On Vacation

I’m actually on vacation this week I have decided to take a break from the blog world as well during the vacation. I hope to catch up when the vacation is done.

Ar-Raheem

How often do you sit and ponder the mercies of Allah (swt)?

I did that today. I thought back to over the years and thought how merciful He truly is.

For example in times of financial hardship, unexpected money would always find its way into our hands. Once I was turn up for a job that was right where I wanted to be, but in the long run, all those in that position were demoted, and had I gotten that job life would have been so much more difficult once Saif was born. He gave us Saif when we were ready to be parents. He gave us iman and ease in faith when we were strove to become better muslims. And even now, He smiles down to help ease the pain and loneliness.

Should we not get what we want right away, trust in Allah, for he knows what is best. You may not see the benefits until days, months, years down the road. He is Ar-Raheem, never waiver in that conviction.

We have all seen many posts of “Are you ready for Ramadan” and even Haleem has saterized it quite nicely Definitely worth a read, if you have not already. But I will take this opportunity to ask you to take stock of the past year or years. What have you gained? What have you lost? What do you wish to achieve? What do you have to be thankful for? I anxiously await it, to be able to stand in Taraweeh and thank Allah, and ask Allah, and glorify Allah.

So much has changed in the past year, that without iman, I would surely have become a hopeless case. HE makes it possible to endure hardships, he does not burden us with more than we can bear. He test our faith, and rewards us when we pass. When we recognize that we are being tested and call out to Him.

We have a week left, inshallah, so don’t think of preparing for Ramadan as dusting off your Quran, or going nuts at the grocery to buy dates, and planning iftars, but prepare by evaluating what it is you wish to accomplish in Ramadan, what will you pray hard for, who will you pray hard for, your goals.

May Allah answer our suplications and give us all a successful and fruitful Ramadan. Ameen.

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The Weekend

It was such a great weekend.

It started Friday night with the kids spending the night with me. They had dinner, got their evening bath, and then we all crashed for the night. I did manage to wake up before it got too late, and I spent a good deal of time just watching them sleep. There is something about sleeping children that is so special. I could watch them for hours, and yet must restrain myself from grabbing them and kissing them

After breakfast Saturday morning, Aisha picked them up so they can spend the day with her. I then went to breakfast with my cousins. They were all getting together for breakfast nearby and so I tagged along. It was nice to hook up with them, its been a while. Catch on what’s been going on, shoot the shit, no pressure fun.

Breakfast is over…now its time for capture the flag, tactical strikes, pain and agony! I took up Haleem’s suggestion and went for some paintball with a friend. What a rush, a great way to release that stress and tension that’s been building up! There were quite a few people there, at least 50, of which 6 were bachelor groups! Oh the poor bachelors, their objective was get from the opposite end of the field to out the door, period, with 50 guys and girls shooting at them! I saw some pretty bad battle scars afterwards. One guy had about 10 welts on his back, BIG RED SPOTS! I got a few welts myself, but that’s all part of the fun! What’s not part of the fun? I was showing Saif (the day after) the worst of the welts, and then he says “you got hit there?” … SMACKS it with his hand followed by “did that hurt?” HELL YEAH!!! But I laughed, because you could see the curiousity in his face, he wasn’t being malicious…of course not

After paintball, I picked Saif up again, and we went to my uncles house for dinner. It was a usual dinner, all grownups except for little Saif who got to play Connect 4 and Playstation with his uncle. However, something unexpected, my uncle took us to see the Badlands. I’ve never heard of it, and apparently he found it one day because he got lost coming home from work (don’t ask, even I couldn’t figure it out). I don’t quite know what it is, but it was some body of water at some point in time, and it dried up. I didn’t have time to read the sign. But its quite interesting to see, here’s a couple of pics:

You can actually walk around, as its part of the famous Bruce Trail apparently. That was an interesting deviation from the usual

Sunday was a relaxer, Saif and I had breakfast together, then Deen came, and we went to the park for a bit, and they went off with Aisha for the remainder of the day. The evening was rounded off with dinner downtown with an uncle that is visiting from the UK. It was really nice having dinner with him, one of the nicest desi’s I have ever met. The last time I met him, the story he recanted, I was 5 or 6 and I fell asleep on his lap. He was very supportive, and offered whatever assistance I needed. Even offered to pay for me to come to the UK!

So in all, it was an enjoyable weekend, and well needed.

The Weekend is Here!

Its Friday! I made it another week, alhumdulillah!

There’s been a lot of tension and low morale at work this past little while. The company is downsizing, and everybody is scared shitless. You may show to work in the AM, and that is the end of that, you are walked out before noon. Due to security reasons, if you do happen to get the tap on the shoulder, you are not allowed to return to your desk, or say goodbye, simply you hand over your ID, and are immediately escorted by security out of the building. Its harsh. In a conversation with a coworker yesterday, he was recanting a story about the Workman’s Compensation Board’s downsizing a few years ago. They hired a security firm to escort each employee out of the building, 2 guards, one holding each arm, and safely placed you in a waiting taxi outside. They, being the compensation board, were making sure you exited the building safely, and no “accident” should befall you on the way out.

But so far I’m still employed. In fact my entire department has not been touched! But we suspect that this will all by over by next week, and the survivors can breathe a huge sigh of relief.

But right now…its the weekend…TGIF! As long as it doesn’t rain, its a good time to kick back relax, hang out with the kids. They’ve been begging for water gun fights, but the weather has been their ultimate adversary. Here’s hoping to good weather and good times this weekend, as the summer winds down!

What are your weekend plans?

Ahhh Home

A beautiful picture of home.

This picture comes from Daily Dose, click on the picture to be redirected to his photog.

Sanitary Meat Shops

A few years ago, while on vacation in Florida I went to a meat shop to buy some, well, meat (we had a kitchen in our hotel suite). I walked into the meat/grocery store, and on first appearances everything looks exactly like home, National brand curries on the shelf, halaal burger and hot dogs in the freezer, and various other dust laden good probably purchased 10 years ago when the store first opened. Like I said, nothing out of the ordinary.

I proceeded to the back of the store to request my chicken with instructions of how I wanted it. The butcher kindly told me, it would 10 minutes. I walked around the store browsing, killing time. When my chicken was ready, I went to the back to collect it, and was shocked. The chicken was nicely packaged in a styrofoam dish wrapped in platic wrap, just like in normal high end grocery stores. I commented about this to my father in law (a Florida resident), and he informed me that this was normal!

Now lets compare that to Toronto. Every meat shop I’ve been to runs relatively clean. What grosses me out, is the lack of sanitary hand off. The butcher will handle the chicken, prepare it, put it in plastic grocery bag, and hand it to you just like that. Most times they don’t even bother to wipe their hands, or you see bits of chicken fat stuck to the bag handles. Salmonella, what’s that, a new find of fish?!?!? Purell doesn’t exactly make me feel like I’m rid of the stuff either.

Is this normal where you live? Does it bother you? BTW, these are halal meat shops I’m talking about, in case it wasn’t clear

Amal

Amal is a movie that was originally screened during the Toronto International Film Festival. In fact, it was the Winner of Toronto International Film Festival Group and totes the title of Canada’s Top Ten Films of 2007.

The main actor Rupinder Nagra is a personal friend of one of the guys I work with. It also boasts the talent of Roshan Seth (Nehru from Gandhi) and Naseeruddin Shah (Monsoon Wedding and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen).

For those of you in the GTA, it opens this Friday, August 8th, at Varsity Theater on Bloor St. and in more cinemas Aug 22nd. My sister also wishes to it so we are planning to go see it when she comes on holiday later this month.

Below is a synopsis of the movie as it appears on the site:

SOMETIMES THE POOREST OF MEN ARE THE RICHEST

Amal, a multi-layered portrait of contemporary India, follows an auto-rickshaw driver in New Delhi. Amal, who is content with his small, but vital role in city-life.

One day he drives an eccentric billionaire, G.K. Jayaram who, disguised as a vagabond, is searching the streets for the last morsel of humanity, and someone to will his fortune to. After their fatefule meeting, both of their lives are changed forever.

Filmed on location in New Delhi, India, this modern day fable questions the meaning of wealth, and ultimately reveals that sometimes the poorest of men can be the richest.

There Are No Stupid Questions

Really? I ask you to consider the following situation. Sorry its car related again

The car needs an oil change, so I call ahead and book an appointment for the following morning. Due to logistical issues, I decide to drop the car off the night before. I walk to the service counter where the following conversation occurs:

Me: Yes, I’m brining my car for service.
Lady behind Desk: Ok, do you have an appointment
Me: Yes, its for tomorrow morning, but I’m dropping the car off tonight
LbD: That’s fine, may I have your licence plate # and milage
Me: provides info
LbD: Are you Amir, and your appointment is at 7:30?
Me: yes
LbD: Will you be waiting for the vehicle?
Me: uhhh…pardon?
LbD: Will you be waiting for the vehicle?

All this time she is looking at me with a dead serious look, while I look back in disbelief. What surprised me more was that I had to answer the question! Now…I ask you, do you still believe there are no stupid questions?