Book of Jamez

55 y/o malcontent, something of a writer

Tag: security

  • Breaking and Entering

    Back in 1985  or 86 I wasn’t the most well behaved individual.

    On a particular school day me and a couple of friends skipped out and were looking for some money to get beer, cigarettes and maybe score some pot. I had been lifting $20s out of my grandmothers purse for quite a long time but this day she wasn’t home and we were desperate.

    She had this door in the house that she kept padlocked and that of course means there must be money in there (teenage thinking). We didn’t know how to pick the lock but the hinges were on the outside of the door with the lock and someone suggested we just take the door off the hinges – brilliant.

    We ruffled around in that room for probably 20 minutes and maybe found $15 – and left. My grandmothers probably wouldn’t have ever known we were in there except we didn’t put the door back on the hinges…. /doh

    As a result of that break in I was shipped off to foster care a few days later – really one of the best things that ever happened to me.

    Flash-Forward 2013

    There is no key to the supply closet door, someone the previous night had locked it – trying to be helpful or something. So this morning I couldn’t get in there.

    The life I live now is such that taking the door off the hinges didn’t even cross my mind. When other folks arrived and we explained what had happened THEY did it and it brought that memory back to me of how simple it was…

    Let me assure you, I wasn’t going to be the new guy that got fired for breaking into the supply closet … but it was cool that someone else knew exactly what to do (the door had been locked before).

    Also, let this be a lesson to you about security… hinges on the inside of locked rooms.

  • Open letter to the people of Britain: Is the cost of freedom… freedom?

    When terror struck the U.S. on 9/11, fear struck the land of the free. Fear of more attacks, fear of lost loved ones, and fear of more fear. I was in Washington, DC the day the planes struck, and can clearly recall how it felts with each passing moment. Nothing compares to those feelings of hopelessness, fear and terror… and I thought nothing could make me feel safe again.

    Soon, the country rallied: flags were flying everywhere, people were lined up to help find survivor or donate blood, and millions of dollars were given to charitable causes. America showed the world why we’re so proud of ourselves.

    Then came the Patriot Act, combatants being held at Gitmo with no access to legal representation, people being arrested for taking pictures of landmarks, memo’s on how torture is excused in our case – because we’re so damn special…

    America reacted immediately and gave the “leaders” of our country almost unlimited power which they’ve used to secure our freedom and spread freedom around the globe.

    But, in reality, it appears as if America has lost its freedoms. The government has more power now than ever before to look into our personal lives, arrest us with even the slightest suspicion, check our bank records, and hold us without allowing us to see an attorney…

    Don’t let it happen to you Londoner’s… don’t let them take from you that which they say they want to protect. Be patient, ask God for direction and help… don’t lose what America has already lost.