Tuesday, September 26, 2006

I got a HARLEY!!!!

WooHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! Image

I finally went ahead and did it, I bought a 2002 Harley-Davidson Heritage Softail Classic.  It's got a custom paint job that's host to ghosted flames, ghosted skulls, ghosted harley logo, and is marbled candy-apple red. It has more chrome than I know what to do with. The guy had parts sent to a chrome shop because the dealership doesn't offer them in chrome. The motor has had a lot of work and has that classic "po-ta-to" sound all the old harley guys drool over. It is a very beautiful bike. My dad is planning to upgrade a few things on his '04 softail classic to match some of the nicer features I have (like a tiny pad built into my throttle to rest your hand on).

I'll update on how I'm doing once I go take the riding academy class the H-D dealerships offer.

Monday, September 11, 2006

Reflections-part 1

No matter how bad you want to forget it, you will always remember where you were on that day. You will always remember that day asking yourself "Please god, is this over yet?” You will always remember seeing 2, 110 story buildings crash to the ground knowing thousands were on the inside including rescuers.

I like many others, was scared. I like many others, was glued to CNN for hours. I like many others, cried for the first time in a while on that day. I like many others, still cry when we hear another story about that day.

I can not imagine trying to make a choice to either burn to death or to jump from 60 or 70 stories up and go out my way. I can not image being in plane knowing I am fixing to crash into the Pentagon and there is nothing I can do about it. I can not imagine addressing the United States as the President and assuring them everything is going to be all right.

8:45 A.M. EDT A hijacked passenger jet, American Airlines Flight 11 from Boston, Massachusetts, crashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center. starts to burn. It had set off from Boston en route to Los Angeles with 92 people on board. President Bush was talking to a group of students in Sarasota, Florida, when he learned the horrific news.

9:03 A.M. EDT As Americans are watching the tragic events of the plane striking the north tower, we believed it was an accident. That's when United Airlines Flight 175 crashes into south tower of Trade Center causing a devastating explosion. It had departed from Boston for Los Angeles with 65 passengers and crew members on board. Both buildings are now burning.

9:17 A.M. EDT
The Federal Aviation Administration shuts down all New York City area airports.

9:21 A.M. EDT
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey orders all bridges and tunnels in the New York area closed.

9:29 A.M. EDT
First reports of casualties pour in. More than 50,000 workers are based at the Trade Center. 

9:30 A.M. EDT
President George Bush declares: "We have had a national tragedy. Two planes have crashed into the World Trade Center in an apparent terrorist attack on our country."

9:40 A.M. EDT
The FAA halts all flight operations at U.S. airports, the first time in U.S. history that air traffic nationwide has been halted.

9:43 A.M. EDT
American Airlines Flight 77, carrying 64 people from Washington to Los Angeles, crashes into the Pentagon in Washington, sending up a huge plume of smoke. Evacuation begins immediately. The nerve center of US military bursts into flames and portion of one side of the five-sided structure collapses.

9:45 A.M. EDT
The White House evacuates.

9:57 A.M. EDT
Bush departs from Florida.

9:58 A.M. EDT
Emergency dispatcher in Pennsylvania, Lisa Jefferson took the 911 call from Todd Beamer, a passenger on United Flight 93 saying "We are being hijacked, we being hijacked!" and "Some of us passengers' plan on over powering the hijackers".

United Airlines Flight 93 was the only hijacked airliner not to strike the terrorist's intended target. Many passengers called family members by on board and cell phones. During those calls they learned other hijacked airliners had struck the World Trade Center. These heroic souls agreed they would not allow their airliner to do the same. So, they told family members they were going to rush the hijackers and do what ever it takes to prevent this from happening. As we all know now, these brave people succeeded. They willingly sacrificed their own lives to save the lives of many others. God Bless each one of these Godsends for their unselfish act of ultimate heroism.

10:05 A.M. EDT
The south tower of the World Trade Center collapses, plummeting into the streets below. A massive cloud of dust and debris forms and slowly drifts away from the building.

10:08 A.M. EDT
Secret Service agents armed with automatic rifles are deployed into Lafayette Park across from the White House.

10:10 A.M. EDT
A portion of the Pentagon collapses.

10:13 A.M. EDT
United Airlines Flight 93, also hijacked, crashes in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, southeast of Pittsburgh.

10:18 A.M. EDT
The United Nations building evacuates, including 4,700 people from the headquarters building and 7,000 total from UNICEF and U.N. development programs.

10:22 A.M. EDT
In Washington, the State and Justice departments are evacuated, along with the World Bank.

10:24 A.M. EDT
The FAA reports that all inbound transatlantic aircraft flying into the United States are being diverted to Canada.

10:28 A.M. EDT
The World Trade Center's north tower collapses from the top down as if it were being peeled apart, releasing a tremendous cloud of debris and smoke.

10:45 A.M. EDT
All federal office buildings in Washington are evacuated.

10:46 A.M. EDT
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell cuts short his trip to Latin America to return to the United States.

10:48 A.M. EDT
Police confirm the plane crash in Pennsylvania.

United Airlines Flight 93 was carrying at least 45 passengers when the Boeing 757 took off from Newark, NJ, enroute to San Francisco when it crashed in a wooded area 12 miles north of Somerset, Pa. Authorities said there were no survivors. The crash was one of four reported by United and American Airlines. Radar showed the San Francisco-bound Boeing 757 from Newark, N.J., had nearly reached Cleveland when it made a sharp left turn and headed back toward Pennsylvania, crashing in a grassy field edged by woods about80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. 

10:53 A.M. EDT
New York's primary elections, scheduled for Tuesday, are postponed.

11:02 A.M. EDT
New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani urges New Yorkers to stay at home and orders an evacuation of the area south of Canal Street.

11:16 A.M. EDT
CNN reports that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is preparing emergency response teams in a precautionary move.

11:18 A.M. EDT
American Airlines reports it has lost two aircraft. American Flight 11, a Boeing 767 flying from Boston to Los Angeles, had 81 passengers and 11 crew aboard. Flight 77, a Boeing 757 en route from Washington's Dulles International Airport to Los Angeles, had 58 passengers and six crew members aboard. Flight 11 slammed into the north tower of the World Trade Center. Flight 77 hit the Pentagon.

 

11:26 A.M. EDT
United Airlines reports that United Flight 93, en route from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco, California, has crashed in Pennsylvania. The airline also says that it is "deeply concerned" about United Flight 175.

11:59 A.M. EDT
United Airlines confirms that Flight 175, from Boston to Los Angeles, has crashed with 56 passengers and nine crew members aboard. It hit the World Trade Center's south tower.

12:04 P.M. EDT
Los Angeles International Airport, the destination of three of the crashed airplanes, is evacuated.

12:15 P.M. EDT
San Francisco International Airport is evacuated and shut down. The airport was the destination of United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania.

Reflections-part 2

PART 2

12:15 P.M. EDT
The Immigration and Naturalization Service says U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico are on the highest state of alert, but no decision has been made about closing borders.

12:30 P.M. EDT
The FAA says 50 flights are in U.S. airspace, but none are reporting any problems.

1:04 P.M. EDT
Bush, speaking from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, says that all appropriate security measures are being taken, including putting the U.S. military on high alert worldwide. He asks for prayers for those killed or wounded in the attacks and says, "Make no mistake, the United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts."

1:27 P.M. EDT
A state of emergency is declared by the city of Washington.

1:44 P.M. EDT
The Pentagon says five warships and two aircraft carriers will leave the U.S. Naval Station in Norfolk, Virginia, to protect the East Coast from further attack and to reduce the number of ships in port. The two carriers, the USS George Washington and the USS John F. Kennedy, are headed for the New York coast. The other ships headed to sea are frigates and guided missile destroyers capable of shooting down aircraft.

1:48 P.M. EDT
Bush leaves Barksdale Air Force Base aboard Air Force One and flies toan Air Force base in Nebraska.

2:00 P.M. EDT
Senior FBI sources tell CNN they are working on the assumption that the four airplanes that crashed were hijacked as part of a terrorist attack.

2:30 P.M. EDT
The FAA announces there will be no U.S. commercial air traffic until noon EDT Wednesday at the earliest.

2:49 P.M. EDT
At a news conference, Giuliani says that subway and bus service are partially restored in New York City. Asked about the number of people killed, Giuliani says, "I don't think we want to speculate about that -- more than any of us can bear."

3:55 P.M. EDT
Karen Hughes, a White House counselor, says the president is at an undisclosed location, later revealed to be Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, and is conducting a National Security Council meeting by phone. Vice President Dick Cheney and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice are in a secure facility at the White House. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is at the Pentagon.

3:55 P.M. EDT
Giuliani now says the number of critically injured in New York City is up to 200 with 2,100 total injuries reported.

4:00 P.M. EDT
CNN National Security Correspondent David Ensor reports that U.S. officials say there are "good indications" that Saudi militant Osama bin Laden, suspected of coordinating the bombings of two U.S. embassies in 1998, is involved in the attacks, based on "new and specific" information developed since the attacks.

4:06 P.M. EDT
California Gov. Gray Davis dispatches urban search-and-rescue teams to New York.

4:10 P.M. EDT
Building 7 of the World Trade Center complex is reported on fire.

4:20 P.M. EDT
U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, D-Florida, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, says he was "not surprised there was an attack (but) was surprised at the specificity." He says he was "shocked at what actually happened -- the extent of it."

4:25 P.M. EDT
The American Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange say they will remain closed Wednesday.

4:30 P.M. EDT
The president leaves Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska aboard Air Force One to return to Washington.

4:45 P.M. EDT 
The City of New York announces that 200 firefighters have been killed and 78 police officers are missing.

5:15 P.M. EDT
CNN Military Affairs Correspondent Jamie McIntyre reports fires are still burning in part of the Pentagon. No death figures have been released yet.

5:20 P.M. EDT
The 47-story Building 7 of the World Trade Center complex collapses. The evacuated building is damaged when the twin towers across the street collapse earlier in the day. Other nearby buildings in the area remain ablaze.

5:30 P.M. EDT
CNN Senior White House Correspondent John King reports that U.S. officials say the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania could have been headed for one of three possible targets: Camp David, the White House or the U.S. Capitol building.

6:00 P.M. EDT
Explosions are heard in Kabul, Afghanistan, hours after terrorist attacks targeted financial and military centers in the United States. The attacks occurred at 2:30 a.m. local time. Afghanistan is believed to be where bin Laden, who U.S. officials say is possibly behind Tuesday's deadly attacks, is located. U.S. officials say later that the United States had no involvement in the incident whatsoever. The attack is credited to the Northern Alliance, a group fighting the Taliban in the country's ongoing civil war.

6:10 P.M. EDT
Giuliani urges New Yorkers to stay home Wednesday if they can.

6:40 P.M. EDT
Rumsfeld, the U.S. defense secretary, holds a news conference in the Pentagon, noting the building is operational. "It will be in business tomorrow," he says.

6:54 P.M. EDT
Bush arrives back at the White House aboard Marine One and is scheduled to address the nation at 8:30 p.m. The president earlier landed at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland with a three-fighter jet escort. CNN's King reports Laura Bush arrived earlier by motorcade from a "secure location."

7:02 P.M. EDT
CNN's Paula Zahn reports the Marriott Hotel near the World Trade Center is on the verge of collapse and says some New York bridges are now open to outbound traffic.

7:17 P.M. EDT
U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft says the FBI is setting up a Web site for tips on the attacks

7:45 P.M. EDT
The New York Police Department says that at least 78 officers are missing. The city also says that as many as half of the first 400 firefighters on the scene were killed.

8:30 P.M. EDT
President Bush addresses the nation, saying "thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil" and asks for prayers for the families and friends of Tuesday's victims. "These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve," he says. The president says the U.S. government will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed the acts and those who harbor them. He adds that government offices in Washington are reopening for essential personnel Tuesday night and for all workers Wednesday.

9:22 P.M. EDT
CNN's McIntyre reports the fire at the Pentagon is still burning and is considered contained but not under control.

9:57 P.M. EDT
Giuliani says New York City schools will be closed Wednesday and no more volunteers are needed for Tuesday evening's rescue efforts. He says there is hope that there are still people alive in rubble. He also says that power is out on the west side of Manhattan and that health department tests show there are no airborne chemical agents about which to worry.

10:49 P.M. EDT
CNN Congressional Correspondent Jonathan Karl reports that Attorney General Ashcroft told members of Congress that there were three to five hijackers on each plane armed only with knives.

10:56 P.M. EDT
CNN's Zahn reports that New York City police believe there are people alive in buildings near the World Trade Center.

11:54 P.M. EDT
CNN Washington Bureau Chief Frank Sesno reports that a government official told him there was an open microphone on one of the hijacked planes and that sounds of discussion and "duress" were heard. Sesno also reports a source says law enforcement has "credible" information and leads and is confident about the investigation.