Ted and Martin

Last Tuesday, Ted called me and told me he had been transferred to the Central Florida Reception Center in Orlando.

Ted phoned again tonight. Ted told me that literally right after he got off the phone with me on Tuesday, he met Martin. Ted has never seen Martin, but Martin read Ted’s blog for months while he was on the run from authorities. Martin is also writing blog posts from prison and I post them on his site “Notes from Prison”. (Click on the green banner ad on the right side to go straight to Martin’s blog.)

Ted and Martin are in the same dorm, but are housed in different wings. Ted has run into Martin two different times and they talked for about 30 minutes each time. Martin recognized Ted right away.

The CFRC is also an adult facility, but has some youthful offenders. The YOs cannot use the phones every day. They can call home only when the COs feel like letting them use the phones. The inmates can only visit the canteen once a week in Orlando. I was going to visit Ted on both Saturday and Sunday this weekend, but Ted asked that I only visit him on one of those days so that he might stock up on some extra food from the canteen. He’s pretty hungry since he’s no longer getting any extra food working in a kitchen.

I asked Ted if he had any books left to read and he said he couldn’t read at night in Orlando because there is no lighting in the cells in the evening. He does read a bit during the day and has half of a book left.

Apparently Ted was moved to the CFRC in Orlando before being transferred because Orlando is closer to the work release center. Orlando is still about two hours from Ted’s home. Ted is hoping that he will be transferred to the center this week.

It’s actually a miracle that Ted and Martin even met in Orlando, as both are on their way to other destinations within the vast Florida prison system.

Getting canteen

The one thing anybody in prison can hope for at the end of the day is getting a money receipt saying somebody put money in your account so you can buy canteen.

It’s hard not having canteen. Without it, it seems like you never eat enough and your personal hygiene is lacking. Once you get a money receipt though, it’s like hitting the lottery. You can’t wait for the next day when you can go buy whatever you want. It’s the one thing nobody can stop you from doing.

When the next day comes and the canteen line opens up, everybody rushes toward the line, but unless you’re already right there waiting for it to open, you’ll always end up at the end of the line. To get to the front of the line can take an hour or two, but it’s worth it.

Once you finally get what you want, your first instinct is to hide it like it’s a pile of gold. There are a lot of people who don’t get money and don’t care to take what you have. Where I’m at right now, it’s not too much of a problem, but new people come in all the time. As long as you have a lock [on your locker], you’re alright.

To put money into an inmate’s canteen account, visit www.JPay.com. You will need the inmate’s name and DC number. Ted’s number is #131948 (Theodore Braden). Ted does have a lock on his locker and keeps his books, letters and items from canteen in the locker.

I spoke with Ted on the phone today. He informed me that his upper back molar (with the big hole in it) will not be filled. It will be pulled (possibly on Tuesday). I can’t imagine having a tooth pulled and only getting Ibuprofen for the pain!

Answers to your questions

I sent a long list of questions to Ted on October 27, 2009 when he was at the Central Florida Reception Center (CFRC) in Orlando. Here’s what he sent back on November 6, 2009:

Answers to your questions
(Uhhh Here we go)

Do you have a mattress at least on the floor or are you sleeping on the hard floor?
I have a bottom bunk here in Orlando.

Is the floor cement?
The floor is made of cement.
(He had been sleeping on the floor in the box at Brevard.)

Do you have A/C?
No A/C, but it’s cool outside at night, so it’s okay.

Is it too hot or too cold there?
It’s not too hot or cold as of now.

Are there bugs like before?
Not as many bugs here as at Lake Butler.

Is the cell dirty?
Every cell in prison is dirty.

What do you have for bedding? Pillow? Blanket? Sheets?
I have no pillow, 2 sheets, 1 blanket, and a thin mat.

Can you tell me about your cellmates other than the fact that they’re cool?
I don’t really know my new cell mate. He’s quiet.

You don’t get to go outside at all in solitary? Just to showers?
You can’t go outside when you’re in the box except after 30 days and then when you do go outside, it’s in a tiny human, dog cage that’s not even big enough to run around and you can only go out there for 3 hours a week at the most.

Are the showers for the regular cells also 20 minutes long?
Showers are for 1 – 2 minutes in regular cells.

Are they too hot or too cold or can you adjust the water temperature?
You can’t adjust the shower temp, but the showers are always either way too hot to get in or way too cold.

Do they give you soap, shampoo and a towel?
Yes, they give us soap and a towel. No shampoo.

When you first got there, what were you issued? Towel? Toothbrush? Soap? Toothpaste?
(Describe all items you were given on first day)
When I first got to Brevard, they give you sheets, blanket, soap, laundry bag, towel, new clothes with your name and DC# stitched on, a razor, toothbrush and toothpaste.

Did you get a rulebook?
Yes, I got a rulebook from Brevard.

Can you tell me about guards or other kids there, or is that not allowed? Can you write about them, but not use names perhaps?
I can’t write about guards and I don’t know anything about anybody else to write about.

Can you buy a TV in the canteen? Radio?
AH Ha There’s no TV on canteen, but you can buy a radio.

Now that weather is getting colder, can you buy long underwear or a sweatshirt or something? (Why do mothers always ask this?)
I’m not really sure about sweatshirts yet. I’m trying to find out though.

How far do you have to walk to get to the shower? Do you pass other cells on the way?
When I was in the box at Brevard, the shower was about four feet from my cell. Why they had to handcuff me to walk four feet, who knows?

What are the walls made out of in the cell? What color are the walls and floor?
The floor is gray and the walls are white.

What’s in the cell? Two beds, toilet? Shelves? Table? Where do you keep your stuff?
There’s 2 beds, a metal toilet/sink, and 2 metal lockers on the floor (at Orlando).

What have you bought so far in the commissary?
All I really buy on canteen is food. I was buying cigarettes at Lake Butler, but since I keep getting transferred, I think I might try and quit. It’s more stressful to start and stop.

Does anybody take your commissary stuff?
I’ve had some envelopes stolen, but that’s it so far. Oh yea, send more. Someone stole 10 last night when I took a shower.

Did you buy a deck of cards in solitary?
You can’t have cards in the box.

Did you get any of my books yet?
I didn’t get your books. I probably won’t now.
(He did eventually get all the books I sent when he got to the work camp at Lancaster.)

Did you ask the chaplain for a visit and a Bible?
I didn’t ask the chaplain to come see me, but I did get a nice Bible though. I read it every night.

What kind of food do you get for meals? Do you get enough? Is it good?
We get meatloaf, hot dogs, oatmeal, grits, eggs, coffee cakes, noodles, spaghetti, etc… Really we get a little bit of everything. It never seems like enough, but it’s better than the county jail.

Have you been able to get any books from the library?
I don’t know how the library works.

Have they told you anything about getting your wisdom teeth pulled?
!* IMPORTANT: They won’t pull my wisdom tooth because they said it was fine. I saw the dentist at Brevard last Thursday.

Will you be able to take a CDL class or any other class?
I’m not sure if I even have enough time to take a trade. They say I need at least a year or more.

What do people do when they’re outside? Just start fights?
People just sit around outside. All the fights are inside where the CO can’t see.

Do you know how tall you are now?
I don’t think I grew, but who knows?

Whoo…from now on if you ask like 1/12 the questions, I’ll answer them in more detail.

Ted later explained to me that the toilet and sink were one piece. The sink is on the back of the toilet.

Canteen

I'm waiting on some new letters from Ted. Here is an entry he sent a while ago.

Items in canteen that I know about:

Ramen noodles
Honeybun
Different kinds of cookies
Photo album
Paper
Pen
Pencil
Cigarettes
Rolling papers
Lighter
Sodas
Soap
Shampoo
Deodorant
Hair grease
Brush
Kool-Aid
Hamburger
A-1 barbeque sauce packet (my favorite)
Burrito
Bear claw
Tuna
Chili
Beef stew
Envelopes
Stamps
Fireballs
Jolly Ranchers
All kinds of candy bars
Chips
Pickles
Radio
Lotion
Shoes
Shower slides
Thermals (shirt, pants)
Crackers
Chili dog
Folders
Cheese Squeeze
Cinnamon roll
Slim Jims
Property bag
Plastic cup (no bowls)
Spoons
Padlock

There’s more, but I don’t know what else there is. There isn’t a list like in County Jail.

At visitation, there’s a list on the wall for visitors and the inmates to order from. Small packets of sugar, creamer and condiments sell for a few cents each. (Aren’t we lucky to get it for free on the outside?) Hamburgers, cheeseburgers, pizza, and similar sandwiches are frozen and must be heated in one of the three microwaves in the visitation room. Ted particularly has a fondness for the Snickers ice cream bars but can hardly eat them because of the pain in his tooth.

The Keefe Group is a supplier for correctional facilities. A list of their items can be found here.

Canteen balances and calls from prison

I called the CFRC - Main today. I found out some very useful information.

For Florida prison canteen account balances:

If you call 866-209-7250, you can find out an inmate's canteen trust account balance. That number is for the Tallahassee bank that handles all Florida prisons' canteen (commissary) accounts. Inmates will receive the money no matter where they go in the Florida prison system.

To access the account balance, call 866-209-7250. Press 1, enter the inmate's DC number, if the number was entered correctly, Press 1. The balance will then be announced.

Cons Call Home cannot be used anywhere in Florida. Cons Call Home is much cheaper than other services. Figures it can't be used here. That would be too convenient.

To set up your home phone to be able to receive phone calls from a Florida inmate:

Call Correction Billing Services at 800-844-6591.

My phone service is Bright House. A Bright House representative told me I was unable to receive collect calls from a prison. While this is technically accurate, he neglected to tell me that there is a way to enable my phone to receive a call from an inmate.

According to the automated system on Correction Billing Services, you can pay for collect calls in one of several ways: Western Union, credit card, direct billing through the phone company (for an additional fee) or direct billing through Correction Billing Services (via a credit check, but no additional fee). You can only receive collect calls from a prison on a home phone. (No cell phones allowed.)

Once you select a payment option and the service is activiated, the collect calls will be enabled within 24 hours.