Misunderstanding. I received your letter forwarded from Downstate and your latest letter direct to me here.

I am going to take my time and keep this neat. Hey it is only 5:00 PM and I got nothing else to do. First thing, though between the two letters there are a lot of first things, your handwritten P.S. "Sorry you did not like my post-it note and postcard".

Damn, another misunderstood item. I love any envelope or card bearing writing from you. Yes, even the dumping ones. I purposely wanted to respond in kind to your "brief" sticky note and was willing to spend 37¢ to make a joke. Obviously it did not come off as funny as I thought it might.

Your postcard is now my handy-dandy bookmark, so your presence in my life is constant! I was totally being "tongue-in-cheek" with my logical progression and based on the helter-skelter order of the letters that should have arrived around the same time as the card and the legal case. You can certainly see how my perception was so different from yours.

You assumed I was getting letters that week but somehow they got held up. Further, by the time I confirmed the dates of your various letters, you were already writing the postscript; I will work on my humor and be sure to put the "Ha ha!" in to be sure you understand my lame attempt at humor!

I also got a letter from Mom and Dad today! It is the first one since the long-delayed letter gave me their Georgia address. The bad news is this letter was forwarded from Downstate so the Jailhouse Lawyers Manual and package were obviously also sent to Downstate! It is going to take a few days to straighten all this out.

You can see that they were having a grand old time (not that I hold that against them), but I just wish sometime I would get a little more; but they do what I need eventually!

I am down to two 37¢ stamps and hate to borrow since I have learned to live within my means. I received confirmation of receipt of my balance from Downstate; $132.98 and a $45 check from Mom and Dad. But I owe $150 in court costs and fees that they can automatically take from my account, so hopefully I will have at least the $50 limit on foodstuff plus other money for stamps and special order items such as a radio and lamp, which I can spend at bi-weekly commissary.

The lack of any viable direct face to face contact with knowledgeable staff is very frustrating. I have been here one week now and any information of the useful kind has come mostly from inmates. I am still awaiting confirmation on the damn typewriter! So this place sucks for being able to know what I can and cannot do.

I did just get confirmation of the addition of my Cousin Bill's telephone number to the phone system and I might just go ahead and call tonight to see if we can get on the same page.

It is almost time for the 5:25 PM count. No problem, since I am already on my bunk which is where I have been for most of the last forty-eight hours. There are not too many other places to be.

The yard is not paved at all, and while it is currently snowing, we have had a four-day meltdown that left the yard a big mud bog. And the only footwear I have is a pair of low cut sneakers.  ¶ 9:06 AM