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A very
special thanks to everyone who called and e-mailed from the
world over to give me encouraging words regarding my present
situation. It was your uplifting and kindness that has kept
me staying positive. Thank you...
- - - - - -
 This
of course marks the one year anniversary (if you want
to call it that) of the day that changed the United States
-- September 11, 2001. In the next following days that
will lead into weeks, you are going to see the ugly side of
the media again giving you "inside scoops"
and "LIVE Coverage" regarding anything about
the World Trade Center attacks. They will be justifying it
as paying tribute to all the lost lives of those in New York,
Washington and Pennsylvania. The families and friends of those
who were lost will have to be reminded again of the trauma
anytime they turn on the radio or television - I can't even
imagine what everyday for them must be like to go through.
I agree that we should take a moment to remember and pay our
respects to the tragedy, but we do not need CNN giving us
the "inside" story on EVERYTHING...
I
was stumbling across the channels one night, and low and behold
I see the WTC towers crumbling to the ground. I stayed to
watch a little on what the story would be more than what we
already *supposedly know
already. They showed exactly where the President was and what
his procedures were when the terrorists struck. I could not
believe what they were showing the general public. They actually
showed the "secret" bunker in Nebraska where he
went. They showed the inside and everything. Shouldn't all
this be a secret?! Then they go on to discuss major places
in the US that would be devastating if they were direct hits
of an attack. Is it all really a surprise to the US when foreign
terrorists have so much information? It shouldn't be... all
they have to do it just watch CNN!
It
was just weeks after where I collected photos all over the
internet of the WTC incident and posted them here. You can
view the disturbing pictures yourself in this cK WTC
Section. Please be cautioned as some of the photos
may be disturbing.
You
are encouraged to participate in the ::cK Web Poll:: this
week where I ask, "Have You Been Affected By The Events
of Sept.11, 2001?" Once you actually vote, you can make
a comment discussing your experience or thoughts in the section
provided below it.
If
you are curious to know how my life has changed since a year
ago, you can just look through my weekly
thought archives. But I can tell you exactly what happened
on that dark day, just one year ago:
It
was a bright and sunny Tuesday morning in Miami. I was driving
my brother to a government job training class. I think the
time was about 9am. We were listening to Howard Stern on the
radio. During the program, one of Howard's on air assistants
comes on the air and tells Howard that he just got word that
a plane "accidently" crashed into the World Trade
Center. At this time, they were not sure what size of plane.
They were thinking something like a small charter 2 passenger
plane. But then as time progressed, more information came
through and it was announced that it was a commercial passenger
plane. I remember turning my radio up, listening very closely
as the cast of the Stern show was trying to figure out what
was going on... then they announced a second plane has hit
the World Trade Center. Then I totally got scared. I remember
them saying that we are under attack. I think to myself, "I
wish I was back in Canada right now!!"
I
dropped my brother off and then drove to my work. They had
gotten word on the radio that there was an attack on the Pentagon.
Now I really began to flip out. Nobody is supposed to penetrate
the Pentagon!! That's like the main building of U.S. defense!
As I was still driving, the words of Howard Stern's assistant
saying that one of the towers has just collapsed, instantly
crushed me. Its almost as if I could hear the cries from the
people in the building all the way to Miami. I wasn't sure
if I could continue driving to work. I have lots of family
and friends in New York. Including a friend that works for
Morgan Stanley - a company whose main office was in the WTC.
(they lost about 300 employees that day) Well, I was devastated
and scared. I came into work kinda late, I saw my co-workers
all glued to the television in the office. I went into my
office an put on my tv where Fox News was giving live coverage.
Every channel was giving coverage. You couldn't find anything
else. I saw that one tower was gone, and the remaining one
was smoking. I watched in utter horror as the second tower
came crumbling down. It was beyond horrific. Beyond.
Well,
the rest of the day, the tv was on and we were learning everything
bit by bit. About the plane in Pennsylvania, and the Pentagon
and the WTC. I remember they were grounding all planes still
flying over the US. Airports were closing and diverting planes
to land in other airports. It was very scary. Later, as my
work day came to an end, I drove home very uncertain of this
day in history. What would the next day be like? Should I
expect more devastation? One of the freakiest things I've
seen was on my drive home on Interstate-95 (I-95) in Miami,
I was passing under the digital traffic report signs and it
read: "No Outbound Flights from MIA"
That
was scary. Anyone that had to leave Miami was stuck. The airport
was closed. They wouldn't let any planes leave the airport.
All flights were definitely grounded. Well, the following
days we learned more about what happened, but I was not at
ease. Dangers of anthrax and bio-chemical attacks were warned
across all the media. I really didn't want to leave my apartment.
The following weeks I saw that the Florida economy just plummeted.
The company I was working with had to lay me off. Once where
I could find another job in an instant - took weeks, days
and months. Has Sept.11 affected me? Yes it has.
*you
can never believe everything you hear in newspapers and on
television.
- - - - - - - - - - -
People
know how I like to talk about new drinks that are out. One
drink that I  found
kind of odd, was this new Pepsi Blue drink. First thing
was that I found that it was released kind of late. I didn't
hear about this drink way until late August. That's pretty
much when summer is over. Or maybe that was Pepsi's intention.
To target everyone after the Vanilla Coke hype has died down.
Okay, well what exactly is Pepsi Blue? From what I
gather, its a blue coloured cola
with blueberry taste. I could
be wrong.. but I think thats what it is. Why are these classic
drinks changing their colour? Does a BLUE Cola
seem more appealing to you? One of Pepsi's other products,
Mountain Dew came out with its Code
Red brand a while back. As if the "liquid green
sunshine" colour similar to certain types of anti-freeze
used in automobile radiators wasn't appealing enough. They
had to make a red one. I think I tried that once, and it was
just the same as the original Mountain Dew. No difference.
Was their any real purpose - marketing wise to make it red?
Maybe the same question can be applied to Heinz' new
ketchup colour of green. They
said that they introduced the green ketchup to appeal to a
younger demographic. Since when have kids stopped using ketchup?
Even when I was a kid, I had no job, no money, but I always
used ketchup. Why would they want to appeal to kids if they
already have them?
- - - - - - - - - - -
 Mercedes
Benz has announced it will build a vehicle called the GST
around 2005. (To Canadians, those are not exactly the best
three letters you could use) The GST - which stands for Grand
Sport Tourer, is designed to take on the sport-utility-vehicle.
Mercedes is putting $600 million towards this car and building
it in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Now get this...Dr. Joachim Schmidt,
Head of Mercedes-Benz PC & smart Sales & Marketing actually
said the following, "As a touring car, station wagon,
large-capacity vehicle and sport utility vehicle rolled into
one the Grand Sports Tourer is primarily geared to the needs
of the North American market." If you can see what
I see there, all I see is a hyped-up station wagon
with a Mercedes-Benz badge. You know that yuppies are gonna
get sucked into buying this car for $60,000. They are like
lemmings.
 Long
before there was a Dodge Viper, or even a Ford Mustang --
there was only one true American Sports Car... the Chevrolet
Corvette. And this picture might be what the 2005 Corvette
might look like when it debuts later in 2004. The designers
wanted to break more into the European market, so they made
a lot of changes with the body styling. There are some insiders
that say the next Corvette could look similar to the new Cadillac
Roadster that will  be
built in the same Bowling Green, Kentucky plant. The Cadillac
sportscar is another story.. already Cadillac has made home
run hits with the Escalade, and CTS.. will the roadster be
as successful? We'll see.. as long as its priced right and
has enough power to keep its name prestigious.
- - - - - - - - - - -
I had the
opportunity to talk with "Rhyme" from Rhyme Persuasion.
A hip hop act coming out of the southwest end of Toronto.
I listened to some of their samples and I could totally understand
where they were coming from. The samples used in the tracks
are pretty good. It has a very underground feel.. nothing
commericialized. Only if that's what you are into. You can
check out their website at: http://www.rhymepersuasion.com
You can listen to some of the music samples here at: http://www.newmusiccanada.com/genres/artist.cfm?Band_Id=7812
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As
for my current situation, I have an opportunity to work in
Sacramento, California - I am still finding out more details
about that. I also have some big leads for positions in Miami,
New York City and Toronto. In about 2 weeks time, I will have
made a final decision and I will finally be out of BORElando!
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