I know a lot of people have problems with the phone calls and all that. Just want to share something

In the beginning when Darrell started to call me, his time was limited to 15 minutes. At one time a CO made him hang up after only 5 minutes. So my mind is set on a 15 min-talk when he calls me. But sometimes they let us talk for almost a half hour and 1 day we were able to talk for 45 min!! Guess the guard forgot Darrell was on the phone LOL
Just wanted to say a thanks to the CO that let us talk that long :)

Thanks for sharing that help some of us who do not get phone Calls.. :)

just talked to Darrell 5 minutes ago, for 47 minutes!!(I have a timer on the phone). He told me he'll try to call me again tonight. He never called me twice before! I can't wait!!

Just watch those phone bills Soraya!! :D I can imagine how quickly they rack up with him calling overseas!!
I am jealous!! Make sure you tell him "hi!" from all of us here on PTO!!!

I sure will. But I guess I'm lucky, because it seems to be a lot cheaper to call collect overseas. I only paid 16 dollars for 2 hours of collect calls. And most of the times he calls with a calling card, so that's even more cheap! I just can't wait for him to call me again!

There's just one thing. He sounded so extremely sad when I talked to him, because he thought I wasn't handling my biz. So I tried to cheer him up, but when he hung up, I was sad instead. I took a shower and broke down and cried...just wanted to be able to hold him and comfort him, you know?

I just wanted to add one more good thing about phone calls that happened here in Kansas. Juan had been transfered to a small jail that INS had a contract with. I bought a phone card and sent him all the numbers to see if he could use it. Well, he could only use it on a regular phone and one of the guards there let him use a regular phone and he was able to use the card to call his family in Cuba. The guard let him use the whole hours on the card to talk to his family.

To me, that guard really went out of his way.

That is what I am talking about, let me talk to anthony and it is on... :)

that's great news Joy! Wish more guards act like that. but you see that even only 1 can make the difference to somebody

Soraya, You are really lucky to be able to talk to Darrell like that. When Danny calls it is a strict 15 min call and at 13 minutes there is a warning message that is played telling you there is only two mins left and again at one minute and again at 30 seconds. It is really hard to hear over that recording too. His calls when he was at Donaldson were 4.95 for the 15 mins. Now that he is at Holman, (they moved him when they set his execution date last summer, before his stay) which is where the electric chair is located, his calls are like $7.10 for 15 mins. Above his cell door was a big exhaust fan and it is really hard to hear. After our call the other night he raised cain until they moved him away from those fans. LOL At least he got some action out of them. Just seriously be careful with your bills. I KNOW from personal experience that it is terribly easy to run it up before you know it. I had one that was almost $300.00 so believe me you do have to be careful. It is easy to get carried away :)

You're very lucky! It's almost $20.00 to talk to Wayne for 15 minutes!

i only paid 17 dollars for 2 hours. overseas collect call is cheaper, i don't know why

HelloGuys,

Boy do I know about the phone call issue. I guess we need to be thankful if we can speak to our loved one on thephone. When I first started talking to my Sweetheart I had no idea how expensive it would be. I transferred my home phone calls to my cel phone so my sweetie could call me during the day. I wasn't really thinking about the plan I had on my cel phone. When I received my first cel phone bill it was $600.00 for one month. My home phone bill was $320.00. I almost had a heart attack!!!! I was basically getting charged twice for the same call. At the prison where BC is at he can call anytime between 11am and 9pm at night. He can call as many times as he wishes but each phone call is limited to 10 minutes, so he has to hang up and call back. It depends on the time of day but sometimes he has to wait in a long line of inmates to call me back. At first the calls on my home phone were 4.24 per call. On my cel phone I was being charged .24cents per minute, plus roaming charges because his call was coming from outside my local area. Needless to say I have that fixed now. I changed to another plan and now if I want BC to callme on my cel phone(so I don't have to sit at home & wait) I have free long distance and no roaming charges. Also the charge from Correctional Billing Service went from 4.24 per call to 1.04 per call. They have given me a $800.00 credit line because they see I am a gold mine when it comes to prsion calls. They are getting filthy rich!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

IT SICKENS ME TO SEE PEOPLE GETTING RICH BY TAKING ADVANTAGE OF OTHERS' MISFORTUNES.

just wanted to let you guys know Darrell called me on Saturday and Sunday. In the beginning he only got 15 min. Now he gets 30 minutes 'officially' and we talk for about an hour :) I can hear the CO's come in telling him his time is up after only 10 min (guess they hate to stand there and just wait), but he tells them he has 30 min. and they just let him talk.

glad to hear of the increase--i know how quickly those minutes tick by...

I never thought time could fly so fast. I'm not a person who's on the phone all the time, normally I talk like less then a minute when I call someone. But when Darrell calls, and we talk for almost an hour, it feels like only 5 min

Yes I know that feeling, everytime he calls I'm thinking we have to say what we have to say in 15 minutes then when the last 10 seconds come he says 'what you wanna do?' which means 'cal back?' of course I say yes but the bill isn't that bad, he pays for it.

I agree with you guys on that 1! When EJ calls there is so much for us to say in 15-20 minutes & the time just flys by. Of course I do tell him to call back before we get so "rudely" cut off!! My phone bills are SKY HIGH, but it's worth it to be able to talk to him!

D

true!
well, you guys know most of the CO's let Darrell call for almost an hour (wiiihiiii!!:D ) most of the times, right? so i get used to it, and when you're used to it, 15 min. only feel like 15 sec.
Last Sunday another friend who's in prison in Kentucky also called me and we got cut off after 15 min. That is when it really hit me how short 15 min. are...But he was so sweet, called back later that evening, because he thought I sounded sad!

this is a friend of Darrell, I guess great minds think alike? hehehe

Correctional billing must be crazy! I get charged 19.00 per 15 minute call to my Tee! Sometimes the dang phone even hangs up in the middle of a conversation! Urrrrgh! Phone calls are great though and I feel for those who don't get any!
Susanne

well keep feeling cuz those of us in texas do not get them that often if at all.. only 5 min every 90 days if they let them. sad huh

Shortie-that is horrible! Why is it that Texas is like that when alot of other states are not? My boyfriend and I are in Michigan, and he can call every day if he wants, but it has to be at certain times. (around 8:30am and 12:30pm) I am only home at the 8:30am time, so that's when he will call, if he does. (My phone bill has exploded too since he went away, so he doesn't want to call too much.) I don't understand why Texas is so much more strict then other states? That's terrible!

Between the "dates" & letters & cassette tapes & phone calls my husband & I kept as close as contact as we could..I remember that our phone bills sometimes managed to be $300 a month plus,but he paid for it!
I remember meeting with the warden & deputy warden to try to arrange that my husband would be given his 12 minute call each day even if they're on lock down,due to his health & me needing to know he was alright..we're refused this.But I remember once the guard let him call me at 3am!

they are so strick because most of the guards do not think the imates should be allowed to have privledges like that.. Little do they know it actually helps them to stay calm and not be so aggitated..

Well I am glad you all are able to talk to your loved ones. I dont have long distance on my phone. It just got too expensive. So when I see him on Saturday we set up a time for me to be out at my moms house so we can talk some more and we only get about 20 minutes and from 1 minute, 30 seconds it will warn you of the termination of the call. I wish I could talk to him. Let alone send him the numbers of a calling card to call me. But they dont accept that. Even if i was able to get a 1-800#. But its ok. Everything will be fine. I need to get things together out here for us and I cant do that if I know he can call me anytime. Because I want to talk to him. But I go to my moms a lot to see if he has called.

That is so great that you get to talk to Daryl for so long! Andy gets only 300 minutes per month and it is strict. He pays there and cannot call collect. So we are limited to 10 minutes a day. That is if he doesnt call anyone else. I would just LOVE to spend an hour on the phone with him! But I do get to see him once a week and you probably don't get to visit being so far away so I am really happy for you! Talk on Girl!!!!

Cheers,
Meg

I do get to talk to David ont he phone but hes only allowed 25 dallors a month to each person on his call list. and at 15 dallors a call for 20minutes does not leave that much that he can call me so he always says watch the phone so we can have that call in the middle of the monthI usally get to talk to him2 times a month. But if he wants me to know anything or need to see me beforeour visit he calls one of the others on the list and they relay the message to me and I dot hesame to them as well..