jco-blog

SNAFUS? What SNAFU'S??

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:28:27 +0100

OK -- so I DID just screw up a little. Took off the "Soapbox" link, since I ?? how to access it anymore... and had to go over the YellBox to get it working right again, which it DOES, even though it's a bit skinnier now. No biggie. What else....... ahhhhh...... accidently re-did the "About Me" on the OLD TYC site at the bottom of the blog, which you can link to from the index page here still. Again -- just a cosmetic SNAFU, but one that yes, I AM aware of! HA.

The main thing I wanted to point out here is that I wrote an email to Senator Whitmire yesterday. He's the fellow in charge of the TJJD agency, and The Man In Charge, I think, as far as who's the biggest mover and shaker that might have some clout to start some positive changes. Will see. It will take a lot of courage. I wonder if he has it -- LAST TIME I wrote him, a couple years ago, (see my recent Guestbook entry) I got a standard lip service "thanks for your email" sort of response... let's hope he's more seriously inclined to actually look into what's going on and how it might adversely affect HIM. Keep posted!

Just to keep you advised of what's been going on with me since leaving TYC/TJJD -- my wife and I are still in the tattoo/piercing equipment supply business, going around the State selling our STUFF. It's become a full time, I mean FULL TIME effort; we sell from our home, at flea markets, online on Ebay and Amazon... we advertise on craigslist, and have just started doing dropshipping. Our new website for that is at PDQDropship.com and offers more than just tattoo and piercing things. Take a look!

TIGHTENING THE SCREWS

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 02:17:17 +0100

GO FOR IT, BART... the ball is in your court. Make the call. The game goes on.

Giddings Admin has practically given you the keys to the gate -- but why would you want to leave? Everything you could possibly want is on campus.

You've been told it's OK to fill out grievances when you don't like being held responsible for your actions. Your ConNextions score not what you'd like it to be? Bitch and whine and it'll get changed... illegally, if necessary... but heaven forbid anyone would see you as being anything but the little angel you are.

Don't like the staff, huh? Well, they ARE there to be verbally and physically abused, right? So go ahead... hit them. Curse them. Lie to them. Steal from them. Nothing will happen to you... no one REALLY wants to hold you accountable, right?

The only problem you have is how to STAY locked up through the summer to make sure you get a chance to enjoy ALL those snow cones, pizza and BBQ parties, kite flying, and dance-off's you're entitled to! I mean, come on -- you NEVER got all that fun (and attention) out in The Free, now, did you? Of course not. And the prospect of actually having to GROW UP and (shudder!) get a job and work for an honest living is waaaaay too depressing to even consider... so best do what you have to in order to stretch this vacation in Giddings out as long as you can. Hell, it might even be dangerous to your health outside the wire, what with all those crazies running around with knives and guns 'n stuff!

Best to blame someone else on your having been locked up -- sure, you weren't given three interventions not to pistol whip that old lady before you robbed her. It wasn't your fault then, was it? Of course not. You're just ... a child. How could you have known any better?

Well -- let's cut the crap and get to the real issue of what the problem is today in regards to American society in general and Giddings State School in particular, namely, responsibility is AWFUL hard to find nowdays -- especially in institutions like TJJD. But someone has to take the fall when things go wrong. And things are going very, very wrongly at GSS. So who's responsible?

The legislators? Timid voters? Admin? Austin? The kids, the JCO's, the programs or lack thereof? WHO?
WHAT??

I would assign a good portion blame for the collapse of GSS, when it comes, to the JCO system that allows those in "supervisory" positions to be anything BUT supervisors. By not keeping tabs on those under them, the whole system has become rotten from within... and without support and supervison from above, the JCO 4's and below have floundered, and the kids have taken over. Admin has to be faulted for not disciplining those JCO 5's and 6's who are not doing the job they need to in order to keep things running they way they SHOULD. In turn, Admin hasn't been held to task to do THEIR job by the bigwigs in Austin. And voters have turned a blind eye to legislators who don't require accountability from those running TJJD... and so on. So yes, there's lots of blame to go around. It's not surprising, when you think about it, that The System has failed the youth and everyone else up and down the line. No one wants to do their job! It's the poor JCO's who are working the floor that get caught in the middle of this mess and are the ones who are working the 12 hour shifts and getting the shit kicked out of them... and that's just plain sad. And unnecessary. And needs to stop, and soon.

The programs need to change. The whole culture of GSS needs to be impartially examined and made fairer to those who actually are trying to do their jobs.

After 6.5 years of working at Giddings, I realized there was no way I could effectively do the job the State expected me to do, so I quit. Being a nice guy, of sorts, I used to tell the kids if they got out and stayed out of trouble for just THREE MONTHS that I would give them a FREE tattoo kit to use to maybe make some money and explore their creative instincts and stay out of trouble for good... but none of them ever took me up on it. Oh well. I tried. They somehow need to be taught that hard work is the answer -- NOT being treated like spoiled childern by adults who are scared to do the hard work of disciplining them when they most need it.

Something has to change to help these kids learn how to live in society and stay out of trouble... something other than what's being done NOW. It's time to raise the bar, to tighten the screws, and to ask the tough questions, like, WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE, and BY WHO?

SPOT THE CRAZY ONES

Sat, 02 Feb 2013 03:42:39 +0100

SEE THESE SMILING FACES ANYWHERE? LOOK LIKE ANYONE FAMILIAR?

No? They could be anyone... maybe the kid next door, even...

Maybe you know those kids? Think they might have spent some time locked up as juveniles? They say you can't tell just by looking at someone what they are capable of doing... and that it's unfair to make assumptions. Everyone knows you "don't judge a book by its cover", right?

But I don't know if that's really true: I think some people are just plain CRAZY and you can kinda tell by just looking at them. Call me prejudiced, but those kind of people I DON'T WANT roaming around the street, free to kill a couple or couple dozen innocent people. Like me.

I may look crazy, but I'm not stupid. And I know that because of the shoddy product GSS is turning out, there will be even more idiots doing STOOPID stuff in public because they WEREN'T provided with/allowed what they needed somewhere along the line. Like maybe discipline... or limits/boundaries... a work ethic... responsibilities... being told to pull their pants up and march right... SOMETHING. I just don't know WHAT. Or -- the problem may be that they were given TOO MUCH of what they DIDN'T NEED at a certain time and place in their lives, like oh, say, snow cones... pizza parties for causing damage to public property and assaulting staff... and kites and puppies and slip and slides and flat screen TV's to watch the Stupor Bowl on... you know? It really doesn't make much of a difference what a perosn looks like, but once they go beyond being crazy on their OWN and inflict it on other people, I want an accounting from SOMEONE or SOME INSTITUTION as to WHY THEY FAILED and society had to deal with the mess they caused. Still, being different doesn't mean you're a bad person. It's OK to be yourself, or at least it SHOULD BE.

But being a State Agency that isn't provide incarcerated youth from ending up with their picture in the paper due to overindulgence and inattention to their needs is a downright DISGRACE!

TDDJ's FUTURE

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 19:39:42 +0100

NOW you see it...

...and then you DON'T.

Expect to hear some gnashing of teeth and lots of blaming to happen when the Good Ship TJJD goes down. It's not a matter of IF but WHEN it happens.

All the Admin weenies, Austin pukes, and legislative blowhards will be scurrying around, trying to fix things while the tired old hag is heading straight to the bottom, asking anyone who will listen "HOW could this have happened?" Truth is, you get what you deserve, folks. That means YOU. You were told, you were asked, you were warned... and you refused to listen, to ask for ideas, to reach out to those "stakeholders" who really could have offered some help... me included. When the time comes, all you'll be able to hear is a tortured cry...

So! Now I just want to sit back and watch and wait and see what happens when the final act occurs... I want to see the desperation and fear in the eyes of those who allowed the culture on campus to disintergrate to the putrid mess it is and they lose their jobs. I WANT TO SEE HEADS ROLL for wasting MY taxdollars on slip and slides, snow cones, and flat screen TV's. Yeah, let me watch. It'll be in the paper, for sure, just like the sex scandal was... and don't come crying to me that you never saw it coming.

Face it, will ya -- when FIVE people quit an organization in ONE day -- SOMETHING IS WRONG. Oh, pardon me... I thought maybe I was addressing someone in authority who could implement positive changes in the Agency and who was reading this and actually gave a shit? Sorry. But if so, a reasonable approach would be to say "Gee! Looks like we've got some sort of problem here! Tell me more! What do you suggest?" -- but no, THAT will never happen at GSS!! WHAT was I thinking??!

So hold on tight, folks. I think the end is coming, and it will happen sooner than anyone expects. And I won't have a shred of pity for ANYONE who had a hand in letting things get to the point of no return like they are. GSS DESERVES to fail because those in charge of keeping the ship afloat don't care, don't listen, don't learn. They are scared, and afraid of the truth, and prefer ignorance to understanding -- so they keep playing "Let's Pretend Everything Is OK". That's not what will get the kids from point A to point B. When the ship goes down, it takes EVERYONE with it, and blame WILL be assessed eventually. Enjoy your cruise while you can.

REUNION (Of Sorts)

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 23:53:50 +0100

So I'm standing there at Cole's Flea Market in Houston, and a couple young Hispanic dudes and their girls walk up to the table to see what we're selling... and one of the guys says "Say, didn't you used to work at the Giddings State School?"

Well! If it wasn't old whatshisname and whatshisface! How nice it was to see them, both out "in the free". One had grown his hair pretty long in the 3 years they had been out; one had a little goatee action going on. We had heartfelt embraces, actually, and introduced the ladies to each other and did a little chatting.

The guys were appropriately respectful. They seemed to be doing well. I didn't ask about current employment, and they were REAL interested how I had managed to "get out" of working at GSS. I just told them. I said I had done the best I could for as long as I could, and then simply had to do what I had to do -- get another job.

They were rather amazed, I think, to hear we were doing tattoo equipment sales for a living. I also told/reminded them how I had many times told the guys there if they managed to stay clean/sober/out of trouble for only THREE MONTHS after leaving GSS that I would give them a FREE tattoo kit to help them maybe make some money and get a head start on a potential occupation. But no one, NOT ONE kid has ever contacted me.

ZOMBIES

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 04:57:15 +0100

Why is it the folks still working at GSS seem like zombies to me? They damn well KNOW the Agency stands a chance of being dissolved and their lives as JCO's may take a headshot at any time. They shuffle around after doing 12 hour shifts, half aware of their surroundings, totally dead on their feet. It's so sad to think that only a few years ago, GSS was still a pit, but a more MANAGEABLE pit... and now, everyone knows the score --

The kids won. They run the show. Without 225's and logical consequences, there's no way to exert any authority over their behavior. So much for rehabilitation... so much for treatment... so much for making it in society. So very very sad.

There are people working there that have seen a ton of changes over an extremely long period of time -- some of them have been plugging away on campus for 30-close-to-40 years. That's a LONG time, and I salute their service to the youth and taxpayers of Texas. Years ago, it was quite different, but now... now everyone is simply waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I ran into a lady today who still works at the school; she recognized me and said hello. I remember she'd worked at the school (38 years, she said). When I told her I was not employed there any longer she asked if I just quit or had gotten sick and tired of situations there, and I told her basicly that I gave notice and had quit because I no longer respected myself, the kids, my co=workers and the State gov't of Texas == and thought it best to get out before I did something stoopid. Yes, I was frustrated and angry and bitter about how most (not all, but to be honest, the MAJORITY of) staff had treated me while I was there. I felt the same way about being stripped of my ability to do a decent job after all the changes brought about after the sex scandal broke and ALL OF A SUDDEN we were out of the CORRECTIONS business and into the CODDLING business... what a shame, huh? Everyone loses. EVERYONE.

After I'd gone one a little bit, I could see I'd said too much to my ex co-worker... she couldn't defend The System OR her own choice to stay aboard a sinking ship. All I could think when we parted was how grateful I was not to be working there any more, and how much better my lift had become. But then something kinda funny happened.

I was driving back with my wife from Belton, where we had just worked selling tattoo equipment at a big flea market they have outside town there. We we talking, and without realizing it I mentioned that this was the first job I ever have had (and I've had more than a few!) that "wasn't important" to Society in some way. It isn't like working at GSS, or working for the State of Washington doing personal care, or the funeral home, or Head Start, or being an xray tech for 20 years or even working in all those restaurants in my youth. No... selling tattoo equipment really didn't count when it came to doing something IMPORTANT. People don't NEED tattoos, right?

Right. But here to tell you -- I really do believe that by selling folks this stuff, I am helping them in SOME WAY to feel BETTER about themselves... their relationships... thier Country, State, Community, etc. I am helping instill in them the qualities of pride, and courage, and a feeling of UNITY. Tattoos bring people together, and I am there to facilitate this, so maybe, just maybe, what I do is something that has MEANING, if not much else. I makes ME feel good and provides a means to pay my bills. I talk, I listen, I console, train, sympathize and wheel 'n' deal with folks for a living now and hey -- sitting at a flea market out in the sun making money SURE beats sitting in a doorway making money... THAT I know FOR SURE. So for me, there WAS a way out -- but I had to grab ahold of the opportunity to make the break from the velvet lined rut of a job GSS was and just GO FOR IT. Maybe not everyone can do it like I did, but NO ONE HAS TO work at GSS and feel like there's no hope. No one HAS to walk around like a zombie. Guess what I'm getting at in a roundabout way here is that given choice, given the OPTION, I really prefer doing something I ENJOY whether it is important, like helping the kids at GSS, or not. For me, life is just to short to do otherwise.

Ask yourself now -- is what you're doing important? Does it matter? If what you're doing at the school seems pointless and irrelevant then get up and let people in Austin know! Let your supervisors and admin know, too. IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT The System has let you down, but if you don't fight to improve/change conditions you will eventually do down with the best AND worst of 'em. I've said it before here and I'll say it again: It's better to die on your feet than live on your knees.

Zombie or not.

WORK WORK WORK!!!

Thu, 18 Oct 2012 03:42:04 +0100

Don't care too much to work TOO hard for a living, you know? And really would rather work for myself and my wife than for the State of Texas, eh?? So that's why I left GSS and started doing what I love -- selling tattoo equipment!! My wife (in photo below) loves it too, and really likes not having me working at the school, pulling all those 12's+ and putting myself in danger for a paycheck and nothing more. Working for ourselves isn't THE MOST secure way to make a living, but it sure beats putting up with the crap I used to.

We have reclaimed our relationship as married partners, and, business partners as well. It's a good feeling.

Do I look surprised? I was!! Irene snapped this picture of me. Do I look happy? Well... it might be hard to tell, but I am. When I was getting ready to leave GSS and kept hearing my co-workers say things like "I just can't quit here... I just can't. I need a job. There's nothing else for me to do" I knew they were just making excuses or were LAZY. I didn't have a lot of money to get started in this tattoo business, but we started small and have been doing well enough to keep the wolf from the door. I firmly believe if you are reading this and are sick and tired of being treated like crap at a State School -- there IS an alternative. I'd be happy to offer some advice and guidelines... if we can do it, so can you!

REASON TO HOPE

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 00:56:56 +0100

It's been a while since I updated the blog here, and part of it is due to plain old being BUSY making a living. It's been 8 months now since leaving TYC/TDDJ and working a new business of my own selling tattoo equipment... and while there's been some up's and down's, we're still making our bills, and, overall, having a pretty good time.

This past weekend my wife and I went to Sommerville, about 35 miles away, to sell at a motorcycle rally. It was pretty cool... and oh yeah, really beats sitting in a doorway listening to kids cuss and fart all night. We camped out a couple nights, and in the evenings got to hear drunken bikers bullshit and hoot 'n holler pretty much all night. During the day, cheerfully topless/painted bodied young women strolled around and checked out our piercing jewelry... grizzly old bikers tromped about with their bros in their leather vests... no kids, just us Old Farts. Saturday there was a free luau feed and a concert (among many other acts) by the band SKID ROW. Check out the video below; lyrics are provided. The song is called "18 AND LIFE TO GO" -- if you've never heard it, take a listen and think of what it has to say about situations at Giddings and elsewhere.

Not always easy to see things from a Young Person's perspective, but this song does a pretty good job, eh?

One of the highlights of our vending weekend was when a young kid asked me "Didn't you used to work at TYC?" -- and sure enough, we clicked. I remembered Jon as pretty good kid. He'd gotten out in 2009, stayed out of trouble (so he says), had a pretty and affectionate girlfriend, and was working on getting training for welding. Jon was not a Problem Child, as I said... he was respectful and did as asked.  He also managed to get out of TYC before The System fell apart and began turning out spoiled little monsters instead of young men ready for the challanges of the future. Jon was lucky.  He got out when things like 225's MEANT SOMETHING, and things like PARADE REST and MARCHING and CONSEQUENCES were the order of the day -- NOT flat screen TV's and snow cones and slip'n'slides.

Jon and I had a chance to talk a bit, and I'm sure he felt as happy to see me under those circumstances as I was to see him. Being 22 now, he had a beer in his hand... and that's OK. Seems like he had a LIFE ahead of him, OUTSIDE of an institution, and that my efforts years ago may have actually paid off somewhat. I can't even IMAGINE the kids who came to get locked up after he left as having a shadow of a chance of success like Jon seems to be enjoying. The System has let them down, let the (working) staff down, and let the State down.

So... when I read in the paper that the BigWigs in Austin recently got what seems to be illegal pay raises... and that the touted "Phoenix Program" in Waco ISN'T QUITE working out as smooth as they'd like -- am I surprised? No, I'm not. Those kids in that program know no matter how "hard" it is, it's STILL easier than having to "make it" out in the Real World. Sure, they have to put up with a stricter environment, but with a 4:1 staff/kid ratio -- who can complain?? Look at all the ATTENTION they get!! OOOOH!!!  How nice!!! But look at the cost, too... over $131K a year, compared to about $20K for an adult (who gets very little attention).   My thinking is that if a kid in the Phoenix Program screws up ONCE -- it's off to the Big House. Let them know that from the minute they walk in the door, and stick with it. Otherwise, they may as well stay at GSS and be coddled there.

Without meaningful consequences, there's no hope in seeing more Jon's... and that would be a shame. I can use more customers like him.

HOW TIMES CHANGE

Sat, 07 Jul 2012 07:39:07 +0100

USED to be, the kids on the dorm would beg and plead that I make them copies of sheets of paper with gang-style fonts (lettering) on them... and I NEVER ONCE DID. I thought it was inappropriate, against TYC policy, a waste of taxpayers money, and just plain WRONG -- and told them so, in those words.

NOWDAYS, though... I SELL these (public domain) font sets to young fellows at flea markets and online on our websites ... mostly to kids about the same age, for $1 a sheet, and I got LOADS of 'em. Some are "gangy" looking fonts much like you'd see on subways or railroad cars or WHERE EVER. Some of it is "old school"... they can pick whatever they want. To me, now, it's "just business". And business is GOOD.

It feels good to be able to sell these lettering sets. It's legal. The people who buy them WANT them and I want to SELL them at a profit. While I was working at the school, I knew the rules... now that I no longer work there, I can MAKE some rules and it certainly feels better on this end of things now.

I oftentimes would tell the kids that if they kept clean and sober and out of trouble with The Law for just SIX MONTHS after they got out of TYC that I'd GIVE THEM a FREE TATTOO KIT if they were over 18, and perhaps give them an opportunity to make a little money until they got on their feet. No one ever took me up on the offer. Too bad for them. They sure worked for hours practicing re-drawing all the crappy font set pages they DID manage to get from Staff who lacked the integrity I did. Now that I'm self employed, my integrity has a lot to do with getting my bills paid... so selling them a font sheet for a buck (that costs me only a few cents to make) creates NO compunction on my part. Come and get it, suckers... step right up... enjoy the show!

PUNISHMENT or REHAB?

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 18:50:33 +0100

One has to wonder... what is best for the individual, the victim (if alive, and/or victim's family), and Society in general when a youth decides to break the law in a BIG WAY. I'll define that as a kid who without remorse will shoot/stab/rape/kill a person/people as many times as they can get away with it, along with multiple previous accounts of robbery, theft, major gang racketeering of various sorts, etc.

Well... the law has come down on the side of the perp. If you're under 18, you're not supposed to be sentenced to death or incarceration without the possibility of parole -- because even a little hoodlum a day under 18 years old is still legally considered a "child"... even if they have numerous children of their own.

How cool is that??