The official E9x OT thread!

Believe it or not, I was at my BMW center for a service appointment. After the first strike, the SA relayed the news but because early radio reports were sketchy, we all assumed/hoped it was minor--a stray light aircraft of some kind. I left the dealer about half an hour after the second plane struck. Listening to news accounts in the car prompted me to stop at home to see video before continuing on to work. One glance was enough to know the building was doomed--fellow engineers had worked for the Port Authority years earlier, so I knew a fair amount about the towers' design. In fact I called one of them, to discuss the buildings' probable fate and ask if anyone we knew still worked there.

Oddly, I don't recall whether I left for work before or after the South Tower collapsed, and the video was replayed so many times I seem to have blocked out whether I first saw it live. At the time, I worked in an office tower in Central NJ with a distant but clear view of Lower Manhattan. When I parked the car the North Tower was still standing. By the time I walked up to our floor and joined my transfixed colleagues at the northeast-facing windows, one of them told me they had watched it collapse moments before.

I was asleep. My g/f at the time called me three-four times when I finally answered. I saw what was happening and when she asked me how two planes could accidentally hit the towers I told her it was a terrorist attack, not an accident.

@Zeich - Yea, I don't know of any build that was built to withstand an airplane crashing into it. Maybe now they try and build those but I'd imagine it would be too costly, and provide very little benefit, to do such a thing.

I was about to head out to school (3rd grade) and I walk into the family room to see my dad standing there in disbelief, I had no idea what was happening. He told me straight forward but I didn't have a real concept of what it all was. He immediately called one of my sisters who was in New York at the time as my mom took me to school. Went to class and remembered hearing another plane just hit the Pentagon. Subsequently where my deceased (unrelated to 9/11) uncle used to work and how I was very nervous about that as well, thankfully he was out of the office. I can also clearly remember us sitting in the moment of silence in class but after that I forget. But I will never forget seeing the TV with the towers and smoke bellowing out and my father standing there, arms to his side, shocked.

Sister was across the river and watched them fall. Cant imagine.

On a lighter note,

I had a great weekend, guys and gals, check it out.

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...15#post6316915

And furball, multiple pictures and 4 videos later not a single comment on driving in excess of $500,000 of cars? What kind of Facebook friend are you! Probably one that's dead to me!

Originally Posted by cwinter

I had a great weekend, guys and gals, check it out.

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...15#post6316915

And furball, multiple pictures and 4 videos later not a single comment on driving in excess of $500,000 of cars? What kind of Facebook friend are you! Probably one that's dead to me!

Did you get to use the driving shoes she gave you?

That looks seriously cool!

This afternoon, the park where my favorite reservoir road is burned. This is both close to my work and to home and to my local BMW dealership.

Here are a couple of photos I took with my camera phone (so excuse their bad quality).
The first two are from work and the third is after I made my exit from the freeway.

I included a map with a mileage scale so you can see just how close we were.

Houston continues to be in triple digits and no sight of rain.....

I see God is punishing Texas these days for poor federal governance...

Originally Posted by ///M-ratedE90

I see God is punishing Texas these days for poor federal governance...

The park was named for dad not son, but point taken.

Originally Posted by Nordic_Kat

Did you get to use the driving shoes she gave you?

That looks seriously cool!

That's an affirmative and seriously cool it was. I still can't help but smile every time I look at the videos we shot. The video does not make the noise justice, but it does one help remember. I'll see if I can get them up on YouTube.

Originally Posted by ///M-ratedE90

I see God is punishing Texas these days for poor federal governance...

Most days with 100+ degrees ever in one year, quite a bit of flooding in the spring, mixed with horrendous hail, tornadoes, and wild fires...what clued you in, Sherlock!

Originally Posted by Nordic_Kat

The park was named for dad not son, but point taken.

Michelle Bachmann brought it up!

Yesterday I emptied a file folder of odd things that used to hang on my office/cubicle walls. In addition to a few choice cartoons (such as The Far Side's "Cheetah wheelies" and one elephant teaching another how to bang out "Louie Louie" on piano), I rediscovered this little gem.

  Festivity Level 1: Your guests are chatting amiably with each other, admiring your Christmas-tree ornaments, singing carols around the upright piano, sipping at their drinks and nibbling hors d'oeuvres.
  Festivity Level 2: Your guests are talking loudly (sometimes to each other, and sometimes to nobody at all), rearranging your Christmas-tree ornaments, singing "I Gotta Be Me" around the upright piano, gulping their drinks and wolfing down the hors d'oeuvres.
  Festivity Level 3: Your guests are arguing violently with inanimate objects, singing "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," gulping down other peoples' drinks, wolfing down Christmas-tree ornaments and placing hors d'oeuvres in the upright piano to see what happens when the little hammers strike.
  Festivity Level 4: Your guests, hors d'oeuvres smeared all over their naked bodies, are performing a ritual dance around the burning Christmas tree. The piano is missing.

You want to keep your party somewhere around Level 3, unless you rent your home and own Firearms, in which case you can go to Level 4. The best way to get to Level 3 is eggnog.

In my defense I would never remember to post this after Thanksgviing, so file it away for holiday planning.

Originally Posted by Zeichen311

Yesterday I emptied a file folder of odd things that used to hang on my office/cubicle walls. In addition to a few choice cartoons (such as The Far Side's "Cheetah wheelies" and one elephant teaching another how to bang out "Louie Louie" on piano), I rediscovered this little gem.



In my defense I would never remember to post this after Thanksgviing, so file it away for holiday planning.

Enjoyed that. Reminds me of the Holiday planner memo I saw a few years ago. On a side note: I love Gary Larson's quirky take on life and truly miss "the Far Side".

One of my personal favorites was the two polar bears, one with an igloo partially lifted off the ice, an eskimo running into the distance, the one bear saying to the other, "How difficult is it? I lift, you grab."

Originally Posted by cwinter

I had a great weekend, guys and gals, check it out.

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...15#post6316915

And furball, multiple pictures and 4 videos later not a single comment on driving in excess of $500,000 of cars? What kind of Facebook friend are you! Probably one that's dead to me!

I see Dead People!

Sorry bud, so busy at work! 75 hour weeks, not including the flight travels (another 10 hours).

I just gave you some dead love

How is everyone?

Was driving to the local Apple Store in northern New Jersey today and passing me in the opposite direction was a fully camouflaged F30. Got a look at it's front/rear for only a few seconds and by the time I turned around to tail it it was gone.

The US headquarters for BMW is in Woodcliff Lake which is right across from my Apple Store at Tice's Corner, about 10 minutes from my house.

Wish I could have followed it further, damn.

BJ

Originally Posted by boltjaM3s

Was driving to the local Apple Store in northern New Jersey today and passing me in the opposite direction was a fully camouflaged F30. Got a look at it's front/rear for only a few seconds and by the time I turned around to tail it it was gone.

The US headquarters for BMW is in Woodcliff Lake which is right across from my Apple Store at Tice's Corner, about 10 minutes from my house.

Wish I could have followed it further, damn.

BJ

One of the problems with having an entry level engine?

Maybe next time?

At least you know what your neighbors kids will be getting for graduation now...and how it looks.

Originally Posted by ///M-ratedE90

One of the problems with having an entry level engine?

Maybe next time?

At least you know what your neighbors kids will be getting for graduation now...and how it looks.

Ouch!

Originally Posted by Nordic_Kat

....

Houston continues to be in triple digits and no sight of rain.....
...

Finally today we got some relief! Although it completely destroyed the detail work I performed yesterday, I'm glad we got the rain!

Originally Posted by Wingman335

Finally today we got some relief! Although it completely destroyed the detail work I performed yesterday, I'm glad we got the rain!

I'll GLADLY take some water spots and splashes through puddles! I'd forgotten how nice 80F can feel.

$1,500,000,000,000 in new taxes

Originally Posted by andyffer

$1,500,000,000,000 in new taxes

Well, we have to find some way to finance the never-ending expansion of the Homeland Security Department!

Employing over 500,000 (very expensive) bumbling idiots (private contractors) while financing the construction of dozens of multi-million dollar facilities so they can sit around and cleverly invent new ways to invade our privacy and then quaff Starbucks coffee costs money!

Unfortunately for us, fear still sells lots of tickets to Dumbest Show on Earth.

Originally Posted by andyffer

$1,500,000,000,000 in new taxes

Per person?

CA

Isn't it primarily the uber-rich who will be affected? My understanding is that percentage wise, the middle class pays relatively more than the uber-rich. I don't see the problem here.

Flat rate tax would be fair.... But the rich will just find another way to shelter their income...

Originally Posted by jocamryn

Isn't it primarily the uber-rich who will be affected? My understanding is that percentage wise, the middle class pays relatively more than the uber-rich. I don't see the problem here.

Flat rate tax would be fair.... But the rich will just find another way to shelter their income...

Don't you want to keep the tax rates as low as possible so that on the off chance that you win the lottery, you won't be paying more than John or Jane Doe? Meanwhile keep running up the credit card balance to fund expenses. That has been the model since 2001. Why change?

Originally Posted by andyffer

$1,500,000,000,000 in new taxes

If your sig is correct, aren't you suppose to be supporting good ole' Barry Obama?

Originally Posted by Nordic_Kat

I'll GLADLY take some water spots and splashes through puddles! I'd forgotten how nice 80F can feel.

It's been mostly nice for the past 2 weeks north of you. We've had rain and I'm able to run with the A/C off and the sunroof open most mornings. I think with a cabrio it'd be quite perfect even on the way home!

Of course, the rain has left Black Beauty looking horribly dust/water spotted with no time to correct it for a while. I'm fighting the urge to break down and take her to a car wash...