Kaboom -- Update 2

Citi has 12,000 people in their building at Canary Wharf, and there will be no tube service for the rest of the day, and probably no busses. A mess indeed trying to get people accomodation and/or transportation home.

It's the blackout all over again. How is it I end up in the middle of all these events? That night turned out to be quite the party. This one ... notsomuch I'd imagine.

And meanwhile back at my office, I've just learned that, 4 hours after the incident, they've "lowered the blinds." An excellent security measure. It was also noted that the blinds next to my desk doesn't lower, so I'm probably safer at home. LOL.

This feeling of being in a city under attack (that sounds so dramatic, but I guess that's the situation we're in), while quietly and safely at home in my flat, is eerily familiar to 9/11. I missed the morning rush that day too, and ended up watching it on tv, answering the phone and answering emails. It's an interesting cocktail of emotions ... feeling safe and home, but feeling like I should be in the mix of it at work; guilty happiness knowing I missed being on a train this morning going into Liverpool St. Station, like would have been had I not decided to do that 9am call at home. It's all so random. And a little scary.

One friend described it as "Blitz Mentality" at work. I'm not sad to be missing that ... a collective group panic that can set in. And a air of fear that's unavoidable.

I remember walking around my neighborhood the evening of 9/11, seeing all the signs for "Give Blood" and "Have you seen .....?" I know this is not a good thing today, but I know that things could be a lot worse.

Still is all good news from everyone I know here in London, which is lucky. Very grateful for that. And it's comforting to be getting phone calls from home, especially from those I haven't heard from since we moved here.

Rumor mill is still rampant. Heard from one friend that Covent Garden is being evacuated. No news on the Canary Wharf shooter, but they're still advising people in one buidling to stay inside.

Oh, and it's raining.