My last post was a mix of optimism and the Zen that accompanies the acceptance of being in prison aided by a fast-approaching release date. I found myself having a profound appreciation for the parts of the experience I actually enjoyed. When you’re going to be...
Prison fosters a training ground for learning how to be content. Incarceration requires experiencing concepts we know to be true, even if they are challenging to live by. I've written before on how happiness is this vague concept that people spend a lot...
You don't throw things away in prison, and you definitely don't take them home with you. So what happens with everything you have when it's time to leave? The bidding begins. When someone asks if they can put a bid on something what they're really saying...
Every night around 9:55 pm a red light comes on, indicating that it's time to head to your bunk for standing count. We're counted multiple times each day. At 8 am, 12 pm, 4 pm, 10 pm, and throughout the evenings at midnight, 3...
Before coming here I rarely read books. I didn't make the time, or if I had time, I turned on Netflix. I also had littleinterest in fiction, feeling that if I was going to spend time reading, I should be learning. However, we watch TVand...
At the time, it didn't feel like the right move. In the end, I think it was. In reality, it was out of my hands. Into my second month here I enrolled in classes through the education department. My family and the coordinator helped chase down...
Another common conversation: "I want to lose more weight but my bench press will suffer." Well bud, no one cares how much you can bench and it's not going to help you once you leave. What I care about is longevity. How can I continue...
I recently picked up on the technical meaning of the numbers following the acronym SPF - Sun Protective Factor. An SPF of 15 would imply that the sunscreen provides protection for 15 times longer than going without. If your skin could last ten minutes in...
Mackerel as a Means of Currency Among the Incarcerated: A Retrospective Analysis Inmates are never short on creative ideas and they've created many solutions to the lack of cash in prison. Most compounds use stamps as a form of currency. Universally accepted, inflation protected, and easy...
Spare the last month, the softball field has been closed for the entire time I've been here due to Covid imposed restrictions. Even with the closure, I heard the lore from other inmates - softball in Federal Prison is a huge deal. One guy half-joking/half-serious...
Seneca phrased it best when he eloquently wrote "work nourishes noble minds." If everyone sat around every day, in prison or outside of it, not only would nothing get done, a lethargy would take over our souls. We're meant to put our minds and bodies...
Fact of Prison: all inmates count down the weeks and months. Many more count down the years. Some I'm here with have been counting down the decades. Without fail, on the eighth day of every month, I hear my favorite snippet of prison optimism. "Only...
As the temperatures in South Dakota begin to break 90 degrees, fresh on the menu is cold nachos. At first, the idea sounds wildly unappealing. "Hi, I'd like a plate of nachos but please don't heat any of it up, room temp will suffice" said...
The Bureau of Prisons has every facility on a five week rotation of meals and they try to keep the cost to feed each inmate at around $3.00 per day. You end up eating the same things again and again so eventually you're going to...
These words come up daily in prison. In light of this, I am sharing the ideas behind them so you all can appreciate a small aspect of how a day here goes. There is a bulletin board located outside the officers station that houses information pertinent...
When it comes to incarceration, racial inequality shines through even more than in broader society. A glaring example of this is with crack cocaine prison sentences. In the 1980's, Congress decided the US needed to get tough on drug crime. In a four year period,...
While you can't see through the two opaque security windows in our cinder block wall study room, it does contain four chessboards that are much appreciated, thoroughly utilized, and more than make up for the lack luster surroundings. If you're looking for a game, sit...
First things first, the best show to watch is whatever is already on. You not only have to earn the right to change the channel, but even with that, there are specific TV's in which one with such a right would exercise it. Each race...
There are many conversations which are common in the free world but never happen in prison. One is when someone talks about how they've been "so busy lately, absolutely slammed." There is less work to be pursued when the going pay rate is around $0.17...
Happiness resides in misery Misery hides in happiness Who knows where they end -Lao Tzu Prison is a punishment. So how does society measure whether a punishment effectively meets the goals of punishing someone? Somewhere a group of experts determined that based on a multitude of factors, x number...
The prison has been in Red or Yellow Covid modified operations since I arrived here. That means controlled movements where foot traffic through the compound is prohibited unless it's during the 5 minutes between when a call is initiated and when it ends. The two...
Every morning at breakfast we are offered oatmeal, 2 cartons of milk, a donut and an apple. In terms of mealiness and instantaneous browning upon biting into said apple, the consistency across the board is astounding. On the weekends, if you are so lucky and...
When it came to prison, I feared all the wrong things. That fear often affected the time between sentencing and self-surrender. You don't know what you don't know and I can't change the past but a lot of what I was worried about didn't come...
Last Saturday we had a snowstorm and the power went out across the entire compound. When all the lights go off in a prison inmates immediately jump into action. I should have assumed nothing less would occur. The night started like many other evenings this...
Everyone relies on this relic of telecom technology to stay in touch with the outside world. I am glad we have access to telephones - not all prisoners throughout the history of the world can say they had as much. No matter what the phone...
It's almost March and this one slipped away from me. So while the holiday's feel like a LONG time ago, I recently pulled out a gift I was sent (I'm counting all the Christmas cards as gifts too) and felt it proper to still share...
On Thursday nights part of the gym is cleared for full-court basketball. The games can be contentious and therefore include three referees, two score keepers, and the bleachers are full. Full disclosure - there are only two sets of bleachers, but still. My car works...
If one year ago I was asked what diesel therapy is I would have guessed it's the act of getting in a pickup truck and driving out to the countryside for fresh air and wide-open spaces. Something you might hear about in a country music...
Monday January 31st was an exciting night over in Yankton. As exciting as it can get in prison. After being in covid quarantine, then testing positive and being moved to covid isolation, and then finally moved back to quarantine after 11 days in isolation, February...
On the morning of January 6th at 8:43am we hear the page over the intercom: "All inmates return to your housing unit, all inmates return to your housing unit." I could feel the collective sigh in the air. We all knew it - Covid had...
When you are searching you are looking for something - like buried treasure, a person lost in the woods or car keys. A search is temporary in nature. The mission is successful or it is not. Underway or terminated. There is an vast amount of writing...
As I write this it is 6:30 am on Monday morning. Unbeknownst to me it was going to be a day to put into practice what I have been reading and learning about Stoicism as well as humility and patience. I woke up at 5:30 to...
Yankton Federal Prison Camp is a minimum security prison in Yankton, South Dakota. These types of facilities are for white collar offenders - places where inmates will be surrounded by their professional peers and those of similar backgrounds. Or so the thinking goes. White collar offenders represent...
've written several times that when I leave here I will have to answer to myself for how I handled my incarceration. I've also written about how being selfless is far more rewarding than being selfish. Most of my free time at Yankton FPC has...
After reviewing the calorie count and sugar intake on this gem of a dessert I had to come to terms with reality, and my fitness/health goals. This isn't an indulgence, it is a public health concern. I think people could use incarceration as an excuse...
In my earlier years I found myself searching for where I wanted to settle down and start a life out West. A job offer led me to Boise and I still have much gratitude for how lucky I was, although at times I should have...
The Stoics were testing me: Below are my thoughts from a gorgeous day this past October. I wrote this but never sent it off. There wasn't any reason in particular I didn't send it, I guess I wrote it more as therapy. Kind of working through...
Thanksgiving Day was one for the books. Not very festive, as you would expect, but in all reality not that bad. I woke up early, as I do every day. After breakfast, I had the music room to myself from 7-8 am and played chess in...
There is no shortage of tattoos in here. Especially neck tattoos. I have to hand it to everyone in terms of not just creativity, but sheer coverage and commitment. There is by no means a lack of artwork to appreciate. There aren't any tattoo guns at...
It's Only 7 Weeks: I used to get fairly discouraged when daylight savings time ended. It was actually very foolish of me considering 1) I have no control over daylight savings time ending 2) due to the tilt of the earth there are only so many...
Things to know about Prison: (from someone who has been in prison for five months) If you have less than a five year sentence people will actually laugh and tell you how quick the time will go by - you will not find humor in this. That chair...
I have some mountains in front of me that I have to climb. They're figurative mountains, but they're mountains nonetheless. Everyone has their challenges, and each of us must decide how we're going to respond. The way we respond defines who and what we become...
This is a short post because this one quote says it all and I don't want to take away from it. I feel that the study of philosophy and Zen are quite different - one takes place in the mind utilizing theories, concepts and ideas...
The first Monday in November was a gray, dreary, Midwest early winter day. Blustery and chilly. There's been a nasty head cold making it's way around the unit and I had successfully fended it off for several weeks. I get enough rest, hydrate, take vitamin-C...
Sunday night was the premier of the new season of Yellowstone and the TV room was going wild. People have been talking about this for several weeks and the seats began filling up hours before the start. I've never seen it this packed down there. Everyone...
Greetings from the Culinary Institute of Yankton (CIOY) pronounced "Chow". I made my first bowl of Gumbo Saturday night and after much debate we decided that the texture and flavor profile of mackerel was better suited to the dish than tuna. Tuna is usually the go...
Two themes I frequently see surface in my reading are being present and managing emotions. There is a Lao Tzu quote that eloquently sums up the the beauty in being present and the futility of anything else: "Depression is in the past, anxiety is in...
Last week, Monday morning was my day to shop at commissary. In standard commissary day fashion I woke up at 5:30am and waited in the entrance to our unit starting at 5:40. A controlled move was called at 6:02 am and we walked to the building...
This is a game that I used to play frequently. The version I played was to be 100% honest in that exact moment with the person who was asking the question. It is not a random game you play with anyone though. The other person,...
Before I came here I heard rumors that many prisons and jails had pickle ball. Unfortunately, prisons aren't like hotels and you can't get on the internet to check on the accommodations prior to your arrival. I lucked out that we have one indoor court...
Now that I have found myself in the swing of things I am beginning to cook more. It is time consuming, but we have plenty of that and cooking is about more than simply making food to eat. In here, there is a sense of...
Everything finally clicked with John Lennon's Imagine. I love this song, it feels so so good to play, especially considering all the effort I put in. After breakfast and before work call I head downstairs when the music room is empty (before 7am). I turn...
Yankton FPC has a fairly large Native American population and with today being ahem, "Columbus Day" I felt I would share a story I recently read. When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were training for Apollo II they were in the Western United States and there...
Update on the Mp3 player. I actually could not handle walking the track and listening to music at the same time. After almost 120 days without music it was literally too much. For now, I started listening to music the way people used to. I...
Like anywhere else in the world, people in prison really enjoying creating and using nicknames. Yankton has it's fair share of typical prison nicknames. Killer, Chainsaw and Tiny (who is obviously huge) to name a few. I was here for roughly one hour before I...
Tuesday morning started in a way I never could have planned for. First, I recently finished Sapiens - A Brief History of Humankind. The final chapters of the book, the culmination of everything Harari writes, comes together in an absolutely soul stirring way. Through his insights...
I have an orange and yellow spiral bound notebook I've been using for a variety of writing topics. Not long musings, but short, spur of the moment inspiration I want to save and come back to later. If an idea from a book or a conversation...
I figured it was time to share more about what this gem of fitness center is like at Yankton. First off, it's a total mad house. Picture your local gym on the first Monday after New Years Eve. Everyone's resolutions are in place and they...
I have been setting fitness goals that at first felt a bit lofty. However, I like the idea of a goal that I can't complete in a short amount of time. My sit-up routine is up to 500 per session. Push-ups go to 300. While...
Earlier this week I was at work call and the compound was eerily quiet. We are held up and not allowed out on the compound for one and a half hours. Shortly thereafter, we're told to go to the gym and wait there. We walk...
Before I came here I remember watching a you tube video of a gentleman talking about life after his release. He said that "the sooner you put this behind you, the sooner you have one less day of your life to stand for count." At...
This is a small win and also a big win. The exact instance itself isn't such a moment to celebrate, but I am inspired by how this line of thinking is bleeding over in to other parts of my life, and more so the impact...
One day soon enough I will look back on all this like I now look back on my time in quarantine. In those moments, I was devastated. Sitting in a room by myself in South Dakota, locked inside for 17 days straight, my head spinning...
The commissary list in prison includes quite a few things that at first seem random and misplaced. However, what inmates make with this disjointed availability never ceases to amaze me. I had heard the lore of prison cheese cake upon my arrival, but am an...
Until I started learning more about Stoic Philosophy I never realized how many aspects of life that cause me stress are external - out of my control. Now that I am becoming more aware of this, I hear about 'externals' in conversations all the time. ...
A friend once told me that when life is too good, or too easy, we create problems for ourselves and place importance in the menial things. Hobbies, assets, superficial stuff. You strip that down and you begin to face things differently. It shows you what...
Of the myriad number of concerns one may have before coming to Prison, one of them is likely, will I be bored out of my mind when I am here? It is valid - you have a lot of free time. No grocery shopping, no...
After I gained my bearings at Yankton I was reasonably comfortable with the other inmates at the Prison. You start to recognize everyone, they recognize you, you're not the new guy anymore. Then a few started to leave, a few more came in, and then...
There is not an exact set time for breakfast, lunch and dinner in the BOP. There is a time range within which we are likely to be called. It's best to be ready and waiting as people swarm the chow hall when they leave the...
Big news on the compound, we recevied approval for group pictures. Saturday evening was a busy one at the gym, where group pictures occur. Let's take a look at what goes in to getting your picture taken while incarcerated and review my 9 tips for...
I have never kept a diary or had a desire to journal. The extent of my writing over the last 10 years has been emails in the professional setting. Lately I have been pondering not just the idea to document this experience, as that is...
Shopping in Prison: Instead of having a store we can access throughout the week, the prison chooses to let inmates shop on one specific weekday and only during a five minute period. Prior to our assigned day, we are given a one-page sheet of paper that...
: Reading, Writing and Gardening - In Prison When you find out you're going to prison one of the first things many people talk about is how much you'll be able to read and that you should write a book. To a degree, they're right. No...
Today, July 9th, marks my first month in federal prison. Is it a time to celebrate or a time to feel defeated, knowing both the amount of time I have already gotten through yet the sentence I have left? I don't really feel either of...
I remember laying in bed one evening a few weeks before I self surrendered to the Yankton Federal Prison Camp, pondering the likely variances between my then current sleeping arrangement and what Yankton would have in store for me. Pre-surrender sleeping: The A/C is on, set...
The obvious part of a post like this will be how wonderful it is to get mail in prison, but I will get to that later. The part I want to address first is the challenge of writing letters in prison. It would be easy...
I started off Thursday morning with my usual quarantine morning routine. Breakfast out of a styrofoam container, a drink from the water fountain, laying on my floor for the exact 40 minutes when the sun shines through and some time spent writing. I then settled...
I am 16 days into quarantine and while I wanted to write this post on a computer we still don’t have access to them. So I am putting pencil to paper and having it transcribed. It is 8:10 am on Thursday June 24. I have...
I like high end bicycles. I like the way they ride-how they shift and how the brakes feel. How you can adjust everything to a perfect fit. How they efficiently pedal uphill but also absorb every bump going downhill. How they look so good just...
As the title would lead you to believe, I am 13 days into quarantine. Quarantining for a virus that I have been vaccinated for previously and then tested negative upon intake at Yankton. There is a lesson to be learned here and it is one that...
What Grade will you Give Yourself? It is Monday, June 14. I’m having a hard time admitting this but I am in really high spirits today, maybe even enjoying myself. I have given in to the circumstances of my situation and am doing what I can...
It is Saturday morning and I am sitting in my room at Yankton Federal Prison Camp. Still in quarantine and will be here for at least 14 more days, but more like 16. They run a Covid rapid test at medical the moment you arrive....
I recently watched a documentary about the seafood industry. Seaspiracy has been hotly contended but brought up a point I have been ruminating on as of late. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was tragic - there's no doubt about it. 11 worker's lives were taken that day on...
This is a phrase that has been on my mind frequently and has also presented itself in the videos I have recorded. There is a balance between enjoying today and planning for tomorrow. That balance becomes more of a fine line when today includes the concept...
Course: Self-Directed, Self-Help with Journaling 101 YouTube: https://youtu.be/jmWr7uRZniE Post: https://prisonprofessors.com/preparing-for-sales/ Title: Preparing for Professional Sales from Prison Blurb: Scott learned a simple sales lesson as a young man: People don’t want to be sold, but they love to buy; a successful salesperson learns what their customer values. Scott’s entrepreneurial mindset and...
This morning I read an article titled "50 Rules for a Good Life". Below are a few of my favorites from that list - but truth be told, all the rules are good. While my current situation has me reflecting on many life decisions, I am...
In a prior post, I spoke about how I would report to Prison in one month and was busy preparing my house and enjoying the remaining time I had with my freedom. While those two activities have kept me occupied, my attention has also focused...
Going through this process has shown me the immense value of a supportive family. We've always been there for each other, but my recent legal perils and the subsequent challenges have highlighted the type of unconditional love my family provides. Here is a picture I took...
With less than one month until I report to prison, there is a lot to address. It's an odd place to be in - much to do yet also enough time left to enjoy life and freedom. A delicate balance indeed. I am renting my home...
To say out loud that "I received an investigation letter" is a shocking experience. If you've received an investigation letter or, worse, have been indicted, chances are you not only feel nauseated but are underestimating the arduous journey ahead. The reality of the situation...
Living life while waiting to report to Yankton Federal Prison Camp I recently became aware of a story called the Sword of Damocles. The story centers on a king named Dionysius II, who ruled over the Sicilian city of Syracuse. He was unhappy due to the number...
Learning to surf was unlike any other sport I have ever taken on. Besides being exceptionally humbling and challenging, you’re also at the whim of mother nature. If you want to surf on a specific day it doesn’t always work out – the tide is too low...
Once you've decided you want a career in sales you need to choose whether you're more suited to work in B2B or B2C sales. I started sales right out of college, making in-home sales of mini blinds, or window coverings, as we called them...
Choosing a career in sales can be a grueling choice. You have management squeezing from one side – constantly asking for more and more. You have your prospects on the other – too busy to meet, not interested, not returning your calls, or satisfied with...
My name is Sentencing Impact, and I am writing to you from Boise, ID. It sounds surreal to acknowledge and accept, but I will soon embark on a new chapter in life as inmate 20090-023 residing at Yankton Federal Prison Camp in South Dakota. That...