Monday, January 06, 2020

They Caught Him!

We've had some excitement around here the last few days.  Seems there has been some rioting going on up at the state penitentiary.  Some say it was gang related.  Others say it was because of the extremely poor conditions in the prison.

Now, don't get me wrong.  It's a prison.  It shouldn't be anything like the Hilton or anything.  But still, basic humane conditions should be provided for -- working plumbing, electricity, and the like.

Whatever the reason, there has been rioting.  When they finally got the fighting quelled, they discovered two prisoners had escaped.  One was captured yesterday, but the other remained at large.  We were all talking about it at work this morning, and when I got home, I learned that he also had been captured.  Back to prison he is heading. 

Being that the prison is only about 40 miles from where I live, I'm glad to hear that.  All day yesterday, I heard helicopters flying overhead.  I couldn't see them, so I didn't know if it was the Army practicing maneuvers, or if it was the police searching for the escapee. 

Am I weird that I think this is both exciting and frightening at the same time? 


Back when our Christmas break first started, it seemed like a nice, long vacation.  When the alarm went off this morning, I wondered where the time had gone.  Just like that, it was over, and it was back to work.  It would seem that the rumors about us going back to 8 hour shifts were just that -- rumors.  I asked Supervisor about it, and he didn't know anything about it.  But, he said he didn't think we were going back to 8 hours, because if we did, it would be at the beginning of the year.  On the other hand, I got my friend to print out a copy of the work calendar for the year, and they've got holidays scheduled for Fridays.  July 3, for example, and the day after Thanksgiving, so I just don't know.  Unless those are for office personnel....They're still on five day weeks.

I like to have all my vacation scheduled by the end of January, but I guess I'll have to just wait and see.  I wish they'd just tell us something.  What is to be gained by keeping us in the dark? 

The bad news is, I could barely fit into my jeans this morning.  The good news is, I took most of my leftover cookies in, and begged my coworkers to help me eat them up.  (I put a few back in the freezer for later.)  They were happy to oblige.  Tomorrow, I'm taking in the rest of the fudge -- both chocolate and peanut butter.  Well, most of it.  I may keep a little back for myself. 

The other good news is, I was good and walked my steps. 

The other bad news is, I think I have a problem.


Yes, I did buy two more piano books.  I think this'll be about all, since it's all the level one books I've found.  I was a bit disappointed in the country piano book.  It didn't have but two songs that I would consider country.  The rest were pop or folk songs that had been rewritten to give them that country twang.  Still, it will be good practice for me.

Speaking of practicing, I'd intended to pick up the guitar and violin again, now that Christmas is behind me.  I'm going to have to get better at managing my time, as it's nearly bed time and I haven't practiced either.  I've got to re-tune my violin.  Since I changed the strings, I was having such a hard time even hitting the strings.  Saturday, I got to looking at it, and discovered my bridge was leaning.

For those of you not familiar with violins, the bridge -- the little piece of wood that holds the strings up -- is not attached to the body of the violin.  It's held in place by the tension on the strings.  Mine was leaning, ever so slightly, but leaning still.  I loosened the strings and straightened it up, but I haven't tuned it since. 

I guess I ought to get on that. 

Later...







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