Happy Birthday Mom!

Journal entry...

5-20-2011

Day 33 Mom’s Birthday

  Today’s my Mom’s birthday, and to this date I think I’ve missed four of them due to being locked up. It makes me sad that I wasn’t there yet again, but I was happy when I finally got a hold of her on the phone and was able to wish her a happy birthday on the day of it, and that made me feel a little better. She told me she got my card too, so I was glad it got there in time too. She seemed happy when I talked to her and when she smiles it’s infectious. Even if I couldn’t see the smile on her face, I could hear it in her voice. Happy Birthday Mom!

~J. Doe

My Favorite Person in the World

Journal Entry....

4-25-2011

Day 8

  My favorite person in the world is my Mom. She’s an understanding and loving mother to me. She has been here for me unconditionally throughout my life. My Dad comes in with a close second. He is all of these things, although he and I have a few small issues. My Mom has been here to do anything in her power to help me along the way. Sometimes I might not agree with her decisions, but she always knows best. She knows what will make me a better person. Her problem solving skills are built in naturally. She always seems to have the best advice, and she knows me better than anyone else in the world. I love both of my parents equally, but I have to admit that my Mom is my favorite just by a little bit.

(Counselor Note - So… Why do you disappoint her?)

~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

In Time of Test, Family is Best.

Written on February 26, 2011....

   I woke up today thinking about nothing except my potential visit. The weather has been nice all week, and we have blue skies this morning. So as long as my brother's schedule at work doesn't conflict with coming to see me, my Mom and he should both be here today.

   After breakfast I reluctantly went back to sleep. I was afraid they would come tell me I had a visit, but not give me time to brush my teeth and whatnot before it. I woke up for lunch and the swamper came and told me I had a visit. But when the Sgt. came to get me, he said it was a visit for my cellmate, not me. So I went to lunch and he went to his visit. After lunch I prepared for Rec while admittedly hoping they told me I couldn't go because I had a visit instead. I went down and worked out hard while trying to sidetrack myself from the fact that I saw that it was now snowing and I probably wouldn't get a visit. After Rec I came back to my cell and was about to get ready to shower when the Sgt. Came and told me I had a visit! I was so happy to see some of my family!! I hadn't seen my Mom in over a month, and my brother since October. We talked about a number of different things. His new job, people we both know on the “outside”, how the family is doing, how this blog is doing, and how things are inside here. It didn't matter what we were talking about, in my opinion. I was just happy they were here! Our visit was over at 3:30PM, so we said our “I love you”s and goodbyes, and I went back to be strip-searched prior to returning to my cell.

   I had dinner right after coming back, so I gave my meal away since I had had a burger during my visit. I also got another letter and more pics from my Mom when I got back. The rest of my night was spent reading and occasionally looking at my pictures. There is one of my nephew who looks like he is trying to make a scary face for the pic, or he's trying to scare whoever is taking the picture. Either way, I can picture him saying “RAWRRRRR....” when I look at it. So every time I look at it, I say just that: “RAWRRRRR”! It makes me laugh just thinking about him doing it! I bet my cellmate thinks I'm crazy though. Anyway, now for some more reading until bed.

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

Being Gay is Contagious?

Written on Wednesday, January 26, 2011...

  It's been a typical day for the most part.  I signed up to be a swamper, so when our swamper leaves, maybe I can get the position.  It's nothing special really, but it helps pass time and I'm sure it can't hurt for when I get staffed.

  I forgot to mention, I received a visitation list yesterday.  This one included my sister.  So now, both my Mom, Dad and sister are on it.  Maybe they'll come visit this weekend.

  For some reason I was really tired today and managed to fall back asleep after breakfast and sleep until lunch.  After lunch I read for a while and then we did clean-up around 2:00 PM.  The C.O. working 2nd shift today isn't a usual unit worker.  So, he felt the need to do cell inspections during clean up and took our chip bags that my cellmate and I use to cook noodles in.

  Fifteen minutes after clean-up was Rec. from 2:30 PM to 3:20 PM.  While we were at Rec., our other C.O. decided to full cell searches.  They tore our bunks apart and searched our property lockers.  They took anything they felt was unauthorized property.  Including my paper bag I kept all my paperwork in and the salt packets the nurse gave me.  The bag was gone, but I showed them my paperwork from the H.S.U. for the salt and tylenol that the nurse gave me for my swollen tonsils a few weeks ago, so they gave they gave the salt packets back.  Later, I noticed they also took my empty peanut butter jar I used to mix my powdered milk in.  They can keep it, it's not worth the argument.

  At dinner a whole bunch of people were giving the swamper shit because he got a cellmate earlier.  Since his his cell only has one bunk the new cellmate has to sleep on a mat on the floor for now.  They were messing with him because the new cellmate is quite feminine, if not openly gay.  I think I might be one of the few people in here who is straight and has gay friends.  They act as if it's contagious.  I'm not going to get on that subject right now.  The last time I did, I argued with my cellmate for nearly two hours before giving up due to frustration.

~J. Doe