So finally I begin to cover my weekend!
Friday I joined ER, Neil, Brice, and Yoshi on a trip to Clayton, GA for New Frontier Wrestling Association. Had a good time. Brice matched wits with ER…and lost. I got to see Ostgard’s Georgia clone.
We ate at Appleby’s in Easley at midnight. There is no better way to describe this, but the waiter was basically in love with me. From his helpful weight watcher tip at the beginning to his hearty handshake at the end, he was a superb waiter…Thanks, Norton!
Saturday, ER and I spent several hours preparing for Thomas’ surprise birthday run-in later that night at HVW. Neil and Brice handled the gift, well I mean they bought it, not literally handled it…the surprise was worth it. I think Thomas was genuinely moved by it.
I feel like I have forgotten something?
Tomorrow is my birthday, 31 years old…I’m celebrating by getting my teeth cleaned in the afternoon.
I don’t have to say what this past Monday was. While at work, I started thinking about where I was at on 9/11/01. My life was totally different. So I dug out my journal from that timeframe, and yes I keep a journal – I have for about eleven years. It keeps things orderly in my head.
September 2001 I was not involved in wrestling at all, other than watching it on TV. I was twenty-five, just about to turn twenty-six. For a few months before this, I had been planning a trip for myself and my parents to visit Washington,DC at the end of September. I had the entire trip planned, I had been in touch with Senator John Edwards’ office and already had some reservations at places around the city. Tickets were bought, etc etc.
At the time I worked 2nd (maybe some 3rd) shifts. I was awakened around 3pm that day, by a co-worker and he needed me to come in and cover his days since “all that has happened” – I had no clue, and then he explained it. I sat and watched CNN…my mother came by and we decided to cancel the trip (to this day we have never made it, and still have the tickets with United)…”Possibly 50,000 people in the World Trade Center”…they still didn’t know the numbers…I thought it was like watching a movie…people running for their lives, explosions, dust and debris…It scared me…firefighters and police injured, hundreds flooding the hospitals….people falling to their death…I remember writing this stuff down as it played out on the TV screen…
Later that night – “200 firemen are feared dead in NYC and 78 police officers are missing”….the price of gas was skyrocketing….”oil prices up $6 to $32 a barrel”….wow, how cheap is that? The Triangle Stop in Tryon said that by the next morning, gas would probably be over $4/gallon…..8.30pm-Bush says we will retaliate….I tried calling the hotel where our reservations were at, but all their lines were busy “all circuits are being used for emergencies communications”…..”an estimate of 800 killed inside the Pentagon”
I touched base with all my friends at the time….I found myself only able to watch TV for so long before I had to turn it, but what could you turn it to? They were playing the images/audio – hearing the people screaming and pleading to God. Even this past Monday, the fifth anniversary I had to turn the channel when they started showing the planes again.
A reporter says their is so much dust in NYC – it is almost impossible to breath…I donated blood the next Monday..what else could I do?
Five years ago, my life pretty much centered on my work, and the friends I had through work….things are much different now…
Thursday, I’m going with a group to see Burke Co. Wrestling in Morganton….I’m working all weekend, and will be taking a break from any wrestling shows…
