I made the effort to get the cross bike running last night. No luck! The XT r/d I had in the drawer was for shit, so it got round filed with the parts that came off the bike. Chain (6 rides on it), Ultegra SL rear mech (12 months old) and Token ceramic pulleys (12 months old) all got dumped. New stuff is on the way from the UK. I guess it's on the IR list until the blue bag hits my porch.
My ride this morning was good. I got out early and did two solo loops of the Fort. A few folks were out riding and the new pavement is sublime. Got waves from everyone except a couple of riders that I've known for 15 years...weak...
I also passed many many runners out doing the 9-11 Memorial run. Good on them. I yelled encouragement at them, and it was reciprocated.
Now...on to this "day". 9-11 hangs heavy, and it should. I won't go into politics here, as there is really no point. I will tell you a quick story instead...
On 9-11-01, I was working as a project manager at a now defunct lumber/home building company. I was sitting at my desk early that morning, going over house plans, and listening to the radio. The normal drivel from the a.m. DJs was interrupted by the news that a jetliner had crashed into the World Trade Center. I immediately ran downstairs and fired up the TV in the conference room. People started to trickle in, and by the time the second plane hit, most of the people who actually 'worked' were in the room. We all sat, watching and listening in stunned silence, to the history that was unfolding before us. Folks cried...got angry...called family...even though we were 800 miles away. I got really pissed, then really worried about my friend Christen who worked in the WTC complex. She was walking into her office when the first plane hit. Christen has a 140 IQ and immediately used it to make the decision to get the hell out of Manhattan. She was on the first ferry across to Brooklyn, but I digress...
As well ALL sat there in horror, one of the VPs (Rusty Ashley is his name, if you're curious), who was/is a complete douchenozzle, came into the room and LITERALLY yelled at us for wasting time watching 'something that wasn't important' on TV. Really? REALLY?
I, not-so-politely, asked if he was serious. A heated exchange followed, which included the Irish hot rushing to my head, which is baaaaad. Some left, most did not. I sat in there until lunch, then went home for the day. My eyes did not leave the TV until the H.O. demanded that I stop watching.
The next day, I got pulled into the BIG office and verbally assaulted for being insubordinate towards management. Again, the exchange was heated. Sure, what we were doing at work was important, but building shitty pre-fab patio homes pales in comparison to the horror that visited New York, DC and rural Pennsylvania that day.
It weighed heavily on my mind and spirit for the next week or so. I walked into the VP meeting on September 21st and handed them all a copy of my resignation. I packed my desk, walked to my truck and never looked back.
A few years later, the housing bubble burst and the company went belly up. Shortly thereafter, I saw Rusty again, on this time he was working at Lowe's, helping someone load lumber. Karma's a bitch, isn't it...
My point? Now matter what you were doing then, or what you are doing now, you MUST remember this day and how it changed you, your family, your friends, this country and the World.
May God bless the 2819 lives lost in the attacks that day, including the 60 police officers and 343 firefighters who gave their lives so that others could wake to feel the sun on their faces on 9-12! Even more deaths can be attributed to the rescue effort at Ground Zero. Getting cancer and lung disease is a hell of a thank you for being a first responder. Heroes all...
Don't ever forget! Teach your kids about it! Yes, it's that important!
Here are
some numbers that may lend more gravity. Hard when you see it in black and white, eh?
