Challenger: In a tech college working on a drafting project. Some people were watching it in the teacher's lounge and came in and told us.
Okie City Bombing: At work, I was a manager at a tool and die company that made gun reloading dies and sold government surplus, and a frequent hang out for militia folks. Things got weird there in the months following.
9/11: At work coding a perl program for server managment. Someone said a plane flew in WTC. I thought at first it was maybe just a small plane and went back to work. Soon realized what was going on and went home to be with wife and kids.
I wasn't sure whether he was serious or whether this was some kind of strange initiation thing for the new guy. Some people always like to say things to shock a new employee just to see how they respond. He didn't sound super serious about the whole thing, so I just assumed some broken windows and damaged walls. Still, I was curious, so I called a friend back in Oklahoma City.
I said that I'd heard a rumor that a bomb had gone off in the city and asked whether he'd heard anything about it. As it turns out, he had been in a building just two blocks from the federal building. He had driven away from downtown as the fire trucks came in.
I didn't own a TV at the time, and I remember going to Hooters that night for dinner because it was the only place I could think of in a new city where I could eat dinner and watch TV. Most people wanted to watch sports and the usual stuff that they watch at Hooters. Some of the waitresses weren't happy about having the news on one of their TVs, but they let me watch.
September 11: I was at work at a technical center in west Houston. Our secretary sent an e-mail with a link to the story about "that horrible crash in New York." She assumed that everyone had heard at that time. I went to some conference rooms to watch and checked different websites. With my company's liberal "diversity" policy, I've never signed onto Free Republic from work, but I did that day. We all talked about the situation, and I was watching TV when the second plane hit.
Eventually, they sent people home mostly so that parents could deal with their kids. I thought about staying around because I don't have kids, but it was obvious that they also wanted people to leave so they could check the building just to be sure. I was on the emergency crew and lingered in my office a little longer in case I was needed as a member of the crew. Eventually, I decided that I should go home. Less than two minutes after I shut down my computer and turned off my plant radio, they made the call and sent an e-mail asking any remaining emergency crew members to help check out the buildings. I felt bad that I wasn't there to help the rest of the crew with that work.
WFTR
Bill