Tribute to a Stranger

I was seated on the plane, waiting for it to take off and crying silent tears. I had just buried my father that very same day. I had thought about changing my ticket, stay with my mom and my sister, and console them. But I had other responsibilities waiting for me in US. Zoya's surgery was scheduled for later that week. I had to leave everyone just hours into mourning and fly back to US.

All of a sudden, the young man seated next to me tapped me on my shoulder and asked in a very gentle voice if I was ok. All I could do was shake my head and cry more. He got up and got me some napkins from the Air Hostess. In between sobs I told him I had just lost my father. He told me how he lost his father when he was very young and told me he knew exactly what I was feeling. He kept me engaged in conversation all the way to Dubai, then asked me if I wanted to join him and walk around the airport. I found out he was going to school in Canada, (I think University of Toronto) studying to be an Actuary. His name was Yaseer.

I was thinking about him sometime last week. We departed in Dubai Airport saying we will meet up at the boarding gate. We were on the same plane to London. I was exhausted from the ordeal of the whole day. I boarded the plane early thinking he will come looking for me and fell asleep. He probably thought I was ignoring him or something. Who knows? But I never got to properly say thanks to him. Yaseer, thank you very much for your kindness that day. I wish you all the best in life and I hope I run into you some day.

Clouds

I read a science fiction loooong time ago when I was a kid. The family lived on a spaceship and stopped next to clouds to take baths!! I had an image of that stuck it in my head permanently!! Seemed like such a luxury! Everytime I fly, evrytime the plane passes clouds, I wish I could lay down in a cloud someday! :-) Anyone else has any other crazy ideas like this?

Windy City Updates

Look what I am missing out on by being in Chicago! Tanveer took this picture last night and sent it to me! I love you babies! Mommy will be home soon!

Now for the updates! I have more free time on my hands than I know what to do with! I've been walking around Downtown Chicago last couple of nights. I walked up and down Michigan Avenue the other night, shopping paradise for those of you that are unfamiliar with Chicago. By the time I got to the Cartier store front, the store was closed and all the display cases were empty! I need to go back early one of these days just to drool over their stuff! ;-) I went to the American Girl Place! Oh My God! I wanted to buy ALL the dolls they had for Zoya! Then watching other girls picking out their dolls and accessories, I realized that she needs to experience and remember her first trip to the American Girl Place. I think we will make it her special treat for her fifth birthday! :-)

Then I went to the Lego store. I wasn't that impressed with the store itself, but the different things they had all around the mall (made of legos) were amazing! They had a big spider, R2D2, Darth Vader, man sitting on a bench, a dog, a mini replica of Chicago downtown!

I found an awsome Thai place to have dinner one night. I asked them to make my food extra spicy and boy did they make it spicy! It was gooooooooood!! Compared to that, dinner from "The best of Chicago Originals" Harry Carry was bland tonight. I do realize I might just have ordered the wrong dish. I also found an indian restaurant named Gaylord Cafe. The thought of "Gaylord Cafe" showing up on my expense report stopped me from going in! ;-)

I've been watching lot more TV too! I find myself watching news and movies more than the series ones. I guess because I don't normally watch TV much nowadays so I really don't know what's good or worth watching! I always like news shows though. I was a big Dateline junkie until Tanveer made so much fun of Stone Phillips that I stopped watching! Anyways, I'm going off on tangent! I'm sure everyone is writing about Katie Couric, Tom Delay. I'll tell you what caught my eye on the news, some real weird news and funny coincidences! I think just last week or so I was wondering about Jill Caroll. I thought I must have missed whatever happened to her. Then I saw her on TV the other day! What a coincidence! She was released! Wow! What an ordeal she must have gone through! Then this morning I watched on CNN (with my jaw on the floor) the arrest of a Deputy Press Secretary of Homeland Security for soliciting sex from someone he believed to be a 14 year old girl on the internet! He sent her his photograph wearing his DHS badge and sent her his work and Govt provided cell phone number! What the hell! This can't be his first try! How in the world did he pass the security clearance?? Isn't FBI part of Homeland Security? He was right under their nose all this time and no one ever saw, heard, felt anything!?? Makes me sick!

Another funny coincident involved Midway airport. I was telling Tanveer after my first trip to Chicago how I thought we were going to crash on someone's house cause the houses are really close to the airport! I mean really really close! Look at tha picture! Then watching local news this morning, I found out they are thinking about putting up some special type of concrete at the end of the runways to stop planes from running out of bounds. This cement is supposed to crumble under the weight of the plane, slowing it down in the process. Remember last December, a plane skidded off of the runway and crashed into a car, killing a 6 year old boy? That was Midway!!!!! Now if only they can make sure that planes stay on the runways when they are skidding/running out of bounds! :-P

I have started reading "The Time Traveller's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger. It's based in Chicago! Think coincidence?! I think not! Chicago is my fate!!!!!!!!!!

This day really needs to get better!

I flew out to Chicago again today. I took a 6:20 am flight which means I had to get up at 3:30 am! Well, I didn't get to bed till about 12:18 am last night cause both the kids woke up and we just couldn't get them down! So I am sleep deprived and my brain is not quite at the functioning level! I get out of the plane and don't see my co-worker. Usually we just meet up when we get to Chicago as we both try to nap on the plane to make up for the rude 3:30 wake up call! So after waiting for some time, I thought I might have missed him and I start walking towards Potbelly where we normally have breakfast. He isn't there either. Hmmm... Ok, I thought I'd just have breakfast and see if he shows up or what! In the middle of my breakfast, he calls me! He is not coming to Chicago till TOMORROW morning! He sent out an email over the weekend to our manager, but forgot to cc me on it! Ok, not a problem I said. I'll work with one of the contractors today. Oh wait, he says, ummm .... he (the contractor) is not going to be in Chicago till tomorrow either! Great! I am in Chicago, with nothing to do, but I still need to sit here till about 5:00! Just awsome!

I get out of the airport. It's windy as hell AND raining! Cab ride to work is slow. The fare is usually about $24/$25 and I had $30 out. I didn't realize that the meter was reading $29.65!! Before I could get any more money out, the cabbie starts yelling at me for not tipping him enough! I hastily took some more money out of my purse (standing in rain), gave it to him and asked him to pop the trunk so I could take my suitcase out. He says it's open, but I can't open it to save my life! (Standing in rain, don't forget!) After about half a minute, the trunk actually pops open. I get my suitcase out, spilling my coffee all over it! By this time, my new hair do it all drenched in rain! (I chopped my hair off this weekend. It's about ear length now. Will upload a pic on a good hair day)

Alright, so I manage to get into the office, set up my computer and call in for a weekly status meeting. Since my co-worker is not here, I guess I am the automatic representative for my team and when they called on me for status, I am raking my brain to find something intelligent! My first moment in the spotlight and I bungle it! Woohoo! Things can't get any worse! It will only get better.

After two back to back meetings, I go to the bathroom and my trouser button pops and one of the hooks is coming loose! I can't quite blame them! My bludder can only stretch/hold so much and it has been stretched to the limit today because of the 2.5 hour long meetings! I am just miserable by this time and I decide to have early lunch! ( Read: drown my sorrows with food! Dangerous habit!)

I feel like a roast beef sandwich. Here I am, ten minutes later, typing away at the computer, with my roast beef sandwich unwrapped next to me. Untouched. The meat is bright red! I feel like if I look away for a second, the sandwich would go "moooooooo"!!!! I am debating whether I want to eat it or not. It's definitely going to give me an upset stomach, whether I eat the meat or take it out! I just know it.....