My boss once asked me, "Zubair, what is one thing that excites you about your job". I guess he was expecting a different answer as he seemed disappointed when I replied, "Its ten minutes away from my house". In sixteen years of my work life, I have never commuted more than ten minutes away.
To all the people who choose to work for giants and leaders in software industry, commuting away hours of their life daily, I suggest re-evaluating priorities for them.
My current job has been very kind to me. When I was sick and unable
to work for three months, I was granted sick leave without any
questions. I could have used that sick time-off better. I did manage to finish the long version of Arabian Nights (called Alif-Lela in Urdu), but I could have helped kids with school, read them books, talked to them, and cherished their young years. I burnt away most of that time doing nothing at all, and worrying about future, fully stressed out, and sad.
Now that my physical pain is mostly gone, and I am back to joining the ranks of the healthy and the "young", I reflect on that time to find guidance for future.
I leave for work when kids leave for school. They are in school till 3 PM. By the time I come back at 5 PM, they are done with their home work. Its all fun after that. We are on the seventh level of "Donkey Kong Country Returns Wii". We go out for a one hour walk almost daily, we snuggle in bed for half hour before they jump out to their own beds. There are only a few years left before they have no time for me but I hope this will never happen.
Weekends need better management of my time. All social interactions happen on weekends, which means kids are busy playing with their friends while I chat away on politics with other parents. I have been pushing back with Momina that I need more time on the weekends, but I agree with her that kids need to play with kids.
I love teaching. I can fly again, and I am teaching others to fly! Flying is easy, teaching flying is hard. Spending time with family means I cannot have more than one student at a time. I have two now, and I am struggling with time.
I just booked a trip to Iceland in October with family. Hopefully I will be able to hike by then. I am looking to explore it on a Skyhawk which I can hopefully rent there. But with unpredictable weather, the plan may have to be executed on a rental car instead.
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| Suburban views on our walk |
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| Why am I lying down in the car, and why are they not buckled in? |
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| Daughter love |
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| A nice day in Boston |
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| Zain claims this to be his leg |
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| Jets |
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| We cook Premium Meth and store it in our freezer |
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They use rollers but I walk faster
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