So I was driving from Thousand Oaks down to Long Beach for the weekend and I decided to take the scenic route. It was such a beautiful drive that I actually had to stop twice and get out of the car to take pictures of what I was seeing.

At the first spot, I took the following photos:

And at the second spot, I took the following photos:

- Omar Z.

[snooty accent start] Yeeeeeaaas, I simply hopped on a plane and winged my way to delightful Toronto to attend a private gala event this weekend. MUCH better than that oh-so-common Toronto International Film Festival that's going on there. [snooty accent end]

Ok, ok, all joking aside, I had a BLAST this weekend! I guess it was a combination of being back in my home town with all my friends there. It was sad to leave. I took oodles of photos (that have been posted ;).

I was heading off for work, and this view took my breath away.

- Omar Z.

Gah! My flight was delayed by two & a half freaking hours. Looks like it was a combination of our plane showing up late from its previous run & there being a medical emergency on board. I saw them cart out a lady on an EMS stretcher; she was wrapped in a big yellow blanket and was breathing from an oxygen mask.

Thus, I was supposed to show up in LA(la land) at ~10:15pm, but ended up arriving at 12:20am!?!?!?!?! Gah!

WOW, it's been a hectic week! Lets start with Sunday

Sunday
Going away party! Thanks to everyone who was able to make it! And Boo to anyone that bailed ;P I posted the photos of the party in the photos section :D

Monday
First Monday without work! Woho! I'm a bum again! I went to the bank and setup a US Dollar account at TD with a FREE 'Borderless Plan' that gives me a FREE US Dollar Visa Credit Card :D I was preapproved for the visa so all I had to do was wait for it to arrive. Gawd, I LOVE my TD Select Service account :D :D

Ok, So my going away party is scheduled for 2pm Sunday, March 25th 2007 @ the Fox & Fiddle.

I've booked my flight for 8:15pm Saturday, March 31st - T1 (arrives @ 10:45pm Saturday, March 31st - T2).

I went to TD bank and discovered that I can get a FREE ($4.95US/month fee waived) US dollar "Borderless Plan" account, WITH a FREE ($25US/year fee waived) TD US Dollar Advantage Visa Card, all because I have a TD Select Service chequing account :D

Ok, lets make this official. About a week ago, I accepted a job offer from a construction contracting company in the States. This Friday is my last day of work at my current (awsome, wicked, cool, fun, I'll miss it bunches) company, Mayon Technologies Inc.

Now it's on to greener (read: more Electrical Engineering-y) pastures :D YAY!

My new career will be part of the 'MEP Group' (Mechanical Electrical Plumbing). My starting job title will be 'Project Engineer'; OOOooo! Sends shivers up and down my spine!!!!

Ok, so I haven't really been doing any new posts for the past month ... So sue me :P

First, I went to a wedding in Ottawa for my good friend Mohsin and his blushing bride Nida. I've got plenty of pictures of that event here. Hehe, I'm probably not going to see Mohsin again for a year ... now that he's got that whole wedded bliss thing happening.

Ok, it took me a while to get to this post, but I needed the included map to better explain how 'difficult' it was to get out of New York. As you can see, there are two routes: the one we were supposed to take through Manhattan (desired) and the walkabout that we ended up traveling (actual).

They say a picture is worth a thousand words ... this one is worth a thousand laughs. A lot of people have asked me how I managed to remember the crazy route we ended up taking; I just used maps.google.com in satellite and map mode to jog my memory (Google Maps Rock!).

All in all, I'm just glad I didn't hit a pedestrian ... those idiots in New York just keep freaking walking unless you honk!!! They're insane!

Ok, this is going to be my last post in NY for this mini-vacation. Ahmed and Aamir are gone right now to return the movie we rented yesterday, so I've got some time to kill.

Quick recap of what we did today: