Twenty Years On!
On the eleventh of September in 2001, I had three jobs to do in London.
- I had to visit my press cuttings client near Borough tube station to talk about something, which I have long forgotten.
- I had to deliver a thousand Al Stewart CDs to his manager, as the singer was going on tour. The handover was to be performed in Waterloo station.
- I was then going on to Soho to see a Chinese bookmaker, for whom I offered computer advice.
I parked my car on a meter and went to visit the first client at about two.
When I returned to the car, I needed to phone my wife; C about something. My phone was installed in my Discovery and it didn’t have any calling list, as I remembered numbers and just typed them in.
But for some reason I couldn’t remember her mobile phone number or the Office number at home, so I didn’t make the call.
This was very unlike me, as I’ve always had an excellent memory. Especially for numbers.
I did remember to deliver the parcel to Al Stewart’s manager and made my way to Soho, where I parked in an underground car park.
It was only when I got to the bookmakers did I realise what was going on in New York, as they had the televisions on and were watching the drama continuously.
I have a feeling, that I made my excuses and returned quickly to Suffolk.
By this time, my memory had returned and I was able to phone C.
But the worst terrorist attacks of recent memory were probably over.
Did my brain pick up the bad news or was it due to being close to the City of London, where there would have been a large amount of electronic communication to New York?
I have no idea.
But there is another incident, where I may have picked up tragic news through the ether.
On Sunday, the 31st August 1997, I woke up about five as I generally do and remarkably said to C. “Something tragic has happend! I think Tony Blair has been assassinated!”
She told me to stop being silly and I went downstairs to make a cup of tea and do some programming. It was then that I turned on the radio and heard that Princess Diana had died in the traffic accident in Paris.
The Anonymous Widower 
Wow this are amazing stories James, must feel very good to reflect on this twenty years and twenty four years later.
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Comment by Lawrence Wilson | September 11, 2021 |
Some scientists have proposed a knowledge field. It would certainly explain some unusual happenings.
Comment by AnonW | September 11, 2021 |
On the subject of that day in September. I was working as a support programmer. I could hear several colleagues at a workstation excitedly talking about planes hitting buildings. I was getting very irritated – why the hell were they playing computer games so noisily when we were supposed to be working. Only later did I learn it was no game they were viewing. I had just assumed that something so spectacularly awful could not possibly be real.
Comment by HW | September 12, 2021 |