Finally back online!

Hey every body, this is Prisoner 830506 and this is the first time I have been allowed to post in a long time.

I hope everyone is well… I had my hearing with the prison board concerning my vlog and they have passed my case to the legal department. This is good and bad, since I wont have to go through the major discomfort of having regular board hearings. The bad part is that I wanted them to just say YES and instead I will be required to have several hearings with legal instead…

The other bad is that due to this stupid covid-19 crap, temporary policies were enacted this week, which have further delayed that process as well.

The prison is pretty safe as far as social distancing is involved, since we are all pretty much locked up in solitary confinement, except the newer plural imprisoned inmates, but even then, they are isolated together in groups of 4.

In addition, we only come in contact with PLWs on a daily basis, Prison Labor Workers, who work along side other prisoners, who are also isolated when they are not working.

However, there are instances when prisoners come in contact with staff and this is where things are changing. Because staff members leave the prison, they are more likely to infect others in the prison, so an emergency provision has been implemented which drastically reduces contact with staff members.

They have moved the PSA (Prison Security Agents) into the punishment cells to replace staff that worked there previously, which is not a good thing for the prisoners down there. PSA are prisoners under the prison labor program, they are the only PLWs that are required NOT to be permanently shackled for this reason.

They replaced the guards in the main cell blocks after the mass firing of abusive staff… They have operated under strict rules, they can only enter a cell that has been flagged for inspection by the computer. While they are working in that capacity, they are encouraged to make it a really hard time for the prisoner.

They are working as full time security in the punishment cells now… Luckily I am no longer in the punishment cells.

They have also suspended all re-processing and other activities involving staff contact with prisoners.

So far, no one has shown any symptoms and because of that buffer between those who leave the prison and those who are in isolation, I doubt anyone will ever see it in here.

The biggest issue here is the longer wait before I can vlog, because of this new policy, I wont be meeting with legal until its lifted…

On the other hand, everything is becoming routine, I am still in my new cell, they have moved me from restroom duty in the administration section to working dish washer in the kitchen. I go to that job every day after breakfast. I am still chained to the same girl and we are not allowed to talk, but I can tell that she is no longer in the punishment cells, so thats good for her.

They are only giving me 5 minutes on this scheduled outside communication, which is far too short to do much, but knowing that its coming up later in the day, I can write this now and then copy/paste it when I am scheduled.

I dont know how often I will be scheduled, only that it will be scheduled now. This is the first time I have seen it on my daily agenda. I hope its going to be daily, but somehow I feel its going to be more like weekly.

My girlfriend isnt allowed to record our calls, even though I talk to her almost every day now, so we arent sure if I will be able to do a youtube update until legal decides to give me permission to vlog.

My girlfriend and I haved talked about it and she might release a video with only text, since not many youtube fans are reading these blogs.

Oh, another change, they replaced a bunch of the glass panels in the footprint authentication panels, because they get scratched up over time by our chains, since no prisoner is allowed out of their cell without their feet shackled.

They implemented mandatory suspension tether for all prisoners. It was implemented in two ways. Temporary and permanent. Prisoners who wear permanent shackles or are being punished with long term shackling now have a chain that connects to the center of the link of the chain that connects their ankles and runs up between their legs and wraps around their waist.

This is very similar to the way I chained myself during the early days of permanent shackling. Just like back then, these suspension chains are permanent. So I get to wear that added chain 24 hours a day now. Just like the first time, it took a few days to get used to sleeping with it around my waist, but it reduces the weight of the shackles against my ankles and makes a lot less noise than dragging my shackle chain on the floor with every step.

Its a lot more weight, since I am wearing a lot more chain, but just like before, I prefer it. The only reason the tether chain was removed while permanently shackled at home, is that my girlfriend liked the way it looked to watch me dragging the chain between my feet with every step. That was her decision to remove it.

There are 3 types of permanent suspension chain, because prior to this new mandate, which was implemented to reduce the scratches on the new glass, has been used as punishment in the past, because of the added weight of the chain and the permanent added restraint of wearing it around your waist 24 hours a day.

So there are 3 different types of chains that are being used, light, medium and heavy. Because of my status in the prison, I was given the medium chain, which is basically the same kind of chain that connects my ankle shackles, its a lot heavier than the chain I was used to before.

There are some prisoners who have the heavy chain, but it seems that they are matching the suspension chain with the chain between our ankles, because those with heavy chains were already wearing the heavier chain between their ankles. While prisoners who are wearing temporary long term shackles, which are usually the rounded steel shackles, similar to the ones I started my permanent shackling project are getting the lighter chain, similar to the one I wore at home.

While it is a lot heavier, the only time I really feel it is during my mandatory prison labor, which is only about 3 hours per day, most of the time I am sitting or laying in my cell, so the weight is not pulling against my waist.

I dont know how long they will keep us in the suspension tether, but according to prisoners who have been here a long time, this is normal, they do this every time they change out the glass panels and it usually lasts a year or less. So I expect to wear it until my release, which will be sooner now that the vlog is delayed further and the cost of this new cell was more expensive than our original plan…

I think its likely I will be here for at least a year though, possibly longer once we get the vlog started.

But for now, I hope everyone is well during this plague. I will try to update every time they allow me time.

Bye for now.