Places You Don't Wanna Go: Prisons, Jails, Hospitals

If I told you I'd taught at the high school, met with an observer, had a hair appointment, driven across three bridges, had a phone meeting, taught at the prison, and been to the office where I'm volunteering to pick up audio equipment--all today--would you believe me?

Well, 'tis the truth, and you better believe I'm hanging out with a glass of Cabernet right now after all that.  And the kicker is that I have to be at the jail two counties away at 7:30 in the morning.

Amidst all that havoc I listed above, my stepmom called and told me that my daddy is in the hospital!  They suspect he has a stomach ulcer. :(  I spoke to him today and he sounds just fine, and the doctors say it's all routine and probably not serious, but I still can't help but panic because a) I love my daddy and b) I'm an anxious freak.  Therefore, I've been googling all the things that could be terribly wrong with him.  My sister (the calmer Kiefer daughter to say the least) had to say "Claire--step away from the computer!"  I sure know how to work myself into a frenzy.

He's on a business trip in Minneapolis (of all places to get stuck in the hospital!) so my stepmom flew up there this afternoon just to make sure he's A-OK.  Fortunately she remembered to bring Alter-natius with her, since the real Ignatius isn't allowed on planes.  They texted me this pic tonight:

It may not be the real Ignatius, but at least my dad has a beagle in his immediate proximity.  And trust me--the stuffed Ignatius is a better choice as a hospital guest.  No one deserves to have the actual Ignatius in the building with them when they're recovering from surgery/birth/tests.

Please send all your positive thoughts to my daddy and cross your fingers that Friday (when I'm stepping on a plane headed to NYC!) gets here soon.

Weird news:  Tonight when I got to San Quentin, they were removing all ~1,000 beds from the H-Unit, in order to replace the springs on the metal bunk beds with a straight-welded "cookie sheet" slate.  Why?  Cause it occurred to the higher-ups that inmates could theoretically make shanks out of the "springs" in the frame (no, it hasn't been happening--I asked.  This is "preventative").  This is what the prison bunk beds looked like until today:

from, since I obvs can't take my own pics inside

and this is what they will look like from here on out:

Whew, what a relief that our state government is doing that.  Feels good to know that our tax dollars are being put to such good use!