Did I mention that I hate ironing????????

I've only been away for about a week but it seems like it has been forever. There is a lot to write so let me get started. September 11 came and went last week and it was pretty much what I expected. A couple of the shows on TV that night were pretty interesting - CBS had some really good stuff like 60 Minutes 2 and that footage filmed by those 2 French filmmakers.

Aside number 1: that new Missy Elliot song - what the heck is she saying in the course? I can't understand at all...This is my take:
itz snurf ama within id nayet chrup (just in case you were wondering - that is not English)

Dallas is nothing great. It's pretty flat (flatter than Toronto if you can believe it}). It's hot as hell. Damn hot! It is very white and black in pockets. Fair share of Hispanics too. I guess it's just like almost every other big city in America. The suburbs are straight out of TV or the movies - bungalows, huge lawns, SUV's, other nice luxury cars, 2.3 children, white picket fences. in my cousin's neighbourhood, the city had actually painted all the fire hydrants silver cause the residents of the neighbourhood thought the red was an eye sore! The biggest tourist attraction in Dallas is the site of the JFK assassination. I saw the grassy noll (spelling?) and the book depository window from where it is said that Lee Harvey Oswald shot one of the bullets. The one cool thing about this historical attraction is that there are a bunch of people there who sell replica newspapers, books, etc with all sorts of information on the shooting. But they all have their own conspiracy theories about who was involved and their motives so it is relaly interesting to hear what they have to say. Most of them claim that they were there in Dallas when it happened. On Saturday night, I stayed at my cousin Ratheen's house and had a good time. His mom made some wicked fajitas and at night I went out with his best friend, a Puerto Rican guy named Eddie who is a pilot in the US Airforce. He was a really fun guy so that was fun. The first bar we went to was kind of like places on King West in Toronto but we didn't stay long cause the music sucked. Left there and went to a bar that was totally a university hang out. Reminded me of a Waterloo bar. I was so psyched to talk to this one Spanish girl in a pink shirt but I chickened out in the end. What a loser!!! (I am referring to me, not her). Before going to my cousin's for dinner with his family, I saw two of my other cousins from my dad's side. They both have young kids so it was cool to see Meera and Anusha for the first time. Unfortunately Eshan was not home cause he was playing with one of his buddies but the other two girls were so adorable.

Flew home on Sunday and in the paper, I found this funny article about airplane security - check it out: "... There are already imaging machines capable of seeing through clothes and talk about developing brainwave-monitoring devices supposedly capable of detecting agitated minds that could be harbouring hostile thoughts." - I thought that was really funny.

Sunday night when I came home, some family friends - Priya and Ashwin came over with Priya's sister and mom. Priya just had her first child - a boy they named Rishi. He is a really cool kid - only about 45 days old so that was really cool to see and meet him. Ashwin said the funniest thing..."It's a wonder that someone so small can make so many loud noises from every part of his body". He was referring to his son, not me. This week has actually gone by really quickly. I've been busy with work so that is probably why. Actually, this week I've been on the road a lot going to Cambridge, Hamilton and Kitchener. I really gotta work on getting more sleep at night though cause the days come and I get so tired by about 10:00 am and then again at around 2:00 pm. It ain’t good cause I am gonna fall asleep on the job one day. Went to Jay and Meeta's house in Hamilton yesterday night and that was a lot of fun. They've got two kids - Ashwin (10 months) and Dineesh (3 years) - they are both cool kids as well. Man, I am seeing a lot of cool kids of late and I seem to get along and play with all of them...they all like me too! What message am I supposed to take from all this?

I’ve got some stuff to do over the next while…

1. Gotta get back on the work out routine – I have been getting very apathetic and lazy and haven’t been to the gym once in the past 3 weeks.
2. Gotta stay true to the diet (I’ve been slacking of late)
3. Gotta study more for work so I can really know my stuff (especially stuff like anatomy and how the products work)
4. Gotta do some shopping (suits, WRINKLE - RESISTANT Dress Shirts and dress shoes) - anyone wanna help me?

Karen, Amisha, Ingrid, Rachel, Luen, Christine, Julie, Tai, Kevin, Tchao, Craig, James, Reshma, Ketan, – how ya’ll doing? Sorry I haven’t read some of your pages of late but hope that you are all chilling.

Good night everyone,

Sorry about my absense everyone. I have been pretty busy with work stuff of late. I just got back from Milwaukee. I was there from Sunday afternoon until this morning. It was for a Sales training course which went really well. And, tomorrow, I am flying out to Dallas for a Sales Meeting. I am going go stay until Sunday so I can chill with my cousin Ratheen on the Saturday night. I've got 3 other cousins there so hopefully, I will be able to see them as well.

So ladies and gentlemen, I did fly today. Yep - I flew on September 11th. It was weird. I woke up in my hotel room this morning and was getting ready. Then, this crazy thought went through my head. I was thinking that exactly a year ago at that time, the hijackers were probably in their room getting ready after sleeping or whatever - basically, what the hell must have been going through their mind in the hours before they got to the airport and executed their plan. That must have been an entire mixture of emotions. Anyway, there was tonnes of traffic but when I got to the airport, it was virtually empty. I checked in and got through security in under 10 minutes cause it was just so empty. When we arrived in Toronto, Pearson was empty too. So basically, most people, other than business travellers tried to stay away from the skies today...The flight itself consisted of me reading the USA Today and Globe and Mail and just about every page had something to do about September 11. It got to be a bit too much in the end but it was still quite interesting reading the different articles and viewpoints.

I wanna go and spend some time with my parents but I'll write more later.
Have a good one everyone.

I watched The Sum of All Fears last night and it was pretty good. A little slow at times but overall the concept was neat. I thought that the whole thing about the U.S. and Russia potentially going to war over something that neither of them started was very plausible. I also liked the fact that a bomb actually did go off and kill people as opposed to most movies when the bomb is averted at the last minute. Once again, Ben Affleck did nothing for me. I really think that he is a crumby actor!

Today, went to my first hospital site. I was at The Hospital for Sick Kids this morning and it was really neat to be there for the first time walking around seeing what our products actually do to help patients and doctors. Sick Kids is a very unique hospital and it is really hard to see some of the kids in the shape they are in. Those kids are some of the most courageous people in the world. And to think what their parents are going through as well...man it is just way too sad. At the same point though, an institution like Sick Kids is so groundbreaking and it is doing so much to improve the health of ill children so that should be commended.

Went car shopping with my mom again tonight. We've narrowed it down to a short list (it's actually a pretty common shortlist for most asian families)

Honda Civic LX Model
Toyota Corolla LE Model
Mazda Protege LX Sport Package

We've test driven them all. Like some features on one...some on another. Cost is virtually the same. Do any of ya'll have any suggestions?

E-Mail me if you do.
Thanks and good night.

The drive in this morning surprisingly wasn't that bad. With school starting today...I was all scared that it was going to take forever so I was out the door at 6:59 am and at the office by 7:35 so that was great. Worked out for an hour and now, I am at my desk starting the day. It's clearing up outside so that should be make for a pleasant afternoon and evening. I slept well last night... wasn't up all night with nervous excitement - that was two weeks ago before my first day of work.

I take back the comments I made about the anniversary of September 11. I was thinking about it this weekend and I am an information hound, especially when it comes to stuff like this. I am sure that I will be watching all the special tributes and memorials about the lives of people since...all the heroes....all the people lost. I just watched this thing on CBC tonight about this Italian-Canadian gentlemen who was on the 84th floor of the second tower when the first tower was hit. He stayed up there for a while...then realized he should leave...and you know the rest of the story. It was still remarkable to actually listen to someone speak who was physically a part of all that. I will try to absorb as much information about September 11 as possible but I still do think that there will be too much American propaganda that day (and that week actually).

It's the night before the work week starts and what have I done today? Well, my normal Sunday night routine (Holiday Monday night in this case) - I filled up gas in the car AND I ironed my dress shirts. How crappy is that? I really hate ironing. Really hate it. I gotta start buying all wrinkle-resistant clothing. Even that stuff though has to be ironed if you wanna look crisp.

So - let me tell you about Saturday night. I am so embarrassed to admit this but I stayed home the entire night, watched Breakfast at Tiffany's alone in the basement. I was in bed by 11:00 pm. Is that not pitiful? I am 24 years old and my parents were out more than I was this long weekend. Damn, that is said. But - I did get a lot of sleep and now I am ready to tackle the work week. Next week, I've got some partying going on so I am not too worried. By the way, Breakfast at Tiffany's was pretty good. The best part for me was definitely Audrey Hepburn cause she is money.

Played baseball with Scott today. That was a lot of fun. It would have been great if we had one or two more people but it was still good nonetheless. Gotta get out and do more physical exercise though. This diet (no snacks and lots of fruits/veggies) is going well but now I also gotta keep up the physical work.

Overall - I would have to say that life is good these days. Work is keeping me busy. I am learning a lot of new stuff. I am working out. Getting to see lots of my friends. Spending time with mom and dad. Can't ask for much more.

GOOD LUCK to everyone starting school tomorrow. Man, I used to remember this night. The last night of summer - the night before the first day of school. I never could sleep cause I would always be too nervous. Hopefully, I won't have any problems tonight. Sweet dreams everyone,