mereggie stories

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reg's jail journals ... Sleepy Hollow Correctional Centre

Day 8 (November 4)

Well … I’ve been here for a week and I’m still not sure if I’m having fun yet.  Actually it hasn’t been anywhere near as bad in here as I had expected.  We do manage to keep ourselves amused.  Although I’m finding it a bit harder to come up with things to write about, as life is becoming somewhat routine.

Last night I got Wayne N.’s phone number (from George who got it from John who …).  So tonight I will be giving him a call.  We’ve become close friends in treatment and I look forward to speaking with him.

I had the guard call my lawyer this morning (all the calls have to be placed by the guards.  That’s another rule.  No paper work involved though … surprisingly). She (lawyer) was not in.  Her secretary said that she is in Supreme Court for the next few days.  So I left a message to call me as I understand, and hope, that she will be representing me on Friday.  I’m thinking that she is thinking that because Dr. Jones is out (she is unaware the doctor is back). There is nothing that can be done on Friday except further remand (which will probably happen), and so she feels it is not urgent that she contact me.  All I can do is sit her now and wait for her reply.  I feel that the best I can do in this situation is to take a nap.

… there was a moment of great joy amongst the inmates which quickly turned to disappointment for reasons I can’t disclose from inside (there is much potential from these notes).  Its funny how sometimes just the events of one moment can trigger something in the mind which will allow me to write extensively).

Now I wait for the arrival of the nurse (bringing regular medication) so I can begin the nap I mentioned a few lines back.

At the moment Doug is outside mopping the unit.  I’m staying here in my cell so I don’t get my socks wet.  We are in charge of keeping our own unit clean.  Speaking for myself, I would not care if we lived like pigs, being the man that I is (newfie-ism).  Actually pigs are very clean animals and I like them (Babe) but unfortunately, society views them as a filthy animal.  All my sympathy goes out to the noble pig, who seeks only peace for the world and happiness for his pig family, but ultimately ends up on our plates, just another link in the food chain.  Ah, the poor pig, nobody understands him.

Another amusing incident to report.  I just went for a clothes change.  We have to turn in our dirty clothes and then go to the counter at the laundry room, call out our assigned number (I-99) and receive a clean set of clothes.  When asked for my number I called out ‘double O seven”.  We all had a good laugh over this.  Maybe you had to be there.  But anyway it’s the humor that keeps us together.  I can’t imagine a world without humor.  I wouldn’t want any part of it.

All the guys are watching womens aerobics on TV, as they usually do every morning.  I can’t believe that these shows are really made for women.  Also, there must be a large audience of unemployed men sitting at home for shows like this to ever be conceived.

I have just written a letter to the editor regarding a story in Wednesdays paper (Nov. 4) in which the city seeks a ban on smoking in public.  I’m tired of being made to feel like an outcast.

Dear editor. 

Is the city going a bit too far with the smoking issue (page 1 – Wednesdays paper)?  I smoke.  I enjoy smoking.  I don’t smoke to injure other peoples health.  I just enjoy it.

Look what has happened to the Food Fair at Confederation Court Mall since its smoking ban came into effect.  The area is void of customers, smokers and non-smokers alike, throughout most of the day.  It was once the social center of the downtown core.  Now it is virtually abandoned.

Surely we can apply some reasoning, some logic, to the situation.  Hopefully a suitable compromise can be reached, allowing both smokers and non-smokers to live in harmony.

P.S.  Please don’t print Sleepy Hollow as my address.  I don’t belong here. I’m innocent.  You gotta believe me.

Because I smoke, so I shall let my feelings be known.  Somebody has to speak out.  Why not me?

I just sent a letter to [Janine] to apologize for the first letter I sent her which was kind of harsh.  Like I said to her, I’m kinda frustrated about the situation I’m in but I shouldn’t take my anger out on her.  So I guess you could say I’m seeking amends (one of those steps in AA).  So I have learned something from AA, something spiritual.  So I am making progress.  Indeed I is.  But I still haven’t been able to take my nap yet today.  Again I’m waiting for the nurse (who all but me seem to dislike.  Hmmm … treat people with respect and they’ll treat you with respect) to bring the meds (medication).  Who would think I would be so busy in here.  Hmmm.

I may not even get my nap in now cause at 2:00 we go outside, weather permitting, or to the gym if weather is … not permitting.  So we’ll just have to sit back, assess the situation, and see what happens.  Then we’ll make a plan of action try to implement it.  That’s how its gonna be.  Yeah ….

Robbie G. has just been told they are moving him to Summerside jail, which is kind of disappointing.  You just get to know someone and then he’s gone.  Plus ca la meme chose.  I think I speak for all of us when I say that I don’t want to see him go.  I’ve told him that I will make sure that he is included in my book.

Robbie is gone now and for a short time there were just three of us but another guy, a replacement perhaps, has been moved in from medium.  It seems he failed some piss tests so they’ve decided he belongs here in max with the hard core criminal elite.  Always room for one more, they say.

I was just speaking with Wayne R., my partner in outlawed rehab activities, on the phone.  You see, Wayne also tested positive for phenobarb and was thrown out of the home after me.  Fortunately for him, the consequences were not as severe.  I could write for hours about things Wayne and I have done.

I got to the library this evening to pick up some books.  It’s not much of a library, but I was able to find some books and magazines (Time and Atlantic Insight – haven’t seen that in a long time) to keep me busy.  I’m not interested in fiction.  I like history, geography, adventure, travel, true crime.

Day 9, November 5, 1998.