It's lunch time here at A.M.G. Laminating. I'm sitting up in the break room. The floor is checkered, red and white, both completely covered in months of dirt and grime. The counter tops form an "L" in the Southeast corner and they hold up three microwaves and a coffeepot. The large table in the opposite corner serves as a peninsula and is surrounded by four- blue plastic chairs that always make me think of boot camp. There's a big difference though as I'm sitting slouched with my feet up on the table. The windows are west-facing and offer no shine during lunch, but I sit up here anyhow because it's the only place that's quiet.
Today is my first day of freedom after a 30-day lapse. I haven't been anywhere except for work but when I called the I.S.R. voicemail this morning it felt great to say I had free time from 6-10. It's only four hours, which none of you, hopefully, will ever know the value. I'm excited.
I'm planning to go visit my aunt and cousins and my dog in Woodbury. My aunt won't be there for a while because she's going to something called a caucus which is, I believe, some sort of medical procedure. It will be nice just for the change of venue and to see things and people that I have not for a month.
One week from today will be the six month mark of my early release from incarceration. It also would be the day I move on to the next phase of I.S.R., if I hadn't slipped up. Another one of my squadmates is back in jail facing new charges involving a pistol. He's going to be doing a lot of time for that as well as doing the four years he was saving with boot camp, most likely all run consecutively. That's the opposite of concurrent which means you do time for all charges at the same time.
And another guy from the barracks that I was in is off I.S.R. and back in prison. I spent five months with him....
Ok, it's later now. I wanted to get myself something good to eat at a restaurant because I haven't been to one in over a month. I chose Pho by Saigon on University Ave. in St. Paul. I wanted something good, strange, and different. I should have seen the warning signs. Nothing but white people and their children, but I sat down anyway. Looking through the menu I found a wide variety at a reasonable price. To me that means a lot of similar things in different combinations, and immitation crab meat, possibly the worst thing in the world in my opinion.
I found an appetizer that looked decent: Pig skin spring rolls. I ordered. When it came out faster than it should have, I knew it wouldn't be right. They were glued together, a sign of making them in advance. I took a bite and it seemed OK which I posted on Facebook. My next bite wasn't so great. It clearly wasn't pig skin at all, but very dry, dark meat pork. It was obvious to me that they roasted it and then sliced it while it was still hot, removing all moisture. I assumed I was supposed to add the moisture back by dipping it in the red sugar water which I did, but it didn't help.
Today is my first day of freedom after a 30-day lapse. I haven't been anywhere except for work but when I called the I.S.R. voicemail this morning it felt great to say I had free time from 6-10. It's only four hours, which none of you, hopefully, will ever know the value. I'm excited.
I'm planning to go visit my aunt and cousins and my dog in Woodbury. My aunt won't be there for a while because she's going to something called a caucus which is, I believe, some sort of medical procedure. It will be nice just for the change of venue and to see things and people that I have not for a month.
One week from today will be the six month mark of my early release from incarceration. It also would be the day I move on to the next phase of I.S.R., if I hadn't slipped up. Another one of my squadmates is back in jail facing new charges involving a pistol. He's going to be doing a lot of time for that as well as doing the four years he was saving with boot camp, most likely all run consecutively. That's the opposite of concurrent which means you do time for all charges at the same time.
And another guy from the barracks that I was in is off I.S.R. and back in prison. I spent five months with him....
Ok, it's later now. I wanted to get myself something good to eat at a restaurant because I haven't been to one in over a month. I chose Pho by Saigon on University Ave. in St. Paul. I wanted something good, strange, and different. I should have seen the warning signs. Nothing but white people and their children, but I sat down anyway. Looking through the menu I found a wide variety at a reasonable price. To me that means a lot of similar things in different combinations, and immitation crab meat, possibly the worst thing in the world in my opinion.
I found an appetizer that looked decent: Pig skin spring rolls. I ordered. When it came out faster than it should have, I knew it wouldn't be right. They were glued together, a sign of making them in advance. I took a bite and it seemed OK which I posted on Facebook. My next bite wasn't so great. It clearly wasn't pig skin at all, but very dry, dark meat pork. It was obvious to me that they roasted it and then sliced it while it was still hot, removing all moisture. I assumed I was supposed to add the moisture back by dipping it in the red sugar water which I did, but it didn't help.
On to the entrée. I ordered item F4-Combination. Sounds delicious, right? What got was a heaping plate of fried noodles topped by an awful concoction of salt flavored corn starch slurry that covered more of the dry pork, two shrimp (total), small chunks of overcooked squid, and my favorite: immitation crab meat.
I tried to eat it. I put Sriracha on it so at least it tasted like Sriracha. What a disappointment. I wanted something strange and I got it, shiny American Chinese food maybe worthy of being served at LeAnn Chin.
Ok, I had to vent. I'm at my Aunts house now chilling with family and pup. Goodnight, all!
