BizTalk: Captain Johnny’s new proposed Destination

…and then my boss said: "Burhan, I want you to start working on BizTalk as I want you to join the Integration Department".

So, as the project that i am currently working on ends in a week’s time, I have another cross to bear – Learning Biztalk. I have never worked on Biztalk before so don’t know shit about it. So, i contacted the guys who currently work on it and collected software and material from them.

Now i have to learn it 😦

Damn, i already feel freaking out! Don’t know what is gonna happen when i actually get into this crap!

Life………….. an eternal abyss of worries!

It used to happen in the movies … or maybe in some StarPlus drama!

It is barely three months since my grandfather (Nana) passed away and now, i have been asked to stay attentive to receive another bad news. This time its my other grandfather (Dada) who lives in Multan. He has been suffering from cancer and his condition is worsening day by day. Doctors say, this is the last stage of his disease. So, its a matter of time before i have to pack a couple of suits and run back home!

Another drama that occurred just yesterday was also related to the above one, a relative of ours traveled from Karachi to Multan and on her way she visited a nearby city where she had an accident and died… so sad!

Man, this whole situation is really freaking me out… I always pray for the best when the phone bell rings and am having troubles sleeping…. not to mention the ruined studies and work!

God Bless us All

Movies during the Eid holidays

Though I don’t have time to write what my other activities were during Eid holidays, but for the time being i would list down the movies that i watched over the four day holiday + two extra days due to security reasons 🙂

• Pirates of the Caribbean 3
• Ali G In Da House
• Die Hard 4
• Mr. Beans’s Holiday
• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
• Pale Rider
• Wild Hogs
• The Hills have eyes
• The Hills have eyes 2

yeah you bet it right, i have been busy:)

A Champion’s Finish

Sunday the 21st of October was the race day at Sao-Paulo, Brazil.

This race would mark the end of the F1 season for 2007.

The race would also be a crunch one as three drivers were on striking distance of clinching the title but Lewis Hamilton was the favorite and Kimi Rakionnen was more likely to get to second position though Fernando Alonso had higher points than Kimi.

During the Qualifiers, Massa – the local boy showed his colors and secured pole position, Hamilton would start from second followed by Kimi and Alonso respectively.

Being a Ferrari fan, i was always in favor of the success of the scarlet team but realistically this doesn’t seem to be true as a perfect situation is not a daily occurance – but you know what ??? It DID happen!

Kimi – the Ice Man drove the race of his life and whizzed passed Alonso, Hamilton and Massa…. Kimi Kimi Kimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii… and then there was chequered flag. Kimi had defied the odds, the ice man showed that he was not to be melted under the heat of the race.

So, with Kimi winning, Hamilton at 7th place and Alonso at 3rd, we saw history being made. and when Kimi lifted the championship trophy, i sighed and said, I wish i had asked for something else instead of Kimi’s win, i might have gotten it 😦

So, I am more than glad to see Raikonnen winning the F1 championship at the last race of the season. Ferrari finally have something to cheer about. Last year on the same day and same venue, the GREAT SCHUMI hung his gear and after one year, we see the rise of a new "the one" from the ranks of the Ferrari.

All rise for the newly crowned king… Hip Hip Hooray! Hip Hip Hooray! Hip Hip Hooray!

Lets celebrate for the Ice Man, the Ice King – the new F1 champion. My man, you truly deserved it!

Shopping on Chand Raat

Everybody’s dream…. to go out and shop till your wallet runs out of money and your credit card runs out of limit…. I have similar dreams. And this chand raat, my dreams were supposed to come true.

As the sun set on the 30th of Ramadan (13th of October, 2007) – The firing began. It was the beginning of Chand Raat and people were open heartedly deducting zakat out of their ammunition.

At around 10 PM, 4 of us left the house to rock the party, our destination….

Tariq Road ???    NO
Millennium Mall ???      NOPES
Park Towers ???  Nahi Baba, Ziada uncha na socho.

abay phir kia sabzi mandi gai thay ????     Nahi wahan bhee nahi.

Ok, Ok, I give up, so whats the new place where you shopped this chand raat ?

Well, the place was….. Makro!

Yeah folks, I had to leave for Makro to get some groceries. 😦   such a fulfillment of fantasies 😥

So, we reached Makro at Lines Area and spent the next hour buying groceries and vegetables. We bought Prawns, Meat, Chicken, Tomatoes, Cabbages, Cold Drinks, Juices, Noodles (yeah one of us thought that buying noodles and cold drinks was a cool thing at makro). I got hold of a pair of shoes as well (the only creating thing i did the whole night besides writing this blog)

So, on our way home, We stopped by KayBees and had a meal (the Fun Part of the whole trip)

Yeah what a way to fulfill your fantasies by shopping at Makro on Chand Raat. While the whole world was on their bikes and cars having a helluva great time, i was paying the grocery bill 😦

Well, its half past 1 in the morning and six more hours before i prepare for the Eid Prayers. I have sent all the Eid greeting SMS and now I intend to study a bit and watch a movie along the way. No sleeping for me this night. I wish i had stayed awake on the holy nights during the Ramadan, but perhaps the influience of the devil is so much on me.. bad me!

Good night, and Good Luck…. God Bless you!

~~~~~ EID MUBARAK ~~~~~

 BURHAN AHMAD

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Festivity begins

Today is the last day before a four day Eid vacation.

The environment at office is chill, festive.. people are gossiping on each other’s seats.

I have no work to do either (as usual :))

SO, i am planning to skip early today and say my prayers at the local mosque… well gotta wait and see if i am successful or not.

I also have piled up almost 10 movies, so the coming four days are going to be good (hopefully)

So, before i sign out for the long vacation, i wish you very best of wishes for the eid. ( i am going to post a card on the blog)…

 

I will see you on the other side,

ciao!

Cometh the Hour, Cometh the bot

The past weekend, I watched the movie ‘Transformers’.

I used to occasionally watch this cartoon more than a decade ago and before watching the movie, all i knew about the characters of the series was that they were some kind of robots who could turn themselves into automobiles. Kids used to discuss the episodes at school and i used to be involved in the discussions but never knew what they were and how they ever came to live amongst us. Perhaps at that time of life i never bothered to know this complex details. If i could recall correctly, i liked the bot which could turn into a Truck because it was a cool character and its transformation from a human like robot to an automobile seemed natural one.

So, As i started to watch this movie (i chose to watch this one as i had heard a lot about this one from the movie reviews and from the internet), i came to know the history of the characters and the cause of the fights among them. I also learnt the name of the bot that i used to like the most. They called him ‘Optimus Prime’ and it was the leader of the good guys 🙂

I must admit, the movie was quite a gripping one. The show that started as a time pass turned into a session of amusement and soon i was indulged into the plot.

The movie started with the history of the Transformers as how their original planet was destroyed and the sacred cube drifted away from their planet and ended up landing on the planet earth. ‘Megatron’ – The leader of bad guys (Decepticons) followed the cube to Earth but ended up getting trapped and frozen in the Arctic. Then an ancient explorer tracked it down and triggered the actions that would lead us to the current days when the great grand son of the explorer tried to sell the belongings of his great grandfather on E-bay. Soon, the movie was twisting and turning with three parties trying to get hold of the cube. The good bots led by Optimus in association with the hero of the movie (who happened to be a man), the bad bots led by Megatron and a secret government organization who had the possession of the cube.

The movie proved to be an interesting one for me as i relived the days of my school-age with much more things to learn.

So, the movie is much more than a time pass and if you want to watch some sci-fi action packed drama, you ought to watch this one.

Not going home

ah…. how much i wanted to go back to my hometown for the Eid holidays. It has been many months since i went there. but, things are not moving in the right direction for me.

Due to the recent demise of my grand father, my family has decided to head to Karachi to join us for Eid. No celebrations, no new clothes, no parties 😦

so, i will have to wait and wait till i get a chance to visit Multan and my friends. Till that time, i will have to contain with SMS messages to greet my friends on Eid.

Coming to an End

So, its time to start wrapping things up.

The four months at UBL are coming to an end as 25th will be the day that i pack my stuff and go back to my parent company.

The project has been deployed and will be set to LIVE status soon after Eid. Eid is still 3 more days to go.

So, lets see what lies ahead on the road…. The UBL one was certainly a motorway!