Sep 29, 2001 - VISITED GROUND ZERO - thoroughly depressing. I was able to get about 3-4 blocks north of the wreck, and get a clear view of the 4-5-story-tall heap of twisted steel girders, still smoking. The dust remained on the ground, bits of concrete lay in the gutter, and the buildings surrounding the wreck site were slashed by the falling girders.
Sep 27, 2001 - Well, now I'm out working at our JFK airport office with everyone else, about 15+ people in an office meant for 6-7. Plus an extra half-hour on the commute, on a train which only runs once an hour. Oh, this so suxorz.
Sep 27, 2001 - Well, now I'm out working at our JFK airport office with everyone else, about 15+ people in an office meant for 6-7. Plus an extra half-hour on the commute. Oh, this so suxorz.
Sep 24, 2001 - Yesterday, wandering the city, running errands, I went into Macy's to visit the men's room. Turning the corner of the fourth floor, I came upon an entire floor full of black dresses. And no people on the floor. 'Twas a bit much.
Meanwhile - some perspective. Received the following message in a email from one of our valued Saudi clients:
Sep 18, 2001 - I have promised myself that this should be the end of the editorials about the World Trade Center disaster, but I have one more thing to say. I have just read an article in the The New Yorker which states that this attack is basically psycological warfare, designed to demoralise us. I have realized that something like this will set you back on a defensive mind-set without you even realizing you have changed your world view - being on the defensive becomes normal. This sounds trite and obvious until it actually happens. My solution is to think of something you have done at work, school, in your family and/or personal life which gives you so much pride that it defines part of Who You Are. This give you perspective to show you the way back to a vibrant existence.
Took the A train back from our JFK office, it went through the Chambers Street / World Trade Center station (with out opening doors, of course). Very spooky.
Also got another call from my ex-GF - Note To All Guys - when your office tower explodes and crashes down to earth, killing thousands of innocents and brave rescuers, it is important to have a chirpy ex-GF at hand.
If you feel at a loss about what is to be done, click on NEW WORLD TRADE CENTER
Sep 16, 2001 - The fire station two blocks away has photos of 12 firefighters who are missing. There is a huge amount of candles and flower bouquets pile outside the station house, and there is a veritable carpet of wax on the sidewalk from the constant burning of candles.
The rescuers have reached that PATH station below the World Trade Center, and have found no survivors. You really can't get below the PATH station. It looks very bleak for finding any survivors in the rubble.
Bush & Powell's remarks in the past few days suggest they will target Afghanistan. Let's remember how successful the Russians were in the 10 years they were at war with Afghanistan. No-one has conquered Afghanistan ever. And there are plenty of places to hide. It seems unlikely that any plan to find bin Laden or permanently punish Afghanistan would fail, unless they plan to simply bomb the place without taking it over. Which seems feckless./p>
Sep 15, 2001 - Iran has closed its borders with Afghanistan to prevent an influx of refugees, and Pakistan has agreed to let the US use its airspace, possibly because a few hundred Pakistanis may be missing from the World Trade Center. Bush was warned the coming conflict will not be short, reservists have already been called up, and anyone in a military uniform has been told to expect action.
According to CNN, scrambled F15s from bases in Massachussetts and Virginia arrived too late to stop the second pland from crashing into the World Trade Center, and the plane which hit the Pentagon.
It seems there are entire neighborhoods who have lost neighbors, friends, family members. And the firm Cantor Fitzgerald is apparently missing about 700 people, you probably saw the CEO break down on the news. One of my co-workers has cousins, friends and neighbors who are fire-fighters, several of whom are missing, and all of whom live in the same neighborhood.
And another phenom. I have had calls from people I have not spoken with in months, all in about 2-3 days. My old college room-mate just called asking if I was wearing a purple shirt and yellow tie that day - apparently he saw a photo in the paper. An old girlfriend called again this morning. This part I can't complain about.
Sep 12, 2001 - Some new tidbits - apparently Tower II (the south tower) was being evacuated after Tower I was hit, but then an all-clear was announced and people were advised that Tower II was safe to return. Apparently, and hopefully, few people did return to Tower II.
CNN reported that seven survivors have been pulled from the rubble. Apparently 1,400 are estimated dead, with the number expected to climb.
At the Red Cross in NY, an eight hour wait if you do not know your blood type. And walking down from the Red Cross I saw three blood trucks from upstate New York, from Albany, Utica and Onondaga-Oswego.
Sep 11, 2001 - COMPLETELY UNBELIEVABLE both twin towers are completely down. Good thing I got to work late this morning, the police stopped the subway one stop north of the World Trade Ctr., told everyone to get out and get walking. There was a part of an aiplane engine lying on the street on Church Street, one block below Chambers Street. It was just unbelievable to see the two towers burning. The streets were choked with people making their way away from the Trade Center, with enormous lines at all phones. Some people were openly crying. I managed to call our company's other office to check in, and call my parents, and then began walking north again. When I reached Soho, I heard people call out loudly, I rushed to look up, and saw Tower II fall and disappear into a cloud of grey dust. Someone was holding his head, turning circles in the street and calling out Oh My God. It dawned on me that we had apparently assumed that the two towers hit and burning was the extent of the disaster, the collapse was unthinkable and we were of course completely unprepared. Please believe me when I tell you you do not want to live to see anything as appalling and unthinkable as this. I realized that my knees were weak, and I leaned against a mail box. I kept walking uptown, and I was just below 14th Street when I heard another cry, and turned to see an enormous dust cloud in the place where Tower I had stood. It is bizarre to see a cloud of smoke and dust where the World Trade Center Towers once stood. Now, I am going back to the Red Cross, they turned me away earlier because they said they wanted to get blood first from people who do not live here, and could local residents please come back later to donate.
The NY Times it now saying that the collapse of the towers is likely due to the intense heat from the jet fuel fires which would have buckled the girders supporting the floors. It was thought earlier that the collapse was due to explosions inside the buildings after the planes crashed.
It is difficult to get a handle on the calamity - CBS had a call-in from someone who was on the 81st floor of Tower I, the first to be hit - He just barely made it out safely. This, and the fact that the building would be sparsley populated at 8:45 am, when the first plane hit, suggests that a majority of the people inside may have made it to safety. Tragically, the rescue crews who went in after the crashes would most likely have perished - an apalling thought.
At least the Red Cross is getting more blood than they can handle - 300 pints a day is their limit, and they had to turn people away today, asking them to come back tomorrow.