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(an old photo of T.I. leaving a court date before his prison term)

T.I. should be safely checked into the Dismas Charities Atlanta West halfway house by now, after leaving Arkansas’ Forest City federal lock up Tuesday morning. But what can he do and not do once he gets there? Halfway houses are transitional housing for prisoners easing themselves back into “productive society”…but there’s hardly a learning curve for a short-timer like Tip. The man accepted a BET Hip Hop Award via his wifey Tiny while locked up, and threw an extravagant birthday bash for the same wifey complete with Vuitton bags and diamond rings and ice sculpture….all while he was in prison. So…its not like he needs to learn how to use one of those crazy new “cellular telephones” now that he’s out.

But how will Tip be able to spend his days now that he’s at Dismas? Sandra Rose talked to Bart Borders, an Atlanta music manager who has been living at Dismas for the past month.

“Bart, who is out on work pass until 10:30 p.m. on weeknights and 11:30 p.m. on weekends, said the facility holds about 120 male inmates and 20 females — yes, females! “But they have to stay on their side,” said Bart. “The only time we get to interact with (the females) is around meal time.”

He said the halfway house has two TV rooms and two living rooms, and the food there isn’t worth writing home about. “The food ain’t worth nothing. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches,” he said. “But T.I. has his own money, he can order out.”

Bart, who manages rapper T. Waters, a So So Def artist, said T.I. probably won’t be able to leave on work release until after the New Year. But even then, he’s not allowed to work for himself or for his family. So he can’t work for Grand Hustle or any company he owns.**

“If I see him when I get there I’ll tell him wherever he work at to make as least money as possible, because they getting 25% of his gross.”

**I wondered if this caveat would affect Tip’s ability to qualify for work release…but I think since T.I. is contracted to Atlantic, he should be able to work just fine, right?**

The AJC also reports that once T.I. is released from Dismas, he will still have to finish out around 500 hours of community service and 23 days of house arrest.