Finally, after almost 4 months in US, I moved into my own apartment. Rented this apartment for its good shape, very good community and its walking distance from office.

Moving in was fun Daily spending hours and hours on craigslist, watching for garage sales, cheap furniture, electronics, etc…. Then emailing all the good offers and then knowing that everything that you want is sold and every time you are the lazy one…, seriously that was fun. I mean you just read a post, you email them and you know that you are few minutes late

Khair, I managed to finalize a dining table some how. Bed I finalized to get from my old place from Office. Crib and beddings for my baby I finalized to buy from my CEO. The worst and the most time consuming was TV. I could not find a single TV which was reasonably cheap and for which i was not late and still it was in a good working condition.

Got keys on Thursday and moved the Baby Furniture and Dining Set on the same day using my CTO’s truck. Actually he was helping me a lot in all the movement. That dining table, damn! it was HEAVY. I had to bring it up from basement alone and uffff, It was a pain. Once it was up, me and Nandan (my CTO and company owner) managed to fit it in the truck with all 6 chairs and a uniquely designed comfort chair. This chair was in for free and I like it too much.

Major part of shifting was due on Saturday. Decided to use a UHaul truck to move the bed and my luggage. My friends were there to help me. I took the electric instruments of Jan from the office to disassemble the bed. Took a toolkit from Hemant to finish it up. Nitin was there to help me disassemble and carry things out. And last, but not the least, was Mukta.

This wonderful girl has a wonderful car. Just like her, her civic is also small(looks so) but has a lot of potential which you don’t imagine in the first look. The way we managed to fit complete bed and two side tables in car, I never expected that before. Mukta advised me not to use the UHaul and try the cars instead. This saved me another 50+ bucks

Last trip included Hemant’s car as well and we could move the luggage with a heavy Futon Mattress.

After just putting it all at apartment, we left for lunch. Then had some other things to do. It was almost 9 PM when we got back. Muks and Nitin looked tired so I let them go and my self had another task in front of me.

I decided to do everything within that night. I assembled the best, then that heavy dining table. Then I had to disassemble the crib to move it in bed room and them assemble it back. After all was done I had dinner and slept (around 2 AM).

Woke up around 6 AM. After prayer, started with unpacking the luggage and arrange all the small things. By 10, I was done with everything. Apartment looked good with some furniture in it. Small, clean, spacious and organized… I like it.

Rest of the day was laundry. Afternoon, the couple with TV and DVD player reached. In 80 bucks, I had 1 mint condition Toshiba 20” FST CRT TV with a mint condition Panasonic DVD Player. Still, no cable.

Now the last thing for now is cable and internet. Comcast guy is coming in Morning

After Eid, It was same for couple of days. Days were busy in work but, when everybody goes home, I used to miss Pakistan and my home. And this was not only me. Every body, even ppl who are here for 10/20 years, cannot escape the memories of Pakistan and home on eid.

Khair, every spell is to break and every time is to end. It took a couple of days but finally I was back to normal.

Coming to what else has been happening around me, The most enjoyable one was my trip to Philadelphia on last weekend. I wanted to blog about that right away but thanx to DELL, I could not Will tell this DELL story later.

Trip to Philly

A very good person and my old friend, old only because of age , invited me to visit him at his home. He is a very nice and very well educated person, definitely no match for an ignorant like me

So, Professor Joseph M. Scandura, who was inviting me to visit him since my first day in US,  finally made me agree on a weekend with him. This was the first time we were meeting so we were both very excited. I left from Gaithersburg at 0630 in morning. Reached chinatown of Philly around 1030. called him and he was there to pick me up in 15 minutes.

Philly is really an historical place but I did not have enough time to visit the places. He took the special route towards home to show me park and museum and whatever possible during that time. When we reached to his home, It was really good. That location and such a good house on top of a hill. It felt really good.

Alice, Joe’s wife, was there to welcome us. She looks much younger than Professor and is a pretty women. She was so like a typical mom worrying about what to cook for me and how was my travel and all that. She must be a very good mom, I can imagine that.

Having a butter cake with blue berries was nice. But the slice was too big to finish. And yes, It was heavy I enjoyed how much was possible for me. Alice told me that she’ll be cooking some veggie special Italian food just for me. I am not very good at trying new cuisines but could not say no to her.

When she left for some shopping at super store, Me an Joe had lot of chit chat. Including his research, world economy and situation of Pakistan, we discussed so many things. I also helped him setting up his scanner.

Then we decided to go out and walk around the streets. When we went out, Professor showed me his bike and I could not help myself from trying it. I was on a  bike after 10/11 years and it felt so good. So we both decided to take a hike on bike. He is very healthy for his age. There were places where I could not climb on bike but it was too easy for him.

It was almost freezing and surroundings were clean and beautiful. I enjoyed that bike ride tooo much. If I didn’t have to come back, I could spend a lot more time biking. It was mostly a hill station kind place in suburbs of Philly so perhaps you can imagine the enjoyment.

When we came back, It was almost 1600. Alice had the lunch kum dinnner ready for us And then the moment came. Toughest for me, trying a new cuisine, I finally choked. I could not eat that, It was too different to handle for me. I felt really embarrassed when I had to say it. She put a lot of effort in it and I kinda wasted it. I am really a bad kid

But then I had tuna fish Fried tuna fish, out of a cane, with black pepper sprinkled on top was tasty for me. So, I managed to kill some of my appetite.

They insisted a lot to make me stay over night but I had some promises with some friends for next day so I had to come back. He dropped me near bus at 1700 and rest of the trip was usual till I reached DC.

Some moments from my weekend at Philadelphia:

Thank you professor for such a good time.

On my way back to Gaithersburg, when I was to wait for RedLine metro at Gallery Place Station at china town DC, I visited the AT&T store there. I had some doubts in mind due to my short stay in US and not enough credit history, but still I asked them if I could get an IPhone 3G. To my surprise, they agreed to give me one

So, finally, I have an IPhone 3G and my own number now. Will think about writing some details about this gadget later.

Wednesday was much different from normal mid-weeks. It felt like Friday… No, It felt better than Friday. And I left the office before 1800

Everybody is either leaving for somewhere or expecting someone to come. All you can hear is planning the thanksgiving and weekend. Even in our desi team, Nitin is already gone and Muks leaving in morning. While leaving the office, had a small conversation with Christina and as expected, she’s also leaving. She asked me about my plans and then I realized that I still have no plans finalized… Wow, what a preparation for 4 days:)

Its Wednesday evening and me still thinking to finalizing something. Then time shifted my focus when I realized that I have to make something for dinner. Hmmmm, back to cooking and its time for “more” experiments. Lets try cooking the rice traditional way… but hey, no onions at home… OK, lets try without onions. Took almost an hour, but it was fine. After eating the dinner, browsing the Internet, I saw something of my interest. I didn’t know that Thanksgiving comes with a season of sales and bargains…. And some of them are tooo good. I also decided to spend some of my hard-earned cash What I purchased??? Will blog about that later, after I get the item.

Its around midnight. Thursday is coming and I have no plans and still can’t sleep. Again, lets try something more with cooking. Go downstairs, cross the street, get to Giant and bring onion and potatoes. That’s what I did. Cuz If I have these two things, I can try a lot It was almost morning when I was making “chakli aaloo”. And it was also very tasty.

Talked to my wife in morning, then made aaloo andey and finally managed to sleep around 0900. And then I was sleeping till evening:)

Its Thursday evening and I suddenly say, WTF, I have to get out. I can’t stay like this for 4 days. Called Akif and Kamran. Finalized the plan and I am all set for coming day.

Friday, after Friday prayer, went to silver spoon (my closest and favorite eating place), had a delicious aaloo paratha and packed one for coming time. Had 57 to Shady Grove, RedLine to Washington DC, Chinese Bus to NY, NJT to Edison NJ and finally a taxi to guest house. At 2130, I was at the guest house.

After a tiresome journey, Night was calm and fun. Had some discussions with Akif and Abdul. Some chit chat with other mates too. It looks like almost every body has an idea about my current status. There were no clear discussions though.

Saturday morning was a pleasant one. I walked for more than an hour on streets around guest house only because it felt so good. Some how, That place feels like home. After all, I’ve spent two very good weeks there and found the best of people at that place.

As per plan, Kamran was there finally and me, him, Akif and Abdul went for lunch. It was a party from my side for my current status. It was also the first transaction on my credit card in US

Me and Akif had to leave for Maryland. Akif actually decided to accompany me till Baltimore on same bus as he also had to visit relatives. We had to rush towards Jersey to be on PATH for 33rd street.

Before getting on PATH, in Jersey City, We offered our Asar prayer. There was a Masjid and we rushed to join the prayer. I don’t know the reason but this prayer felt real good. I felt very calm and satisfied after the prayer.

Getting on PATH, getting out at 33rd street and then walk (or I should say run?) towards Penn Station was all a rush. It was really hard to catch that chinese bus but we did it. Finally we left on the bus from famous Fashin Street of New York for Maryland.

Saturday Night was not a very good start on the roads. NJ TurnPike and 95 were all jam packed. Initially we expected that after Delaware, it may lighten up a little but It remained the same till Baltimore when we reached there around 2200. After that, roads were not that much crowded.

Every time I travel with these chinese buses, especially on way back to Maryland, something “not good” is to happen. This time, After all the traffic, when we finally reached DC, Driver lost his way to get out of DC. For some time, He was going in circles. Once he figured out, how to actually set for Rockville, there was one more thing. Another chinese guy was kind enough to tell that he has missed his DC stop. And then, driver was kind enough to go back to DC to drop him. A couple also dropped there out of frustration caused by this whole scenario. And when we reached Rockville, it was almost 0000.

Sunday, I slept all day and then could not sleep at night. I knew that its a call on early morning but still could not sleep till 0400.

Monday morning: Just finished the call and this long story of long weekend is also complete. Posting it right away.

Last 3 weeks were nothing but an adventure. A lot has happened. Switching companies, updating bank accounts, first pay, paying bills, sending money to home, etc….

And now, life is real slow suddenly. It’s calm all around. No more worries about ‘things’. Just wake up, have breakfast, go to office, work till evening and come back to room, dinner, movie and back to sleep. Not to mention, Its getting really cold out there. Did I tell you that this Friday, Maryland had its first snow?? I think I did. Here are two photos in front of office:

So, to spice up the life a bit, I decided something. And on the weekend, I bought a Rice Cooker

It was -3 Celsius this Saturday when we, me and Nitin, were heading to walmart. All packed in jackets, we had to wait for bus. I had my mini camera with me but it was too cold to handle the camera. Still, Nitin managed to take a shot while I am waiting for bus at stop.

After getting that rice cooker, we’ve made rice only once but I’ve fried eggs twice Really, Since I left the NJ, I was missing the eggs too much. Here we don’t have stove so could not fry anything. But after cooking rice, suddenly i thought to give it a try for eggs and it worked

Almost 3 weeks after the first snow in New Jersey, Now its time for Maryland. First snow of Maryland, dropping slowly and slightly to the ground and vanishing…. Right now its to light to be captured. I’ll see If it gets heavier and i can take a shot of first snow.

Edit: 2 photos added. You can view on side bar or can go to flickr.

This place, home for several consultants waiting for project, has its own atmosphere and its own set of activities. I am sharing some photos of VSG/OrionSoft/Lekha/Venturi head office in New Jersey. Thanks to Kanna for photos.

Workplace, labs & cabins…

Dining Corner…

Diwali feast, company provided lunch…

I believe it to be the first snow fall of the season. Even if it was not, yesterday was first snow fall in New Jersey since I arrived on October 11, 2008.

Some low quality photos from my low quality 3.1 MP camera.