MJ

Patient: During my operation, Nurse, I heard the surgeon use a four-letter word that upset me very much.
Nurse: What word was that?
Patient: “Oops!”

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Two weeks ago I planned a trip with my family to go around to the famous Murree Hills through Abbottabad. We started the journey at about 10:00 o’clock in the morning and travelled to the famous Grand Trunk Road till Taxila and then turned towards Khanpur Dam to have some ripe out of the garden oranges and to enjoy the vastness of the Khanpur Dam, the road was quite bumpy with slow traffic but it paid off when we reached Khanpur.

The Khanpur Lake in Haripur

The Water Canal Start; Reducing speed

Another View of the Water Slowers

How it forms to be a slow moving calm canal

The Lake

A local made boat for enjoying the blue waters

We enjoyed the view for about half an hour, took some pictures and moved onward to Abbottabad.
On reaching Abbottabad we went to the famous Ilyasi Masjid and had a wonderful traditional meal with their delicacy of Pakoras and Naans, then moved on towards Murree and the captured of some of the beautiful sites

The road from Abbottabad to Murree

The Snow clad Mountains start Showing up

Beautiful Streams running beneath the mountains

Moving onwards we started finding snow while the sun had started setting.

Reaching Snowy roads in the evening

On reaching the midpoint Natiagali, the snow had blocked the road and a bulldozer was working to clear the road. We asked a local hotel worker to guide us about the way to Murree and he told us that the ice is almost the same as it was here but he has not witnessed any car coming from there for quite some time now and most probably the road might be blocked. He also told us that the traffic will clear soon as the snow is not much and we might make it to Murree
So moving on we found the ice increasing on the road but in the confidence that we had reached the highest point already and now the travel was downhill, we kept on moving till we found the road block with about seven trucks coming from the other direction and stuck at a bottle neck where only one car could pass at one time. We parked our car at a safe distance from the blockade and waited for the way to clear. In the mean while some of the local people told us that it will be very difficult to go ahead and advised us to move back and go to Abbottabad again. We turned the car by help of several people pushing the car to move it in the desired direction. On facing backwards I tried to move the car but the hike was too much with the snow beneath the tyres. After trying for about 10 minutes I turned the car back towards Murree and decided to wait for the traffic to clear and had the confidence of 5 other cars waiting with us to form a caravan
After a couple of hours the road cleared but by now the caravan had reduced to only two cars.

Tough Conditions beyond the capacity of my tyres to go

One person from the car ahead came out and asked if I had chains for my wheels? I told him that I don’t have the chains but I am sure that the travel is downhill and I will make it to Murree. He disagreed and suggested to use the chains he had. Convinced by his logic and the cold that had got cold of us all at that moment I agreed to his proposal but was he wanted to go with us to take the chains back when not required anymore. My car was fully loaded and upon discussing the issue with the person, he agreed to sit on the bonnet of the car till the icy roads end. We started the travel slowly and found that my car was getting very hot and we needed water more often than the water bottles supplied us with. After travelling for about 30 minutes he stopped us and told us that we have reached his home town. The ice was more than I expected till now, I offered the boy to go home with his chains and the road ahead must not be as bad as it was till now. The boy denied, took the water bottles and got them filled and sat again in the trunk of the car. We drove further to get rid of the icy roads and left him in Murree, about 20 Kms away from his home, assure that he has relatives there to spend the night. After paying him some rent of the chains we started for home and reached at 2 am
Driving like this for more than 20 hrs with these conditions was too much of excursion for me and my family to last several weeks, but the fun of the adventure started after reaching home safely and how we met that angel in the mountains.

After selling my last car, I had lost my driver’s license as it was taken out of the car and put in a box of all the good belonging to that car. I have this current car for more than a year now and I was driving it without the license. Just about three months ago I was going from bank to bank paying off my installments when in that rush I forgot to wear the seat belt and was fined at the very next crossing. The policemen took my identity card as I told them that the license is not with me now. That id card was not retrieved since. Just yesterday I told my brother, living abroad, that I don’t have a identity card nor a driver’s license and I am just surviving on luck. We laughed on my stupidity and then I went out to find that old box of my old car. Although I had already done this exercise quite a few times without any luck, but to my surprise I found it this time, in the morning I went to fetch my identity card and with a hard strive of a couple of hours I found it too… so gladly I now have my documents complete again and i have scanned both documents and kept in my mailboxes too. wise me.

This trip was with Usman, when we were out on a photography spree and as a first stop thought of going out to the zoo. I told him that I have been there just a week ago but he said that it won’t be the same going with him. The trip was much better as some of the zoo staff was familiar with Usman and thought of him as a news reporter. The staff helped us in calling the animals close to the cage side where we were standing and kept telling us the poor state of affairs of the zoo. Last year 5 crocodiles were brought to the zoo that had died due to poor management and lack of resources. Just yesterday a deer and an ostrich had died and were neither reported to the government nor to the newspaper. The staff complained that the director of the zoo was too busy in hiring his relatives and friends in the zoo staff and ignoring the poor animals at the mercy of the cold weather and death. The story was so disturbing that the adventure of taking pictures was subdued. Sajjad also joined us on our exit from the zoo and then we turned into the daily routine of cracking jokes and laughing away, further on we went to the road side forest and saw free monkey families, people feeding them and they were playing so close to humans that people in the western side of the world won’t even think of going. Further on we went to Damn-e-Koh and the best of our visit started here, free peacocks, pheasants and cranes were running around and roaming in between the picnicking families, kids running after the birds and the birds running after them. The scene was so cool that caught most of our time and attention with its serenity. The day was nicely spent with photography till sunset and having coffee and humus at the Café Lazeez. Finally coming home to get ready for office and start of a new week.

On a wonderful evening Mr. Jamshed called us on a high tea at the Islamabad Club. I took along my camera in hope of getting some snaps, but was informed that taking pictures inside the club were not allowed. But luckily in the parking lot I found some beautiful cabbage flowers and a glowing tree in the darkness of the night. later a friend found a candle at home and took a picture. hope you enjoy watching these pictures.

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle,when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee .

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had
some items in front of him. When the class began, he
wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar
and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then
asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.He asked once more if the jar was full. The student responded with an unanimous ‘yes.’
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The
students laughed.
‘Now,’ said the professor as the laughter subsided, ‘I want you to recognize that this jar
represents your life. The golf balls are the important things—your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions—and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.
The sand is everything else—the small stuff. ‘If you put the sand into the jar first,’ he continued,! ‘there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
‘Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Spend time with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first—the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.’
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled and said, ‘I’m glad you asked.’
The coffee just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.
Please share this with someone you care about.. I JUST DID

On a fine evening while driving I just had one hurry of reaching home, to get hold of my camera and capture the beauty of the sky as much as I could. The Sky was giving so many different shades that it looked like heaven. the temperature was ideal to make this mesmerizing. Cant give you the feel of the temperature but for sure can share some re-sized pictures of the beautiful evening.

Some things pass by our feet with every step we take and our eyes don’t care to notice the minute beauties that lies in every leaf, stone, insect and the common pets around. I have grown fond of taking macro pictures after exploring on the pictures taken by my digital camera. These are from the autumn days of 2008
Fine threads of the Spider’s Web
The Hanging Ladybird
Frightened Ladybird
Another Shiny Bug
Leaves
Smallest Bouquets
PS: All pictures posted here were taken in 7 M pixels but reduced for display on the site.