Now—what’s been happening to me since I arrived here. Not much good. I’ve been to the Law Library once. Was told about an interesting case and decided to look it up. A Federal case: Donald O. Coe v. Otis Thurman, Warden #90-55128, I think it was a 9th Circuit case, but I’m not sure. Anyway, case cite is: 922F2d528. Submit date was Nov. 5, 1990 and the decision date was Dec. 28, 1990—Reversed and Remanded. I was told that it had to do with the excessively long time it took to appoint an appellate attorney. I don’t know, I didn’t get a chance to get into the case. I had to tell the librarian what case I was interested in, then he had to find it and bring me the book. I had time to write down the case name, the decision and then a few of the cites mentioned. Next thing I know, it was time to leave and I had to give the book back.
And I received my first visit: Patty Daniels came over and saw me for about an hour and a half yesterday (Wednesday, the 29th). They put me into the booth as Patty came out (after she visited someone else). Then she asked me what I wanted. ???!!! I didn’t have any idea what she was talking about. I finally replied, “I was called out here by you, what do you want?” She laughed (a beautiful laugh) and said “No, I mean what do you want to eat or drink?”
Then I remembered something Jim told me earlier, so I asked for a Pepsi. She wanted to know if I wanted a sandwich or anything and I said that I didn’t feel comfortable about her spending her money on me. Again she laughed, told me it came from an expense account and for me not to worry. So she brought me a BBQ beef sandwich and a Pepsi. Good Lord, they tasted good! There were all kinds of vending machines out there that I didn’t even notice when I entered and I walked right past them! Patty and I talked about a lot of different subjects; she had me talking so much about myself I didn’t get a chance to learn anything about her! But I do think I settled her fears about the book. While we were visiting she had me sit by the window after she saw me looking out it before she joined me in the booth. Had a great view of part of the bay. Couldn’t see THE Bridge, but I could see the toll bridge that we travelled over when I arrived here. The windows of the visiting room face East, so I get a fairly decent view of the San Francisco skyline. All in all, it was a very nice visit.
I got my hands on a very good Thriller/Mystery novel. Clive Cussler’s “Night Probe.” Also got the catalog of available books in the SQ library and noticed several more of his books that are available. I’m going to look forward to reading his “Vixen 03” and “Raise the Titanic!” All three books are ‘DIRK PITT’ books, the central character that has the most exhilarating adventures. In “Night Probe” he comes up against a British Intelligence Agent named ‘Brian Shaw’. From hints and other statements, you know that ‘Shaw’ is an alias given to this “Super” agent when he retired from Her Majesties Secret Service. But the book doesn’t come right out and SAY that Brian Shaw is James Bond, even though the hints are rife throughout the book. Anyway, it is a real good read. I haven’t read anything I liked this much since I last read the Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonrider of Pern series, 10 books strong!
My TV Guide subscription has finally been transferred to this new address. Now if I only had a TV to use it with. Still waiting for my crossword puzzle subscription to catch up with me. Going to be strange working crossword puzzles in ink again. I used to do my crosswords in ink all the time. Bonnie would get frustrated working them in pencil and have so many erasures, she sometimes erased through the puzzles, Cheryl hated crossword puzzles, just as she hated any word game. Cheryl’s speed was ‘SORRY’ and ‘LIFE’! Any game that required her to think, she stayed away from. Aw, but the sad times in my life are depressing. I’d rather keep my mind occupied with the happier times. And that said—I think I’ll end this letter so I can get it out tonight. Take care and I’ll talk to you on the phone soon.
Brian—
Just a quick note to let you know that the accompanying letter from the memorabilia collector is the one I told you about on the phone. If you really want a response written by me for the book, let me know. Otherwise, I’ll not be wasting my time on his letter.
I hope today was a lot better for you than it was for me. One of the c/o’s finally got me a pair of shoes (that I was supposed to have gotten when I first arrived here). Of course, they were a little late as I already got a nice pair of Tennis Shoes on my own (going to cost me 2 books of postage stamps when I get them). I stayed in all day. Had a nice Christmas Dinner. Those were the good points. The bad?! I had to put up with ear-shattering yelling from downstairs. And my allergies erupted with a vengence… Sneezing and a nose-running marathon.
While it was quiet this morning (people sleeping and out to the yard), I re-wrote page 13 of “Whisper From the Dark”. Changed a few things, added a whole new aspect to the ‘Cloaked Figure’! That character is now an “outcast Ancient” by the name of “ZERNEBOCK”. By the way, the name did not come from ZELLERBACH. According to the New York Times Crossword Puzzle Dictionary, “Zernebock” is the name of the “God of Evil, incarnate”! When did the Ancients roam both the Land and the Earth? That will be answered in the story. But it coincides with a minor belief of mine about a missing part of the Bible in the book of Genesis. And it happened long, long before the Dinosaurs were roaming the Earth.
Now that I’ve piqued your interest, I’ll close this short note here. Talk more on this later.
Hello Brian,
Curiosity has finally gotten the better of me. What’s going on? There were two weeks that went by when I was out of touch because the phone was out of order. When we got the phone back, I tried and tried to call you, Don, and Bobby. All without success. And now, there’s a collect call block on your phone. I can’t get ahold of anyone who knows what’s happening. Florence and Dave, Roberta and Patty have not heard from you, either. Roberta hasn’t even heard from Don, other than regarding my van. So, would you please let me know something? I’d really like to go on with our book. Please let me know.
As you can see, I got my typewriter. I also got my TV and headphones. And I got a watch from Florence and Dave in a Quarterly Package. I actually got to watch the two championship games between the AFC and NFC teams today. The Steelers and the Cowboys won and are going to the Super Bowl like I was hoping. I will even get to watch the Super Bowl game. (Barring electrical and cable failures, of course.) Living under the current circumstances has finally become a little bit easier to live with.
The TV is a Panasonic with a few special features: Sleep timer, program timer, channel block, captioning, on-screen menu and channel programming. This typewriter is even better, with a bunch of special features. It’s a Smith-Corona 450DLD. One of the features is a Spell-Right Dictionary of 79,000 words (I think). It also has bold printing and underlining capabilities. Left and right justification, search, insert, sub- and super-script features, special characters and much, much more. It will be a very big help with typing up my stories and other things.