The new building in Gunnison was finally opened at the end of January. Since then there has been quite the shuffling of prisoners from one housing unit to another. I was moved to a section called “Shady Acres.” It is sort of like a retirement community.

The majority of the inmates here are senior citizens, and many of them will never walk out these doors. When another inmate asked me how long I had left in prison, I told him I would be getting out next year.

He asked, “How did you get here? Shady Acres is for lifers.” There’s one prisoner younger than me who was also just moved in, but after that I think the next youngest prisoner has a cool decade on me.

It is really amazing how different prison can be from one section to another. It’s like a library in this section. Everyone talks in hushed tones. When I forget and use a regular speaking voice, I will get five or six heads turning and staring at me until I realize it.

RELATED: Behind Bars: Officers don’t mess around when it comes to intervention, safety

On my first day, right after dinner, an inmate approached me and told me he could hear my conversation from the table next to mine, which is only 6 feet away.

He just wanted to let me know they have rules that I should become familiar with. They actually have seven pages of extra rules posted, and sure enough, there is a whole page dedicated to being quiet.

I’ve even been approached, and not very cordially, about which way I’m facing when I exercise. A fairly elderly and extremely grumpy prisoner said he didn’t want to have to look at my backside when he was in his cell while I was exercising in the designated work-out area.

I wanted to shut his door and tell him, “problem solved,” but I didn’t. I just listened to his complaints and complied. Later I found out his cellie of seven years moved because he didn’t like the recent addition of the workout area so close to his cell. I imagine that’s really what’s making him upset. Also, he’s dying of cancer, so I’m glad I responded affably.

There was a fight the first evening I was there. Apparently they had not had one in years.

RELATED: Behind Bars: Winter is the least enjoyable time of the year for Utah’s inmates

Normally when there is a fight in prison, everyone pretends it isn’t happening or looks the other way, so to speak. I discovered just how different this place was when I saw the reaction to the fight, which was taking place in a cell. I was surprised to see most of the section come out of their cells to try and watch.

I was even more surprised to see an inmate flag down an officer and wave him into the section during the fight. When the officer came in and didn’t realize there was a fight going on, the prisoner tried playing off the reason he had brought the officer into the section.

He said something about prisoners not getting their weekly allotment of toilet paper, but his intentions were clear to everyone else. This is called “dry-snitching” and is considered a big no-no in prison — well, at least anywhere else I’ve been.

I’m not opposed to the absence of the prison mentality that exists in Shady Acres. However, even without any gang element whatsoever, there is plenty of drama.

The other day, I hung my laundry out to dry under the stairs and a prisoner told me it was a rule not to. I told him I had read the rules, and I’m pretty sure he was mistaken. We went over the rules together and found no such regulation.

He still insisted the guards have told them not to, so I said I’ll get clarification. I asked the officer in charge at the time, and she told me it was fine. I figured the issue had been resolved, but I later found out there was a meeting held when I wasn’t there about the laundry and new people not following the rules.

I don’t think I’ll last very long in my new section. I’ll probably try to go elsewhere, but who knows — I may be getting voted off the island before then. 

Brian Wood, formerly of Layton, is an inmate at the Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison. He pleaded guilty to nine felony charges for offenses from 2011 to 2014, including counts of burglary, drug possession and prescription fraud. He could spend up to 35 years in prison, depending on parole hearings.