:)
After many, many tears of happiness, it brings me a tremendous amount of pleasure to say the following:
The Bears are Number 1 in the division with a commanding, imposing, daunting, beautiful, playoff-bound record of 5-3.
And in other news, the GB Packers have won just 1 (single, aik, uno, etc.) game the entire season.
And Allah Alone Gives Success.
Hi
Okay, so we have this process where we submit things (ie, prompts) to a vendor of ours here at work for translation. While doing this, we can include comments like "Please translate asap" etc. for each request, which is what I did.
But for each language we require translations of, we have to submit this request/order individually (kind of a pain) and so to save time, I naturally copied and pasted the "Please translate asap" comment over and over again.
While doing this, I took a quick break to reply to someone's personal email (personal meaning Gmail, not personal work email). In my response to that personal email, I copied and pasted a sentence of the friend's email so I could address it in the reply b/c it was funny. After sending the email, I continued back to work and continued submitting the request and corresponding comment ("Please translate asap") for translation.
This is a mechanical process and so I did this rather quickly. A couple minutes into it, I realized that the comment I was copying and pasting for our vendor was not the "Please translate asap" comment I originally assumed (for some reason) that I was copying & pasting. It was the comment from my personal email. I quickly cancelled and took a look at the two previous requests I sent to ensure that I did not include the personal comment in my request. Much to my dismay and utter carelessness, I found that I submitted those two requests with the personal comment from my email...
Now, may be you're thinking that, "Oh, that's not too bad. I mean, how bad or stupid could that comment be, Imran?" Well, let me finish...
And so the personal comment from my email that I accidentally copied and pasted into the work request reads as follows, "I'm going to bitch-slap you..."
I freaked out when I realized that I copied this into my professionally requested order. I was thinking, "Okay, ppl get fired for this type of thing." And then I thought, "Why do I suddenly feel like I'm in Office Space?"
I immediately sent an email to the vendor to 1) discuss my request and 2) apologize and clarify what happened. Then I ran around the office to see if anyone in mgmnt happened to be around, but no one was because it was 8pm. So I called my mgr and told him that I accidentally sent a comment that I shouldn't have. He was like as long as it's not sexually, religiously, or racially offensive, you're okay. And I thought to myself, okay...this could be sexually offensive. So I told him the comment and he was of course like, "Well, obviously you shouldn't have done that." (No kidding!) But he was totally cool and was like "Nothing will happen, it's a good thing this is a vendor and not the client otherwise we'd be doing months of clean-up work on this, I'll talk to the HR person about this who will probably laugh it off, and the vendor shouldn't mind so long as no one high-strung works there." Then I was like, "Yeah, I'm hoping that UK mentality (they're a lot more laid back about being PC) kicks in." Then we kinda laughed about it.
That was last night.
This morning...nothing major happened, mashaAllah! Vendor replied back to my email, but only the business portion.
Later today, I received an email from the Associate Director of Operations in the Chicago Office that stated, "PLEASE SEE ME ASAP." It was at that point that I realized that one's heart can beat approximately 1,000,000 times/second. So I stopped by her office and she's like, "I bet you know what this is about." And I was like "Yeah, the prompts, right?" And she's like, "Yes. This is to let you know that it has been escalated to mgmnt." OMG! I wanted to cry, but her talk continues..."But we totally understand b/c you wouldn't do something like that, it was from a personal email and nothing company-related, and you've been under a lot of pressure/stress lately." Heart beat drops to 100,000 beats/second. She then tried her best to be serious and was like, "Not to make fun of the situation, but it was a good laugh." Salvation! And then we basically just laughed about it the rest of time. Like hardcore LOL-ing, which was cool.
At the end she's like, "Yeah, no worries. I know you wouldn't put a request like that. Just use asterisks if you're using that type language of language" (she said that last part laughingly). And then I joked, "Yeah, i'm generally not really in the habit of telling clients/vendors to do something otherwise i'll bitch-slap them..."
So now the issue is done with (iA/mA). Whew! :)
Of course, a couple of the guys at work will make fun of me and make sure I never forget this......(sigh)......what craziness, dude...
Could you imagine receiving, "I'm going to bitch-slap you" from your client?! I'm still LOL-ing, actually...
Cheers
Hi
Alhamdullilah. Alhamdullilahi Rabil Alameen. Ar-Rahmanir Raheem....
The Chicago Bears are #1.
No, I could care less that they have a .500 record in the worst division of the NFL. All I know is that we're already playoff contenders and should take a commanding...yes, commanding...lead by defeating Detroit this weekend, inshaAllah'ta'ala. The Lions probably still have a sour taste in their mouth based on the last game earlier this year when we made them into zabiha meat. They'll want blood this Sunday; especially at their field. But the Bears will nonetheless triumph, iA.
Oh, and in other news the Chicago White Sox are World Champions. Don't know if anyone caught that...? "Second team of the city no more" indeed, Joe Buck...
[see: www.chisox.com]
:)
AA
Courtesy of Mike Rabi (www.mikerabi.com):
My new favorite picture. :)
This was right after Taha
Hi
Now this is passion...
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6739710473912337648&q=chinese&pr=goog-sl
Hysterical!
AA
Alhamdullilah, the iftar party I had at my place was a great time, mashaAllah. I owe it all to my mother whom, mashaAllah, cooked for hours on end, despite not feeling well. SubhanAllah, I'm lucky to have such a caring mother who makes her son look good in front of her friends!! Please remember her in your duas.
Here's a recap:
1. Sami Haque pulled in a surprise by being the first one to show up. In true Hydro fashion, he guaranteed himself a spot to being the first guy at the buffet. Sami also took a lot of time to explain what he does for a living and how Hydros do not have a tribal system. Sami, halal food processing centers are very promising, bro...run with it. Sami is the guy looking up in the pic below obviously trying to pose for the camera, but in a nonchalant way. You're a smooth operator, man. :)
2. Fasih, aka Maulana Fasih (based on attire), and Mehboob Ali showed up. I'm not sure what else I can say other than wanting to relive the moments of them walking into my house. Imam Fasih out did it by bringing in apple cream pie from Bakers Square -- a big hit of the night. Fasih also did it big by dropping off his family and ditching them for me. Mehb ditched his expecting wife and then threatened to bust into my house at his discretion with his master key (note: Mehb is a part-time real estate agent and our house is up for sale). Please note that Mehb looks hotter when not wearing his standard button shirt, tie, dress pants combo. Thanks for taking our relationship to the next level, guys. In the pic below, Fasih and Mehboob are discussing the fiqh of eating with hands...haha
3. Mike Rabi. During the first 30 minutes or so, I was worried about this guy. I thought he wasn't enjoying the festivities. You see, I rarely see Mike without his digital camera and though that perhaps he didn't think the party was www.mikerabi.com worthy. But, Alhamdullilah, after I took out my camera, he busted out his like it ain't no thang. I was relieved. See http://www.mikerabi.com/ for more pics. Mike (aka Mustafa) poses like he's either a dignitary from Palestine, preparing for a high school senior year picture, or just getting read for a new career in modeling.
4. Taha Ghani. Ahmed Hassan. SubhanAllahi wa bi Hamdihi, they showed up. I was partially convinced that they would not as one can never tell with people from STL. They tend to be a shady group of people that cover their shadiness with hot looks (mashaAllah) and, in the case of Ahmed, hair that's simply 'on fire.' In the course of the night, Taha somehow managed a solid slap across my face, which then provoked me to launch an all-out assault on him. Ahmed, hope your 1st experience at my crib and the suburbs of Chicago was fun. Next time, please be sure to bring 1) Hershey's king size candy or 2) a huge Oreo ice cream cake. In the pic below, Prince AH (Ahmed) makes himself at home and Taha...well...all I see is his chisled chest and distinguished, Punjabi nose (mashaAllah). Did I mention that Taha works out?
5. AJ. AJ (Ahmed Abdul-Jaleel) had to feel pretty darn good coming to the Shakur household. In one-on-one basketball (semi-full court up to 7 in what was a king of the hill type of tourney) between me, him, and one of my brothers (Umar), he dominated us just a couple hours prior to the iftar. It's hard for me to say that, but I cannot deny him this truth. If he does that again, though, he's definitely not coming next year!! Then he has the audacity of winning the Madden 06 tourney. In the picture below, AJ looks like a white college guy who's enjoying his 15th beer in someone's dorm room on a Thurs night. It was actually roo afza. But it probably was his 15th serving!! :)
6. Harris Lakhani. You know, I just don't know about this guy anymore. I mean, it's amazing, really! The guy recently got engaged (mashaAllah) and suddenly thinks that he can drop the shareef, acha bacha image. Harris, she agreed to your hand in marriage because of those traits! Just keep that in mind and stop polluting our minds! Ha ha. Of course, I'm just joking. Harry Potter is my homie. Well, up until he started making fun of my xbox Madden '06 skills, that is. Oh, I finally got to see his facial expression for when I call him Harry! It's...well...intense. Here's Harry after eating too many samosas and thinking he's somehow teleported back to the 70's:
7. Fahad Siddiqui. He's the 'lover' part of my blog title. And at times the 'punjabi' part b/c the brotha is always down for a little bhangra, mashaAllah. Fahad, I'm sorry I disappointed you. I know that I don't live in the ghetto I rap about in my songs (please Google "2pac Shakur"), but I hope my love for your, let's say "family," overshadows it. 
8. Aladdin Nassar. The great thing about Aladdin, mashaAllah, is that he really makes himself feel at home. I mean, doesn't he get that people just say that? You see, just like everyone else in my family, Aladdin soon enough started giving me orders to prepare chai for him. Aladdin also re-enacted our first meeting years ago. Yes, the infamous, I'm-gonna-pull-Imran's-shorts-down-but-also-happen-to-grab-his-boxers-too. That one, much at my expense, never gets old. Just ask Taha. But I can't hate on Aladdin...he let me drive his car...60mph+...in my subdivision...in a Porsche Cayenne (mashaAllah)...it was my early Eid gift! Aladdin entertains everyone by looking all too gay in this picture. And yes, there's Harris with his peace signs again. The 2nd pic is a better one of Aladdin, who uses me as his personal pillow, again proving that he really felt like part of the family that night!
9. Zubair Khan. Yes, Mr. Hydro himself graced my home. Though he suggested where I could stick the Pakistani flag I held in my hand and then did his own version of Taha's slap by walking away from me when I told him my family's preference for marriage to Pakistani women, my brother had sweet revenge by destroying him (over and over and over and over again) in Halo 2. My brother commented, "I never knew ethnic cleansing felt so good." Even AJ and Tariq laughed at that. Don't worry, Zubair, I won't mention how I saw a smile on your face when my brother made that joke; it was too funy not to laugh. Oh shoot...too late. I did serve Zubair and others green tea in a really nice way, which prompted him to say, "If I had a daughter, I'd marry her to you." But then he followed that up by saying, "Thank God I don't have a daughter." Ha ha. In the pic below, Zubair looks like he's teaching AJ the art of meditation...
10. Tariq Syed. Yes, my Bolingbrook partner in crime and reunited work out buddy. Here, he's also looking like he's meditating, but via the xbox controller. I guess it didn't work as AJ emerged victorious in a thrilling game. When Tariq came into my home, I don't think he said salaam to anyone but headed straight to the kana table. Though he lives the closest to me, Tariq was the 2nd to last person to come. Tariq, we never did work out that night, did we?
11. Farooq Alikhan. I start off with praising Allah: AllahuAkbar! MashaAllah, it can only be an act of Divine Intervention that brought Farooq to my house. But, in what turned out to be a complete catch-22 or test of my patience, seeing Farooq was of little good as he spent his entire time 1) eating food, 2) going back-n-forth on txt msging for an hour and ignoring everything else around him, and 3) sleeping for a good hour until 2:15am. Yeah, needless to say, this quality time was one to take advantage of for me. Please see the pics of a passed out Farooq below. :) Ha ha. Seriously, it was really awesome for the guy to make it this far out and to come so late and stay late, mashaAllah. JZK, man.
Well, until next year, inshaAllah! Jazak Allah khair for reading all this and more importantly JZK to all my friends who came by and made it so fun, memorable, and baraka-filled. And we missed all you guys who couldn't make it. Please remember me in your much needed duas.
Salaam!
Hi
Awesome. Why didn't I buy Apple stock like ten years ago...??
http://www.apple.com/ipod/ipod.html
Peace
Hi
Taken from Salikah: A Student's Digest:
http://salikah.blogspot.com/2005/10/mawlana-rumi-do-not-lose-hope.html
-Jalal al-Din Rumi, "Signs of the Unseen", trans. Wheeler Thackston, pp. 9-10. SubhanAllah. And people think that Rumi (rh) is just some esoterical poet talking in general terms of love/romance. May we all take inspiration from this. Ameen. He is mashaAllah a giant amongst the lovers of Allah and the Prophet (sw).AA
Justice demands that I, or someone, write on the bona fide desi taraweeh experience. The following is an attempt at doing so:
Uncle G. You gotta love him, right? He's the dark-skinned uncle who usually stands in the second, third, or even fourth row during namaz. You can recognize him with his Jinnah-style topee, old gray slacks that he wore when his now 18-yr old son was born. Somehow, these pants still fit him despite his rather large, protruding, and unsightly gut, which is thankfully covered by a white button-down shirt Aunty G bought him for his 53rd birthday. Coincidentally, Aunty G bought the shirt at Kohls. Anyway, you can spot Uncle G in a crowd easily because he generally has a big, warm smile on his face as he drinks chai and chats with other uncles. When drinking chai, he uses that large gut of his as an amazingly effective replacement for a tea saucer. Don't worry, though, the hot chai doesn't burn through his skin, because underneath that white button-down shirt, Allah has protected him with a jungle of hair that covers only his belly button.
But the easiest way to recognize Uncle G is during the blessed month of Ramadhan and specifically in taraweeh. He's the one, when the congregation 'sings' ameen in unison follows his 'ameen' with a loud, thick belch that almost convinces you to do ghusl. But this belch is truly amazing! Because, within seconds, you are miraculously taken back in time. To be specific, you are taken back about two hours in the past to when you ate your iftari. Suddenly, you are aware Uncle G also had, mashaAllah, a great iftar filled with salan, chowall, pakoras, and samosas filled with onions. Okay, may be not samosas filled with onions, but at this point in the prayer, that's what you feel!
Fortunately, you, the supplicant trying to please his Lord, are used to this test of patience and have come to accept this as part of a 'normal' taraweeh salat....oops, I mean taraweeh namaz when desis and especially Uncle G are present. But this spiritual moment doesn't stop there...
After a few other rude awakenings (i.e., more belching from Uncle G that has now taken you back to what you had for opening iftar to your main meal and, yes, even to your lassi and kheer), you find yourself coming out from sajood. Uncle G, instead of following your lead and everyone else's by standing up for second rakat, however, remains on the floor. Unfortunately, you cannot help to notice this and are first initially alarmed because perhaps, azubillah, Uncle G hurt himself when trying to lift his body and stomach back up. Before you break your namaz, you quickly realize while briefly looking at Uncle G's bold spot (his Jinnah-style topee fell down while in sajood), that he is actually finishing up his prayer by sitting down. Yes, the same uncle who has the energy to sprint to the buffet line at Shahi Nehari and knock down a few children on the way, has become exhausted and is now forced to pray the way most, if not all, Aunty G's pray.
To Uncle G's credit, however, this Aunty G-prayer style may not happen immediately. What I mean is that Uncle G may have actually tried to get up, but was unable to. Scientifically, it's impossible and your heart goes out to him for trying. I mean, for his skinny legs to push up against an object (his stomach) that carries a tremendous gravitational pull to the earth's surface is simply not possible! So, eventually, he is forced to give up and remains on the floor. I guess, then, it's not his fault, right?
At this time of the prayer, you just finished saying the final salaams. Your concentration was killed, but, hey, at least you went through the motions...!!
:) Ha ha
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