A Change Never Hurts

MSDF and those running the E.R.P. were nice enough to allow some of the author's assignments released. They came on a nice 3.5" floppy which is rare to come by these days. It makes me wonder, do the computers have any USB ports? lol. Kidding aside, I think they could take a step forward from 3.5's (considering there is funding available, if not, maybe they should adjust.)

One of his assignments was a personal daily log which works great for the current trend of this blog. The second of the two assignments may be even more interesting than the redundant life that prison can be. The second assignment was an autobiography. I can't remember the minimum length that it had to be but the issue that Jon Doe is, on average, half the age of the others in their group may make more detail to who this person is, where did they come from, and what makes them tick. I have honestly not read a word of it yet though I have known them their entire life.

To keep track of what entry is what (because I am going to mix both the log entries and autobiography between posts but during publication) you can look on the first the first line in Italics to determine.

Thank you all for still following,

~"3rd Person"

You Have an Assignment: READ THIS!

Received on July 8, 2011

  Another assignment for each of us in the ERP is displaying a quote that we find applies to our program. This quote is put on a paper banner and hung up for the whole unit to view for the week. During that time, we also have to write a reason for our choosing of the quote. Following is the one I chose:

I drank for happiness,

   And became unhappy;

I drank for joy,

   And became miserable;

I drank for social ability,

   And became argumentative;

I drank for sophistication,

   And became obnoxious;

I drank for friendship,

   And made enemies;

I drank for sleep,

   And woke up tired;

I drank for strength,

   And felt weak;

I drank for relaxation,

   And got the shakes;

I drank for courage,

   And became afraid;

I drank for confidence,

   And became doubtful;

I drank to make conversation easier,

   And slurred my speech;

I drank to feel heavenly,

   And ended up feeling like hell.

-Author unknown

  The reason I chose to quote this poem is because I believe that any one of us can relate to this. Even if you don't feel as if you have an issue with alcohol, the drinking can be replaced with the use of your drug of choice. I, personally, can see myself in every aspect of this poem at one time or another, and I truly believe that if anyone has EVER used drugs or alcohol in their lifetime, and they have an open mind, they too, will find themselves relating to it also.

Until later.....

~J. Doe

Hard Correctional Officer

Written on or around March 25, 2011....

   Everyday we are called by sections of the quad to line up and get clean laundry. We are allowed to have two of each article of clothing, including the ones we are wearing. We are allowed to shower anytime during day room hours from 7:00AM to 9:00PM. It's much harder to concentrate in here since the day room is literally 6 feet from my bunk, making me close enough to be distracted by others wanting to talk, play cards, or whatever else. I want to apologize to all the loyal readers for not having as much to write about. Daily activities aren't quite as organized in here, and I have my freedom to do other things compared to when I was in D.C.I. When I was at D.C.I. I was locked down for 23 hours a day and didn't have many options for things to do. I will still do my best to log the highlights of my time here.

   Also, I want to explain that once I start my Earned Release Program (ERP) next month, I probably will only be writing a few times a week. The program is between 10-12 hours a day, Monday thru Friday, and I will be trying my best to focus on completing it successfully. I want to come home to my family as quickly as possible. 

  Also, there is something I'd like to ask the readers out there for their opinion on. Which would you prefer, that I continue the blog after my release, while on extended supervision, or would you rather I found someone else with more time in prison to continue writing from the “inside”?   Let me know your thoughts...

   Some of the recent highlights in here now... A couple days ago we had a C.O. work in our unit who is a known hard-ass so to speak. On the day he worked, he started the day off by taking someone's radio antenna off the bars in front of the window. Then he told the inmate who had it up there that if he put it back up there he would end up getting a conduct report filed on him. So the inmate jumped off the top bunk and stood with his face less than 4 inches from the C.O.'s and said, “I guess you better get to writing that fucking ticket then.” The C.O. just turned and walked away saying nothing. Mind you, the inmate did stand almost a foot taller than the C.O. too. But when the C.O. walked away, he just went to his station on the raised platform to write a report about this antenna incident. When he finished writing it nearly an hour later, he came down to talk to the inmate about the report he wrote, but didn't even make it halfway to his bunk when everyone in my quad heard a thud. He turned and started running to the other side. When I peeked around the corner, I saw a Puerto Rican guy beating the shit out of some black guy. They each weighed 200+ lbs., so it was hilarious to see the 140# C.O. try to stop the fight. I definitely find myself being distracted much more in here. I'll be going back to D.C.I. in about two weeks, so maybe my logs will become more regular after that.

   I think I'd better send what I have for logs home today so they can be posted. I also want to apologize to anyone who has written me that I haven't written back to yet. I truly am sorry, and I will write back soon, I promise!

Until tomorrow (or sometime soon)...

~J. Doe

A Long Mixed Up Worry

Written on March 7, 2011,

   Today when the swamper came around after breakfast reminding everyone of their passes for the day, he told me I had a court call at 1:15PM again. Only this time he said the sheet told him it will be followed by a call from Waukesha County as well. I'm like, “What the fuck? I've never even been to Waukesha County!” He said he didn't know anything about it, he was just reading what the sheet said. So all morning long, during and after Rec we kept coming up with ideas of what it could be. I heard everything from new charges from something I did there (which I knew it wasn't, because, like I said, I've never gone there), to someone suing me, to some girl requesting a paternity test! But none of these made sense, so I spent the majority of the day worrying. When it came time to go, I still didn't have the faintest idea what it was about. When I got to the A & E Office, I asked the Sgt. in charge about it. She said she didn't know anything more than what the sheet told her, and that it said someone from Waukesha County Courts wanted to speak to me. She told me to sit at this bank of phones with another inmate and answer any of the phones if they rang. She didn't know who's call would come on which phone. We sat there reading magazines for almost an hour when the phone in front of me rang. When I answered it, it was for the other guy sitting there. So I handed him the phone, switched seats with him, and went back to my magazine. A few minutes later the other inmate left so I was back to answering them all on my own. At about 2:25PM the phone rang again and I answered it. Once again, it wasn't for me, so I asked the woman to hold while I called the Sgt. over. The Sgt. spoke to the woman on the phone for a short while, took down another inmate's name, and forwarded her to someone else's extension. Then she went back to her desk to track down the missing inmate. While she was doing this another guy from my county came in to be staffed. He had Erin Monroe as a staffing agent just like me, so we talked about what he was hoping to get for staffing and whatnot. He was trying to get work-release just like I was, and ended up getting stuck with AODA Earned Release Program just like me. Doesn't sound like anyone gets work-release anymore... Anyway, they told him to wait by the Sgt.'s desk where I was sitting while they got his bed date set. When they came out, they told him July 18^th ; that means he'll go home next January 18^th! Inside I was freaking out because Erin told me there were beds available almost immediately, but it would take a day or two to establish one. July 18^th is far enough away that I won't even complete the program if I am released under Act 28 guidelines. Having a Class H felony that is non-violent falls under 1 day of “good-time” for every 2 days served. This means I would serve 12 months for my 18 month sentence and be released on November 6^th of this year. None of it made any sense as to why they would want me to start a program I won't finish, but I guess we'll see when I get that bed date. Anyhow, while this was all going on, another guy came and sat at the phones with me. I explained that I had answered two calls for other people so far, so the next call was all on him. He asked me who was supposed to call me and I told him they said Waukesha County, but I'd never been there before. Then he said he was from Waukesha County, so it all started making sense. Somehow they got me confused with him for the call. How? I'll never know... We had nothing in common whatsoever. Name, DOC #, age, where we were from...Nothing! About 10 minutes went by, and another woman came out and said there had been a mix-up. She didn't know how, but I had been mistakenly registered to receive the other guy's call and I could now go back to my unit. So, all the worry was over nothing! I got back to my unit and put in my canteen order for the week. After that it was a typical night. Read my book and talked with my cellmate until after 10:00PM when I went to sleep.

Until tomorrow...

~J. Doe