As told by Ahmed

Let Obama Be Obama

2011-09-24T02:15:00.001-07:00

One could argue that Obama’s first term as the President has been similar to President Bartlet’s first term in the West Wing. Both had far from impressive starts. Then near the end of the first season, we find the Bartlet administration desperately trying to deal with a leaked memo -- a memo which undermined the weaknesses of all that was Bartlet (ironically, written by one of his staffers). However, with this episode there came a sudden shift in attitude.

“Let Bartlet be Bartlet.” Instead of putting out a constant deluge of fires, President Bartlet decides to take the bull by it’s horns. This important game changer is reflected immediately there on. The administration starts taking into consideration issues that had gotten them elected, instead of trying to make everyone happy.

President Obama’s address to a Joint Session of the Congress on the 8th, to me seemed like a similar game changer for the Obama Administration. For once, one could sense a more aggressive and getting things done attitude. At this juncture in time, this is exactly what the country requires of him. After all, in a country of over 307 million people, the President can’t make everyone happy, but could work towards some of the promises of his 2008 campaign.

What I’m trying to say is, “Let Obama be Obama.”

Age of Empires III - Winning the Rockies

2011-09-17T22:45:00.000-07:00

Our usual weekends encompass not being at home. There’s something always going on. At times like these, it’s nice to have a weekend off to yourself. However, when I do have time to spare on my weekend mornings, Farzeed and I take on the enemy in Age of Empires III.

Yes, it’s a little out dated, but it’s our current vice of choice. Preferably, I’d play something similar to Command and Conquer (The Generals) due to my obsession with tanks, but we easily out do the computer and most human players tend to cheat.

With AOE, we had won against the Expert in all the large maps, but today after numerous campaigns in the Rockies (which is smaller), victory was ours. Yes, we did the impossible and won. But surprising as it may seem to Cathleen, we’ll probably give it another shot, taking on adversaries of the human kind instead.

Breaking up with Netflix

2011-09-15T22:56:00.001-07:00

My love affair with Netflix started about 5 years ago, when a friend of mine gifted me a four month membership to the service. There was a Frank Sinatra movie I had been dying to watch and couldn’t find anywhere. My friend was sure it would be available on Netflix, and behold, there it was. As disappointing as the movie had been (I had previously seen it when I was 8 or 9), Netflix was more than impressive.

Even though I was on somewhat of a tight budget, I continued to support one of my favorite dot coms. Netflix didn’t disappoint, continually improving their service and adding instant movies to their arsenal. Like many of their customers in the bay area, I was asked if I could come in for a focus group at their headquarters in Los Gatos. They asked me about my experiences and how I would improve certain aspects of the site. The one thing I pressed on was bringing Instant Play to the XBox.

Six months later, Netflix announced that they were bringing Instant Play for the Xbox 360. Other consoles followed over the years. The movies available increased and the cost of the subscription fell. However, the selection of movies has always been limited. The newer Batman movies never made it to Instant Play, and neither have any of the HBO productions.

So, why did our relationship get sour?

Even though I own a copy of the Dark Knight, I’m too lazy to walk over to the DVD rack and look through our collection for it. When I’m sitting at the computer, watching it on Netflix would be the prime choice. But as I mentioned earlier, it never made it to Instant Play.
Movies I had watched half way, like Zombieland, disappeared a couple of weeks later when I sat down to watch them with my wife. This is very annoying.
Netflix made a deal with the production companies that they wouldn’t have the movies available on Instant Play for at least 28 days after the DVD was released. All of a sudden, Red Box, down at your nearest grocery store sounds more appealing.
They decided that you had to pay extra if you wanted DVDs delivered at your door. I only used that option once in a blue moon, but it was something nice to have. This is also the reason why their stock plunged today (along with the one below.)
Starz Play decided to break up with Netflix as well. Why is that such a big downer? Because Starz supplied Netflix with a lot of their content.

And thus, I’ve decided to break up with Netflix as well. Even though I’m a big fan of the cooperate culture at Netflix, it’s quickly sliding down from the pedestal it was once on.

When Nouns become Verbs

2011-09-13T21:53:00.000-07:00

It’s funny how nouns become verbs. If you want to search something on the Internets, the term often used is “to Google it”. In a similar way, whenever my brother Omar, and his best friend Adeel would get into an argument, they would engage in name calling. Being die hard Beatles fans, instead of using four letter words, they’d call each “Lennon”, their least favorite Beatle.

Cathleen and I do something similar. We’ve associated certain names to certain attributes that people in our lives posses. As you might have figured, these attributes are usually of the negative type. And thus, those names shall not be revealed.

How I lost over 10 lbs of fat in 15 days

2011-03-13T19:29:00.000-07:00

Cathleen and I experimented with Tim Ferriss's "slow-carb" diet over the past few weeks, the results were dramatic. I started off at around 182 lbs on the 21st of February and have managed to get down to 168 lbs today. I am happy to announce that the bulge above my waist that used to resemble a 2-month pregnancy has magically disappeared.

So what is this magical Tim Ferris diet?

Our typical dinner while on the diet.

Eat more protein. We had a whole lot more chicken, eggs and beef than usually did. Each meal must consist of at least 20 grams of protein. Skipping a meal is not really an option.
Make sure you have breakfast within an hour of waking up. Even better if you can hit the 30 grams of protein mark. Cathleen relied on boiled eggs while I usually made an omelette with spinach and artichoke hearts. And an addition to that we often had a protein shake in between breakfast and lunch.
We ate a lot of green vegetables. Most white food like bread, rice, pasta and potatoes were strictly avoided. No dairy either, I had my coffee black, no cream or sugar. Cottage cheese is one of the exceptions to the rule.
No juice or sodas. No sugar. 16 oz of diet soda was the only thing allowed.
Beans and lentils (daal) were a good addition to the diet. If you're not a big fan of beans, try them with some salsa.
This is a 6 day ritual, the 7th day must be a binge day. Eat your heart out on the binge day but try to not start off the day with sugar. Also, drink a lot of water.

It's also important to note that you keep track of your fat loss. Measure your weight religiously every morning. Measurement = motivation. I noticed that the readings were a little more pleasing after the morning urinary displacement. The average man urinates 600 ml, which adds up to a lb of water weight.

This was a two week experiment, you can see a slight gain of weight after some carb in-take the past week. However, I've tried to keep this to a minimum (except for the two day cookie binge at the in-laws).

Cookie Monster

2011-03-08T23:54:00.000-08:00

Post it in bag of Chocolate Chip Cookies: "Ahmed Keep Out"

It's certainly not the best kept secret at my parent's house, I love cookies. My mother was known to hide cookies from me while growing up because I devoured them like the cookie monster. Now, I have warning labels at my in-laws when it comes to cookies. If the trend continues, the Surgeon General will probably follow suit and make it mandatory for confectioners to carry a similar warning label on their packaging.

Sheer Panic

2011-03-06T01:16:00.000-08:00

As of late, Cathleen's maternal Grand Mother hasn't been doing well, chest and stomach pains. After 2 bouts to the ER, escorted in an Ambulance, today we took her in to Kaiser ourselves. She's going to stay the night and Cathleen's at her side.

A little after Cathleen's mother and aunt had left so that they could recharge at home, we heard this car honking away speeding towards the front doors of the hospital - makes you wonder why, but the emergency is somewhere in the back. Out of the car, a woman dressed in black, screaming out loud, headed in the door then headed back towards the car, opened the back door, continued screaming. Slowly, yet steadily, nurses, doctors, whatever, started to rush towards the front of the hospital. It was dead prior to all this commotion, heck, when we walked in there was no one in the huge lobby except for the security guard at his desk. Within minutes there were other nurses pushing a wheel chair, one of those beds on wheels and other equipment. Some were in no shape to run a 100 meter dash, but somehow they managed it.

A few minutes later, the same bed was being pushed to the emergency area by at least a dozen people, a man lying on it with a nurse on top of him, pumping his chest for dear life, over and over again, like a scene from ER or Grey's Anatomy, the only difference was that it was real.

Cathleen texted me a few minutes ago, the guy didn't make it.

Restart

2011-01-15T23:35:00.000-08:00

A lot has happened since my last post. Ahmed met a girl. Ahmed liked the girl. The girl liked Ahmed. Ahmed and the girl got married. They moved into a house together. They had another wedding ceremony. They went to Pakistan for a month and had yet another ceremony. They got back from Pakistan and celebrated the anniversary of the first ceremony. And then a few weeks later, Ahmed thought of writing here again. And hence, restarted this blog. Visit her blog here.

I guess that sums it all.

2007-11-22T14:45:00.000-08:00

Darwin was a smart ass. Seriously! I don’t believe in the theory of evolution as placed by science books or that of creationism. And that’s not what I’m trying to advocate either. Having taught by Muslim teachers in primary school, who like Mullahs have a certain dogmatic ideology brainwashed into them, I was taught that we do not believe in Darwin’s theory of evolution. In fact, I found a certain resentment towards him in their teaching which was later instilled in me. It was my Father who made me question my thinking. It’s either him or my best friend Farzeed who’ve always made me question things and what I believe in. I should give myself credit for that as well though, for I have questioned things a lot too, but I guess its different coming from someone else. My Dad questioned my hate towards Darwin and Darwinism; he made me think in a different light. And today I totally believe in what Darwin stated that one has to evolve to survive. It after all is the survival of the fittest. Hence the new time table I have made for myself is based on similar characteristics. I plan to go through it, see how it goes and let it evolve into something totally different.

I remember when I first came here. I always wondered how I’d survive without my Mother’s cooking and the first few months were definitely hard. Before I left, My Dad had suggested that I concoct something accordingly; something that seemed rather annoying. I love good food, living without it seemed heretical. Now three to four years later, I understand what my Dad meant. What he meant about priorities. The whole deal about evolving into a new person, to adjusting to the new surroundings and making the most of them. In true essence, it is Darwinism in the works.

2007-11-22T13:45:00.000-08:00

I saw the internet light come to a stand still and glow its green-ness while the Cable Link light complemented it, PC-Link and Cable activity light started flickering in tandem. I put my book down and checked if Google’s homepage would appear. It didn’t. I hit the refresh button and waited patiently, and sure enough it slowly appeared; the thanksgiving doodle wishing me a happy thanksgiving. I guess it’s going be as slow as shit like last night, this is worse than no internet, it’s like driving on the freeway during rush hour, you only move an inch every few minutes. I guess that’s what’s going on in my modem. For fuck’s sake, it’s Thanksgiving today! Why the fuck is there a bottleneck today down cyber highway?

2007-11-22T12:30:00.000-08:00

I see the internet light flash on my cable modem every now and then. Then the PC Link light bounces on and off every hour or so, it’s a carnival of no activity when it comes to the transfer of bits and bytes across the coaxial cable, but a feast of Christmas lights on a small box a month before time. Or maybe just a busted traffic light; flashing green instead of red. Green must be the red in the underground internet traffic lingo of bits and bytes. Perhaps it means to come to a complete stop before crossing; however, today they’re just stopping, there is no movement.

Today is day two of internet agony. For a cyber junky that wakes up to check his email instead of having a cup of coffee or getting the morning paper, it might seem like living hell. But on the contrary, it is far from it for me. My relationship with technology is a seesaw like love affair. But most of the time I feel like running away from it (I sure as hell make it sound like I’m married to it). However, I was cursed with my father’s genes when I was born; therefore, I was born into a life of creativity and techno-junk. I remember going to the peanut farm that my Dad had procured a few years ago. My Aunt, his sister, dubbed him to be the next President like Carter, which made me laugh. There was no electricity there, a small ravine with a stream passing through on one edge. There was total silence; an awe inspiring solitude of sheer quietness and calmness. I loved it. However, my Dad thought otherwise, and sold it a year or two later. What I need right now is exactly that, I need brakes, a full stop. Somewhere I can totally stop. But my brain is still on full throttle, I have things to do, deadlines to meet. This over clocked processor, known as my brain, depresses me at times. Occasionally I feel that I don’t even have time to think of subtleties of life because my brain is constantly crunching down numbers, having a sequence of events crontabbed in my head to constantly tell me to finish a certain task or molding a new one. I am definitely glad I’m not a computer, a human made of flesh and blood instead. Although I don’t have time to take out for recharging right now, I will soon. Maybe at the end of the school quarter, for I am certainly looking forward to it.

Anyway, back to my reading for now.

Penny Lane

2007-11-21T01:25:00.000-08:00

“On the corner is a banker with a motorcar,
The little children laugh at him behind his back.
And the banker never wears a mac
In the pouring rain, very strange.

Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes…”

Winamp blares Penny Lane through my earphones. My eyes closed, I sit at my computer, going down memory lane. Ten years, no fifteen. Yeah, fifteen years ago today, my brothers and I sat in the car while the familiar sound of the Beatles kept us company. We were nowhere near Penny Lane, but at a marble processing factory just outside Islamabad. Dad had left us in the car while he had gone to their office to find out when they were going to ship the marble for our kitchen counters. Those were the days.

Sitting in front of the computer, procrastinating. I have an essay due tomorrow. I’m not even half way done and don’t want to finish either. Reminiscing what was and what now is. It’s funny how you visualize things to be, but they turn out something entirely different. I’m twenty six years old now. I have not much to show for it, except for some computer skills with which I can conjure up some party tricks. How awesome is that. Very eh?

Welcome to the new beginning; welcome to my flog.

Someday I'll be Saturday Night

2006-08-26T01:34:00.000-07:00

Today was better than the last few days, probably just because the mood was right. My cousin told me that he was going to come over so I asked him if he had had any dinner. He hadn't so I made us some good old chicken, still have to marinate some of it for tomorrow though. While I made dinner, I inundated him with tech news and moded his firefox. I guess it's fun being the family guru, though at times it can get tiresome. I'm on track for a better tomorrow (I).

last night's dinner

Alice and Kaleem

2006-07-29T22:05:00.000-07:00

Today, like everyday is ICE CREAM DAY! Having ice cream has become a daily tradition lately. I think I'm having ice cream almost twice a day these days, or sometimes none. The chocolate ice cream at Safeway is pretty darn good. You should try it out sometime too! Sweeeeeeet!

Terrible Terrible

2006-07-26T00:46:00.000-07:00

It was a terrible day today, simply because I woke up really late. Is 2:00 PM a time to wake up? That's like wasting half a day. How depressing. The Programmer's life however goes on, with a little good old Quake 3 Arena on the side. Yes, it may seem nostalgic, but Q3A still has a lot of playing to be done with. Tomorrow shall be better, fo sho!

We're out of Disk Space Batman!

2006-07-25T00:16:00.000-07:00

So what gives this day or time the honor of being mentioned on my friggen blog? Well, I spent the last 8-10 hours trying to figure out why my friggen script wouldn't work. I changed it, wrote it from scratch a gazillion times. And at midnight, I finally figure out what the friggen problem was, the friggen hard drive was out of friggen space. That's what happens when your code is on one drive and you're temporary upload directory in a totally different drive. Oh well, at least I'm not going to cuss at PHP and Apache anymore. Could have been worse though, could have been still at it, or totally screwed over my ego and felt like a super n00b, heh.

The Beginning

2005-01-18T01:40:00.000-08:00

It's been over 5 months since I've moved to California, but I haven't really had the time to start a blog. I don't have any time for it right now, but I just felt like doing it and so I begin.

Today was a really productive day. My kitchen, kitchenette, or whatever you want to call it is as clean as a whistle again. I cleaned up the rest of my apartment too, and gave my self a good rinse as well. As far as cooking is concerned, I made something like Chicken Karhai, but not really Chicken Karahi. It was something I just put together by throwing in this and that, it didn't turn out too bad though :)

2005-01-18T01:17:00.000-08:00

Standing on the balcony of my apartment during the sunset