I was one of the first in my office to realize something was going on -- thanks to TSL. So I was the one interrupting the morning meeting for all the VPs and directors saying "Sorry, but you really need to turn on the TV and watch this." There was a TV in their conference room.

Rumors were flying all around -- Capitol had been hit, White House had been hit, one of those was next, all that. A few of us made plans to walk to the White House to help out if we felt a crash. Most people just started heading for home, if they could. I still remember one coworker getting all butt-hurt because a group was walking to someone's house in Arlington instead of hers nearby in the city. Finally someone told her "We want to get OUT of the city, not stay in it."

Another random memory -- woman in the office next to me couldn't get in touch with her husband who worked on Capitol Hill for awhile and was freaking out. She ended up in tears, and when she calmed down her supervisor walked past, stopped, and stupidly asked, "Everything okay Amy? You look like your allergies are really bothering you."

I was carpooling with my dad at the time, and by the time we connected we realized two things: 1) If anything else was gonna happen in DC, it probably woulda already happened; and 2) the roads were jam packed and we weren't going anywhere for a while. So I sat in my office and chatted with friends on AOL IM until around 3pm, when my dad picked me up and we drove home on empty roads.

One final random memory: I called the nearest blood donation center and asked if they were open for donations; they told me yes and said to come on in. I get there and there's a crowd, and they announce that they're only taking Type O blood -- I'm B+. I remember getting momentarily annoyed that they didn't tell me this over the phone, then I stopped and realized that they were scrambling as much as everyone was.