Reports on friends in the NYC area

[MightyLady77]

Many of us have online friends who live in the NYC area. Please use this topic to share info.

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MightyLady of the Flame Red Hair
Love is blind, but friendship is clairvoyant.

[MightyLady77]

I want to let everyone know that I talked to PollyMath a few minutes ago. She is at work and ok, but doesn't know if she will make it home (Jersey City, NJ) tonight. Right now public transit is a problem.

I also talked to treebeard, my webmaster, who lives several blocks from the WTC and works in mid-town Manhattan. He was still at home when the first plane hit. His apartment building is ok. Non of the apartment windows shattered but the Starbucks at street level facing the WTC lost it's plate glass windows. His wife and daughter are both safe, though his wife will spend the night in NJ where she works.

If any of you know K57, she is ok, too. treebeard has chatted with her online.

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MightyLady of the Flame Red Hair
Love is blind, but friendship is clairvoyant.

[AsIs]

Thanks for the info Bee.

I've talked to a few friends to know they are ok, but I have a few others I haven't been able to reach yet. I'm hoping Buscar and Fidget are ok, but have no reason to think that they arn't. They are just a bit too close to the area for comfort. I'll post more when I know more.

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- "This is a dream." "No, not a dream. A Nightmare. And if sometimes dreams come ture, what of our nightmares?" (Sheridan and Galen)
- Resident KiSA (Knight in Shining Armor!)
- Forgiveness doesn't come with a debt. (Mary Chapin Carpenter - I Take My Chances)
- Namesake of AsIs the kitten!

[Wizz]

Just got news from Assis that Buscar, jpj, wam and Kneesrs are fine. Talked to them by phone. Assis would have posted but by now she's needs to get out of the house for a bit. Take a nice walk around the country side...sounds like a good idea.

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Do not tempt the patience of Wizzards, for they are subtle, and quick to anger.

[Sycamore Evenstar]

Polly: Please post if you need a roof and a bed for tonight. You've been in my thoughts all day.

Thanks for the update and the new board, Bee!

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[MightyLady77]

Syc, Polly is going to stay at her boss's home if she can't get home. I haven't heard from her tonight--good indication that she hasn't made it home.

I'll keep you posted as I hear things.

BTW, I also called Vamp to let her know about Polly. Vamp's family is in NJ and her brother works in the NYC area. She said he was panicced (sp?) but ok.

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MightyLady of the Flame Red Hair
Love is blind, but friendship is clairvoyant.

[AsIs]

I know many people in NY. One by one I am hearing from most of them. Sad sad day.

[Nommy]

Being a Vedrizon employee, We appear to have most other emplyess accounted for. Just think, I would have been close by if I had followed up on plans to go to NYC yesterday morning...on American Airlines! (Not that one of those planes was hijacked), but I would have gooten in at about that time.

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Nommy

[Nommy]

ALL WE REALLY HAVE

It was a picturesque morning in late summer. The sun was shining.
The air was crisp and clear. Life was good.
And then, something happened.
Within minutes, our outlook on the world, our communities, and our
families changed -- forever.
In the blink of an eye, what was considered invulnerable became
vulnerable. What was safe was now dangerous.
No one could have expected it. No one could have even imagined it.
Cries of "Pearl Harbor" echoed on the television and among friends and
families on the phone.
A new generation of Americans had suddenly discovered what it must
have been like for their parents and grandparents -- only this time, it was
worse.
Social and political commentators, journalists, and military experts
were at a loss. No one knew what to say or how to react. The world came
to a grinding halt as the shocking news spread and people found themselves
paralyzed with confusion.
Beyond the destroyed buildings of crushed metal and glass, there were
the countless victims. Innocent people who were killed or injured over
issues they knew little or nothing about.
There was no sense to it. No explanation. No easy enemy. Those
responsible were unknown and unseen. Bombs weren't used -- the weapons of
choice were civilian passenger planes laden with fuel.
The horrifying and surreal scenes of destruction have done two things.
Yes, they have made us sad. But more importantly, they have helped -- no,
they have forced -- us to put our lives in perspective.
What seemed so important on Monday, seems so insignificant today.
Within a few short hours, our thoughts and priorities shifted. Oh,
the world will keep spinning, however, our minds and spirits have been
transformed. The things we took so seriously, the things we stressed
about, argued about, worried about -- all of those personal issues that
were consuming us -- are hardly noticeable now. The things we believed
constituted a "crisis" before turned out to be nothing more than trivial.
As parents struggle to explain this to their young children, thousands
of American families will be attempting to do what they think is impossible
-- putting their shattered lives back in order.
Americans will come together and the massive response will show our
true colors as a nation. Our government and volunteer resources will unite
in the rescue efforts. Citizens from every walk of life will respond in
droves to Red Cross blood drives across the nation. And we will see
stories about ordinary people who did extraordinary things to help and save
complete strangers during this devastation -- true angels who spread their
wings of safety around those who were caught in a web of terror. Heroes
will abound and prove, as always, that good can, and will, overcome evil.
But why? Why does it take a tragedy of this magnitude to remind us
what's really important? Do we have to lose so much to understand?
Why does it take a catastrophe for us to appreciate what we otherwise
take for granted? I don't know. I only know that we will look at the
world differently. Maybe we will be more cynical, more careful, more
determined to seek the truth.
Regardless, we will look at our friends and family with a new eye --
more loving and forgiving, less judgmental and with the total realization
that we only have each other for a finite period of time.
That's the ultimate truth.
Because all we really have is each other, our freedoms, our faith, and
the hope that our painful path to recovery will allow us to shape a
peaceful world for our children.

-- Lee Simonson, Publisher
<lee @ heartwarmers.com>



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Nommy

[PollyMath]

Just wanted to confirm Bee's message. I am fine. Well, I'm not sure I would call this fine if I had another way to describe it, but I am not physically hurt. I haven't been home yet. My employer put me up in a hotel last night. It wasn't very nice, but it had a shower a bed and CNN. All I really needed.

My boss has told me to go home. I am about to leave right now to try to catch a 12:10 train (NJ transit claims to be running on a regular schedule). I may not be able to actually get transportation to Jersey City, but I should be able to get to Hoboken. I can walk from there.

I don't expect any damage to my apartment, but I will post here to confirm that when I get back. As far as I know, even the prevailing winds have been to the south and east, while my apartment is to the north and west of the disaster. Still, I may have some serious dusting to do. There was a lot of asbestos in those buildings.

More later. Please don't be surprised if you don't hear from me right away. I may try to go out and donate blood before I settle in at home. That at least should make me tired enough to sleep tonight.

Love to all,

Polly

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