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Ok, now that I’m through the hysteria, I have a few things to say.

Let’s keep our heads on straight, people. Not all Muslims are terrorists. Let’s not start harassing those living peacefully in our country.

Every time a great tragedy like this occurs, Nostradamus starts making the rounds. Which is pretty good considering he’s been dead for about 500 years. But don’t put too much stock in Nostradamus. He wrote in very symbolical language. Anyone of his so-called prophecies could be twisted in any number of ways. He wasn’t all that. He was the Madam Cleo of his time.

After watching all the news coverage, what’s up with all the split screen crap? Watching 3 screens on Fox News gave me a headache. I think BBC America had the best news coverage. Objective reporting without the sensationalism. It was also nice to get a non-American perspective of these events.

I’ve been watching Fox News since I got home. They showed photographs that a photographer took of falling bodies. I just kept thinking to myself that that’s someone’s brother/father/son/whatever.

I did finally break down on the drive home from work.

My wife noted that how eerie it is not to see any planes in the sky from our porch.

I found an article at CNN about the timeline of the attacks, which can be found by clicking here.

Just some questions.

What if this was only the first phase? Could it be possible the terrorists were domestic terrorists? How were the planes hijacked? What was in the part of the Pentagon that was attacked? How will this affect the economy?

I guess the terrorists or whoever got what they wanted. The country has come to a grinding halt.

I just heard a report on NPR from one of the triage sites in NY that the walking wounded are being ignored and those that are close to death. That’s horrible, but I imagine they have to with as many wounded they must have and the limited resources they’re working with. I also heard that some territories in the Middle East or having celebrations. Will this plunge the world into war again, like Pearl Harbor? I couldn’t imagine having to go through something like this, and I hope I never have to.

I was able to get a hold of a friend of mine from North Jersey. She and her family are fine, but she used to work in the World Trade Center. She told me that she doesn’t know if all the people she used to work with got out. She said she had spoken to some but not all. For her sake, I hope they did. My God, I just feel like crying. The World freakin’ Trade center isn’t there anymore. It just isn’t there. After the first bombing back in ’93 I thought it was indestructible.

Back in ’93, I had strep throat and a really bad fever. The fever was around 102. I had these really bad dreams. In one of them, a large structure had exploded. The next day I was in my doctor’s office, and they announced over the radio that the World Trade Center had been bombed. I was so delirious with a fever, I thought I was responsible.

No dream last night. Just a nightmare this morning.

I just had a sick feeling come over me. I have a friend who I love a lot that lives in New York City. She kind of disappeared a few weeks ago. When I say disappeared, I mean I tried to call her and her number was disconnected, and I haven’t gotten an e-mail from her in a while. If my memory serves me correctly, she worked somewhere near the World Trade Centers. But the last we talked, she was getting a job out of the city. I e-mailed her at the last address I had for her but haven’t heard anything back yet. I pray to God she’s ok.

You know I’ve never cried over anything I’ve seen on the news before, but when I watched the World Trade Center buildings collapse I felt like busting out into tears.

I have a brother who works in D.C. I panicked for what seemed like hours until I heard from my parents that he was ok.

My wife went to the store and I didn’t know about it. I must have left about 15 messages on the answering machine at home.

Both my dad, who is 72, and my mother-in-law, who is 63, both said the same thing. That this was Pearl Harbor all over again.

I live nowhere near NY or D.C. but I still can’t help feeling nervous. I’m at work right now, probably risking my job to do this, but I think it’s necessary. Here in Charlotte, NC, they’re evacuating the First Union/Wachovia building and most of downtown. I wish they would let us go. I want to be with my family. More later.

In the 32 years that I’ve been alive, there have been some holy shit moments. The Challenger explosion. The World Trade Center bombing. The Oklahoma City bombing. Columbine. And now this. Luckily, I have no family in New York, so I’ve been spared as far as I know.

My heart goes out to the families of the victims. More commentary later.