more catching up...

so my last post covered up to October 2007, continuing...

November - December 2007 :
Back in Karachi.
Busy with the wedding season.
Parents went for Hajj, tried getting used to dad's business, not very successful.
Single again.
Applying to study in Australia.
Changed passport and national identity card, to get my surname on record.
Heard from University of Houston that I got accepted with scholarship, resulting in in-state tuition fee. Had also been accepted to UNSW and had made up my mind to pursue Australia.
Forgot all about IELTS and didn't manage to get a date until january which meant I would not be able to go in March for the first semester.

January - May 2008:
Can't really recall anything exciting. Just waited and waited chilling out with friends. Had an interview for an internship with Clifton Cantonment Board that never really happened. Waited for 5 something hours, took a short typing test and was sent home. I had made up my mind I wasn't going to work there even if they did get back in touch but it never happened.
Also during this time I got in touch with Citizens Archive of Pakistan, set up by Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, a superwoman, who was kind enough to have me volunteer for her amazing project.
There were a few teething issues and the volunteer internship didn't start till mid June. But I had something to look forward to along with the prospects of studying in Australia in the not too distant future.

June - July 2008:
The highlight for June was definitely the internship with CAP. Being a graduate and a techie, I was honored with the additional title of 'Admin'. I didn't really do any work related to the archiving or the oral history project, that most of the interns were working on during the summer. I set up the computers, and the network, helped set up the new office, taking inventory, did a bit of accounts, ran errands, made trips to the computer market for repairs, buying and selling hardware and software. And the best part, made a lot of friends mostly female :P. It was a bit of hard work getting up early morning and I was getting tired of it so was elated when I finally did get the visa. A bit of shopping, farewells and the likes, and I was off to Australia!

roundup to catch up ...

So, I'm not getting motivated enough to write...and yet I want to get this up to date, alive and kicking and all that, so I think I'll go month by month and just list the major updates and get it done with.
May-June 2007:
Graduation and the road trips.

July-August 2007:
Back and forth between Indiana and Texas, moving all my stuff to Texas. Bought a car from a friend for 2 grand. Drove it all the way to Houston from Purdue. Hit (and definitely killed) a dog on the way. Scary experience. Was cruising with both feet off the pedals. Saw the dog but sort of froze, and probably for the better, because had i breaked or swerved left, may have caused a pile up, swerving right would have landed us in a ditch. Unfortunately for the dog we ran over it, and so did the car behind us. *Shudder*
Interviewed at a few places, including Subaru of Indiana. Another company close to Louisville, Kentucky called for an onsite interview and provided a hotel, so took the friend whose car I was going to buy and partied. By the time I got back to Purdue I had received the rejection :P

September-October 2007:
Ramazan in Houston, took the GRE for the third time, met the requirements for University of Houston, FINALLY, but too late for the fall semester. Got sick of sticking around, booked a ticket for Karachi. 2-3 days before leaving another Houston company called for an internship but I had made up my mind. Was missing someone a bit too much. So well a week after Eid, I was back in Karachi. Also, I now had my sights on Australia since my sis and bro in law had moved there.

another back dated post ...

I guess this should have been sometime in december last year ...probably would have been in a different emotional state, but, writing that poetry reminded me that I never mentioned I'm single again, ha! Single and ready to mingle, though easier said than done!
I'd rather not divulge into the details, lets just say, I screwed up and got dumped!
If I may stroke my ego a bit, I think the screw up involved me not having done the dumping!
Anyhoo, taking it like a man, sulking ever since :P

what i want ...

Everyone wants a million dollars, so do I. But they're not going to fall off a tree, nor is anything else that I want just as much. When has that ever stopped anyone from wanting anything, everything, something ...so here goes,
a job that fills my pocket,
a pocket that satisfies my wife,
a wife that makes a home,
a home i can call my own,
time to spend with my family,
backpacking across Europe,
cruising on the Pacific,
a camera to capture every moment...
(yeah I want a DSLR now...all that lame poetry for a camera, what I need is to get a frigging job!)

Totally Random ...

I'll give myself four minutes for this post. It's second day of Eid. Had a hectic day yesterday. Not that I did much, just didn't get my sleep, which these days is over probably over 12 hours. I have become super lazy. I have 'rented' a car but haven't used it yet!
I am on a 4 month vacation. I had a job lined up for the day after I got done with exams, and I quit on the first day. It was a 4 hour shift, which seemed like eternity, I must have glanced at my watch at least a hundred times.
Time's up.

road trip 2!

So after driving around the midwest and east coast ...checking out Niagra falls, DC, Atlanta and Orlando, attending a cousin's convocation at John Hopkins (missed the ceremony but made it on time for the after party)...attending another cousin's high school graduation in Kentucky, and returning the car back in Indiana, flew to the west coast, San Jose, California! 

Staying with family friends went on another road trip in their van. This time we went to San Fransisco, Anaheim (Disney Land is in Anaheim, and not LA, so I can't claim I've been to LA, unless the other places we went to, were in LA, will have to make sure :P ), 

Las Vegas and Grand Canyon. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas...so there. Grand Canyon is an experience. Went on the Skywalk too. Nuff said! 

Back to San Jose, and then a flight to houston ...from where on and off to nearby cities in Texas.

the road trip ...

Backdated post ...June 2007

Who: Me, my parents, uncle and aunt (chacha, chachi).
The Car: Dodge Stratus
Driver: Me, for over 90% of the way!
The route: Indiana, Maryland, New York, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky. And back to Indiana.

There is so much catching up, that I don't feel like going into details right now!

greetings from Australia!!

Ok, so I disappeared for the longest time...over a year and a half. Thanks to google I still have access. Well, I graduated from Purdue, with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering BSIE degree. Can't really say with flying colors, because well the damage done in the first couple of years was irrepairable. Anyhow, my parents were around for the convocation, a grand ceremony it was. Went on a long road trip after that. Details in another post, coming soon hopefully. I'm addicted to facebook, and all the updates, photos, socializing etc. happens there. Hence the neglect. I have way too much time on my hands these days, so I'm taking up new hobbies and rekindling old ones. Will catch up to speed with life in current times, soon. Lots to write about. Will try and go chronologically. I guess I should back date these posts as well.
This one should have been around June 2007!