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Description
Shot on 9.11.04

My account of 9/11
originally posted in the Eidos Tomb Raider Forums September 12, 2001...

A Day of Horror.
Tuesday started for me much like any other day of work, the only exception being that I was returning
to work after five days vacation. I had returned to NYC from Watkins Glen in upstate NY on Monday.
I bought my morning donut on the corner and went up to my office on the tenth floor
of the building I work in on 33rd Street. I got my coffee and went to my desk.
The time was around 8:20 am. I was just starting to get back into the groove of work
when my phone rang around 9:05. It was my wife with the news of the first plane crash into
the World Trade Center.
At that point the phones at work started ringing of the hook with people calling in
with the news. My wife was panicking and hysterical. I told her I would go look and call her right back.
I left the building and went to the Wiz on the corner of 30th Street and 6th Ave.
There is virtually an unobstructed view of the WTC from 6th Ave. I could see the gaping black hole
and thick smoke pouring from the North face of the North tower. People in the street could not believe
what they were looking at. I returned to my job and called my wife back. At that point, the people on
my floor were saying that people were watching the event from our other offices on the 11th floor
which faces South. In the confusion of the morning, I had totally forgotten about our 11th floor offices.
The view was even more horrifying than from the street. As my co-workers and my bosses looked on,
we saw the explosion as the second plane hit, and the huge ball of flame that ensued.
People at work did not know what to do. The feeling was that if you had to leave to get out
or to do whatever you had to do to locate loved ones and children - don't ask - just do it.
I was facing a trip to Brooklyn full of unknown factors. Macy's closed, the Empire State Building
was evacuated, and the feeling was - it's not good to be in the vicinity of the Empire State Building.
The company owners asked me who was still down on the 10th floor. I told them. They told me
to tell them to leave. Then they came down from the 11th floor, now deserted, to make sure we
were leaving. I left work with two of my co-workers who happen to live in New Jersey.
The plan was to make our way to one of our co-worker's friend's apartment on 14th Street
since they could not get a train or other passage to Jersey.
We started to make our way downtown. There was a steady flow of people making their way uptown.
Many more than were working their way downtown. About three blocks from work we ran into
two people who used to work with us walking uptown. One of them continued to his home
farther uptown. The other came with us to 14th Street. I ducked into a corner deli to buy water for us.
To the deli's credit, they were not price gouging on their sales. Viva New York! We followed Broadway
steadily downtown, trying to keep to the shade, as it was hot and sunny, and we had a long walk
ahead of us. We made it to my co-worker's friend's place on 14th Street. The friend was not home.
We exchanged our phone numbers. My co-workers were going to stay and wait for their friend.
I was going to continue on to the Williamsburg Bridge. If I found that I couldn't get across,
I was going to return to 14th Street.
As I made my way further downtown, I saw more and more people making their way uptown.
Many of them wearing face masks. I stopped by the offices of The Village Voice where I have freinds
working. They had already gone. I saw a Poland Spring truck driving uptown with huge clouds of dust
trailing from it. At first I thought it was vapor from dry ice or something, but I soon realized that it was
dust and debris from the Trade Center. There were long lines at all the street corner telephones.
Some phones were workng, some weren't.
I found a working phone at Ludlow and Houston Sts. and called my wife and told her my plan -
to get over the bridge and into Brooklyn or return to 14th Street. As the ramp to the bridge came into view,
my heart lept. There were throngs of people in a mass exodus from Manhattan. I would get home.
Once in Brooklyn, I made my way the rest of he way home. I ran into a couple who had just come
over the bridge and weren't quite sure how to get out of the area and back to where they lived.
I told them to come with me and would get them going in the right direction. They were heading to
Park Slope and wanted to get to Grand Army Plaza near Prospect Park in Brooklyn. I got them to
Vanderbilt and Willoughby and told them to just follow Vanderbuilt. That would take them right to
Grand Army Plaza. They thanked me and we parted friends.
I made it the rest of the way home without incident. Through the entire ordeal, the gigantic cloud
of dust and smoke could be seen from virtually everywhere in the city. It took me around
three and a half hours to make the walk home. Later in the afternoon, there were times when we
could actually smell the smoke in our home in Brooklyn. Phone service was sporadic all day
as lines were tied up. We did manage to get through to all our loved ones through the course
of the day to let them know we were alright.
One of the most poignant things I saw on the news was Dick Oliver from Fox 5 News reporting
that as he saw all the civilians running away and escaping from the disaster are all he could think about
were the hundreds of brave firemen, rescue experts and police officers running INTO the devastation.
As the day ended, we knew we would not wake up the next day the same as we would have before
the disaster. Rather than go to bed we decided to bring our pillows to our TV room and just keep watching
the news until we just fell asleep.
As I write these thoughts on 9/12/01, I realize the the date of the disaster was 911.
My thanks and love go out to all of our forum friends from all around the world who have poured out
their hearts with their love, sympathy, condolences, and support for all of us who are enduring this disaster.
Peace
DEEKMAN aka CapnDeek373

Description
Shot on 9.11.04

My account of 9/11
originally posted in the Eidos Tomb Raider Forums September 12, 2001...

A Day of Horror.
Tuesday started for me much like any other day of work, the only exception being that I was returning
to work after five days vacation. I had returned to NYC from Watkins Glen in upstate NY on Monday.
I bought my morning donut on the corner and went up to my office on the tenth floor
of the building I work in on 33rd Street. I got my coffee and went to my desk.
The time was around 8:20 am. I was just starting to get back into the groove of work
when my phone rang around 9:05. It was my wife with the news of the first plane crash into
the World Trade Center.
At that point the phones at work started ringing of the hook with people calling in
with the news. My wife was panicking and hysterical. I told her I would go look and call her right back.
I left the building and went to the Wiz on the corner of 30th Street and 6th Ave.
There is virtually an unobstructed view of the WTC from 6th Ave. I could see the gaping black hole
and thick smoke pouring from the North face of the North tower. People in the street could not believe
what they were looking at. I returned to my job and called my wife back. At that point, the people on
my floor were saying that people were watching the event from our other offices on the 11th floor
which faces South. In the confusion of the morning, I had totally forgotten about our 11th floor offices.
The view was even more horrifying than from the street. As my co-workers and my bosses looked on,
we saw the explosion as the second plane hit, and the huge ball of flame that ensued.
People at work did not know what to do. The feeling was that if you had to leave to get out
or to do whatever you had to do to locate loved ones and children - don't ask - just do it.
I was facing a trip to Brooklyn full of unknown factors. Macy's closed, the Empire State Building
was evacuated, and the feeling was - it's not good to be in the vicinity of the Empire State Building.
The company owners asked me who was still down on the 10th floor. I told them. They told me
to tell them to leave. Then they came down from the 11th floor, now deserted, to make sure we
were leaving. I left work with two of my co-workers who happen to live in New Jersey.
The plan was to make our way to one of our co-worker's friend's apartment on 14th Street
since they could not get a train or other passage to Jersey.
We started to make our way downtown. There was a steady flow of people making their way uptown.
Many more than were working their way downtown. About three blocks from work we ran into
two people who used to work with us walking uptown. One of them continued to his home
farther uptown. The other came with us to 14th Street. I ducked into a corner deli to buy water for us.
To the deli's credit, they were not price gouging on their sales. Viva New York! We followed Broadway
steadily downtown, trying to keep to the shade, as it was hot and sunny, and we had a long walk
ahead of us. We made it to my co-worker's friend's place on 14th Street. The friend was not home.
We exchanged our phone numbers. My co-workers were going to stay and wait for their friend.
I was going to continue on to the Williamsburg Bridge. If I found that I couldn't get across,
I was going to return to 14th Street.
As I made my way further downtown, I saw more and more people making their way uptown.
Many of them wearing face masks. I stopped by the offices of The Village Voice where I have freinds
working. They had already gone. I saw a Poland Spring truck driving uptown with huge clouds of dust
trailing from it. At first I thought it was vapor from dry ice or something, but I soon realized that it was
dust and debris from the Trade Center. There were long lines at all the street corner telephones.
Some phones were workng, some weren't.
I found a working phone at Ludlow and Houston Sts. and called my wife and told her my plan -
to get over the bridge and into Brooklyn or return to 14th Street. As the ramp to the bridge came into view,
my heart lept. There were throngs of people in a mass exodus from Manhattan. I would get home.
Once in Brooklyn, I made my way the rest of he way home. I ran into a couple who had just come
over the bridge and weren't quite sure how to get out of the area and back to where they lived.
I told them to come with me and would get them going in the right direction. They were heading to
Park Slope and wanted to get to Grand Army Plaza near Prospect Park in Brooklyn. I got them to
Vanderbilt and Willoughby and told them to just follow Vanderbuilt. That would take them right to
Grand Army Plaza. They thanked me and we parted friends.
I made it the rest of the way home without incident. Through the entire ordeal, the gigantic cloud
of dust and smoke could be seen from virtually everywhere in the city. It took me around
three and a half hours to make the walk home. Later in the afternoon, there were times when we
could actually smell the smoke in our home in Brooklyn. Phone service was sporadic all day
as lines were tied up. We did manage to get through to all our loved ones through the course
of the day to let them know we were alright.
One of the most poignant things I saw on the news was Dick Oliver from Fox 5 News reporting
that as he saw all the civilians running away and escaping from the disaster are all he could think about
were the hundreds of brave firemen, rescue experts and police officers running INTO the devastation.
As the day ended, we knew we would not wake up the next day the same as we would have before
the disaster. Rather than go to bed we decided to bring our pillows to our TV room and just keep watching
the news until we just fell asleep.
As I write these thoughts on 9/12/01, I realize the the date of the disaster was 911.
My thanks and love go out to all of our forum friends from all around the world who have poured out
their hearts with their love, sympathy, condolences, and support for all of us who are enduring this disaster.
Peace
DEEKMAN aka CapnDeek373