherwise be able to do. I can build EXACTLY what I want without having to work around a preset floor plan. I will save a ton of money by not having to pay labor costs. It will give me the opportunity to use the construction skills that I learned in my youth, and best of all, it gives me a good excuse to buy the woodworking tools I’ve wanted to reacquire for about fifteen years.
The camper is small, but I don’t need much space. Anything I can’t use I will place in storage until the new place is finished. It will also be small with two bedrooms and one and a half baths. My floor plans are drawn up and I’m pretty excited to get started. Hoping to be in it before Christmas, so as the old song goes, “Say a little prayer for me”.
Oh, and only six weeks left until my new granddaughter arrives. Three boys, two girls. Cheryl would be so jazzed at the growth in our little family. Five grandchildren, who would have dreamed it? Not that I’m excited or anything, but old age is looking better and better. Babies to spoil rotten and parents to drive to distraction. Awesome.
It’s 6:30 a.m. Texas time so I’m gonna get moving now. Miles to go before I sleep and all that jazz. - John

Last updated February 15, 2015