Learning Computer Programming

After like so many years of me giving up on this hobby; I’ve , all of the sudden,  re-ignited this passion inside of me for Computer Programming. Why, how, that i don’t know. What counts is that i started. That was 9 months ago.

I first endeavored with the JAVA language. But i wasn’t that easy after such a long time of total Programming abstention. I struggled really to understand the concepts. New Concepts such as Object-Oriented Programming and all of its diversifications and philosophies .

Then, i found out that Microsoft has some other more user-friendly product, called Visual Studio. I downloaded their free (Express ) 2010 version, and since then ( 6 months back); i’m entertaining myself by trying to learn all the complications of this language ( i’m into Visual Basic, not C+), reading , fiddling, writing some simple code for simple applications. But sincerely speaking, it was not that easy.

Mesmerized

Has it happened to you one day while you are driving your car  heading your way to the office, and hearing The Quran being recited on your car MP3 player by someone with an impeccable voice; and then this One Ayat comes along. It pierces down from the top of your ears to fill every vein in your heart. You get completely mesmerized, dissolved, absorbed by it. For a moment, you feel like you grasped the whole truth of why you live, that you will perish one day, and that you are nothing but a tiny speck in this universe. You suddenly noticed that you parked your car already, but can’t turn the player off. The fight you had with your eyes begging them not to burst seems like failing, and you wipe away the tears quickly afraid of being noticed.

It happened many times to me. Some ayats hit the target faster. I’ve been listening a lot lately to Juz’ ^Amma as recited by Al-Afassi. The surat that got me mesmerized today, as it always did, was “Al bayyina”. Unfortunately i couldn’t upload Audio files to my wordpress blog. I need to upgrade my account into something first, which i’m sure they’ll debit me for it. Lousy thing.

As i was listening today though, i noticed that no matter how good my knowledge in the English language  may be, i am still mostly blessed to be able to understand most of the words in Arabic, i can pronounce them and write them correctly. that’s what counts. I can understand the Quran, and it has its way deep into my soul, cleansing it, scraping the  dirts away, soothing and healing it.

From “Al bayyina” :  وَمَا أُمِرُوا إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ حُنَفَاءَ وَيُقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَيُؤْتُوا الزَّكَاةَ وَذَٰلِكَ دِينُ الْقَيِّمَةِ

December 31, First Little rain

The little bit of rain occured first thing in the morning, just before sunrise.

I had almost finished my Fajr prayer, when i heard the droplets tapping on my Window air-condition frame. I rushed to the window to check the scene. Well, i was taken by the shape and color of the clouds that i rarely get to see in Khobar. I snapped a picture that you may wanna see. but that’s it into it, nothing but a drizzle.

December 2010; Still in Khobar and discussing the weather …..

I am still hanging around in Khobar. Don’t know for how long i’ll be stuck to this spot. So in the meantime, reporting to you live from Khobar, back again here comes Me. Dahh

Last year, December 13, i scribbled hastily few words in my first post about the weather, where i reported about the rain in Khobar. I managed to add some extra posts later on, but that was on Blogger. I guess i’d be moving these to this place so as to consolidate all my blogs in one location.

Back to our discussion about the weather in Khobar. If you’re living in this area, you’d be just as i am, scratching your heads wondering about why is it that we still haven’t received not even a few drizzles. It is December 20. It’s still relatively warm during the day (even hot sometimes); and a bit cold at night. Moreover, a sandstorm crawled in last week, and wreaked havoc, especially on asthmatic people. It brought a feel of  bitter cold though.

Well, excuse me, i have to dash off, as i am writing from the Office desktop in the company; and I’ve been summoned up for a meeting with S….(forget it). Catch on u later on

Changing my way of Life

As i feel myself getting closer to leave Khobar entirely and head back home, i try harder and harder to change the way of Life that i got myself used to in Khobar, and to adapt myself to the way of life i anticipate myself leading in Beirut. So to start with, i’m trying now to completely abolish my irresistible siesta at noon time. I started by doing so during this weekend, and i must admit it hasn’t been easy : Drowsiness, dizziness, migraine, what else ? you name it.
I was also putting myself on the routine of rising (but not shining) quite early to pray the Fajr, and jumping right afterwards to the office. That was 3 months before, and it’s still working. So : Up at 5:45 am, and staying up till 9:30 to 10:00 pm means to me a complete sleep deprivation. Wow, that must have been insanely too much for me to handle. I am also trying to sleep at night not later than at 10:00 pm, so no DVD-watching or internet browsing after 10:0 pm.
As Saturday rolled on with a morning mind-jittering meeting in Aramco, I felt during that third-day sleep-abstinence regimen, that well, there is some improvement after all. I am getting less of these crazy bouts of sleepiness, and yes i’m regulating myself bit by bit to a day full of running and running, with no breaks.
To help my body cope along, i noticed that sleepiness may be alleviated by washing the face in cold water, or better by performing ablution; and to do some exercises afterwards. This may help to freshen up.

Getting used to Loneliness

It is indeed one of the harshest of things to occur to someone, which is the accustomedness to loneliness.

As i find myself lingering longer and longer in Khobar, this habit is gradually taking over me. I loathe it immensely, as i am a person who’s prone to solitude by default, and i strove throughout the years to find joy in social gatherings, and family reunions. I believe i succeeded somehow.

Being married, and having a family of wife and kids, has been a blissful thing to me; though, it meant sometimes constant noisiness. And well , here i am now thrown back to compelling seclusion. And, when there’s not much i can do about it, and being bound to this abhorrent situation, i had to get used to it. Otherwise, i’d fall into persevering depression. I needed to find some delight in being lonely.

Sequestering myself helped me many times during the past actually, as i am a migraineur and being extra-sensitive to surrounding noises, lights and odors, and mostly during night-time. But i learned to curb this tendency, as it’s soul-poisoning, and tried to always engage myself in social activities. But when it pounds unwillingly upon you, what can you do ?

I don’t find comfort in imposing myself on others . I don’t enjoy much the gossiping get-togethers, and the youngsters trivialities (sorry for saying it), as i have been morphed somehow perhaps into the typical boring family man. Solution ? what is the solution ? there are three solutions to this predicament that i can think of:

1- Leave Khobar entirely now at any cost and without trying to foresee the consequences : This may work.

2- Getting married for the second time : Wow, how to afford it ? and where to find her ? But it can be worked out, though it’ll have everlasting scars in every part of my life

3- Getting used to Loneliness : the safest in the short-term, and most ravaging for the longer one. And the one i am following right now.

Any other suggestions ?

The little girl who had wings

A story i wrote 3 days ago with my niece Hiba, as part of a school assignment that she had. Hiba is in Grade 2 now, and i pledged that i will post the story on my Blogspot web page, and so here it is. The story title is:

Nahida was a little girl with a curly hair, brown eyes, and a lovely smile. She used to be fidgety, and didn’t like to go to school. But she had a dream in her mind that always stayed with her. That dream was that one day she would be able to fly like a butterfly.

One morning, Nahida woke up and tried to move out of her bed, but she couldn’t, as something heavy was holding her from behind. As she looked backward to see what was clutching her, she noticed that white long-feathered wings were protruding from her shoulders. As she raised and lowered her arms, the wings flapped. They flapped so hard that Nahida was lifted off the bed, and bumped her head to the ceiling.

I can fly, Nahida exclaimed in surprise. She flied all around her room. Then, she opened the window, and said to herself :  may be i can fly out there as well.

Seconds later, Nahida was flying out all over the town. She was scared a little, but also happy. She could look downward and see the playground of her school so small, the cars so tiny, and the clouds almost touching her. She was thrilled and started laughing : can this really happen to me ?

Suddenly, out of nowhere, without noticing it, she smashed her face so strongly to a steel tower, and fell down. She was screaming, she closed her eyes and said : I’m going to die.

When she opened her eyes again, she found herself lying on her bedroom floor. She realized it was just a dream, just like the dream she used to have every night.