Christmas Day

 115 miles, round trip, to Aumsville, on time and in time for a 2 and a half hour visit with the kid. He looks good and healthy, and was grateful to have visitors on this day.  We made good time down, but I was running on the Fill Tank light by the time we got there.

I pulled into a 76 station there in Oregon City, at 6:35, and ran over the bell line – "ding!" -and the guy just stayed seated in the office, talking to the blond in the doorway.  I counted to 45 to myself.  The guy didn’t move.  A whistled (in my ear, dammit) and the girl turned and looked at us… and the guy didn’t move.

"Fuck this" I said and I drove right out of there.  "We’ll get gas on the way" I said and we got on I-205 south.  I had set up my GPS last time we went down there, even though I’d been there once already, and used the GPS to confirm my memory.  Ten minutes before 7:30, Visiting time, A said "oh shit!  We’re gonna be late!".  "No, the GPS says we’ll be there at 7:28"… and we were there at 7:27.

A had said that prisons don’t celebrate Christmas (which I found a little hard to believe), that doing so makes time drag even worse there in prison, but the mess hall/visiting area was way more decorated than my apartment is (which is to say that my xmas decorations are the 7 cards hanging on the wall above my desk).

We had a nice visit, as nice as possible there in prison, I guess.  That prison is the lowest seccurity unit in the system, and it’s much more laid back than the first one, Santiam, was.  The guards are more relaxed and "less" strict – most of them smiled more than once.  They’ll be having turkey today (and omg, it smelled GOOD in the mess hall) and will be having steak for New year’s Eve.  I told the guard I was talking to that I love steak, but I hoped he’d understand if I didn’t come back for that.

Got a sincere laugh with that one.

We made good time on the way down – over 60 mph the whole way, 68 in the 65 zones.  The add fuel light came on just as we pulled into the prison parking lot, and after the visit, when we stopped for gas in Salem, the guy was right there to put the gas in the car.  On the way back, I drove a few miles an hour slower.  The Caliber is EPA rated at 24 City/27 Highway, but I usually get better mpg than that.  We were getting 33 plus miles a gallon, and on some of the flat stretches, I saw 35.6 on the mpg gage.  I love my black Cali.  It’s a very good car.

Eh, I’m down to 90 miles of driving, with the gas that’s left in the tank, and I’m down to my last 55 dollars.  I will be getting some $ from my former wife – she’s sending some of her classwork for me to look over and correct, which I have done for her for years and years.  It pays ten bucks an hour, and there will be enough (she’s sending my birthday money three months early) to make the car payment that’s already overdue.

I think it’s illegal to pay your hourly employees 80% of minimum wage; the UE lady said "good" when I said I wanted to appeal.  I’ve been filing every week online, and they haven’t been paying me, but the lady told me that if the decision is reversed, I’ll get a check for all they’ve missed up to date.  That will be/would be great!  If anything goes wrong now – car, cat, me – I am fucked.  If it works out for me and the former boss gets in trouble, I will be so happy.  Revenge without violence or me getting in trouble would be fine with me.

Speaking of the cat, I’ve had to tap his insulin fund – there’s a little less than half the next bottle left, and when I break this 50, WAY less than half.  That insulin, that keeps my cat alive and well, is $108.00 a bottle.  What I have left will last into January… and I HOPE I get the cash I’ll need before then.

Fortunately, I got some gift cards, and both stores sell cat food.  My SNAP card, the food stamps, does not pay for pet food, or anything besides food.  That 50 is history pretty soon.

Christmas Day, 2010.  Not necessarily "the worst" I’ve spent, in 48 years, but nowhere near the Best.

So it goes.  Onwards.

*****