Where were you moments

[nolanfan34]

9-11: My wife woke me up as she had turned on the Today show. We're west coasters, so I saw the second plane fly into the tower, and the towers collapse as well.

I was working in TV news at the time, and in the typical cynicism of a local news reporter, my first thoughts were that the day was going to suck because of all of the local tie-ins the management would be trying to dream up, that we'd have to go cover. Part of the reason I got out of that business, makes you lose your soul after a while, covering tragedy, after car crash, after fire, after murder.

And where was I for Nolan Ryan's last MLB pitch? Sitting behind home plate, in the 300 level of the Kingdome. He didn't get out of the first inning, which was capped off by a Dann Howitt grand slam. I knew in my heart something was wrong when he came out. Turned out he hurt his arm and never pitched again. I still have my ticket stub.

On a happier note, I'm glad I can remember things like the first time I saw my wife (fall 1997, Studio A in the Edward R. Murrow building, at Washington State U.), my first eagle in golf (summer 1997, Falcon's Fire golf course in Orlando, hole #4), and the Cougs beating the Huskies to go to the Rose Bowl (Husky Stadium, Nov 1997, taping highlights on the sideline).

[cold_cash]

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[paland]

When I first heard that the Huns were invading the empire, I was sitting in a vomitorium. The feast had been too much and I had to let loose. We were all just celebrating after watching several Christians get eaten by some lions at the Collesium. Everyone in Rome was in such a stir. I'll never forget that day.

[mosta]

I also saw all of Sep 11 in real time on CNBC. I was in the office around 5:45 (California market hours), alone. CNBC was fixed on a shot of the twilit tower with a little black slot across the middle up high, giving off a little smoke. They were chatting bemusedly about what might have happened. I pictured a Cesna wedged in between the desks and the acoustic tiles of a single floor with a guy in the cockpit who might even have survived it. It really didn't look big, on the building. I imagined the little plane gently swooping around the tall buildings and then getting blown into the tower by a big gust of wind. It was getting close to the bell and still no one knew much of anything, and I went down to the floor and got in my spot. About five minutes before, they announced the opening bell would be delayed, probably for ten minutes. Still didn't know what was going on. We milled around expecting to get going any time. Another delay and I wandered upstairs to watch from the sofa in the office. That's where I saw the second plane hit. I remember very distinctly the fat guy on CNBC reacting as he saw the same thing and saying (something like), Alright, that's it, I'm going to say it--this is no accident--this is an attack. It was great newscasting, the exact moment the story broke. I called two friends (in CA) just saying, Get up, turn on the TV. I called the front desk on the floor to confirm that we weren't going to open that day. He was rattled, really scared. And I went home and watched the news nonstop for a week.