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!

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.