Five years ago today, I awoke shortly after the first plane hit, and noticed the scrawl on the AOL screen that a plane had struck the WTC. My initial thought was the same as the President's: that some jackass had misflown a private plane into one of the skyscrapers, and that the damage was minor. So I left the computer, poured myself a bowl of cereal, and prepared to do an appearance in bankruptcy court. When I finished breakfast, I went back to the computer, and saw that the WTC had collapsed, dramatically changing the complexion of the story.

For some reason, I left for court, even though I knew it was highly likely that this was the work of terrorists and that the federal buildings would be closed. The whole day was surreal, lethal events swirling into a miasma of shock. Indeed, the federal courts were closed, with U.S. Marshals blocking entry, and the rest of the morning was spent at my office. In the early afternoon, I just had to get out of there, and I went to my watering hole at the time, Joxer Daly's, for the rest of the day.