HOW DID YOU WORK ON 9/11?

Today is the 11th anniversary of 9/11. I remember waking up that morning eleven years ago and wondering if I should go to work. I did, but no work was done. We just watched the news all day. At the time we were printing the Roofers Exchange (the predecessor to the RoofersCoffeeShop.com) and I thought how unimportant my work was compared to the horror we were watching. Did anyone care about the Roofers Exchange? Was I going to call a customer and ask if they wanted to place an ad? Was I going to post a tip on how to sell a roof? How inappropriate at that sad time.

But roofs still leak in the rain, they still need roofers to apply them and the roofers still have to buy materials. Eventually I guess our little business did have a purpose and although we still have unimaginable loss, our perseverance is how we show our gratitude. By doing the best you can is how you make your business matter. GOD bless us all and thank you for your hard work. It keeps the world turning when we think it has stood still.

I was staying in Atlanta right next to Olympic Park and CNN headquarters, not far from the airport. I worked for my school district as a network admin and they sent us down there for Networld Interop, a computer networking expo...

It was the first day, and here I was 19 years old, a kid who barely visited any cities and grew up in a town of under 10,000. The conference started w/ a speaker at around 8am. All of a sudden everybody's phones started ringing, then the speaker told us all. ATL was on high alert, and so was I. We stayed for the 3 days remaining to catch the vendors who didn't leave the expo.

I remember the spot, I google mapped the address just now. 14458 sw 93 terrace Miami fl. I was doing A tile porch, thin set on my feet, the homeowner screamed, we ran inside. She pointed towards the TV. I'm looking for some reptile or something that would scare someone so bad, she grabs my arm and shoulder, sobbing she points and says, " no, the TV". After A bit, I scraped the half set thin set and we spent the rest of the noon watching the TV. Wheni was driving home, about 3ish, Miami was stoic. People driving, not in the usual rush Miami holds. For the next several weeks you couldn't go out in the evenings without seeing some sort of vigil. Markers, gatherings. Everyone had flags displayed from everywhere.it seemed like everyone had an American flag. Even the less fortunates. Duct taped to car antennaes, draped across anything that it could be cinched to. Folks can say what they will aout Miami, and it's "spics" (Cuban and other Latin cultures), yet I'm A native Miami cracker, I know my people. They mourned as hard as anyone else. They cried, remembered, and paid homage in A way that tells me they are proud to be here.

Very sad & shocking....Went on with my day...I'm not much of a hand-wringer. The threat is always there.

My wife called me at a job and told me to put the radio on. I was in the middle of a slate roof that was being filmed for a tv show called Renovations on the home and garden station. When the second plane hit I told them I was going home to be with my family. Everybody thought I was nuts. Before I got packed up the third plane hit and they were considering closing all highways as I was working within a 150 miles of three of the crashes. A week later I went up to New York and stood at the base of the trade centers along side a police woman standing there waiting for her partner to be removed from the site. Very sad moment. I could not believe I could drive right up to the site and stand within feet of the devastation. I will never forget the smell.

I actually sat with a roofing supply driver. We went to my house to watch after hearing news reports....and after dropping the shingles off.

Men who live in caves (cavemen) can do great damage

Just staged a job today. That day, I called the wife and had her record lots of news stations with all 4-5 VHS recorders. I have a pile of tapes.