Posted on 02/01/2018 5:32:26 PM PST by markomalley
I enjoy numbers and coming up with simple studies, but I’ve not been exposed to figuring out logs, upper levels of Algebra, Geometry, and Trig. I’m not big on prime numbers, finding the upper level ones.
If I want to figure out something, I’ll look up formulas on the internet. I can come up with them too, for some things.
I’m lucky enough I can logic may way through most things. If I can’t, I can generally find enough information to see me through.
The other day I had to take my HP Laptop apart and install a new fan. I had the whole thing broken down. I got it back together and it runs great now.
Not sure what to do with the leftover 11 screws and that plastic strip hanging out the side with exposed leads on it... LOL
Well that’s a bit of an exaggeration. I do have two leftover screws, and that’s it.
Perhaps the hardest thing I ever had to figure out, was replacing the engine on my Trans Am all by myself.
I had an engine blow up on me. Went to a junkyard and bought a used one guaranteed for a year.
Put it in the vehicle and sold it.
Ran into the two guys who bought it about two years later. They said that car ran perfectly for them. I always felt good about the fact I could do that with no help at all. I was pretty sure I’d done a good job, but you never know.
The most I’d ever done before was to swap out an alternation, a thermostat, or a water pump.
I’ve never quite understood folks who can’t figure things out on their own, for most things.
Short cuts in life are nice, but like yous say, what if you couldn’t rely on some device to get things done?
I wonder how many of those Democrat State Legislators have relatives or money invested in this company. This is definitely a Democrat led program.
They prefer to use a padlock or can of food in a sock...upside the head. Oh...and shivs too, or toothbrushes with a piece of razor inserted in the end. They'll even use ballpoint pens. And microwaves on the unit they use to heat up baby oil to throw on someone.
Just imagine all the shanks to be made from broken tablet glass...
It's amazing though isn't it, that although they claimed they didn't like prison life, so many of them kept coming back for more. Saw it plenty of times in my 25 years. Prison is just another form of welfare. There's no punishment anymore.
I respect your greater experience; and I realize that many people in prisons are incorrigible.
But there are also an awful lot who wound up there for relatively minor infractions; and some guilty of serious ones who are still truly capable of turning their lives around.
I don’t know why, but I’ve always felt that the way we handle incarceration for crimes really needs a revolution. For so many in our prisons, there is just degradation and demoralization; and very little to inspire and uplift a person into a new way of life.
I helped my friend to fix his laptop. We all participated in taking it apart, but only our friend who used to be a watch repair man (that’s a dying profession), was skilled enough to put it back together again.
Mostly filled with non-violent drug suppliers/users who have offended multiple times. It's not their first rodeo friend. They're given schooling, vocational and occupational training. The bulk of them dropped out of school and have the opportunity to get their GED's. Your key words are "if they take advantage." The other words should be "and apply it when they leave." When they're released, it's way too easy for them to fall back into the same old patterns, with the same homies, in the same community you were arrested in. I've always believed that change has to come from within. It's not something you can expect someone to hand to you. You have to work at it, and want to work at it, and keep working at it, even if you get knocked down. Too many of them won't get back up and try again. It's easier just to revert back to bad habits and behavior. There's no work in that. Saying you want to change, and putting the effort into doing it are two different things.
New York State should put more effort into making these kids stay in school and complete their education. In New York State, you can quit school at age 16 without your parent’s permission. At least that’s the way it used to be. A large number of NY’s inmates are dropouts, and although there are GED programs, many don’t make use of them. It’s easier to slide by and be paid for being a porter pushing brooms and mops.
They were allowed radios and cassette players. They also have TV on the units and in the yards. When I worked in Auburn, the TVs were in the yard. The only companies that had TVs were the honor unit. That was the two top floors of C Block. Before I retired in 2003, the inmates favorite TV program was "Cops."
Forgot to mention that when I was at Auburn, they had their own radio station that an inmate ran. Each cell had a connection that they could listen to it with headphones supplied by the state. Don’t know if they still have that though. It’s been many years.
As I mentioned in one of my other posts, NY's prison have libraries and law libraries, where they can take out books, read newspapers and magazines. They can also purchase those items on their own through an account, or have someone send one to them, or bring it in a package. A lot of times, the library in the prison that I worked at, got new released books sooner than my local library did.
Personally, to me, prisons are too easy. If anything, prisons should be so horrible that a man/woman would never want to go back. But come back they do...over and over. Today, they get everything they want, and more. They get to hang out with their homies, pump iron, hang out at the gym, practice their religions, attend school, vocational and occupational programs, watch TV on their housing units, or in the yard. Make phone calls home, get packages and commissary, get visits from home. Some prisons even allow conjugal visits. Many of these inmates didn't get three square meals a day while on the street. They do in prison. Many of NY's prisons are like college campuses with dormitories.
After doing my 25 years, I still can't fathom why anyone who has already done prison time, would want to do anything that could put you back in prison. They tell you when to get up, when to go to bed, what you can wear, what you're eating that day, who you can call, write, and have visits with. Who in their right mind would want to put themselves into such a controlling environment, especially if you had the option not to? Well, other than our good military men and women in uniform. They do it for us. The sad thing is that so many inmates do it over and over, and like welfare, it's like a vicious cycle that continues into the next generation, and the next.
My idea of prison did NOT include handheld entertainment devices.
Smuggled cell phone = mobile hot spot.
LOL, I wouldn’t be surprised.
I was bored stiff at school. The interesting things is, I like to learn, but I hate the process that is school.
If I need to do something, I can figure it out. Put me in a class, and I’m just bored to death, and hate the process.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a percentage of folks in prison like that.
The only inmates who get one hour of sunshine/rec, are those in solitary confinement for disciplinary reasons. Some of those cells may have windows.They can get visits and a limited commissary, library/law books, mail privileges.
"I've often thought that getting the salvageable among these people in touch with the land, and with animals, would change their lives incredibly."
How is that going to change their lives when most of them are from the inner city, and will go back to the inner city, to the same neighborhoods they came from, and where the type of animals I assume you're talking about (land, farm animals?) won't be around. They did have farm programs at some of the prisons in New York, but they were stopped because they weren't prosperous enough. The Superintendent of the last prison I worked at wanted to have a beef farm, but the State shot him down. He had raised beef himself, and thought it would be something positive. The powers that be said no. We have prison industry in New York prisons. It's called Corcraft. According to their website: "Division of Correctional Industries uses manufacturing as a component of DOCCS overall reentry program, which is designed to teach inmates work ethic and skills. Corcraft trains inmates to make a variety of high-quality products at manufacturing shops inside 14 of NYs correctional facilities. These products are then sold to Corcrafts specific customer base, which includes public entities and charitable, not-for-profit organizations that receive tax dollars. Corcraft cannot sell to private parties or organizations."
For example, Auburn prison makes license plates and office furniture.
As far as writing them off...they write themselves off. They settle for status quo, most are happy where they are, and although there are inmates who do work to better themselves, it's not the norm.
I’m not overly handy, but I think working on BMX bikes as a kid was a good start that many people miss out on today. At an even earlier age, Erector Sets acquainted children with tools. YouTube has plenty of videos showing people how to do various things, and it is a great help for people who weren’t exposed to tools when they were younger. Even your car’s manual will tell you how to switch a battery or change burned-out bulbs; I’d be embarrassed to ask someone else (or even worse, pay them) to replace them.
There are two areas where I’m leery of doing home repairs is electrical and plumbing, simply because if you don’t get it right within your time window you may have to either leave the electricity or the water turned off in part of, or the whole, house. I don’t mind getting dirty with drywall, sanding, painting, etc., but if there is a risk that something gets screwed up to the point where you have to pay “emergency rates” for a pro (electrician or plumber, as noted above) then I’ll pass on that.
Engine work is beyond me; like electrical or plumbing work, my chief concern is that I wouldn’t finish it correctly by the time I need the car for work...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.