18 June 2010

Dear Family & Friends,

First of all I would like to thank Mike Barskey for transcribing my letters and emailing copies to my mom & brothers and sharing them with my friends through his website and Facebook. It saves me time and money and makes it easy to communicate with more people than I would otherwise be able to. Last week Hobbycraft was only open for about 10 minutes. Today it was open from 8:20 to 14:20. I made several wooden spoons from cherry and one from maple. Several days ago someone on my block got lugged when contraband was found in his room during a search. I find the underground economy in the prison interesting. Inmates are not allowed to sell products or services within the prison, but many do despite active suppression by staff. Even when free market economies are prohibits, free market principles can be practiced through barter and other unsanctioned methods. The problem is that by prohibiting free exchange of products and services, the prison system removes some of the options for resolving disputes and preventing thefts peaceably, so rather than dispute resolution through arbitration, inmates often resort to threats and violence. Outside of a prison environment, agorism should be fairly easy to practice compared to inside a prison environment. Yesterday I had an appointment with Dr. Eppolito. I told him about the side effects I had gotten from the Trazodone he had prescribed to me. I had only taken it twice because the side effects were worse than the problem it was supposed to treat. I've been having trouble sleeping because of muscle tension and spasms in my neck, back & legs. The Trazodone made the spasms worse, gave me a dry mouth and made me feel dopey, but didn't help me sleep. He discontinued the Trazodone and prescribed Benadryl. I don't understand why a Dr. would try to treat muscle spasms & cramps with an antidepressant then an antihistamine when my medical records show that a muscle relaxer was usually effective before I cam to prison. I learned today that inmates who get bone fractures often have to wait weeks to get a cast. Dr. Eppolito prescribed 3 extra blankets for me, but I was told that they don't have any available now and when they do get some, I'll get an appointment slip in the mail for an appointment to go downstairs and pick them up. I found out about a week ago that my chess set arrived at the prison on March 29th, but for some reason it was never delivered to me, so this Monday I sent a request slip to the property officer asking him to either send it upstairs or let me know when I can go down to his office to pick it up. It's disappointing that mail sometimes takes weeks to go from one end of the building to the other when it takes less than 5 minutes to walk that distance. I figured out that the best way to minimize leg spasms & cramps at night without appropriate medication or a massage appears to be to wear pants and cover my legs with both blankets so that they stay hot all night.

20 June 2010

Last night my room got searched. Fortunately it was not torn apart like it would be during a more thorough search. The officer only took some of my roommate's medication, which he said was expired. I asked my brother to order some food for me from www.nhinmatepackage.com. We're only allowed to order up to 15 lbs. every 6 months if we have stayed out of trouble for the past 6 months. Starting July 1st we will be allowed to purchase a Swintec 2410 Clear Cabinet Personal Typewriter for $213.06, but I don't think I'll be buying one any time soon. I got a postcard the other day that said "We're thinking of you" but it was unsigned.

21 June 2010

This morning I was told to go to the Property Office. I had to wait about 25 minutes then I was told that I needed to bring the slip that gave me permission to get my chess set. When I returned with the slip, the officer told me that I can collect my chess set on Thursday. Surely he could have just given it to me today. He is such an annoying bureaucrat! Hobbycraft was open for 3 hours today. I made another wooden spoon.

22 JUne 1010

Hobbycraft was open for 4 hours today. I made 2 more wooden spoons. An acquaintance who is leaving Hobbycraft gave me some smallish pieces of wood that are large enough to make spoons from. I'm getting faster and better with the carving tools. My last spoon took under an hour to make. I've put on close to 40 pounds since coming to prison because the food isn't as healthy as what I ate before coming in and exercise options are much more limited. I also don't get as much good sleep because my bed here is very uncomfortable. I've started giving away about half of my desserts, reduced my "cool aid" intake, cut back on simple carbs and started doing core exercises while listening to music or watching TV. There is a card room here, but it is only open a few hours a day (Mon-Thu) while I'm at work and only a few people are allowed to us it at a time. I wish I had a recumbent bike at my block. I worked 3 hours at work today, and finished the 4th boat seat. They were the most challenging pieces I've worked on. Each covering was made from 7 pieces of vinyl and had multiple complex curves in 3 dimensions. I had to hand stitch some of the more complicated corners. Tuesday nights I've been going to a music theory class.

23 June 2010

Today I worked 5 1/2 hours at the furniture shop, where I stripped all of the fabric off a chair. Mr. Hill, who runs the recreation department, told me that I should be getting a loaner guitar on Tuesday. I'm hoping to start guitar lessons soon. He said that I was at the top of the list about 3 months ago, but got skipped because I was away at court. Mr. Hill said that the wait to get into the card room is about 3 months.

24 June 2010

Mr. Hill didn't show up today, so the Recreation Dept. was closed and my piano lesson was canceled. I worked 6.5 hours at the furniture shop.

25 June 2010

Today I worked 4.5 hours upholstering a chair. I tried to pick up my chess set this afternoon, but SGT "Van Useless" said he hadn't tagged it into the computer yet, and wouldn't release it to me until after he had done that. He indicated that he plans to do it next week.

29 June 2010

Today I finished upholstering the main part of a chair and started sewing the covers for the removable cushions. It is part of a lot of chairs we're reupholstering for the university system of NH. After work I was loaned a classical guitar from the Recreation Department. I hope to start guitar lessons soon, but won't stop taking piano lessons, which seem to be going well. The guitar I was issued is an Aria model #AK-20. In my Music Theory class today I learned how to transpose music. Because I am in the Music Theory class, I am authorized to submit a request slip to get permission to order a Yamano Hand Roll 61 Key Piano through Amazon Marketplace from JK & Jay LLC (the only authorized vendor) for $109.95. I'd like to order one soon, but it appears as though everyone who owes me money is unable to come up with the money yet, and I only have about $10 at my disposal until I get paid next week for this month's work. I'm earning between $40 and $50/month for my work in the furniture shop.

1 July 2010

This week I learned how to make covers for couch cushions that are missing the original cover and don't have patterns. I also learned that a foam cushion can be shrunk temporarily to about 1/4 its size by wrapping it in thin, light plastic then applying a vacuum to the foam. I finally got my chess set over 3 months after it arrived here. Instead of SGT "Van Useless," a female corporal was running the property room today, and seemed to be running it more efficiently than it normally is.

7 July 2010

We had a 4-day holiday weekend. Tuesday morning I finished upholstering some cushions then helped a friend with his project. Today an officer announced that we can skip putting on our long sleeve outer shirts except with going to the education wing or the visiting room until Monday the 12th. A friend of mine taught me a few chords on the guitar. I've been practicing until my fingers get sore and have made some improvement.

8 July 2010

Today I found out that the furniture shop will be closed all of next week. I finally got permission to order a recorder so that I can reverse engineer it and make copes out of exotic hardwoods for my children. I'm planning to practice making them our of cherry, then once I'm happy with the quality, I'll make one out of cocobolo for my son. I'm thinking of using purpleheart and rosewood for my daughter's recorders.

10 July 2010

Last night I got permission to order a piano, which will allow me to practice more than twice a week once I get it. This morning an officer announced over the PA system that we had to go back to wearing our green outer shirts this morning instead of Monday.

17 July 2010

Hobbycraft and the furniture shop have been closed all week. Even the chapel was closed most of the week. My Thursday piano lesson was canceled because Mr. Hill was processing food packages that had arrived. Unfortunately only a few of the orders arrived by Thursday and Mr. Hill is apparently taking a 5-day weekend, so I was told that I wouldn't get my order until next Wednesday. I've spent most of my time this week in my room. I've had a heat rash on my hands and nose for much of the week. I suspect that the 110F+ showers contributed to it. I have a feeling that the builders of the prison may have cut corners by running only hot water lines to the showers. Usually while I'm in the shower, my skin turns bright pink and I don't get used to the heat like I used to in a 104F hot tub. One guy sometimes bathes in the mop closet in the large sink on the floor because it has cold water. I believe that the prison's energy costs would go down significantly if adjustable mixers and cold water lines were installed in the showers so that we can take cold showers on hot days and so that we could use more reasonable water temperatures while showering every day. When I'm in my room, I'm usually sleeping, reading, writing, drawing or watching TV> My favorite channels are Discovery, History, Create, National Geographic, Travel, HGTV and BBC America. My favorite shows are Woodsmith SHop, The New Yankee Workshop, Mythbusters, Top Gear, The American Woodshop, How It's Made, Food Tech, Can It Be Built?, RV Crazy!, Overhaulin', Factory Made, Mega Engineering, Fantastic Houseboats, US Navy: Pirate HUnters, Ultimate Car Build-Off, American Chopper, Dual Survival, American Pickers, Pawn Stars, River Monsters, River Warriors, Holmes on Homes, Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom, Naked Science, World's Toughest Fixes, Dirty Jobs, Caught on Camera, DIY House Crashers, DOn't Sweat It, Spice Up My Kitchen, Modern Marvels, Hammer Heads, Factory Floor, Locked Up Abroad, Lockup, Lock Down, Nitro Circus, Dancing with the Stars, Glenn Beck, anything that includes John Stossell, WMUR Channel 9 News, American Chopper, Man vs. Food, No Reservations, Man WOman Wild, This Old House, Wild Pacific, Powering the Future, Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory, Earth's Natural Wonders, and any other show that teaches me useful information.

20 July 2010

It's good to be back at work. I started working on another set of boat seats. Unfortunately the computerized Juki sewing machine is not working and only the Consew sewing machine is suitable for sewing vinyl because all of our other sewing machines don't have a foot & needle that walks with the material. My boss told me that the university furniture has priority, so I find myself waiting for others to finish using the Consew machine before I can work on the boat seats, which is slowing me down. This past week my shower has been so hot that on 2 occasions blisters have formed on my nose and right hand. Today I asked some officers if the shower temperature could be lowered. They said no. One officer said that state law requires that the shower water be set at a certain temperature. He didn't know what RSA required scalding showers in prison.

21 July 2010

Yesterday & today I went to the law library to do some research. I had to request an appointment about 2 weeks in advance to use the law library. Printouts cost me 10¢/page. I love you all and would like to know how you all are doing.

Sincerely,

Timothy Logsdon