story7493.xml
Title
story7493.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-15
911DA Story: Story
[This text comes from a handwritten journal, on 11 September 2001]
1. If there had to be a day for early dismissal, it is fortunate that it coincided with another of my mornings of oversleep. Now, I don't have to use leave, since the terrorist bombings in NYC and the Pentagon have rendered the matter moot. I got in to the office sometime around 0915, and not long after getting to work, Cuong T. [a coworker] came by to tell of two aircraft hitting the World Trade Center. Thinking this to be an accident, I carried on with examining until it became clear that a crisis was at hand and we were being told to go home.
2. I am glad to have had the requisite patience to endure the 4-hour drive home, most of which was spent exiting Crystal City. I saw the bumper-to-bumper vehicles on Crystal Drive as I walked to Crysal Mall parking, then I realized I might get out a bit faster from the garage by driving down the back ramp to the G3 level. There was a sizable delay there, too, however, and just reaching 20th Street was a struggle. I spent some time listening to K4US traffic [amateur radio club VHF repeater] on my IC2AT, as well as taking a call from Thomas N. [another coworker] on my cell phone. They weren't entirely swamped. I then settled in to a long session of listening to WRC 980 AM, finally breaking relatively free when I hit westbound 23rd Street.
3. It was good to see a slight restoration of a "normal" day in the worweek, once I made it past the I-95 entrance on Route 1, which had some congestion but not what I had expected as I came south on Mt. Vernon Ave. Since I had not eaten since breakfast, I decided on a late lunch at 1430 at the Penn Daw Pizza Hut. I even got a chance to play a few credits on that "Night Moves" sit-down pinball machine at the entranceway. When I got back to the truck, I called Tom on the cell phone, to tell him of my high adventures. He had been out sick. As I talked, I got a call from Ma on the "other line", wondering how I was. I conducted that call as I continued south, finishing up as I entered the parking space.
4. I am grateful that my abbreviated afternoon did not deal me any of those "depression pits", the kind that so often afflict the hours around 1600 when I'm off work. I was hoping to catch the hour of "3rd Rock" I've seen advertised for that time, only Fox was entirely given over to the "America Under Attack" story. Thus, I went on to other matters.
1. If there had to be a day for early dismissal, it is fortunate that it coincided with another of my mornings of oversleep. Now, I don't have to use leave, since the terrorist bombings in NYC and the Pentagon have rendered the matter moot. I got in to the office sometime around 0915, and not long after getting to work, Cuong T. [a coworker] came by to tell of two aircraft hitting the World Trade Center. Thinking this to be an accident, I carried on with examining until it became clear that a crisis was at hand and we were being told to go home.
2. I am glad to have had the requisite patience to endure the 4-hour drive home, most of which was spent exiting Crystal City. I saw the bumper-to-bumper vehicles on Crystal Drive as I walked to Crysal Mall parking, then I realized I might get out a bit faster from the garage by driving down the back ramp to the G3 level. There was a sizable delay there, too, however, and just reaching 20th Street was a struggle. I spent some time listening to K4US traffic [amateur radio club VHF repeater] on my IC2AT, as well as taking a call from Thomas N. [another coworker] on my cell phone. They weren't entirely swamped. I then settled in to a long session of listening to WRC 980 AM, finally breaking relatively free when I hit westbound 23rd Street.
3. It was good to see a slight restoration of a "normal" day in the worweek, once I made it past the I-95 entrance on Route 1, which had some congestion but not what I had expected as I came south on Mt. Vernon Ave. Since I had not eaten since breakfast, I decided on a late lunch at 1430 at the Penn Daw Pizza Hut. I even got a chance to play a few credits on that "Night Moves" sit-down pinball machine at the entranceway. When I got back to the truck, I called Tom on the cell phone, to tell him of my high adventures. He had been out sick. As I talked, I got a call from Ma on the "other line", wondering how I was. I conducted that call as I continued south, finishing up as I entered the parking space.
4. I am grateful that my abbreviated afternoon did not deal me any of those "depression pits", the kind that so often afflict the hours around 1600 when I'm off work. I was hoping to catch the hour of "3rd Rock" I've seen advertised for that time, only Fox was entirely given over to the "America Under Attack" story. Thus, I went on to other matters.
Collection
Citation
“story7493.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 20, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/14026.