Fire

So all of you that live in Austin heard and saw the story of the plane crashing in to the building yesterday. However, it's interesting that even my mom that lives in Sweden emailed me wondering if that was close to where I live, etc.

I don't mean to sensationalize the whole thing, but to me it was kind of weird, because I used to work in that building. It was the very first building I worked in when I moved to Austin back in 1995-1997'ish.

I took an early lunch yesterday to get my monthly leg massage (way overdue, by the way), and saw the billowing smoke as I was many miles away. Figured it was yet another car on fire. I drove by at 10:18am, and it turns out the plane crashed into the building at 9:45am.

As I approached I realized it was the building I worked in. Even weirder was when i drove by, I realized the actual window cubicle that I sat in for close to a year was right where these massive flames were. I had no idea it was a plane, and just figured it was a fire.

Here's a brief online conversation I had with an ex-colleague that worked with me back then:

Nathan: So, it was the exact building we used to work in? I have been trying to figure it out.

Me: Yep.

Nathan: (later on at 9:15pm) Drove by it a minute ago, saw the pictures on the internet, looks like he crashed right into your old cubicle.

Me: Yep.

So, since traffic slowed WAAY down, and came to a stand still, I put my hand out of my car window and video taped as i drove by. Looks like i did a good job of just pointing at the right area.

I got this weird hollow feeling in my stomach as I drove by. Obviously because of the horror of that was happening, but also looking at seeing my old window destroyed and in flames. I know it was close to 13 years ago, but wow, still made me feel almost lucky in a strange way.