The fried egg syndrome

Seattle is experiencing the hottest and more importantly the driest summer of the century. Of course the century is just in its 10th year and with the way the climate is changing most likely the records set this year will be easily broken in the years to come. Nevertheless, it is frigging hellish HOT out there and I'm suffering from the Fried Egg Syndrome. But perhaps it isn't the dry heat that is at the root of this syndrome. Perhaps it is due to my impending unemployment and homelessness or the fact that the roommate wont agree to my parents staying at my place during their visit, despite the fact that she is never at home (I last saw her in April) or the fact that I cant find a place to keep my dearest family who plan to visit me in August, or my little cousin getting harassed by her jackass husband, or my seemingly useless workouts (the weight loss is progressing at snails pace...and no I am not digesting crap). Or maybe it is the heat after all. My place has no air-conditioning and the temperature keeps in the late 80s up until midnight. My room faces east and the freeway, absorbing the heat from the entire day and not allowing me to keep my window open through the night Last night I plugged in cotton balls in my ears to silence the freeway noise just so I can keep the window open.

Whatever maybe the reason, my brain seems ready to melt out of my ears. This reminds me of my visits to Multan at various occasions. Multan is a city in Pakistani Punjab, situated near the Cholistan Desert. It is a wonderful place of cultural, historic and spiritual importance, but none of this greatness can minimize the fact that the place is HELL April through October. It is soooo hot, averaging anywhere between 50 - 55 Celsius (Seattleites that's between 120 - 130 Fahrenheit). You cant eat, you cant breath. It is like being in a damn sauna. I remember it so clearly. I also remember every time I went there I prayed more regularly and tried to be a good Muslim, since it was so much like burning in hell for eternity. Tauba Tauba.

By now I have no idea where this post is going. What was I trying to say....see what I mean about the the syndrome. Oh whatever, its not like i have a gaggle of loyal readers following this blog.

The point maybe is that I wish I was in a tropical place, where temperatures remained moderate (anywhere between 70 - 80 F/20 - 28 C) throughout the year, I had a place of my own where people could visit and stay with me freely, my cousin could go back being single and come to the US to study, I had a dream job in a heavily unionized company to give me eternal job security and job satisfaction and I was eternally in the best shape of my life, without having to work at it like a dog. Sighhh if only we could have our tiny little dreams and wishes come true ;-).

There is no place like home...now wait a minute..

I don't know how and I don't know when, but I have just suddenly realised. Seattle has made its way into my heart and has officially become my home. It has given me the right energy to be happy and content, to learn to take care of myself, to make new friends, to bring Nick (my wonderful trainer) in my life and to hike half way up the Glorious Mt. Rainier. From the moment I landed here, I have loved its snow capped mountains, its beautiful lakes, its wonderfully green landscapes and its perfect Summer days. I have enjoyed the snow, I have enjoyed my Sunday strolls in the Pike Place Market, I have even enjoyed the rain and most of all I have enjoyed making new friends. Here, I have restarted playing tennis and met my one true love, my dear car, which proudly displays a Washington license plate. And lately when I fly back from my weekend trips to Cali, I am not sad anymore. I guess I know that I am coming home.

Well...I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER!!. When in the past 33 years of my life I have ever found a place that would become my HOME? How could I, an Army brat by birth and an expatriate and an IT consultant by choice, yet again make the mistake of thinking some place is my home? Silly, Silly, Free Spirited DJS.

Friday, as I was about to walk out of work, my manager called me for an impromptu meeting. Anyone who has ever worked as a contractor would know that that is never a good thing. Uh-oh!! My manager, very likable person gave a speech about how amazing its been to work with me and what a great job i have done in the past year and a half, and how they regret having to let me go. He wished there was some way he could keep me at the company, but since they have an employee available to take over my tasks, they are forced to throw me out in perhaps the worst job market since the late President Roosevelt was in the oval office. Gee Thanks!!

So what if this was not a total surprise given that my own project had already come to a successful end and so what if my manager felt horrible and told me I still had 2 months at my current position and so what if I was originally hired for just 12 weeks. The bottom line remains the same. In two months I have to leave my home, again!! Sighhhhhhhhhhhh.

Since I am still here two more months, this will not be my Bon Voyage or Adieu Seattle post. However, this post will be used to vent and to reiterate what I wrote in a previous post and to remind myself why I have given me the name of the free spirit and why I have made my home in a 5x10 Public Storage unit.

The funny thing is that the announcement of my impending unemployment and removal from Seattle was met with my people finalizing plans to visit the emerald city in the month of August. The very same people I have been asking to come for a visit my entire 14 months stay. Talk about a reality check. Nonetheless, I am happy that the visits will make my time remaining in Seattle a fun-filled and eventful one. I intend to make full use of being employed, being with friends and family, training with Nick Jr. and using the good energy Seattle has given me to find work in my beloved California. I guess this is how it feels to be told you have only 2 months to live ;-) Ahhh not exactly, but it does make my evil side happy to know that I will be enjoying the remaining sunshiny days of Summer here, before leaving the poor Seattlites to fend against another loooong, snow-filled, gloomy winter. Huhuhuhahahhaa!!

I guess Life has brought no real surprises here and has acted just as I have always seen it act. So I will try to get ready to leave my new home and face another adventure in another part of the world. In the meantime I will enjoy being with my people while willing the job-market to pick up....

Hope You find Peace

On a whole other note, I was quite saddened by the tragic death of Michael Jackson. Of course the US media has started its usual crazy non-stop Story Coverage Extravaganza. Every channel is scrutinizing every aspect of MJ's life, death, music and controversies.
I never paid too much attention to what happened in his personal life, since what’s that got to do with his talent and amazing vocal and dance abilities. Also, since I didn’t live in the US until 5 years ago. But, I do know that we cannot expect a man who has never lived a regular life or learned what society considers as normal, to behave normally. His imbalance or eccentric tendencies are not unusual, given that he has always been famous, always been a star and always been treated as a money making machine. In fact, given all this, it surprises me that he was so aware of the dark and real side of the world. And given the greed, pressure and ugliness that surrounded him, he continued to be so passionate about his work.
Only God knows what the truth and reality of his life and death is, but what we all know is that he was one of the most talented entertainers of his time and a part of him will live forever through his music. R.I.P Michael.

I am with Family

After a wonderful 4th of July weekend with my family, it was so hard to get back to my life in Seattle. I realised once again how hard it is to be away from the people I love. Being away from the people in Pakistan is hard enough, now I have to be away from the people in Cali? Especially now that two of my people from Pakistan are in Cali. And even though I have become a space whore (the typical syndrome of living the American way of life) and can generally be highly irritable to any questions or criticism about the way I do things and lead my life and of course loved ones tend to do both (question and criticise), I'd still prefer if they lived in the same town as me. Families are like that I guess. Cant live with them or without them.
Last week I had a mother of all migraines. It was awful and I spent hours trying interhcangebaly to hold down my water and food, to fall asleep and not to cry and yell "make it stop" at the top of my voice. Stop it didn't but I did eventually fall asleep. Usually when this devil takes over your body you do need to go through a full-blown exorcism of sorts to recover from it. For one whole day, I stayed away from sound, light, sun, computer, work, gym, food and most importantly all kinds of smells. I finally recovered long enough to fly to Cali fro the long weekend and enjoy my Friday with M. But lo and behold. Come Saturday morning the devil returns. Of course it didn't help that my three nephews squeal so much. I mean I never realised what a bunch of squealers they are. With each subsequent squeal my brain did a somersault in my skull. Finally my mother came in and offered to give me a head massage. Just like the old times when during my childhood migrainal episodes, Ami used to rub my head and completely exorcised the Devil. I wondered if it will still work. Sure enough, a head rub by Ami and couple of hours long nap, and I woke up headache less ready to enjoy the fireworks. Only mothers can do this :-)
I love 4th of July mainly because its usually the warmest of all the holidays in America and also because I love fireworks. Absolutely, completely and totally loveeeeeeeeeeee fireworks. No surprise that during the display I squealed just as loudly as my little nephews. Before the display they played all the old MJ songs. I danced on Billy Jean with Nephew number 2 on my shoulders. What fun. My oldest Nephew who obviously doesn't take after me on the dancing skills, kept bumping and running into people (mostly me) on purpose. Apparently, that is his dance move. Sighhhh!!!
Sunday was just as fun with a picnic at the beach followed by a Dosa with Papa and M. Yummm.
The highlight of the whole weekend, which made coming back here the hardest was my little angel telling me "Don't go!! This is your home! This is your new home!! Stay here!! This is your Family!!" Being that he isn't the most talkative of kids, this was so amazing and touching. Also amazing is the fact that I didn't start crying and cancel my flight :)