The Quora.com post I’ll share below, has soared and took my views and upvotes to a new level for all forms of my social media activities. Within twelve hours, the numbers had soared: 17.5-thousand views and 400-upvotes. Within forty-eight hours of its posting, those numbers doubled and continue to climb. Wow! I love breaking my record! Many viewers signed up to Follow me on Quora.com and on this website. I hope you will, too. I need all the followers, likes, and hits that I can get to climb the ladder of Internet Stardom. First Translation: One reader messaged me and asked permission to translate the post and then translated it into Italian. I was grateful and impressed! In italiano: Risposta di Alessio Renzetti a: A quale tecnologia ti sei abituato con piu’ difficoltà dopo essere uscito di prigione? . This blog post is a modified reproduction of the orginal version posted on Quora.com. To read the Quora version, click the following link: https://www.quora.com/If-you-ve-spent-a-long-time-in-prison-what-technology-did-you-find-hardest-to-adjust-to-when-you-were-released/answer/Wayne-T-Dowdy?ch=99&share=cc938591&srid=x5UbO If you’ve spent a long time in prison, what technology did you find hardest to adjust to when you were released? This may not be the typical answer in response to the question, but it does relate, and it’s my story so I’m posting in on here and as a blog on one of my websites: After leaving the halfway house for my first adventure into the free society, three decades later, on a timed-pass for my first trip to downtown Atlanta, I paid $2.50 to ride the MARTA bus to the train station (Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority). I was shocked having to pay $2.50 for the bus fare that used to be much less. The bus arrived at the train station. To enter the train terminal, I attempted to go through a turnstile that wouldn’t open. I looked at a MARTA employee and said, “It won’t work.” “You need to buy a Breeze Card,” she said. “I gotta pay to get in here?” She nodded. I turned took a few steps and glanced around the terminal. I didn’t see a store or anywhere to buy it from, so I said, “Where at?” She pointed to an area where I saw several machines embedded in a wall of the terminal. I stood and gazed at one of the machines and tried to figure out how to use it: Too many buttons and features for a mind that had been exempt from using most technological-creations for the last thirty years! For a few moments I continued to stand and stare at the machine, stressed out and overwhelmed because I couldn’t figure out how to operate it (My stress level had more to do with that than the actual technology involved). I was in a rush because I didn’t want to be late. I had to call in to the halfway house every time I arrived at an approved destination, or risk being put on escape status and returned to prison. I didn’t have time to figure out how to use the Breeze Card Machine, so I looked for help. I saw a man who worked for MARTA and walked up to him and pointed at the machines and then asked, “Do you know how to operate those?” “Sure,” he said and began walking toward the Breeze Card Machine with me. “I’ve been in prison for thirty years and need help.” Moments later, I was on my way to board the train and before the day was over, a woman at another downtown MARTA train station asked me if I knew how to operate the machine so she could buy train fare. “Sure,” I said and then shared the wealth and we were on our way to our separate designations. I’ve adapted well to most technology, as is evident by me having several websites and using cellphones I had never used until August 28, 2018, but that darn Breeze Card Machine was just too much for me to comprehend when feeling like a caveman running around in modern society. Update: I appreciate each response to this answer, all of the upvotes, thousands of views, and a request for permission to translate. The word “Gratitude” doesn’t accurately express the magnitude of my emotions attached to this experience. For those who visited my listed website (straightfromthepen.com) and viewed some of my post, most of which were done before my release, please know my publisher created the blogspot for me, because I had never been online until I went to the halfway house on August 28, 2018. I explained the publication process in “About Straight from the Pen” (straightfromthepen.com/about-your-host). Around mid-December 2018, I began managing my websites, blogs, and book revisions. To say the associated technology is challenging would be an understatement. But, hey, for a Caveman, I’m doing great! Thanks again to each of you for making this a wonderful experience for me. For personal stories by Wayne T. Dowdy, purchase your copy today of Essays & More Straight from the Pen. Paperback ($8.95) or eBook ($2.99) from Amazon.com or from your favorite booksellers. https://www.amazon.com/Essays-More-Straight-Wayne-Dowdy/dp/1502767503
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The Night Before I Lose An Electronic ChainAnticipation may be one word to describe what a person experiences in knowing he or she awaits the finish line of a challenge that took thirty-years, six-months, and twenty-two-days, to reach. MY DAY: March 8, 2019: On the day of my total release from the United States Federal Bureau of Prisons, my weary mind recalled sleeping from about 1:00 am until 3:30 am. My eyes popped open and refused to close, so I succumbed to the pressure and got out of bed to begin a day I had awaited; a day I didn't think I'd ever see after my arrest on August 18, 1988. Miracles Do Happen! I believed I'd die in prison or be killed escaping. I was wrong! :-) When I went to sleep on March 8, 2019, I slept longer than I had in years, maybe because of having completed my 420-month federal prison sentence. Being relieved of the pressure from carrying a heavy burden for three decades of my life, lightened my load. Not having to worry about getting up to charge an ankle monitor helped me sleep better, too, I'm sure. (I viewed the ankle monitor strapped to my ankle as an electronic-chain, which I had to wear to go on home confinement. If I had not agreed, I would have had to stay at the halfway house (Residential Reentry Center.)) That morning I signed some papers and a staff member at Dismas Charities removed the electronic-chain. From that point on I was technically freed from the custody of the United States Federal Bureau of Prisons, an agency I spoke out against for years while under its control. Leaving Dismas Charities, a loved one invited me to a celebratory meal at a Waffle House. I accepted! He treated me to steak and eggs, with hashbrowns smothered and covered. And high-dollar coffee, in comparison to the cost of a cup in 1988! Not at Starbucks!I was shocked to learn a cup of coffee cost $1.50 at a Waffle House! [Breaking News: On March 13th, I drank coffee at a Waffle House in downtown Atlanta and paid $2.00 for a cup. My brother-in-law said the previous cup was $1.90, not $1.50] Much cheaper than StarBucks! Then the next day, I ate even better. I’ve been treated so well by family and friends since my release, it’s hard to say when I ate the best. I have eaten a lot of tasty food, at a lot of high-dollar-restaurants, none of which served better food than what I ate during family gatherings on Thanksgiving and Christmas Days. March 9, 2019: Food wise, I liked the food at a couple other restaurants better than what I ate at an Outback Steakhouse, where we celebrated my return to the family, but I enjoyed the experience tremendously. That is because of the time I spent with most of my loved ones, and did so without an electronic-chain strapped around my ankle. Having an electronic-chain strapped around my ankle, embarrassed me when it showed while I was out in the public; however, I preferred dealing with embarrassment over the alternative (sitting at the halfway house or in prison). Family Time Made Everything Wonderful! From FaceBook: I am blessed to have a family who still loves me. This Yummy, Great American Cookie was the final part of my special night out at an Outback Steakhouse to celebrate having closed one chapter of my life and for beginning a new one. The evening meant a lot and was one I enjoyed, as it was the first family outing I experienced in decades without an electronic-chain strapped to my ankle. There were other loved ones who couldn't attend for various reasons, but I do want to say that the Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings were really special to me because I got to meet relatives I had never met, and to just really experience the gratitude of love. God blessed me with a wonderful family and I love ’em all! Roaming the Streets Without an Electronic-Chain UNLEASHED: My day in the Big City without an electronic-chain Leaving the Waffle House, my brother-in-law carried me downtown to the Grady Memorial Hospital for medical appointments. “Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Ga. is rated high performing in 1 adult procedure or condition. It is a general medical and surgical facility. It is a teaching hospital. “Rankings and Recognitions“To help patients decide where to receive care, U.S. News generates hospital rankings by evaluating data on nearly 5,000 hospitals in 16 adult specialties, 9 adult procedures and conditions and 10 pediatric specialties. To be nationally ranked in a specialty, a hospital must excel in caring for the sickest, most medically complex patients. …” https://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/area/ga/grady-memorial-hospital-6380130 Grady Memorial Hospital held the Top-Spot for U.S. Trauma Centers for decades, and still does, I believe.The above I wrote because of how impressed I’ve been with the level of health care provided at Grady, where I had to go upon release from prison because I had health issues and did not have insurance and could not afford it. I still can’t afford insurance because I’m unemployed! [My experience at Grady does not coincide with other patient ratings] Though my brother-in-law was willing to wait, I did not want to hold him up as I went about my scheduled affairs. Leaving Grady I needed to check in with the United States Probation Office. I left Grady Memorial and walked to the Richard B. Russell Federal Building. Many things changed in society since 1988. Going into the building I ran into a metal detector, with several government officials guarding its entrance. I had to surrender my possessions, including my SmartWatch, SmartPhone, and backpack filled with a variety of items I knew I needed to venture into the Big City. Once I cleared the metal detector, all of my possessions were returned, except for the cellphone, which I had to leave with the staff members guarding the entrance. I was given a numbered-token to hold in exchange of my phone until I was ready to leave. As it turned out, I wasted my time going into the Richard B. Russell Federal Building, because I learned I had to report to another office on Monday, in another town. While in Atlanta, I gave a urinalysis, but still had to give another one at the correct United States Probation Office. It’s all good, though, I’ve been clean and sober since April 5, 1995.
At the Atlanta office, I did get to speak with the most beautiful probation officer I’d ever seen. She was a young African-American female who was very intelligent and very pretty. I wanted to propose but saw a wedding ring. Darn! Some guys have all the luck! Perhaps I was too old for her, anyway. I didn’t even get her name. I planned to attend a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous that night, but I was so tired by the time I got home at 6:30 pm, after having run around the city and walking over five-miles, that I didn’t even do my typical social media activities. Maybe all the walking lead to me sleeping as well as I did, without the burden of that electronic-chain and all of the associated factors strapped around my mind and my ankle. #Happy Valentine's Day The stars shine bright on dark nights to illuminate the pathway to love and peace beyond the horizon, but, oh, Love and Peace live within me, as given by He who gives all light. AuthorPublisher author since 2003. Wayne T. Dowdy writes from the Heart! [I am re-posting this blog for 2019, modified in part. Valentine's Day of 2018 did turn out to be my last one spent inside the dungeons of the United States Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Today I do not have a Special Someone to call my sweetheart and that's okay. I remained celibate for decades and still am, by choice and circumstances, but ... this will be my first Valentine's Day spent on the outside since 1987 and that alone makes it a spectacular day for me. :-) Life is Wonderful!] I hope each of you get to spend some quality time with the one you love or with someone special, whether that special person is a lover, friend, family member, or pet. Providing I live to fight another day, which I highly suspect I will, theoretically, this year will be my last Valentine's Day spent inside. Maybe I'll have a special someone for the next Valentine's Day, maybe not. The main thing is that I will be out of prison to enjoy it as a free man, alone, or with others. Being the stud I am, I'll probably have someone to call my Sweetheart by then, but who knows? ;-) [I don't] Enjoy the special day celebrating life as a living, breathing, human being. No matter how screwed up things may seem, know that there are millions of others who'd love to trade places and to have your problems. That is something I have to remind myself of when disgruntled because the world isn't working according to Wayne. Have a spectacular day! Hug the ones you love. Tell them how important they are in your life, and know that you, too, are special! Wayne ______________________________________________ Purchase the writings of Wayne T. Dowdy on the secured website, StraightFromthePen.com (https://www.straightfromthepen.com) or from your favorite bookseller. For best prices and free eBooks, go to his authors’ page on Smashwords.com. Free eBooks for a limited timeUse or give these free eBook codes to anyone to download at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/WayneMrDowdy Guns, Drugs and Thugs: Drug Store Spree Promotional price: $0.00 Coupon Code: XD96X Expires: March 3, 2019 https://www.quora.com/What-did-you-do-when-you-were-released-from-prison/answer/Wayne-T-Dowdy
What did you do when you were released from prison? I am in the present tense of the question: not completely released, but I will answer anyway. You find a place to live and get a job to take care of yourself, and if needed, seek professional help to cope with the difficulties one experiences upon release, depending on the circumstances. In the past, after a while, I committed more crimes and returned to prison. I am a recidivist. This time, thirty-years after I committed my last crimes, I am trying to fit back into society by being a good human being and by focusing on doing the next right thing. At the age of sixty-one, I have experienced a lot of age-discrimination in the job market, as well as because of my felony convictions. I am also experiencing difficulties because of not having a vehicle (still haven’t gotten my drivers’ license and can’t afford a vehicle, anyway), and having to live with an ankle monitor strapped to my leg. Having an ankle-monitor and not having a vehicle, keeps me restricted and prevents me from seeking certain types of employment, as does my criminal convictions (armed bank robbery, etc.), but … I refuse to give up and know I will do well as a writer and earn a substantial income one of these days. I just hope it begins soon. Getting out of prison three decades later presents its own difficulties, and if I had not begun working on improving myself twenty-four years ago, the reentry process would be much more difficult, and I wouldn’t be as tolerant of the issues I am experiencing as a returning citizen. If I need professional help, I know to ask. I am fortunate to still have family members and friends who love and care for me and wants to see me successfully reintegrate and to have a good life. For that I am grateful, and I will not let anyone down, especially myself. My plan is to succeed, one day at a time. [Please send any personal comments to [email protected]] My favorite version of Freebird by Lynyrd Skynyrd, is on ONE MORE FROM THE ROAD, recorded at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, GA, one block from my birthplace. This Freebird en route to Atlanta got one more lockdown in for the road. More will be revealed. The 35-year sentence that I began on August 18, 1988, has finally reached its end. Well, at least, close to its end. When I leave August 28th, as it now stands, I have 192-days in the halfway house and 5-years on supervised release, following satisfaction of the 420-month term of imprisonment imposed by the court. This blog contains mixed topics; some written from a positive perspective, others from a not-so-positive perspective. I'll tell some of what my last month has been like living in an institution ran by the most absurd federal prison administration I've ever lived under for the last thirty-years. DEPARTING: I'm leaving behind many friends, a lot of good men, and a lot more defeated by an over-abundance of suboxene and bug poison (K-2/Spice) that flooded this compound within 6-months of this warden taking command. Based upon statements made by inmates at the last institution she ran, the same thing happened there: she reduced alcohol consumption that resulted in an increase in demand and availability of K-2 and suboxene. Concerning wardens that Washington officials began referring to as Chief Executive Officers (CEO), because of, in my opinion, the federal prison system becoming a business-venture, more so than a place to help its men and women become law-abiding citizens. The Congressional budgeting system allows wardens and executive staff to take home hefty bonuses by cutting operating cost, often at the expense of the safety and health of staff and inmates alike. Throughout the years, I've met many good men and women who worked for the BOP, a few of whom helped save the lives of myself and others by offering their time to provide needed services to help prisoners learn life-skills; especially, for those in programs designed to help addicts and alcoholics learn to live life without the use of drugs and alcohol. JOURNALING INTO A NEW LIFE: This time 23-years ago, I was writing in journals about my newfound way of life (living without using drugs and alcohol, and working on becoming a better man who lived by different spiritual principles). Here's two excerpts I hope will inspire others: August 23, 1995: "This new lifestyle is a lot more simple and easier to live by in this environment, because I don't have to worry about getting a U.A. [urine-analysis], going to the hole for being stupid, or having to try so hard to get by. I used to have to hustle to support my dope habit, but not anymore. I never had food in my locker, but kept the lockers of dope men well-stocked. Now I have food to eat, good shoes to wear, and can afford to send money to my family as gifts or to buy other things I want or need. I have time for Wayne and I care about Wayne. Wayne deserves to be cared for, because he's a worthy human being, and really is not a bad guy, so I'm no longer trying to destroy him. I'm trying to 'set him free.' He deserves that!" September 13, 1995: "I have began my pursuit of freedom, which could end up being a fruitless search from me on the legal angle, but if God wants to see me free, I will be free. If not legally, in spirit, which is most important. I would like to be legally free, because I know I can make it out there now, and know I have a lot of valuable experience, wisdom, and knowledge to offer certain segments of society. For that reason, I deserve another chance." LEGALLY SPEAKING: The legal pursuit of my freedom proved fruitless and a waste of time, energy, and thousands of dollars, but it did keep me occupied and I learned a lot. If you consider the success I had getting my halfway house date changed and the knowledge gained, it was beneficial. I also helped free others. During the legal Pursuit of Freedom process, I damn sure learned that what the law says doesn't matter: If the courts want to follow the law, they do. If not, they use their power and ignore the law. After I build straightfromthepen.net, I will post court documents from my case and others to prove what I just wrote. ALONG SPIRITUAL LINES: I know everything worked out the way it was supposed to, and that if the courts had followed the laws passed by Congress, and the court decisions I relied upon during my direct appeal process, I would not be alive today. I had a bad drug problem and ill intent for several years after my conviction. Today I don't have either and will live the rest of my days in peace, clean & sober, and, for the most part, healthier than when I arrived in 1988. LIFE NOT ACCORDING TO WAYNE: Most of these last few days of my life in prison have not went according to my plan. I planned to attend the last few A.A. and N.A. meetings; to quit my job on August 17th, and then spend some time outside on the recreation yard to exercise and tone up my body, and to work on my suntan in preparation for all the fat-butt-girls waiting to chase me. ;-) The warden closed the recreation yard over three weeks ago and spoiled my Suntan Plan. RECENT EVENT: The warden's closure of the recreation yard indirectly resulted in a clash between two ethnic groups in the Chow Hall on Sunday, August 12, 2018. When tension builds amongst an inmate population, and one ethnic group gets punished and suffers because of an action by another group, a tender box is born; complements of the warden, captain, or other prison official, who implemented unnecessary punitive actions in response to an issue, such as is the case at hand. (Read "Politics & Prison" (11/07/16) where I wrote in response to this warden's use of group-punishment techniques, and show how it creates conflicts in a prison population and is thus not a rational correctional-management tool for all situations: "MORE ON BLANKET PARTIES: If certain prisoners are given a blanket party or 'sanctioned' by their peers for failure to comply with rules or regulations, it may lead to extreme violence; therefore, the ideological control mechanism for military men and women does not work on prisoners, or otherwise has adverse effects; that is, unless the prison administrators really want prisoners to clash. Many administrators have ulterior motives.") THE CHOW HALL FIASCO lead to 5-prisoners suffering injuries severe enough to justify a trip to the local hospital for treatment. I was inside the chow hall during the fiasco. NO OUTSIDE RECREATION: The reason for closing the recreation yard was because staff found homemade wine buried beside an area known as the "Boom Boom Room." Prison staff have known about the problem for years, including the whole period of this warden's stay (about 2-years). Staff have probably dug as much as 50-75 gallons of wine out of the same spot, and yet, instead of being intelligent enough to use available technology (posting surveillance cameras in the area as most competent prison administrators do in problem areas), the warden/prison administration, chose to close the recreation yard to tear down the Boom Boom Room. The recreation yard is a place where men go to exercise or relax, to relieve anger, stress, and tension associated with prison life or just to stay healthy. TINDER BOX: The closure of the recreation yard created a Tinder Box because a few members of one ethnic group is responsible for its closure, as is the warden. That put targets on the backs of everyone of that nationality. THE CATALYST: A inmate who worked the a.m. Food Service shift, stole fruit and hid it in a Dish/Tray Room, where prisoners use a dishwasher to wash food trays, utensils, etc. When he returned during the next shift and learned his stolen-stash was stolen, he attacked a member of the other ethnic group, known to bury wine. Several members of the latter group attacked and beat down the aggressor and that lead to retaliation by members of the aggressor's ethnic group. FIASCO RESPONSE: The staff who responded got medical attention for the aggressor who received minor injuries, and then escorted him and four of his attackers down the walkway toward the medical department and segregated housing unit. I sat at a table near where the ethnic group of the four attackers often sat. After the incident in the Tray Room, I went to the opposite side of the chow hall and saw those escorted out the rear door of the Tray Room. I returned to the other side and let my peers know of the events racial nature. Then myself and most other non-participants moved out of the area to get out of the way of what was sure to follow. Upon leaving with the offenders, staff locked the chow hall doors with approximately 150-200 inmates left alone inside with one food service staff member. After 5-to-8 minutes of the racial situation brewing, the aggressor's ethnic group attacked anyone who looked like they may have been of the other ethnic group, thus creating a racial riot inside the chow hall. For approximately 3-4 minutes, food trays soared across the chow hall, injuring those hit; weapons of various types were used to batter opponents; fists and feet used where possible. The food service staff member ran and locked himself in an office inside the chow hall. I suspect he radioed for assistance, but I never saw him come out of his hiding spot into the Battle Zone, evidence of being a true coward. According to what an associate who stayed in the Battle Zone, one staff member came in through the rear door of the Tray Room, ran in and began spraying all aggressors with Pepper Spray. Two staff members made the wrong turn and came to the non-participant side. One pointed a camera at us and said, "Get on the ground." And then later, "Turn and face the wall." I knelt down on one knee but did not turn to face the wall. An injured Hispanic participant had came from the Battle Zone with blood running down his head from different angles and dripped blood on the floor in front of me. The violence was still in progress twenty-five feet away: I knew not to expose myself to flying trays by turning around when the two dummies did not even notice that those of us standing against the wall were docile. The other staff member who made the wrong turn, used profanity directed toward one man and threatened to spray him with pepper spray. During this time, you could hear inmates attempting to rip pipes from their fixtures to use as weapons in the Battle Zone, while those two knuckleheads wasted time messing with us. Finally, one of the guys standing against the wall shouted out, "We aren't the one's fighting." The camera man turned and then moved to where the action was going. The dummy with the pepper spray turned and followed him. Another staff member came in and said, "Y'all just get down on one knee. I'm trying to look for injuries." He pointed to the injured Hispanic and said, "You, get over there." Then he said, "Is anyone else injured?" Maybe ten minutes later, the crowd dispersed toward a door and began to exit on the opposite end of the chow hall. I followed. We returned to the living units and was locked in our cells for about a week. GOD'S WILL VERSUS MINE: I also planned to mail out some of my property on Thursday at R&D Open House. We can only mail outgoing packages, after approval by unit staff, and then during Open House on Tuesdays and Thursdays. A sign on the door showed "No Open House Today," but if you were to ask the Warden or one of her officials, you'd be told that Open House is opened during all schedules periods; a lie I have been told before. Well, that's where God's will versus mine comes to play. I believe that whenever I'm faced with such obstacles that there's a reason for it and that it'll work to my good. In the past it always has and this time is no different. The delay gave me more time to sort through my ton of property to lighten my load as I set out to travel the Road to Happy Destiny. :-) ________________________________ More to come from this author at https://straightfromthepen.com Email: [email protected] Prison violence, prison politics, Bureau of Prisons; K-2, Spice, Suboxen, homemade wine.
BOOK REVIEW by Wayne T. Dowdy: THE LAST CONFEDERATE COIN, S.G. Garwood and Dr. Jonathan M. Jackson Horace Lawson Hunley designed a murderous device during the American Civil War: the H.L. Hunley, one of the first hand-cranked submarines, the very craft that took his life. The South led the race to create the first hunter-killer submarine. Authors S.G. Garwood and Dr. Jonathan M. Jackson, capture the reader’s attention with graphic details of America's bloodiest and most gruesome war, the War Between the States, as they take you into the confines of the H.L. Hunley during its missions. Historically, on February 17, 1864, the brave men of the H.L. Hunley sunk the U.S.S. Housatonic off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina. Something went wrong during the process and Lt. Dixon went to the bottom of the ocean with the Hunley and its crew, to lay at rest for 136-years; the vessel did not resurface until August 8, 2000. The submarine took the lives of thirteen other men before its final voyage in 1864, where it took the lives of its last eight brave men, claiming a total of twenty-one men throughout its brief history; five on its first voyage and eight each on the last two. Reading the novel and seeing the numerous photos, assists the authors at telling a story about the lives of its main characters and the story behind the H.L. Hunley, most all based on historical facts, with a love story woven into its fabric. The Last Confederate Coin falls within the historical-fiction category, but there is a lot of truth in this fiction: A Confederate coin discovered inside the H.L. Hunley tells a story in itself and helped to identify its owner. That is a fact! The plot and scenes create a vivid image of what life was like for many of those trapped in the American Civil War, and of those heroic men who lost their lives fighting for a cause, but the authors take the readers deeper than that, below the surface and into the depths of the ocean with those last eight men on the final voyage of the murderous device. TO ORDER: Online for $22.95 plus S&H https://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?keyWords=The+Last+Confederate+Coin&type= ORDER DIRECT: send email to Alexius Rex Publications: [email protected] (Corrlinks friendly) I see the worm hole up ahead. Entering the worm hole, I'll be traveling at warp speed as I race toward the future. Images zooming by so fast that I'll only see blurs of the present as thoughts and ideas for the future bombard the senses. The future that glitters on the other side of the worm hole is a place I never expected to see, back when I began this voyage into Never Never Land. I sat in jail contemplating suicide because of the extreme dissatisfaction I felt in myself. Love for my family kept me alive. Despair ravaged my soul and whole sense of being because of what I had done that put me in another jail cell. Miraculously, I thought of the effect my death would have on my loved ones and cared enough about them to decide not to end the life I had ruined, at least, so I thought (that I had ruined my life). Never lose hope. Life changes. Circumstances change. Life is good today. This past weekend I began reading "Man's Search for Meaning" by Victor E. Frankl, who was a former prisoner in a German Concentration Camp. A notable quote he used that's relevant to a prisoner's experience, as well as in many other facets of our human existence, was one by Nietzsche. Frankl wrote, "There is much wisdom in the words of Nietzsche: 'He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.'" In reading of Frankl's account of his life in a German concentration camp, I can appreciate the difference of life inside an American prison compared to the life of a prisoner of war in a foreign country. When I began this sentence, I had a "why to live"; one driven by mass amounts of anger and resentment. But that "why" was killing me. Several years later, when I experienced freedom from those negative emotions, I was liberated. Another favorite quote of mine is in regards to resentment that also came from Holocaust survivors. "A former inmate of a Nazi concentration camp was visiting a friend who had shared the ordeal with him. "'Have you forgiven the Nazi's?' "'Yes.' "'Well, I haven't. I'm still consumed with hatred for them.' "'In that case,' said his friend gently, 'they still have you in prison.'" Ernest Kurtz & Katherine Ketchum, THE SPIRITUALITY OF IMPERFECTION. August 28, 2018, thirty-years and ten days after I walked in the door of a confined and restricted environment, bound and chained with cuffs on my hands and ankles, I'll leave en route to a Residential Reentry Center (RRC)/halfway house as a returning citizen, without chains dangling from my aging body. I received a new RRC date and an increase in my RRC placement period (the former 119-days were replaced with 192). My former date was 12/26/2018: It really pissed me off to have an RRC date for the day after Christmas. Now I will be home for Christmas! ;-) RETURNING CITIZENS: the Reentry Affairs Coordinator, Ms. P., told me and others in the office that the new term for those exiting prison life is "Returning Citizens," in place of ex-offenders, or ex-cons. As a returning citizen, I know I will face many new problems as I forge my way into a bright future. Discouraged, I am not. I am eager to face challenges and to find solutions and conquer all conflicts and obstacles that stand between me and my success as a returning citizen. A friend who returned to society years ago, once told me during a phone conversation that he sat complaining as he tried to figure out which girl to take on a date. Then the thought occurred, "I bet Wayne would love to have my problem." :-) Yep, Wayne would, just as many of those I'll leave behind would love to have some of the problems I may encounter along the way toward the future. I'll try to remember that if my gratitude escapes during times of character-building episodes of Life Happenings. Perhaps the new experiences I encounter will allow me to learn something to pass on to others who will follow in pursuit of their future. HOW MY RELEASE DATE CHANGED: Some of this information is redundant from another blog; most is not, which I will share in the words of the famous radio host, Paul Harvey, as "The Rest of the Story." A May 10, 2000, Progress Report, showed May 29, 2020, as my Projected Release date; derived from the amount of eligible Good Conduct Time, subtracted from the maximum 420-months of incarceration, set to expire on August 17, 2023. On January 2, 1990, staff informed me that the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles filed a Temporary Revocation Warrant. I wrote a letter on that same day to request the withdrawal of the warrant because I sat in jail until after my parole expired and was not being given credit off my federal sentence due to that time being applied to my state sentence. On April 19, 1990, the Parole Board withdrew their warrant. Over a decade later, I used that letter to establish the legal basis of a challenge to the federal jurisdiction relied upon to put me in prison for thirty-five years. In 2002 the BOP awarded me 188-days of jail credit that it had refused to give for fourteen years. In court, I used the 188-days spent in jail before federal sentencing to establish that the jail time was applied toward a state sentence. Then the BOP credited me with a total of 401-days (from the day of my arrest until the U.S. Marshals took me into federal custody on September 22, 1989). That changed my date to April 24, 2019, but that still was not right: I just couldn't figure out how back then, even though I was no longer on drugs. Only after my case was docketed in the United States Supreme Court, where I was set to prove the Department of Justice unjustly convicted me in a court without jurisdiction by violating Article IV(e) of the Interstate Agreement on Detainers Act, did the BOP decide to give me the jail credit that was due. LEGAL RESEARCH: While researching the halfway house issues I've written about in "Life Inside," "Half A Problem," and several other blogs after the BOP modified its halfway house policy (began changing/reducing RRC dates), I learned that Section 3624(b) of Title 18 of the United States Code prohibited the BOP from deducting more than 54-days per year for disciplinary infractions. As written in "Reentry Plans & A Friend Moves On," I lost 82-days in 1990. However, when I reviewed my Sentence Computation Sheet, it did show I was not awarded any GCT for 1990, but did not show that the 28-days above 54 (82 minus 28 = 54) came off in 1991. The Sentence Computation Sheet showed the maximum allowable GCT as 1,576-days. That did not compute, even after I applied the formula used by the BOP as illustrated before the Supreme Court in Barber v. Thomas (2011). I then submitted a request to my case manager for correction. He referred me to the Records Office. I sent an electronic request to staff to the ISM and relied on the Code of Federal Regulations to challenge the GCT calculation. The issue was resolved during a Release Audit on March 29, 2018. I was given 54-days per year on having served 30-years of the 35-year sentence. Thus comes the confusion in inmates attempting to figure out their Projected Release dates. On a ten-year sentence (120-months), a prisoner would think he or she would earn 540-days (10 x 54). Not so! The prisoner only earns 470-days because the formula doesn't allow prisoners to earn time off any portion of a sentence not physically served; therefore, in that example, the GCT earned during the second through eighth years, is deducted from the ten-year total. That eliminates GCT credits for the tenth-year and a portion of ninth. The remaining portion of the ninth year (less than one-year) is prorated at fifteen percent. In my case, 205-days remained, prorated at 15%, allowed me to earn thirty-one more days, which, by statute, won't be awarded until the last six-weeks of my sentence. The corrections are what changed my release date from April 24, 2019, to March 10, 2019. But because March 10th falls on Sunday, I was given the date of March 8, 2019 (that will change to February 5th or 7th during the last six weeks). Afterwards, my case manager contacted the Residential Reentry Manager and requested a re-adjusted date because the change in my Projected Release date reduced my RRC placement period from 119-days down to 72-days, which would then become 43-days when awarded the prorated portion (31-days). Now you know the Rest of the Story. :-) OFF THE RECORD: I sat in my cell listening to Alice Cooper on Uncle Joe Benson's, Off the Record, on Sunday morning (08/05/18). As I sat listening, I wondered what my life will be like in September when I am sitting in the halfway house in Atlanta, or at my residence upon my release. Will I take time to listen to such programs? Will I be interested or have other things to do? One thing I feel certain about, is that I won't be living the thug life. As I wrote in "Guns, Drugs & Thugs: Drug Store Spree," I am a retired thug. I hung up my guns and now use words sharper than razors, more powerful than bullets and bombs; softer than butter, sweeter than honey; rough and tough, or kind and gentle, clean and straightforward. Whatever the situation warrants, I'll use select-words in the construction of sentences and phrases needed to fight battles or to mend wounds caused by my past, straight from the pen, a different pen. :-) _____________________________ In September, StraightFromthePen.com will activate a new email address for special deals on books, essays, short stories, and updates on the status of StraightFromthePen.net and .org: [email protected]. Posting will be determined based upon legal aspects and rules governing life in the semi-free society. Expect an update to my author's page at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/WayneMrDowdy and at other social media sites. Victor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning; Alice Cooper; Uncle Joe Benson's, Off the Record; Paul Harvey; Residential Reentry Center, halfway house; Good Conduct Time; Bureau of Prisons; Department of Justice; Supreme Court; suicide; German, Nazis, concentration camp; prisoner of war; Holocaust; Nietzsche; spirituality; Wayne T. Dowdy, straight from the pen.
On August 28, 1978, I was arrested in Lebanon, KY and ultimately went to prison in Georgia for 7-years. I was released on August 1, 1985, and then arrested on this current case on August 18, 1988. The Kentucky State Patrol followed me across the Tennessee state line, where I was arrested by Campbell County Police in Tennessee; ten days short of ten-years from the date of my previous KY arrest. Now I will be leaving here for the Halfway House in Atlanta, GA on August 28, 2018. :-) That is thirty-years and ten days after my arrest on this case, and forty-years after my first Kentucky arrest. I succeeded at getting more halfway house time because of the time I won off the end of my sentence due to a miscalculation of my Good Conduct Time that I wrote about in my most recent blog. Miracles happen! Ironically, I went to the commissary today and while putting my food items in my lockers, I felt my case manager would be coming to tell me my date was change. The unit secretary gave me the good news before she left this evening after I came in from an NA meeting. :-) The news had my heart pounding like a shot of dope, or maybe it was due to all the coffee I drank at the meeting before coming in, or maybe because I only slept three hours last night and have been up since 2:30 AM. I unsuccessfully tried going back to sleep by trying every technique I knew to relax myself so I could sleep. Nothing worked. A lot of times before something spectacular happened in my life, whether good or bad, I experienced the same thing (couldn't sleep well, usually for a three or four days before the events occurred). At any rate, I am thrilled to share my Extra Special Breaking News with each of you. :-) Have a wonderful day! Wayne This blog contains mixed topics. The first one I'll write about is dedicated to a man who proved himself to be a true friend to me in 1995, after he came into the federal system at the United States Penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia. Other topics will include an update to my pending release and plans to reenter society. I must include politics, too, of which I apologize. IN MEMORY OF DANIEL E. SCOTT: My friend of twenty-four years left from here on May 10, 2018, for the halfway house/Residential Reentry Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Originally, he was approved for six-months in the RRC but that was reduced to four-months when ex-director, Mark S. Inch took over the BOP. Dan's health deteriorated quickly during the last two months of his stay here, when he should have been at home with his wife and children, and would have been if not for the bureaucratic BS in Washington, DC. Dan had been real sick for months. For several years he struggled with various illnesses. During the last 5-to-6 months here, he went to the medical department and complained of severe stomach pains, nausea, and as time progressed, other symptoms associated with cancer. He was told he had pancreatitis at the local hospital. His pain medication: Tylenol and Prilosec for most of that time. He did receive Tylenol-3 with codeine for his last month here. He told me one day of all of the symptoms he was experiencing. I said, "I hate to say it, but that's what Larry complained of before he passed away and it was stomach cancer." Larry was my younger brother who passed away in 2016. A month later, Dan said, "I don't think I'm going to live long enough to make it out of here. I know I'm dying." He was in constant pain, couldn't sleep without waking because of the pain, and couldn't keep any food down after eating. I promised I would pray for him and that I believed he would get out where he could get help. Three weeks before leaving, a person on the medical staff informed him that a February ex-ray result showed a mass in his chest. A CT scan was done shortly before he left for the halfway house. After he got there, his condition worsened. He was hospitalized days later and did not have pancreatitis. He had pancreatic cancer that had already spread to both lungs. I spoke to him around 11:00 AM on Thursday, June 28th. He struggled to breath. I thanked him for being a true friend to me over the years and let him know I loved him. I knew his time was near. Before hanging-up the phone, he said, "Good Bye, my friend," as if he knew it would be the last time we spoke. That night I called him again but no one answered. At 8:30 PM I put him a Happy Belated Birthday card in the mail and said farewell to a good friend. He moved on to the next phase of existence two-hours later. One thing I'll always remember him for is this: We met a few months before I decided to stop using drugs and alcohol, while at U.S.P. Atlanta. When I told him and others that if they started talking about drugs or getting high, not to feel offended if I walked away. I explained that it was harder for me to quit by talking about it and being around it. One evening I was visiting him in his cell when another prisoner came in and said, "Man, there's some killer stuff going around." Dan held up his hand to stop him and then said, "When you see this man sitting in here, don't come in here talking about that bullshit. He's trying to quit and not be around it and I respect him for that." That proved to me that he was a true friend; he supported me in my pursuit of a new life. I miss my friend and hope he's sitting on a lake in the sky with a fishing pole in his hand, not feeling any pain or sadness for the life he left behind. REENTRY PLANS: I often see the skyline of Atlanta, Georgia while watching movies. Last month I watched Tiana Taylor dancing in HONEY: RISE UP AND DANCE and saw familiar places in Atlanta, a place of my future, a remnant of my past. I most often identify the City of Atlanta by the IBM Tower (if still so named). Seeing Atlanta from a distance in movies and periodic views of T.V. programs (e.g., Walking Dead, Love & Hip Hop-Atlanta, Black Ink Crew (a friend played a role in it)), makes me think of all the changes since my departure in 1988, not just in the city and its people, but in myself as well. Seeing Atlanta Area Tech does the same thing to me because I once planned to go there to learn aviation mechanics, one of many ambitions wrote off to my misbehaving while young and dumb. SOCIETAL CHANGES: Early one morning, I got up around 4:00 AM and was surprised to see and hear a commercial on television for Adam & Eve sex toys, a beautiful woman selling vibrators and other "pleasure toys" to pleasure seekers. When I was a child, it was exciting for us children to see a Playtex bra commercial, the most sensual of all advertisements during the early '60s. Even when arrested in 1988, I don't think sex toy commercials were allowed on regular television in America. I don't recall the sexy models advertising for Victoria’s Secret, either. Around 1997, I did see sexually explicit scenes and segments on late night HBO and Cinemax shows. One HBO Special, in particular, showed commercials from Germany and other countries, where models were topless and commercials sexually charged. Times have changed. Women didn't wear thongs on the beach, either. I look forward to seeing such changes. ;-) I also love swimming and fishing if the fish are biting, and eagerly await my chance to dive in a body of water, as well as to experience the Internet, cellphones, and typing without paying five-cents per minute. Please don't misunderstand what I wrote: I am not complaining about those types of societal changes. I don't feel they are wrong, because I don't feel people should be ashamed of their bodies. PERSONAL PLANS: I first need to get my identification and drivers license, if I plan to drive a car, which I want to do, but I am willing to use public transportation until I can afford to purchase one and to pay for associated expenses (gas, oil, tires, maintenance, insurance). I'm not planning to get any particular type of vehicle. After thirty years, any new model will be more akin to a spaceship for me. :-) WORKING MAN: My main objective is to secure a position in a reputable company with good pay and benefits. I also want to go back to college to learn coding so I can design my own websites, and to visit the Georgia Aquarium and other places I haven't seen. POLITICS: Since writing "Breaking News," I had tweets sent to President Trump and Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and senior adviser, asking them to save American taxpayers an annual $30,630,000. I included a link to Breaking News (https://straightfromthepen.wordpress.com). I hope one of them read what I wrote. DEFEATED: The National Inmate Appeals Administrator denied my BP-11 on 06/04/18, cosigning the BS of previous decisions to deny my request for additional RRC time, even though the halfway house situation has lightened up. It is a waste of time and $$$ to go further with the issue because Congress gave the BOP too much discretion in 18 U.S.C., Sect. 3624(c). A young man left here on 07/05/18 with 5-months in the same Atlanta RRC that I'm scheduled to go to 12/26/18. He was here 10-months for a 17-month violation of the terms of his supervised release. I've been in 30-years and received 119-days, one day short of 4-months. That was when Mark Inch was in command, so if my RRC date gets changed because of the following, I may receive more RRC time. VICTORY: Two weeks ago, I learned my release date changed from 04/24/2019 to 03/08/2019 (47-days closer to Freedom's Door). On 11/01/17, I challenged the calculation of my Good Conduct Time (GCT), including an improper deduction of 82-days for my misbehavior in 1990. 28 C.F.R., Sect. 523.20(a), Good Conduct Time, states, "For inmates serving a sentence for offenses committed on or after November 1, 1987, but before September 13, 1994, the Bureau will award 54 days credit toward service of sentence (good conduct time) for each year served. This amount is prorated when the time served by the inmate for the sentence during the year is less than a full year." In 1990, I was put in the Segregated Housing Unit at U.S.P. Leavenworth, KS for 60-days and lost 41-days of GCT for possession of narcotics (a paper containing methamphetamine residue). On the same day, I received 30-consecutive-days in the SHU, with another 41-days loss of GCT because I refused to provide a urine sample. Under Title 18 of the United States Code, Sect. 3624(b), as enacted November 1, 1987, 54-days of GCT shall be awarded at the end of each year, providing the inmate behaved "during that year." Crediting and deductions can only be made based upon behavior during one-year segments, and cannot be taken from future or past years. Once credited or lost, it stays that way. That is, unless unlawfully taken that can be challenged in court under 28 U.S.C., Sect. 2244, after exhausting administrative remedies. On 08/17/18, I will have served 10,950-days (360-months) on my primary sentence. During that period, I lost a total of 109-days of GCT (41+41+27), all for drug-related incidents. Twenty-eight of those days were unlawfully taken for the 1990 incident, so 28-days were refunded, and then I was properly credited for 1,539-days of GCT (1,620-days, minus 81). Now, with the above deduction, I only have 72-days in an RRC and am awaiting a decision from the Residential Reentry Manager concerning a modification to my RRC date. Because 18 U.S.C., Sect. 3624(b) requires any remaining time of less than one-year to be prorated and awarded six-weeks before the sentence ends, my release date will change again because I'm owed 31-more days. My date will change to February 7, 2019, the day after one of my granddaughters' birthday. If the First Step Act passes the Senate, I'll leave earlier than that. Please urge your senator to co-sign the bill and vote, Yes. Thanks! MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: What is the first thing you plan to eat? Where are you going to go eat at when you get out? What do you plan to do first? My response: I don't know. I'm thinking of steak and lobster but when I see the price, I may change my mind to steak and shrimp or a Burger King Whopper or a Blizzard at Dairy Queen. :-) Those prices may make me want to prepare my own meal. Then the grocery store prices may make me want to fast. I do plan to find a good paying job with benefits so I can afford to eat the way I prefer (healthy choices on most days). MOST POPULAR FREE ADVICE: Get a hooker because you'll fall in love with the first woman you have sex with if you don't. My response: I'm not walking out the door thinking with my penis. I've never paid for sex and I'm not starting when I get out of prison. I've been thirty years without getting laid and if I have to wait a little longer, I will survive. :-) SIMPLE MAN: One of the things I look forward to is being able to listen to music without interruptions, per se, no commercials, no distractions from the typical things we experience in prison; e.g., having to listen for a guard to announce "Count Time," during certain times so we can stand up and be counted; or to annoying announcements on an intercom that disturbs my peace. I could have bought an MP-3 player years ago and eliminated some of those problems. I didn't feel purchasing one was wise due to the $1.55 price tag, per song, for altered (graphic lyrics restricted, etc.) and limited music selections, so ... I have patiently waited and dealt with static, difficulty finding a station playing what I want to hear, and long-commercial interruptions. SWEET HOME ALABAMA: On the Sunday morning following Dan's departure from this thing we know as life, I listened to members of Lynyrd Skynyrd on Uncle Joe Benson's, Off the Record. Hearing many of the songs reminded me of days gone by. When I listened to Sweet Home Alabama, I was thankful that my friend did get to go home and leave this world as a free man. Maybe he has a guitar in his hands and is strumming God's favorite tunes. halfway house, BOP, politics, Love & Hip Hop, Tiana Taylor, reentry, sex, Atlanta, GA, cancer.
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AuthorAtlanta, Georgia, a city of models & movies. I rode hard & crashed young. Welcome to my life: inspirational, drama, emotional struggles, all defining my character and visions of a new life. Archives
October 2022
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