Loud & Clear by Clinton Lee Young
Topic: mold on Death Row
Date: Jan. 11. 2016
A couple months ago, I moved from A. pod to C. pod. The cell I moved into, it is clear that the previous resident failed to clean it properly. There was black mold on the wall, behind the bunk. There was also mold growing under the bottom of the bunk. Beneath the locker space. I have been in this seemingly never ending battle with the mold. The only cleaning solution that is provided for us, is a powder called Bippy. It is similar to Ajax. (The cleaning solution, not the soccer team for the Duchies.) There is a better liquid detergent. That comes in a concentrated form, that is sold by commissary. It cost over 2$ a bottle. (There is also a powder detergent to wash clothing.) I bought one just for the cell. I have maybe an inch worth, from the 16oz bottle, remaining. The mold was in check, at least until the ventilation system stopped working. There was a spell of warmer weather. The humidity was horrible! Everything stayed wet. The officers had to slip covers over their shoes, so they would not slip on the concrete floors. Warm & damp environments are wonderful breeding grounds for mold. I had to throw away a pair of shoes, book, numerous papers & had to re-wash many articles of clothing.
The boxers are Nylon, so are easily made damp. I had a new pair laying to the side. I picked it up one day & one side had black specks all down it. The mold was so bad, that it had gotten into the flip cap of my Colgate toothpaste! You know how you flip the cap on toothpaste & never unscrew it? One day I just unscrewed it & there was some mold! It was even on the stainless steel wall! Which mold, or rust, is not supposed to be on stainless steel. I did not use my typewriter for a couple of days. I looked at the keyboard & there on the keyboard was mold! It was horrible! When the vents first went off. It hit me bad. I woke up one night with I guess a sinus infection as my face hurt & even my teeth hurt! I had to clean the cell from top to bottom for three days in a row.
Then finally the vents came back on & the temperatures changed & the humidity went away, as it got cold. I was grateful for the humidity to be gone & thus no more rapid mold growth. Which one does not often think of rapid & mold in the same line. This was some badass space age shit! Though there was no heat. It was freezing cold. I could not even sleep at night. Last week the heating was finally fixed. It was a world of difference. Nice to be able to get a better night’s sleep. There is mold in the showers. As I have ranted about before, only a handful of people take needed steps to clean it. The Major & one of the Wardens came walking around the pod. I spoke to him about the mold & how we needed bleach to address the problem.
See let me explain something. The cells are pre-fab designed. Meaning the walls & everything are made in one location, shipped here & put together like puzzles. The way the Polunsky Unit is built, there are many units built exactly the same. Okay, the walls on the side had a gap of an inch to an inch between them & the back wall. So foam filler was put in there & covered in mortar mix. People would knock that mix out & which the one could put his face against the back wall & look into the other cell next to him. Now, that is NOT why people did it. It made it so that a person could talk & pass things at the back of the cell to each other. Nothing sinister. However it wasn’t supposed to be there, so the prison officials would have angle iron placed in the corners, welded in place by running a metal rod behind the wall, from one side to the other of the wall.
After the moron used a cell phone to call the senator & threatened him. Being that said moron was here on death row. The unit ranks indicated that one of the ways that people was hiding phones, is up in these spaces, where there was no angle iron. Their solution was to place angle iron in every cell. The problem with that is that the roof leaks. Often water could be seen dripping down in the spaces. With the angle iron now covering it. There was no longer any way for us to clean it. Mold thrived!
I spoke to the building Major about how we could not clean it. I asked if he would allow a spray bottle to be passed around for us to spray bleach in the cracks around the angle iron. He said that he was not going to allow that. Though what he would do is, from now on, he will have someone come around every 90 days with a sprayer & spray bleach behind the angle iron. But not give us the bottle.
A Victory. Not as good as I would have liked Though a victory none the less.
TDCJ does come around a few times a year & sprays for bugs so it’s not difficult.
Loki Vs. Birds, Victory – ME !
Loki VS. Mold, Victory – ME !
Vendi, Vidi, Vici 🙂 haha!
Many will complain, though few offer adequate solutions. The reality is they will NOT come in remove all the iron that was placed in. As a result additional solutions have to be thought of. A few other people have been complaining about the mold. When I seen the Major, the first thing I said was “look, I know you have heard about how bad mold is on C. pod!” He nodded his head ‘yes’. I then said “alright, now a solution.” We went from there. I am glad that the Major is willing to actually do something about it.
Oh yeah, Loki Vs. Kitchen double stacking breakfast trays, Victory – ME! 🙂
Texans Vs. Chiefs in the NFL playoffs. Booo! 🙁
I have started to write the music reviews. A couple have been written & will be posted here & there. No news in the case. It will be a few months before anything is known.
If the US Supreme court decides to hear my case, then oral arguments would not be until after the summer. As the court takes a recess. Though I expect a ruling of denial or acceptance before June. Between May & Mid-June range most likely.
Alrighty then People of the world.
I am going to wrap this one up.
I shall return soon. Keep your eyes on saveaninnocentlife.com & spread the word.
Also additional fund raiser & campaign awareness items are being posted on my site.
Please visit the SAIL shop. Thank you all that support my efforts & help to spread the word.
Until next time.
Vendi, Vidi, Vici
I remain,
In solidarity
Clinton Young #999447
Polunsky Unit www.saveaninnocentlife.com
3872 FM 350 South
Livingston TX 77351
USA