If a few people could find there way to Annapolis on the 28th, and be willing to move a few boxes, and a couch, that would be great. Nothing to much, but I need more than just Buddy for this one.

Well, after threateningto head off to California (which sucks), Austin (Too Hip For Me), Minneapolis (Fuck Snow), I have finally decided when I'm going to be living for a while, Annapolis.

I searched all over the DC/Baltimore Metroplex, and decided that I like Annapolis, and found a great little apartment on West St. It has a Starbucks, and is a quick back road run to all the major highways.

I move in late June, and will be out of my group home by then. It will be good to be on my own again. Except I think I might need to buy a boat.

If only for a weekend.

My officemate is listening to the Chipmunks Movie soundtrack. Better than the Choir music he listened all last week.

"I don't know what time it is, hell I don't know what DAY it is."

While talking about a friend of mine who is now has a steady girlfriend:
"They are sharing a delusion, which I guess is a great metaphor for love"

So, a couple of months ago, we get a new roommate. She's a 45 year old Iranian woman, whose soul goal in life is to make the rest of the house's life a living hell. In patented Jake-listo-vision, here's her top ten complaints list.

10: I walk too loudly
9: Scott's TV is too loud
8: The TV in the living room is hard to use (We have DirecTV, if any thing, it's to easy to use)
7: Everything is expensive in Greenbelt
6: There is no bus line service in Prince Georges County
5: We play video games to loud at night
4: I drink a lot of beer
3: It is too cold in the house
2: We shouldn't run the dryer at night
1: She doesn't have a car, and no one in the house will be her personal taxi.

So, last night I get home around 9ish after working with Manila to setup a VTC for today. There were phone calls, and emails, and figuring out the International Date Line, but I got it done. When I got home, I popped a pizza in the oven, poured myself a beer, and tossed some clothes in the laundry. When I finished the second beer (because I'm drunk, and Dogfish breweries make tasty beer), I put my clothes in the dryer and head off to bed.

Fast forward 6 hours, and I'm stumbling to get my clothes, and get ready for work. Except that my clothes are still damp. The dryer had been shut off overnight, and the timer had been set to the end of the cycle. So I set the dryer to touch up so I can get one shirt dry for work, and stare at the machine wondering what happened. Then I heard the door behind me open and close, and realized what was going on. During the night, she had stopped the dryer and turned it off.

Now, I understand passive aggressive behavior, and really can’t stand it. So, as I waited for my shirt to dry, I placed my bass on the floor, and put this song on loop.




For 45 minutes, while I enjoyed my Oatmeal, she listened to the thumping base of the Propellerheads. She slammed her way out of the house just before I left.

Am I being childish? Yes, and I will confront her about screwing with my laundry, as well as the propery manager.

Just because I'm bored at work.

Today is the opening day at my new conference. And here I am in a suit. It's a rare photo.

I believe that no human alive can watch TMZ for more than five minutes, and not suffer brain damage.

Really, do I care if someone famous went to Taco Bell?

My office Halifax NS 2005/6


My office Washington D.C. 2007



Guess which one doesn't smell like the 1970's?

It's a great big world......... Let's go see it.

So there has been some fall out from yesterday's post. There were a few lessons learned, but the biggest one was that there are services that scour the internet looking for keywords, in turn email to people in high places.

So, in that regard:

Dear Boeing,
I have loved the new Dreamliner 787 for the longest time. I watched the webcast on my Apple MacBook, and talked with my brother about the design on my Samsung BlackJack by AT&T. Now, I can not wait to book my first flight on Continental, and finally burn some of my frequent flyer miles. I like flying out of Houston, and grabbing Starbucks next to the Panda Express, since it's so convenient. While I'm on the Boeing Dreamliner 787, I enjoy drinking Budweiser on long flights, and Coca-Cola on short hops, all while working in Microsoft Office, and watching my Warner Bros movies. Please keep up the good work, all while beating Airbus like a red headed step child. Speaking of Red Headed step-children, I'm blowing off my NutriSystems, and getting a Wendy's Baconator for lunch, while listening to my ipod. Because I am that awesome.

I also hear it will drive by your bosses house in the middle of the night, TP his trees, while yelling about your love for his 15 year old daughter. it'll also kill your cat, and make your dog gay.

So, I'm tried of carrying this around, and if you are offended by what I say it's ok.

The interviewer from $Company: Guess what? I am an engineer. I've worked my entire career to be called an engineer. Yeah, I may get excited about doing hands on stuff, but that's how I roll. I'm all about taking things a part, and putting them back together, and being amazed when it all works. I also love smirking like a goon when it does.

Joel: I'm not a paper pusher. I like it in the trenches, and that's where I belong. If I'm not in the shit, there is a chance I'm not happy. Wait until I get my degree in International Relations, then I will be in the shit, while wearing a suit.

Buddy: For the love of all things good in the world, stopping mooching off of me! I mean I know I make as much as Mom and Joe, but I've given you a car, a place to chill, and recently a replacement Ipod. It's going to stop, and soon. You've got a job and going to school, time to live on it. I'll help out when I can, but I'm going to focus on me. And stop coming over to my house and getting pissed off and hiding in my room. You have your own place to sulk.

DirecTV: Really, you blew your first installation date, and pushed it back a week. What did I get out of the deal? Nothing. Oh, that's going to change. I mean we are dropping X amount of money for your service, a little customer love would be nice.

Work: Hire more god damn people. The only reason we look as good as we do is because the three of us are waiting to hear back on better jobs, and a good review is still a good review. I'm tired of going above and beyond for this place. The only thing that gets you is bigger and trickier hurdles to clear.

The Parking Garage that thinks I owe them $500: Guess what? I signed up on the website that said you would call me in the next 24/48 hours. I never got a phone call, and ended up at a much nicer garage a block closer to work. Bonus; they valet park my car.

Mom and Joe: Yes, you see me less, but I'm trying not to come over every weekend. I love the fact that you are moving to TN, to live a hippie lifestyle, but you aren't there yet.

Dad: It's good to know that I am being called for two things; tech support, and asking when I'm getting married.

Uncle Tom: Please stop screwing around with my tuition checks. I was told since forever that my school was paid for. Guess what, I'm taking advantage of that, and scored a 4.0, don’t give me grief over taking the next two classes in the track, even if one is basic math.

$recrutier company: Yes, I turned down a sure fire job offer, but if I wanted to do the same thing over and over, I would stay where I'm at, and ask for a raise. Stop with the guilt trip.

Dave: Stop throwing house parties that make me feel old when I don't know what the fuck is on the television. Seriously, during the 80's party, I knew most of the prono scenes that were on the TV, because I used to own the videos.

Also, post more of your code because I feel smart when I figure out what the hell it's doing.

MK: You kept saying that I killed people when I worked on the Osprey project. Fine, but I still think of it as helping my country defend itself against its enemies. The project I worked on brought those who were willing to put there lives on the line so I can sit at home and play Xbox with out fear, home safely so they could come home, and do the same. Yes, it's what lets me sleep at night. I also believe that a strong standing military is the key to peace.

You once flipped out when I told that I do security monitoring on the side, and have a small set of skills that can and do invade people privacy. You also said that I had the power to get people fired. Well, I have. Six people to be exact. No, I won't say names, or places. Do I feel guilty? Yes, but they broke the rules, and the decision was not up to me. I hate it when it happens, and there are meetings afterwards, but most of the time, it’s me with logs, and an inane knowledge of computer noise.

Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentleman, my name is Jake Grimshaw. I watch CSPAN like it's ESPN, I play video games, tweak computers, drive too fast, eat more fast food than I should, proud of my American citizenship, live with three other guys, honor roll student, occasional Macintosh user, cigar smoker, vodka infuser, beer drinker, plane spotter, who is questioning is own belief system on a hourly basis, and wondering if it's better to better to ask for forgiveness than permission.


How do you like me now?

It's rare that I turn down job offers, but I do.  The last one was with a Finance company in Bethesda, being *shock* a tier two help desk support.  For only a few more duckets a day, I would have continued to aid people in sitting around, fixing computer problems, and generally want to rip my own hair out.  

Why did I pass it up?  I wasn't getting a warm and fuzzy feeling from it.  Maybe I read Barbians at the Gates to many times, or it's best to stick to the devil that you know.  I mean I know where the IT bodies are hidden here, I hide quite a few of them.  

I know that I want to get off the front lines of IT, but this position wasn't it.  This was simply just a transfer to another it platoon. 


Besides, I have to think about the move to Texas.