Authorized by Friends of Ahmed, Treasurer David W.Whyte

Monday, December 7, 2009

The $ 700 Billion Man

On December 6th, I took it little easy all day and started my day by reading the newspaper and found an amazing article about Neel Kashakari (who served as a Deputy to Treasury Secretary in 2008 under President Bush's Administration). A week ago, I thought of him and was wondering what he is up to these days.

My experiences in Community Service/Organizing & Public Serving (Politics) are similar to Neel's. Although, he had a very quick assignment in Government due to his relationship with Henry Paulson. I had to start from scratch and pretty much made it to the top in community organizations & still working my way up to be elected (someday). One lesson, I learned early on that.....one should get out after sometime from these organizations to get a break and go back to corporate world and/or business. This gives you a fresh perspective and one could be more effective. I personally do not favor or like Executives and or leaders holding on positions for decades. In my view, it does not help the organizations and/or businesses. One needs to reinvent and I am pretty sure Neel Kashkari will be back and may do some exciting stuff in the corporate world or in Government.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/04/AR2009120402016_pf.html

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

President Barack Obama (44th President)

We witnessed the best of America today & a new era in which a whole lot of responsibility is placed on average citizens to get involved & take pride at the opportunity to serve the nation. I will be editing this blog later tomorrow.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Day

My day started with couple of conference calls in the morning. In honoring Rev. Martin Luther King and keeping the spirit of service, my whole day was packed in mentoring 3 entrepreneurs and assisting 2 non-profits to enhance their web presence & develop their online strategy.

A lot of my friends were involved in projects locally and I am pretty sure we will continue to serve our neighbors, friends, community & country year round.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Arshia's Birthday

We have known you for about 28 years and you stood out as probably the tallest girl in our neighborhood in late 70’s and early 80’s. Over the years, you have been able to demonstrate your greatness through countless acts of generosity, care and downright humility. About 28 years ago, it was my brother and sister who were about 8 and 10 years old respectively….They enjoyed your company, benefited with your wisdom and thought you were a truly remarkable person. Similarly in recent years my kids thought you were awesome and a model or an example to strike the balance between tradition & modernity.

I did mention to you that everyone conversation we had with you was enlightening and you have been truly a selfless and generous friend to me and Nabeela. We have had so many friends over years….Some friends come into our lives and quickly go away….Some stay for a while and some leave footprints in our lives for ever….You are that friend and we are lucky to have you as our wonderful friend. Many Happy Returns and we wish you the very best on your B-Day.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

My Dad's 72nd Birthday

January 6, 2009
Today is my Dad’s 72nd Birthday (born January 6, 1937). A day on which he worked at Weis as a Cashier/Stock Clerk from 9 AM to 3 PM. He arrived home at 3:30 PM and then took few hours break and saw his nephew off (Ahya who was heading to India) and spent some time with the family and headed to his other job at a Satellite Transmission Center to work from 7 PM to 7 AM. At this age, he does not need any money. However, he understand that when you stop working…you are going to be bored and started to age faster…He does two jobs to keep himself busy and gives away all his money at the end of the month to Charity/Grand Children/Deserving members in the Family & the Mosque. He has been paying 10% of his income from the age of 25 and has instilled among all of us (4 sons and 2 daughters) to be giving no matter what our circumstances are.

My Dad (Abdul Hameed Ahmed) was born in Hyderabad, India and migrated to United States in 1993. He started off his career after completing his Under Graduate in 1958 at an age of 21 years and has never stopped working. He was a clerk in the beginning in Indian Railways and then rose up to be a General Manager of a Trading/Import-Export Company.

He lead a wonderful life full of sacrifices for his children and helped shape them up. He stayed alone in Saudi Arabia between 1978 and 1992 for 14 years to provide decent quality of life and create opportunities for his children. We are proud of our Dad for all the good things he has done and more importantly, for instilling a sense of purpose in all our lives.

Dear Dad... We love you and want to wish you a wonderful Birthday and are looking forward to seeing you continue what you are doing until you are 100.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Our 20th Anniversary

Today is the 20th Anniversary of my journey with Nabeela. Today is also the day I will be starting my “Blog”. The journey was unbelievable and I am looking to have a minimum or 20 more together. As an entrepreneur, I have helped build several technologies and online presences of many individuals and business. I am hoping to open my life to my friends, family, community, customers, employees, well-wishers and also who I have challenged in the political & cultural & economic philosophies.

I want to dedicate today to my wonderful wife of 20 years. Nabeela and I met on October 14th, 1986 during my visit to Washington and we liked each other and our families blessed our relationship. I migrated to United States on March 23, 1988 and eventually got married on 5th of January, 1989.

She was in Pharmacy School and I was a fresh off the boat Immigrant without much clarity of what I was going to do. I started off as a travel agent and worked for couple of airlines between 83 and 88 in Saudi Arabia. In Washington, my first job was with a Travel Agency and then joined PANAM World Airways which paid me $ 5.25 per hour. The point I am trying to make that she married me when I had neither a professional degree nor a high paying job. Over 20 years of our marriage she has consistently supported me in going back to school and obtaining a Bachelor Degree & a Master’s Degree. She also supported me to serve my community with over 30 hours of volunteer work for over 18 years of our marriage. In other words, she is the person who has brought the best in me. Although, I have a lot of shortcomings in me and she has continuously tried to project me and our relationship in the most impactful manner to everyone. Today, I ran into a good friend Wayne Clarke at Panera Bread and he asked me how are the kids and Nabeela doing. My answer to him was that she is doing wonderful and has not thrown me of out of the house yet.

We now have 2 wonderful daughters who we are proud of and I am pretty sure will follow and be like Nabeela who has always played a bigger role at home and in raising our kids. We have tried to be a decent example to our kids and I am sure if they look at both of us with our individual/unique qualities…They would probably rate Nabeela as more loving, caring, giving & responsible parent than me. Nabeela came to America when she was 5 years old and it has been almost 36 years and I migrated about 20 years ago. We are also distinct in our outlook on economics, politics, faith & role of parents. I have gotten more liberal/progressive and she has always been fairly conservative which provides a decent balance and at times a great opportunity to have dialogue on the issues of the day. We both are eldest in our respective families share immense love for our parents.

Most of you do not know the inner workings of our finances as a family. From our humble beginnings in 1989 to 2009….We have been through valleys and peaks. In 2003, my company was in about $ 500,000 debt and in 2006 we did revenue of over $ 5.4 million (with zero debt). In last couple of years, we have seen some challenges due to my risky/adventurous behavior by chasing the dream to build cutting edge technologies. We did end up learning valuable lessons at reasonable cost of investment.

I am not sure if you guys watched the Republican Presidential Debates in which Governor Huckabee answered a question and said that Marriage is not a 50/50 Deal. He said Marriage is 100/100 Deal and it requires a 100% of devotion for each other. In my view, there are partners who give over 100% and in our relationship Nabeela gives over 150% and I am proud of Nabeela and she has truly made our journey a memorable one and I am looking to many more years together where I could give my 100%.