Book of Jamez

55 y/o malcontent, something of a writer

Author: Jamez

  • 20 Years

    Its hard to believe it’s been 20 years since I graduated from High School, hell it’s hard to believe that I graduated period. This weekend I will meet about 6 of my friends from back then, most of whom I’ve actually seen in recent years.

    Its funny looking back at our fears and schemes, where we all are at now never entered my very vivid imagination. Some of us, sure, we did exactly what we set out to do on paper, but the rest of us changed the entire spectrum of our lives to meet the hand that was dealt to us.

    Career military personell, a politician, an office manager… these are what became of those people that I once referred to in the school paper as “Outcasts”, we’ve actually become part of society.

    I’m nervous, which makes no sense at all, as I said I’ve seen most of them individually over the years, but its been 20 since we’ve all been in the same room. What memories still rattle in our heads that need to come out, what funny stories will we hear at dinner that we wish we could forget, but don’t really want to. I’ll likely swear a lot, and there will be teenagers present (like teenagers don’t know swear words or something).

    Twenty years ago all I wanted to do was drink, drug and die (that is not an exaggeration), to think of all that I would have missed out on… would have been a real shame to check out early. I hope my friends feel the same way, I hope we all have a good time and do this again every year.

  • The Dark Knight

    I went in with my expectations high. All the hype leading up to this movie put a lot of pressure on the film makers to deliver.

    There was not one moment looking that I could see even a glimpse of Heath Ledger, all you had was a dark, twisted, sometimes funny mad man terrorizing Gotham City. His performance was chilling, creepy and consuming.

    It wasn’t just the Joker that made this film spectacular. The writing, intensity, the twists and turns that kept you guessing. They had some very interesting takes on humanity that really shocked everyone.

    This is my new favorite movie of all time. I cannot express in words how much you need to see this film.

  • Gas Prices… Where It Really Hurts

    Gas prices should not affect me… I should, as a pedestrian/mass transit user, be completely immune – But I’m not.

    I finally recognized what it was last night. The tons of people that don’t know how to use the turnstiles at the metro, the people with oversize bags – looking like they could be mugged at any second, the people that don’t wait for people to come off the train before boarding…

    Yes, I’m talking about the sudden influx of passengers onto my buses and trains. These people follow the rules less than the teenagers, these people need to go.

    PLEASE, I BEG OF YOU… FIX the price of gasoline, get these people back up on the highways and byways where they belong and off of the relatively quiet, orderly subway.

  • My Blood Will Be the End of You!!!

    … the title of this post comes from one of the bosses in WoW (www.worldofwarcraft.com) my video game… and well..

    My cholesterol wont go down. I test the same for my cholesterol whether I’m doing spinning classes three times a week or sitting on my behind playing video games 24 hours a day… nothing makes it better.

    So… I’m going to take a pill for 4 months to see if that helps.

    Disclaimer: My cholesterol levels aren’t “Run to the emergency room and get a transfusion” bad, just “Oh, wow… this could be bad in 20 years” bad. So don’t panic.

  • Deception

    The other night I had a date at the theaters near Chinatown metro. I came straight from work and realized that I might want to buy a mint or something for my breath. Remembering that the CVS is being remodeled and therefore closed, I walked across to the Starbucks to buy a small tin of mints. When I walked up to the register to pay for them, the cashier looked at me and said:

    “You came all the way over here for mints?”

    I looked up at him and said:

    “Yep, I have a date and don’t want to have bad breath when she gets here.”

    “she”… wow… so in a split second there at the register I somehow found the need to conceal who I really am. Isn’t that odd.

    ——–

    My best friend Suzanne was recently telling her boyfriend about me. She said “He’s gay”. I wasn’t there, but he must have rolled his eyes or something, cause she said: “You can’t really tell.”

    ——–

    It was always one of those little things when I was a kid:
    Don’t hold your hands that way.
    Never ever let a limp wrist show.
    Make sure you don’t walk like a girl, talk like a girl or drool at boys like a girl.

    What does that do to the inside of your mind growing up if you can’t be who you are, can’t express what you really feel. Its odd to think of these things now, but it’s what’s on my mind.

  • Company Milestone

    At this point in time:

    1. All personal investments (for the start up costs of the company) have been paid back
    2. All bills have been paid (even the cost of server/computers that we did with financing)
    3. All consultants have been paid for work they’ve done for us
    4. A raise has been implemented for both Jim and I
    5. And we have a money left over in the account to gain interest

    I’d say that’s pretty good given the state of the economy. The horizon continues to look very bright with The Department of Justice issuing notice to adopt new standards under the ADA its possible that our work load will increase significantly.

    It is a nice feeling to be a part of something so new, good, and fun. I can honestly say that I don’t miss mind-numbing meetings about harebrained ideas at all. I prefer working at a company with it’s feet planted firmly on the ground, financial goals within reach, comfortable atmosphere and profit.

  • My First Trip to Nashville

    Note that I mention “first” as I plan to go back.

    We left from BWI bright and early on Southwest (my first time on Southwest also, was fine) and landed in Nashville around 8:25 or so. Lisa took us to breakfast at the Pancake Pantry (a must visit for breakfast lines around the block to get in and well worth it).

    We then walked around a park … not that I remember the name of the park, but it was pretty and a nice walk. There was also a arts and crafts type thing there that we browsed for a while.

    Lisa and Rankine’s house is beautiful, and I loved meeting their dogs (Daisy and Buddy) who also apparently loved me (tons of kisses from dogs – don’t tell my cats). We hung out for a bit, unpacked and freshened up.

    For dinner we headed to a local restaurant and Ray Stevens (Country Music comedian/star) came in after us that was kind of neat.

    Then it was off to downtown Nashville, we went to the famous bars behind the old Grand Old Opry (I hear there is a Grand NEW Opry, but I don’t think anyone pointed it out to me.

    Then it was off the the Bluebird Cafe for song writers night, Leeroy Parnel was there and some other people… very cool.

    work is in the way right now… I’ll write more later

  • The Day From Hell

    Actually, I think it started last night with a serious headache that had me in bed asleep at 9:30… it only got worse from there.

    I went to the office like normal, and grabbed the mail to take directly to the Post Office, on my way I realized I needed cash from the Bank of America ATM which is on the OTHER SIDE OF THE STREET…. so I could go to my favorite barber in Takoma Park. I do hate backtracking.

    After the Post Office I arrive at the ATM, slip my card in and enter my PIN. I then select Withdraw from the options and “Other Amount” as I want enough cash for my trip, but also a $10 just in case I need smaller. I enter $130.00 and it tells me that I don’t have sufficient funds for that withdrawal amount… *double take*. It allows me to check my balance, which indeed shows me overdrawn by $3,425… $3,425… WHAT?!!!???

    But, I actually, stop and think about this… I know what this is, this is the Check that I used that was sent to me by Bank of America to use anyway I saw fit, the check that I discussed with two financial people before even thinking about using it to pay off a credit card debt. I even waited two days for the check to clear my financial institution before paying off the credit card (a CHASE card). Everything was fine, that was last week… Friday everything was fine.

    I enter the bank, talk to a Bank of America rep, who says he can’t help me and that I’ll need to call the Credit Card department. I go back to my office, call the credit card department and they say, indeed this kind of thing happens a lot. A LOT…. OMFG. I suggest to him that perhaps they could make the letter a little clearer. See what happened was, the promotional letter with the checks was based on my existing credit card balance with BOA.. and that had some money taken out of it already, so the check bounced… bounced I say. He and I apply successfully for a credit increase and he assure me that they will transfer the money over to my checking account in 4 – 5 business days… OMFG. He tells me the Checking Account people know what happened, as this kind of thing happens a lot…. A LOT … and they will void all my overdraft fees and such once they receive the money in the transfer. On the phone with her, she doesn’t know what I’m talking about, has no clue but says “Once the money has been transfered you’ll have to call us back, as we can’t do this automatically”…. OMFG

    I check my email and my bosses email once last time (at 2 ish) and see there is nothing pressing and leave. I take the Subway to Dupont Circle (ok… side bar: very cute guy on the escalator, nice fine hair on his arms and his legs, gray hair, blue eyes… just gorgeous… and he smiled at me… but considering that I didn’t get my hair cut I know he’s only being nice.) and go to my 2nd Favorite barber, as my first barber doesn’t take credit cards and I don’t have any cash cause I’m $3,425 overdrawn on my account and don’t HAVE MF CASH…. My barber cuts my hair and as he’s finishing up my phone starts vibrating… it’s not an email as it vibrates multiple times… it’s my boss calling.

    I call my voice mail to get the message and he needs me to send something to a Client right away, something we sent a different client that will also help this client.

    What you need to know about my boss that you may not understand unless you’ve worked for this type of guy (kind hearted, dedicated, willing to bend over backwards for a client – for special clients anyway). He has this thing he can do with his voice, a kind of desperation that motivates you to want to help this client as soon as possible, to do whatever you might be able to do to make sure this Clients needs are met. I can’t resist when he does that thing with his voice, and I am compelled to do whatever I can to help. If I can’t for some reason do as he asks for this client, I feel a sense of disappointment, not from him… but within myself. Oh, I know he somehow mystically put it there, but there it is.

    I search in my Blackberry for sent items, I remember this thing, but I can’t find it. My Blackberry’s sent items folder is set at 30 days, so I can’t get it… I start heading for the Metro to go back to the office…. it’s about 3:30.

    As I’m walking down the block, the rain starts, just a drop here or there. The wind starts to pick up and you can feel a strong gust here or there as the clouds begin to darken. I did bring my umbrella today, on the off chance it might rain…. but I know with the way the sky looks it wont help much. By the time I reach the Metro, I am soaked from head to toe, even my wallet is damp, thank God there’s no money in there as I’m $3,425 overdrawn.. OMFG.

    The Metro takes me ever so slowly to my destination, Takoma, and I walk off umbrella in hand to my office. The storm has been kind enough to knock the power out at the office and its running on the generator… I still manage to find what the Client needs, sent it off to her and then leave.

    The rain has stopped, the wind as well, and here I sit at home typing this note. I certainly hope that this isn’t the start of how my entire vacation will go… I don’t think I could deal.

  • Quitting a Church

    Obama,

    You’re quitting your church, that you’ve been attending for how many years due to some comments that keep coming out of it? This church hasn’t been touting the same nonsense for the previous years that you’ve been a member, just now… yeah right.

    You belonged to the church because you believed the fundamental message that the church was preaching. Now you’ve suddenly had a change of heart after how long? What opened you’re eyes? Why the sudden change of heart? Did you suddenly find that the religion of the all powerful media is a stronger faith than what you’ve been used to?

    Stop for a moment and look at the fools we let talk that are “religious leaders”: Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Billy Graham, the Pope…. these fools continue to say incredibly insensitive things that should have them banned from the airwaves, the pulpit and certainly not ever be allowed in the White House… yet you think what’s been coming out of your church is more outrageous? Come on… Grow some balls…

    At this point it’s too late, you’ve left your church… going back now and saying that you let the media and polls tell you to leave and that you want back in is stupid…

    This was a dumb move. Don’t let “them” decide what is worthy of believing in a land where we preach, but don’t often practice, “freedom of religion”.

  • Tell All Books

    The latest book about the Bush Presidency, from yet another insider is met again by cries of foul and disbelief. They actually continue to claim all the accusations are false…. each time one of these books comes out… how many books by how many different people will it take before they actually turn around, look at Monkey Boy and say… yep, he’s a lying tyrant that I’ve helped to wage a war that never had to be…