During his visit today, Clayton expressed that the day had mostly been "slow and boring." The guards had not called for showers yesterday or today. Clayton wasn't sure why, but he had just gone another day without. He also had not managed to get the phone today to make a call out to family, which had left him disappointed. Today was yet another family birthday he was missing - for two different family members at once, and he had hoped to call and wish them happy birthday. He'd spent most of the day sleeping, but had been encouraged by receiving a letter from a friend the night before.
When mail is received in the prison, the staff copy the front of the envelope and its contents and give only the photocopies to the inmates. This allows the individual to see their return address, so they can send a response. All original letter materials at GCCC are disposed of by the prison, with the exception of greeting cards, which are stored in the person's personal affects until the person is released or distributes them to someone on the outside. The only form of mail that comes through to Clayton in its original form is photographs, after the paper has undergone testing to ensure it isn't laced with drugs.
His wife had spent the day looking for order-by-mail cards from magazines Clayton might like to receive a subscription to including: National Geographic, Smithsonian, and others. She hoped to send him the cards so that he would be able to order a subscription himself - as prison policies indicated were necessary.* His wife hadn't even realized there was a Smithsonian Magazine, but Clayton cheered with delight saying, "Did you know I was a card-carrying member for years?!" Considering her husband had also participated in chess and math clubs, and was an avid Battle of the Books participant, she wasn't really surprised.
Barbie Girl
Clayton relayed an amusing story about the day's only real entertainment so far. One of the female guards who works in their module had come in this morning in an apparent good mood. Clayton described her traveling through the halls singing Aqua's Barbie Girl at the top of her lungs. Clayton said she seemed very happy as she traveled around the cells singing. Then, she seemed to pause for dramatic effect before shouting, "HAHA suckers!! Now you've got that stuck in your heads!"
Getting to Know Jones
Clayton also noted that his roommate had finally opened up a bit more that day. He explained to Clayton that he was only scheduled to serve 7 more weeks for his sentence to be complete. He was electing to serve the entire sentence - instead of getting out early - to avoid what he explained was the 'trap' presented by probation.
Jones explained that he had served fairly extensive time in prison before, and expected his upcoming release to take place as they had in the past. When released, he would be released wherever he was initially processed, which in his case would be Anchorage. He was looking forward to being released with no job, no transportation, and no family of any kind. He was unmarried, and would be completely on his own. The prison would cut him a check for the tiny balance of his account, and return his personal belonging which fortunately included a coat. He told Clayton he would just try to avoid the drug crowd if he could, and try to get by.
Clayton spent the rest of his visit catching up with family, and the various events and misfortunes they were navigating without him. He asked them to communicate to his friends and lawyers that he was thinking about them, and managing one day at a time. Currently he would continue using the concordance in his bible to explore the use of various words throughout the Bible.
*AUTHOR'S NOTE: The family has since learned that magazine order cards are not permitted to be mailed to inmates - or apparently order forms in general. Mail including these items will be rejected - with a note to the prisoner that they can be mailed back to someone or destroyed. However, the mail does not seem to always return to the sender.
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