June 16th

Ok, today lets talk about the fun stuff we get to deal with at the zoo....er I mean prison.

The DSU inmates in my unit get to go to the rec room for excersize 5 days a week. We just open the doors to their cells and they walk to the rec on their own. Well, on Wednesday, as an inmate was released from his cell on the top tier to go to the rec, he walked downstairs and threw a shitbomb into two cells downstairs. A shitbomb is when they fill a cup or other container with feces, stir in a little urine to get it good and soupy, and heave it on you. Generally they save this particular pastime for staff, but this guy said the orderly had been messing with him, so he bombed him and the guys next to him. That brought everything to a standstill as staff figured out what was going on, and had to deal with getting it cleaned up. Oh, and no, staff doesn't actually do the cleanup when something like this happens. We have a team of inmates that get special decontamination training, and they do the dirty work. All in all, I was pretty amused to see them throwing shit on each other for a change, instead of one of us.

Now you are asking yourself if I have ever been shitbombed aren't you. (C'mon, I know you care like that) Well, the answer is no, I have been able to avoid that so far, at least not by an inmate. A number of years ago I did a six month bid on Com gate. This is a post that is along the walkway from the main housing units to the dining room. We have keys for, and control the movement going upstairs to our infirmary, the back area of culinary and the gate going to the big yard. So this is pretty much an outside post. Part of the time you are under a covering that leads to the dining room, but most of it is under the blue sky. Well, I made it to the last day of this post and was letting inmates out on the yard. As I stood with my little counter, diligently clicking away and watching inmates enter the yard, one of the many birds that fly around let go and dropped a big 'ol bomb of his own right on my shoulder. Six months I did this post, and I get hit on the last damn day. It's a good thing it isn't an armed post, or i would have been doing some bird hunting.

In other news, a very good friend of mine that is an officer at a minimum institution near me was called into the office by his acting institution security manager.
He was given a velcro Sergeant position starting next week.
We call it a "Velcro" when someone is given an out of class position.
He will be an acting Sergeant, but it is a temporary gig until he interviews for and is given a full status position.
He has an interview here for a regular Sergeant position next week.
Having those Sergeant stripes on his collar when he interviews should be an advantage for him.

I wish you the best of luck Sarge!