11.September.2001          One for the books                              1715

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. came by to tell of two aircraft hitting the World Trade Center.  Thinking this to be an accident, I carried on with examining unitl 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 [in Arlington, VA].  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 on my IC2AT, as well as taking a call from Thomas N. 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.

5.  I am grateful not to be contending with major worry in my personal life, the condition that just continues on.  Why, even those bothersome lesions on my posterior and perineum have had a way of clearing up.  Thus, I can pay attention to matters like a left big toe that still bothers me, 8 years after I hyperextended it in the front yard while waiting on pizza.  Maybe I do need more "real" concerns, though.