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

Don't Turn Your Back

Written on March 6, 2011

   Today when we went to church, I didn't really know what to expect. I'd never seen this group speak before today. The woman who spoke had a message I think anyone can relate to. The moral of her story was that when we are at our lowest point of our lives, some of us may want to turn our backs on the Lord. But it's at these times we should turn to Him. Also, there was another woman who sang a few songs. She had a great voice and that made her singing that much more enjoyable.

   Other than church, my day was filled with reading my book and napping occasionally. Later in the evening the swamper told me I was scheduled for a court-related phone call at 1:15PM tomorrow. I guess I'll know more then.

Until tomorrow...

~J. Doe

Prison Cell Cooking: Tacos!

Written on March 5, 2011....

   Today I signed up for a phone call at 6:00PM so I can tell my family of the outcome of my staffing yesterday. I slept all morning after breakfast until lunch. Then after lunch my cellmate went to a visit to meet his step-mother. He hadn't met her ever before, apparently. So his Dad and her came today. Unfortunately he missed Rec due to this again. I had to give him shit about it later and told him he'll have to work out twice as hard Monday. LOL!

   The rest of my day was spent reading for the most part. I got a letter and greeting card from my Mom saying this was the first week she hadn't received a letter or call from me and she was worried. After sealing her envelope, she must have gotten my letter, because she wrote, “Just got your letter today” on the back of her envelope. I couldn't wait to call home at that point. I don't like my Mom worrying about me. So at 6:00PM I called home and talked to her for a while about my staffing. She seemed neutral about the whole thing. She is mysterious in that way. You can hardly ever tell how she feels about something and she usually keeps what she thinks to herself, unless you ask. So since I didn't ask, I don't know. We talked about my brother and his job, and my Dad and his ongoing medical problems. The conversation was happily ended by me talking to my favorite nephew, Logan. “Logi Bear” was telling me how he was playing his game on the computer with his Nana. I told him I missed him and loved him, and hoped I could see him soon. He replied likewise and nearly made me cry. I miss him so much!! I ended the call as usual by telling my Mom I loved her and would write or call when I knew more about what was going on.

   For the rest of the night I kept thinking about my nephew and the phone call. Later I made prison-made tacos. I used Raman Noodles, jalapeño chips, cheddar cheese, and Cheetos. I mixed them together and added water to cook them. Once I let it sit and it got thick, I split it in thirds. One for the swamper, one for my cellmate, and one for me. We each wrapped ours in flour tortillas, crumpled Doritos over the top, and added hot sauce. It was delicious! I got compliments from both of them, along with others from the unit who could only smell them. After eating, I cleaned up and read my book until after midnight when we shut off the light.

Until tomorrow...

~J. Doe

Family Support Feels Good

...finishing the writings of January 26, 2011

  At 7:15 PM I got to make my call home.  It was nice to talk to my Mom.  It's always nice to hear from someone you care about.  She said everyone is doing well at home and she asked if my sister was approved for visitation as she'd like to come visit this weekend with my parents as long as the weather was decent. I let her know my sister was approved, then asked how my brother was doing.  She said he had some job offer near Middleton.  Apparently it's for a CNC machinist related position, which is his specialty, but the distance is the problem.  I know he hated driving back an forth from Madison for his last job, but hell, if they paid me enough I'd drive wherever.



  My brother was originally the one who asked if I was interested in doing some sort of daily log noting how everyday life is in the Wisconsin Prison System.  I thought it was a great idea and just recently started, while figuring I'd only have a small amount to write about every day.  Well, after starting this and writing daily for only five days, I've realized there is a lot more to write about than I thought.  I just want to be as descriptive as possible so anyone who reads this can get a full visualization of how it's like in here.  I just hope my brother can keep up with typing these for me.  I'm sure I have much more free time to be writing than he does. 



  If anyone has any questions for me please feel free to post any questions and I will respond to them as soon s I receive them.  Or, if you'd like to write to me personally I'd enjoy having a pen pal to communicate with. 

(His address was given but this was before he was told I felt it important to keep it more anonymous.  If you are really interested in writing you can contact me and if I don't see any reason not to give his address information to you I'd be more than happy to offer it.  email: prison.gates@gmail.com  facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PrisonGates  or twitter:  http://twitter.com/prisongates   ~ "3rd Party")



  I'd like to let my brother know how much I appreciate him posting my logs for me as I know it will be time consuming.  I hope somebody takes some kind of interest in reading these as well.  I'm not quite sure if something like this would be interesting to other people or not, or if my writing style is even interesting enough.  I guess we'll have to see...  For now I'm going to read some of my book before I call it a night.  Until tomorrow...



~ J. Doe