BIOLOGY AND BATHROOMS

Believe it or not, even in jail one finds the need to relieve oneself. The biological and body functions don’t suspend. Therefore, facilities are a necessity. I have a high school class mate who spent some time in a Moroccan jail back in the 70’s. The Moroccan jail was a floor hole in the center of the room. There was no toilet paper holder; in fact there was no toilet paper!

In comparison, I’m residing in 4-star luxury. However, I’m sure, you would consider it the economy version compared to your own facilities you use at home. In the back corner of each cell, there is a stainless steel toilet/sink combo.
The sink is directly behind the toilet bowl, where you are accustomed to having the tank and its lid. In fact, the waste water from the sink actually drains into the toilet bowl, and then is manually flushed. In order to use the sink,one must either straddle the bowl, or stand to its side. When brushing your teeth, you have the choice of leaning over spitting in the sink or spitting in the toilet bowl. It all will have to be eventually flushed anyway.

There are 3 push buttons on the back panel of the sink. 2-buttons are the hot and cold controls. The 3rd push button push button flushes the toilet. The hot and cold buttons must be held in to get a stream. They’re not easily pushed, either, as they require a little strength, so, one has to use one or the other, hot or cold, since one hand has to be used for whatever function the water is needed. That is not an issue, however.

To get continuous running water one is educated in jailhouse ingenuity, learned from other inmates, I can take an empty 20 oz. plastic coke bottle, fill it with water to give it mass and strength, and use a washcloth folded up as much as it can be folded. Using both items the bottom of the bottle is placed on the water button; the folded washcloth is placed on the inside front edge of the sink; then the coke top/lid is horizontally wedged against the washcloth, thereby pushing the button in and holding it. Voila! Continuous stream of water! Two hands free! Coke can be enjoyed in more ways than one. “AHH! The pause that refreshes!”

There is no toilet seat! The bowl flanges are wider than your household toilet. Therefore, you won’t feel that you’re falling when you sit. But it is chilly, though. The metal quickly warms by body heat until you flush, the water flowing underneath the flanges chills the metal again. There is no toilet paper holder per se. But there is a round cavity in the side panel of the sink that holds a roll of toilet paper. Yes, we are supplied with TP, but I guarantee you , it ain’t Charmin!

There are no privacy petitions or even curtains. Each cell is open to the rest of the room and to the guard tower. At times there are female guards in the tower, too. At least the toilet is in the back of a cell, where a certain degree of privacy can be obtained. (In the dorm, “Inside Rec,” one big room with bunks around the perimeter, the toilets (2) are in the room exposed, no privacy at all.) Everyone understands it is one of the encumbrances of jail life. That it is!

Future Blog Post:
Interior Decorating and Customization
Toothpaste Stolen and Dollar Stolen
Shower Description

Thank you for walking (and reading) down this path with me. Your mail is so important! Want to hear from you! Thanks!

THANKSGIVING THOUGHTS

I am filled with gratitude in so many ways! More to the point in this context, I am grateful that you are walking down this path with me by faithfully reading this blog and responding with encouragement in various ways. I give thanks and more thanks!

This is a test and protest for me. It could be that it is the same for you,and not just a curiosity for I believe it is a cause, and not just a self- aggrandizement. Perhaps, in your own life you are being tested, unfairly tested, and it is time for you to raise a respectful, non-violent protest. Perhaps, the protest is for your value as an individual. Perhaps it is for your family, maybe, you need to protest because something reflects badly on your faith or institutions of your faith. It could be all of the above. I encourage you to stand up, seek remedy to satisfy all, respect and give human value, if not in love,to opposing parties, no matter the circumstance.

Wherever you are this Thanksgiving Holiday Season, may there be abundance, abundance of food, of family and fellowship, of laughter and joy, and most of all....abundance of thanks. We are truly a blessed people. We are also not people without hope!

There will be no more blog post this week, perhaps you can find some time to catch up during the holiday weekend on posts not yet read. Blog will continue next week.

Future Blog Post:

Phone Calls

Visitation

Interior Decorating


Happy Thanksgiving! Let's conquer tyranny and persecution in the world however large or small!
You have to take action, though, and not simply wish for it!

MY HOME RESIDENCE

If the Cheatham County Jail is my town, and the "D" Dorm (Delta) is my neighborhood, then , cell #10 is my home residence. More than anyone else in the dorm, I remain at home the vast majority of time. I am a person who enjoys solitude. Of course, that is a very relative measure,because there isn't really any solitude, as most of us would define it , in a jail dorm. I don't completely isolate myself, and will address that topic soon in a future blog. But is my own choice to stay at "home" most of the time.

Cell #10, located in a so to speak "cul du sac" at the head of the stairs, is eight , plus a half, concrete blocks long. That is 11 feet and a few inches. Its width is 5 blocks plus a half. That calculates to 7 feet and a few inches. Across the front of the cell are iron bars built in spaced horizontal thick steel framing. It is the icon of what everyone pictures as jail.

Looking in from the cell door, the left wall at roughly 7 feet turns in to the room. This narrows the room but also provides an 18 inch alcove for the bunk. The bunk is about 36 inches wide. So half the bunk sits in the alcove and the other half extends into the room. As the 18 inch wall turns around the back wall, there is a head-high, small, storage shelf with 4 hooks under it for hanging towels, long johns, orange jail suits, etc. Then, immediately fitting in the back left corner is the toilet/sink.

The right wall is a straight wall. Centered is an 18 inch square sheet metal table top, no legs, that is welded to metal plates bolted to the wall. In like construction on the far table side is one sheet metal seat. For my liking it could be an inch higher for a more comfortable use of the table top. Above the table centered in the wall is a 4 ' flourescent light sconce. This fixture shines light down the wall into the room and also emits light up the wall and onto the ceiling. At 9:30 p.m. every night this light is cut off from the guards control room. It comes back at 6:00 a.m.

On the back wall about two inches from the ceiling is a four foot long window, but is only 8 inches deep. It has plexiglass on the outside, but on the inside there is a thick wire mesh covering the window opening. No escape there! Can't see much but it does allow for ambient day light.

The cell door is locked at 11 p.m. and is electronically opened at 4:30 a.m. when the razors are delivered for shaving. The door remains open the rest of the day, but I'm comfortable in my own home most of the time.

In a future blog post I will describe the bathroom and shower facilities, as well as the bunk. Another post will tell you the customization and interior decorating I have done to make it my home.

Please stay tuned. It makes me feel like, maybe, some one out there cares, when you let me know you're reading . In that, my time moves faster and I am more productive to others- inside jail and outside. It frees my spirit.

Also, other future posts:

Visitation
Suicide Watch
Phone Calls

Please, I ask that you do all you can do to remove tyranny and persecution, not just in my life, but wherever you see it!

MY DAUGHTER'S BIRTHDAY

Today, November 19, 2010, is the 25th birthday of my daughter , Elise. I say a prayer for her and dearly hope she is having a happy one. I wish I could be a part of her celebration, more importantly,
I wish she would want me to be a part of her celebration. But that is not the case. I haven't been in her presence since February, 2001.

For this I do not understand! I really don't! Why would a daughter, who had a good relationship with her dad prior to 2001, turn her back on a dad who loves her so much, even now after all that has happened? Why is a dad's love and value based solely what he has in his wallet, or lack there of ? Doesn't any relationship prosper because of efforts and investment two parties give to the relationship ? Shouldn't there be reciprocation when both parties are of age.

If one has a grievance with another, can't one get together with the other, express the grievance, vent it , creatively work through the issue respectfully ? "Why not," I ask? What is the best way to resolve a human conflict ? Is this unreasonable ? Why do we have to be estranged? Why can't we mend fences, and love , relate, and engage in a beautiful father - daughter relationship? This is possible, absolutely possible to those who believe!

I do not know where Elise is, I do not have any valid postal or email address. I do not have any faith
that if I were to mail a birthday greeting to her mom or maternal grandparents that it would be delivered. They have always ignored my previous loving and respectful reaching-out to them. No goodwill from them! Why?

So what is a loving dad to do? I'd give her the shirt off my back, if that would restore the relationship. But I don't think material things, regardless of the amount will restore this relationship and truly be genuine. It is a matter of the heart! Therein lies the answer to this broken relationship.

If you know where Elise is , if you have any contact with her, if you can get to her (the last I heard she was in Chicago) PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE tell her she has a dad who loves her. He is serving a six month sentence in the Cheatham County Jail as a protest and for what he believes in. This same dad has never stopped loving his daughter. He has only remained absent from her because she has given every indication that she wanted to be left alone. He respects her space and desires, however, if she should ever have a change of heart, and would give some kind of positive sign, he would love to talk to her. He would try to correct any past issues and grievances, as best he can. He would do all he could for a future relationship to flourish. It takes two to have a relationship though. His door and heart are open....ALWAYS !

Jailhouse Grammer Lesson

In most posts on this blog I'm describing jail conditions. The description below is not an exaggeration, but a very true condition. I hope it is not too profane for my readers. I've written creatively to emphatically describe the condition.




Dictionary.com has a "word of the day" that anyone can subscribe to. Around noon everyday some word that more than likely you have never heard of, or will never use, will be sent to you and you can look up the definition. In the Cheatham County Jail there is a "word of the day," but it is the same word every single day - used more often than any other word. Used almost in every sentence, in some grammatical form, one does not have to have a dictionary to understand its meaning.


The "F-Bomb" is the most prolific word used in the lexicon of the CCJ (or any jail, I'm sure). Used as a noun, it usually has the prefix "mother" and the suffix "er." As a verb, it is most likely to be in the past tense having an "ed" attached. But with the same spelling it can also be used as a predicate adjective, i.e. "I'm ....ed." If it is used as a regular adjective, "ing" is attached to the base form. Can't recall it being used as an adverb; but, I suppose the more educated here would find some way to add an "ly" and use it profoundly. Hmmm? Don't know if it can be used as a preposition, but there are creative people in jail.


If is used in a declarative sentence: "I got ___ in court today." It is often used in an interrogative sentence: "What the ___?" As an exclamatory sentence it is greatly used: "Look at that M.F'er run with that football." In an imperative sentence a command is given: "___ you."


So you see, this word form is widely used. This writer makes no judgements, for he, himself, has been wrongly judged. I'll let more Divine powers be the judge. It is my understanding that the Divine sees the heart more than anything else. We are all bi-products of our families, churches, schools and neighborhoods, etc. This writer only reports. It is a fact, this is a new cultural experience and a new language in which this reporter is routinely accustomed. It is also a fact, I would rather be around more uplifting and inspirational language.


Future Posts: (Not in any certain order)

Visitations
Setting up Housekeeping
Phone Calls
Gourmet Food


May we one day find cause to celebrate the release and removal of tyranny and persecution for "All".

My Residence

All the male dorms at the Cheatham County Jail have 16 bunks. That doesn't mean that at times there isn't over-crowding. When that happens, then the concrete floor becomes a bunk. Presently there is no over-crowding, maybe even a vacant bunk or two. My residence is the "Delta" dorm, and just like the "Charlie" dorm, has bars across the front of each cell room. There are 10 cells in "C" and "D" dorm.


Looking from the Delta entrance door, cells are designated numbers orally. But no signage. Left to right downstairs 1-5, 6-10 upstairs. I have set-up housekeeping in #10, a one-man cell. (How acquired and description in a future post).


As you enter the Delta, you find yourself in a rather large, open, two-story common area containing three sheet metal tables with 4 fixed attached seats, like you would see at a McDonald's, fiberglass at McDonald's, rusted sheet metal/steel here. Old jail blankets, tattered and torn, are used as tablecloths. The cells, upper and lower, are across the back wall.


The dorm is not square or rectangular. In fact, it is an irregular pentagon. Entering: The left adjacent wall runs at 90 degrees as any normal room and meets a 90 degree back wall. The right adjacent wall as you enter runs at an obtuse angle, non-parallel to the left wall. (Mrs. Sigenbloom's High School Geometry Class comes back to me. Loved her!) The obtuse wall meets a short 90 degree back wall (runs two cell widths) that then meets at an angle with the long conventional back wall to complete the pentagon. A staircase ascends by the right obtuse wall. My #10 cell door is directly in front of the stair ending. There is a 4'-5' balcony walkway overlooking the large room to access cells 6-9.

Accoutrement's: At the bottom of the staircase is the dorm telephone (future posting about phone calls). In the opposite front corner, so as to be seen from the tables, the balcony walkway and a few cells is a TV. Mounted on a shelf about 8'-10' high, halfway between 1st and 2nd levels, is a 19" flat screen. Its a nice TV, but way too small for the room. Built out from the left wall on the ground level is a one-man shower stall. It has decent water pressure and hot enough water, but no hooks or shelves for cloths and soaps/shampoos.

Cell doors are closed each night at 11 pm, except for one "the out man." Someone is needed to get to the intercom if there was a sickness or other crisis. Doors are unlocked at 4:30 am every morning when razors arrive for shaving. They remain open the rest of the day.

Thank you for your interest and concern. Let's celebrate a positive redemption and remedy for "All" soon!

Future Posts:
Phone calls
Visitations,
Tyranny Vs Persecution

Further Description Cheatham County Jail

“The Cheatham County Jail” (Perhaps a future title for a song – suggested by a friend) has 6 male, 1 female and 1 female-trustee dorms for incarceration. The male dorms are designated alphabetically A-E, plus one more – “Indoor Rec.” – formerly just what it says, but now a dorm. The guards communicating on their walkie-talkies refer to them as “Alpha, Beta, Charlie, Delta, Echo and Indoor Rec.”. I am a resident of “D” (Delta) dorm. All the male dorms have one entrance/exit door each. They are located off the “Sally Port,” a central vestibule where the “rock call” machines (vending/snack) are located. The female dorm is located on a hallway between the booking room and the Sally Port. Their entrance door is also between two locked steel hallway doors left and right 10’ +/- from their dorm. The female dorm door does not have a window with a solid canvas curtain covering it as the male dorms do. Wonder why? Haha!

To get inside the jail from the public side one must pass through two successive locked - electronically controlled - steel doors. Only one is unlocked at a time. This will take you into the booking room, the main control room and office of the jail. To get to the dorms you would exit the second door from which you entered, take a left and hike down a long hallway. On this hike you will pass the visitation room first, then the library and estimated 8’ x 8’ room. The library also serves as an attorney consultation room. Soon you will approach another door to be unlocked and then pass the women’s dorm on the left before reaching the Sally Port door again electronically locked. There left of the Sally Port door is a staircase leading to the guard control tower and the female trustee dorm. One passes through 4 locked doors before entering a dorm from “booking”. One is always on camera too!

The guard tower has large windows heavily tinted for one-sided viewing. It’s difficult to see into the control tower from the dorm side, but the guards have clear viewing from their side. Plus, they have banks of camera monitors. It is there that all doors, lights, TV’s, phones can be turned on or off to each individual dorm. The tower is a top the sally port and has glass cut-outs in the floor for viewing Sally Port happenings.

I’m familiar with the “T-Dorm” female trustee dorm. During my 60 conecutive weekend stays the “weekenders” many times stayed there. Having only 8 bunks, most “weekenders”, including me, had to sleep on the concrete floor. The female trustees had to move to the regular female dorm for the weekend, then move back on Sunday night after the guys were gone! Saw some good ballgames, read some good books, and got some god rest and sleep in the “T-dorm.” Ahhh the memories!

Coming Soon:
Dorm Description
Gourmet Food
Jail House Grammar/Vocabulary
Toothpaste Stolen
Phone Calls

Thank you for your mail, prayers, and right and good spirit. May one day - hopefully soon – we – ALL – can celebrate!

Snail Mail

The Pony Express does not run at the CCJ. "Snail" mail does crank its way under the locked steel doors. Postal mail can be sent and received. Yes, sent...if the inmate has a stamp. Yes, received...but it will be opened at the front office and checked for any contra ban i.e. cigarettes/supplies/lighters; drugs-pills or other; dirty pictures; anything that could be considered a weapon, even ball point pens; etc. so, please, please, when any of you send mail, please, please don't include any of these items. If you do, please, don't put my name on the envelope! Haha (A joke, my friends would not do that.) I honestly don't think any of my mail is being read, but they can if they want to. They do open the mail and I'm sure remove it from the envelope before placing it back.

There is no email at the CCJ. We do it the old-fashioned way. I can only respond to mail by writing in pencil. No mechanical pencils, that is considered a weapon. No ink pens! Besides being a weapon it can be used for tattoos. However, it is quite acceptable for you to use a computer, type/print your communication...acceptable to the jail and acceptable to me, too! I know you will write more if you type. I'll have to hand write you back though.

You can include computer print-outs of news, sports, entertainment. Photos are allowed. I've already established a "wall gallery" and will post a future blog about it. Books can be sent, but they must be paperback. Newspapers and magazines cannot be sent. Church newsletters/programs should have no problem passing through. Printed study materials on paper should be no problem. Money can be sent - but no checks - only money orders to be used for "rock call" (future post) and to pay for medications. My close friends/family are generously supplying more than adequately, so, this is not a fund raising letter! Seasonal cards are great too! I received a couple of Halloween cards and pasted them to my wall gallery.

Any outgoing mail from me does not get out of the dorm until 10 pm. Taken to the front office, the postman gets it the next day. Nashville mail usually is received the next day; therefore, other mail to distant cities, from what I've learned takes longer than what I think. Please be patient.

I thank you so much for your mail. Mail is my lifeblood around here. Just with your effort my spirit is lifted! The more the merrier for me! I like seeing snails crawling under the door!

Future Posts:
Jailhouse Grammar
My Residence (Cell)
Toothpaste Stolen

May tyranny and persecution leave. May respect consideration and God's love replace...to each...to all!

The Cheatham County Jail

Friends: A date on this blog has been modified as it was incorrect in the original post. Sorry for the confusion.


Ashland City, TN is the county seat of Cheatham. Just as in many other small rural towns across the Southern USA, the court house occupies the "square" in the central heart of town. Attached to the main 2-story courthouse is the sheriff's department and jail. One can walk from a courtroom to the jail without leaving the building, this I know well!

On September 28, 2010, I was handcuffed in the courtroom and escorted to the jail by the bailiff. Once he and I were on the elevator alone we could talk. He, I could tell from his comments and questions, empathized with me. He was standing close by in the courtroom and had heard my testimony and appeal to the judge, as I defended myself. Even though he couldn't directly say, and had to do his job, I had a strong sense that he thought I was getting a "raw deal."

Once the elevator landed on the bottom floor and before we could round the hallway corner, a guard, apparently seeing us on a video camera, got on the intercom, "Take those handcuffs off Mr. Hannaford! He is no threat! He's not going anywhere!" So, the bailiff even before we had passed two steel and locked doors to the booking room removed my handcuffs in the public hallway. For you see, this guard knew me from my appearing for 60 consecutive Saturday mornings for weekend jail from January 2009 - March 2010. I was never late and never missed/skipped one weekend. The guard was right! I am no threat! I will not go anywhere! My spirit, though, was highly lifted by the respect and affirmation the guard and bailiff gave me. Why will others not do the same?

Future blog posts coming soon:
Further Description of Cheatham County Jail
Jail House Grammar and Vocabulary
Gourmet Food
My Toothpaste Stolen

What would you do if you were in my circumstances? You would do what I'm doing...make the best and most of the circumstances. I don't want to be here, but my conscience and beliefs dictate that I am. Therefore, I endure the persecution, hopefully with honor, good humor and right spirit.

Thanks for your mail, your prayers, and your own right and good spirit! Miracles do happen! Attitudes, hearts and actions can meld into one good and right remedy for all! Then we shall all freely - and I do mean "freely" - and I do mean "ALL" - celebrate without tyranny or persecution present!

Jim Hannaford
200 Court Square
Ashland City, TN 37015