Canada!

Officially my 'Canadian connection' has come to an end. Closed my TD bank account - snif! snif!

It was simply great working in Toronto, Canada and I met some wonderful people at work. I really miss my colleagues and boss. Oh the best boss I have worked for ever! bla! bla! bla! :)

I hope P & I have the stamina to take up another adventure before we head home and thus complete a full circle.....

Close of a chapter:

Another chapter in my life is complete. My last working day today. Emails are pouring in from colleagues wishing me success and others stating they will miss me. Whether all of them mean it or not its making me very sentimental. I have been working for such long hours continously last one year and become so attached to the company. Now I am so sad to let go of it. I will be feeling low today definitely. Added pressure being everyone asking me that I quit my job when the economy is at its worst. I just did what I thought was best for me.

I am happy that my Manager did everything possible to keep me and he really wanted me. I am glad he really thought I was value-adding and an asset to the department and company. I am glad that its me who let go of the company (and not the other way around).

I know everything happens for the best!

....

Another work trip to Toronto for 2 days - nothing eventful other than a rather turbulent flight landing because of scattered showers in Boston. Luckily didnt snow much in Canada either. It was nice to see and be greeted by all colleagues. Also coincidentally enjoyed the Christmas lunch and was in time to receive the holiday gift card ;)

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A good long shower or bath is never the same if its not your bathroom in your own home. I acknowledge this to myself everytime I come back from a trip and shower at home! I might fall asleep sometimes (even though it rarely happens) if its not my bed, but a shower, naah!

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Madame Uncertainty is trying to creep into my life again - off you go!

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I am so hopeless!

2 weeks back to kill time - I watched the entire movie - Dil Chahata Hai on Youtube - Thanks to someone who uploaded it!

End of a chapter

My Canadian adventure has come to an end for now; almost. At the end of this journey I am tierd, content, proud, motivated, a bit more experienced, and a bit more grown-up. :)After taking a little over a year long break at home after my wedding was close to heaven. The H1B not happening in the first round was a blessing in disguise, like most things are in life - a surprise package. First time in my life I was cooking, running a household with the man I love, got to spend quality time with inlaws who visited me. Did all the pending things like finishing my thesis, volunteering at Red cross etc etc.

After a year when I was applying for my H1B second time, I realized I had the opportunity to work in Canada. I sent the paper work and there was no looking back I got the first job I applied for. And next thing I know I was working Toronto in freezing temperatures in March 2008. I wanted to work for 6 months and come back , but it got extended additional one month and finally this weekend I moved back for good. I am proud of myself and my husband for experiencing Canada the way we did it. A lot of them tried to rub it in how difficult it is to be away from husband and how they wouldnt ever do it themselves etc etc. I didnt care. I knew it was temporary and I guess P and I have that maturity ; love and understanding and the strength to survive even if it is long distance for a short duration. We were both excited and now fulfilled with my mini adventure.

Though I continue to work for the organization until they find a replacement for me ; so maybe it would be next 1-2 months until I completely transition out. I pretty much bid everyone good bye at Rexdale. It was nice to know that I made a difference to the organization and my absence would be felt. I thought 7 months would be too less for anyone to be missed. But this was such a fast paced environment. That from day 1 it was hands on, nobody had the time to do any training, I just picked up stuff on the go, and contributed in whatever way I could to the team and the organization and it was a great experience over all.

Husband came to pick me up and we drove back all the way from Toronto to Boston. It was a wet day and I was extremely concerned with the driving conditions. It took us good 10 hours over all. Immigration was quick and customs check was not even done.

I plan to take a break again over the winter months, finish up with this job sitting at home.

10/19/08

After having slogged the entire Saturday, I still have some pending things to finish at work. I wanted to finish it today, Sunday. But I dont think I will be able to finish it even today. This week touched 60 hours of work again already. And I thought it would be a short week with the Canadian Thanksgiving last Monday. If there is a lot of work to get done, holidays are a bane.

This and that

City: Not sure what it is about Toronto that is so appealing; something nice about the city over all.

Latest addiction: Starbucks Vanilla Chai Latte

Work load: blowing the roof-top!

Busy week!

Busy week again. 10/08 The good part was had the second Team building outing. Last time it was Dave & Busters and this time unanimously everyone agreed to go bowling. Had the usual Ice-breaker activity, we had to write down one lie and 2 truths about ourself on a piece of paper and circulate, we then had to pick a random paper (not ours obviously) and guess which team member it belongs to and guess which one was the lie. I did well, and my lie also was guessed correctly by fellow team member I guess after the initial couple of months there is nothing you can keep as a secret with your colleagues, like general stuff about your life. We then also had a quiz on Supply chain by our boss. And finally in bowling even though I didnt do very well. I won a $10 voucher for the person who bowled maximum number of splits. Not bad eh? ;) The only bad thing about the evening was the day at the office was so busy that evening when I got home it was past 10pm and I was exhausted, it took me two days to recover. Its irritating that anything different I do from routine on weekdays I get tierd. I need to do something about it , excercise...!

Dussehra festival passed like Ganesh Chathurthi, with no festivity or basic pooja! Considering how close the former is to my heart and I am not too happy with circumstances that have led to it. Well who am I fooling, last few weeks work has completely taken over. But I am hoping it will get better, like my boss keeps telling , ' there is light at the end of the tunnel' (apparently? :) ;) )

Canadian Thanksgiving on 10/13...

Deja vu ; Bachna ae Haseeno and the Last Lear: movies to watch for the weekend

Cold

Its getting cold, colder by the day! Winter is almost here!

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Swamped at work....

Time

Time is flying /galloping /racing ....

Whats in a name?

I always thought that my preferred name is decently short, not too short - not too long (2 syllables). But people at work in Canada manage to cut it short even further (to one syllable). Thats as far as they can go, luckily, (before people's names start sounding like animal 'cries'). NZ they never did that at work some how. How much short do the names have to get? These days some of the new born kids parents are trying so hard, very hard actually to keep it short, well short & unique actually.

Montreal

Spent a day in Montreal for the labor day weekend. The drive from Boston is reasonable and its as close as NY is to the south. Moreover Vermont is a beautiful state to drive past. The weather was good and city was lively and busy. We went and saw the Olympic stadium and the Notre Dam Basilica church, rest of the time strolled on Rue Saint Catherine and Rue Saint Denis. We even tried a couple of Indian restaurants out of curiosity and they were pretty decent. There was a store that sold Nepalese clothes and knick-knacks which I particulary liked on Rue St Denis. Even outside on the way from Notre Dame Basilica church to the water front, there was an Indian store that sold Souvenir stuff that had Indian kurtas and middle eastern clothes which was really good. I was tempted as usual and got myself a kurta and P bought me this Nepali wrap-around skirt as well . The place reminded me of Auckland a bit, though the skyline is better than Auckland but Auckland is over all a bigger place as its the main commerical capital in NZ. The strong French culture truly makes it a "foreign" experience, which I really liked. The people spoke decent English though so it was not difficult at all.

The stroll on the water front also was pretty good. All in all I thought its a fantastic city to spend the weekend, small cosy, yet busy. The people were friendly and very bindas, had a good dressing sense and style too, a place where freedom is I guess personified, so you see all kinds and types of people and places (well though I even felt Toronto is 'freedom' personified). I am waiting to visit Montreal in winter and stroll in the underground city and do some shopping. Cirque du Soleil is the other thing that we didnt do as we didnt have enough time, though it can be seen in any other city, since its base is Montreal, I thought it would add that extra charm.

On Rue St Denis, it so happened that a cyclist squeezed in between 2 cars and waited for the red traffic light to turn green. One car passenger to the left of the cyclist opened the door without seeing the cyclist to get off and hit the cyclist who lost his balance fell on the other car to the right. The car from which a passenger had got off sped as the lights turned green and this car which had suffered a small dent due to the cyclist falling on that car, the driver got off that car and began mercilessly beating the cyclist. I was shocked, P got off to stop that guy, by this time the driver had lifted his cycle and was willing to throw it on that cyclist, a small thin college kid and the driver a middle aged and well built/obese man! Some lady started yelling in french, turned out there was a cop car, 2 cars behind us, for some reason no cop came forward for a few minutes. Our interpretation was he didnt want to go there alone, by the time the cop walked till that car driver and cyclist, 2 other cops joined him, and took them to the side to resolve the matter. Phew! it was such a mood off to see a person being beaten up like that all for a small dent on his Honda SUV, irrespective of whose fault it is.

Its unstoppable!

I shared something with 2 of my team members trusting it wouldnt leak and also strictly told them not to. Next thing I know the Operations Manager of the plant is talking about that very same thing to the Production Planning Director who comes and tells my boss the Demand Planning director. My boss obviously knows about this but told me about it. I was shocked, and numb for 10 minutes.

The only reason I shared it with them cos they were seniors and kind of close to me and I didnt want it to be a surprise to them when the news came out, more out of basic courtesy and respect as well. I guess I should have known better. They have been there for 10 years now and me not even 10 months. Who would they be close to ? Me or those handful of other chums who have been working with them for all of those 10 years. Doh! what was I thinking? Anyway there's always a first time for everything in life - once bitten twice shy though!

Phew! news indeed travels like wild fire!

When it rains, it pours!

Thunder storms and lightening to add special effects!

I am a little exhausted today....I wonder at times what is it that I am chasing? a dream? a mirage? whatever it is - does "it" really exist?

Routine

Last few days the Voldemort effect kind of started again. I will ignore and let it pass. Spent the long weekend in Boston (Civic Holiday in Canada). Looking at the bright side, the courteous immigration officer when entering Canada last night made my day. My kind Manager bought us coffee and I really needed it this morning. A person who I had least expected at work openly appreciated my work today. Thank you for that Ms you made my day! :) I am spending more times in meetings now, the sun care season has started and I manage a key sun care customer. So it is going to be extremely busy for me going forward. I realized the other day that as much as I appreciate other industries, I would personally prefer working in the CPG or Food/Beverage industry - basically products that appear more alive to me :) I wonder what its like to work in the Hitech industry - I cannot associate myself with it :), nevertheless I would give it a try when the time is right and if it works out I guess.

Isnt honesty the best policy?

I dont like my personal belongings to be touched/used in my absence. No this is not an 'only child syndrome' (or is it? ....whatever!). I dont mind when common things are lying outside and people use them when they really need it, its common sense of what can be used and what cannot be. But digging into my drawer and picking things and using - Naaah! I am sure it is that way with most people. Unless they belong to that accepted close circle of people, no way anyone likes aquaintances do that. Naturally when this hapened to me the other day, I had to inform this person I dont like or appreciate it. Obviously this person didnt take it well. I think this person thought I wouldnt notice, but it was too obvious! Was I rude? My mother thinks I should have let-go of it! I didnt try to argue or be 'rude' I just plainly informed the person. This person was definitely hurt. I do feel bad for that, but what about my feelings, I feel total invaded of my privacy - does that have no value? Was there any other way of dealing with this situation?

This and That

Surprisingly had a decent Monday today. I shouldnt be saying it out loud for fear of jinxing myself (yeah I seriously believe I can jinx myself ). I am oneof those Monday-haters, for whatever reason I never sleep well Sunday nights and am all grumpy on Monday mornings, dont talk to anyone that much and act as if the whole world is on my head. I get over it post lunch. (Sometimes I wonder why am I so typical?)


I stopped over to buy some juice for myself on the way back from work, the store was out of stock on the brand I wanted. Fine! went to buys some yoghurt, and the employees didnt stock any of those yet. Fineee! I will eat the not-so-good-for-your-health stufff! bought myself choclate glazed donuts!!!

BTW when I was down with cold all weekend this one 'Troggs' song kept me going :)

July 4 th weekend etc.

As if travelling on work isn't enough. I am also travelling to meet friends :) Not a complaint exactly. Had loads of fun this long weekend. Flew into Newark where P came to pick me up and we drove to Wilmington, DE to a friends' place. They were having a pooja at home and the whole gang gathered as usual. Long chats (and being silly), music and dance, BBQ in the park and non stop eating and playing cards all night long would summarize the weekend :) The kids population in our gatherings is on the rise (sigh! I am growing old eh?) The highlight was that we played dumcharades (not sure if thats how its spelt) after a very long time and it was lot of fun and yes it ended in a (friendly) argument, as it usually does (drilling down into some rules of the game ;)

I haven't been a very athletic kid and to be honest my stamina is poor (people who know me will vouch for that). But after looking at some of my friends (well they are few years older to me and thats why all the more ...) I really want to be indefatigable like them. They cooked all night after dancing (marination for BBQ food; I tell you it can be pretty strenous) :) ; hardly slept and organized the whole BBQ and completed the BBQ-ing (standing all day). After coming back home after dinner continously played cards - Phew! Sometimes I wish I could store energy; like a camel stores water :) catch up later with all my sleep after 2-3 days of merrymaking - sigh! I get so cranky without food and sleep ....

Also managed to stop at Oaktree Rd this time on the way back to Newark airport. Hogged Pau Bhaji (the Galaxy guys never disappoint me with Pau Bhaji) and cut mirchi and ended with the meetha paan.

Another thing however small I finally accept is no matter how expensive your shoes are - (good brand/good quality etc I mean) they might still end up giving you a shoe bite! :)

Finally back in Toronto Sunday night and it took me 2 whole days to catch up with all my emails - backlog leads to more backlog - trying to catch up with old emails and you end up not answering the latest.....

Canada Day

I worked today on July 1st Canada day as I chose to take July 4th off instead. The otherwise busy subways and buses were empty today. Makes me wonder why US and Canada dont share the same holidays? Its anyway most of the times a few days apart. I guess they want to maintain their identity - fair enough!

10:30 pm I am finishing pending stuff at work and can hear fireworks outside my apartment window followed by the emergency sirens and in between can hear the flights just before landing and immedeately after take-off. It would be so empty without this noise, I value the presence of mankind around me (atleast most of the times ;) ) :))