You may be reading this in early October, but I'm writing it on the evening of September 11, the fifth anniversary of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks. It's deja vu because I'm sitting in a hotel room on the outskirts of Palm Springs, exactly the same place where I became stranded in 2001 — and attending the same conference (International Association of Special Investigation Units).

When I received my wake-up call at 6:00 a.m. that morning five years ago, it was 9:00 a.m. in New York. I flipped on the television and saw the burning towers. At first, I assumed Katie Couric and Matt Lauer were reviewing some disaster movie, but as the cobwebs from sleep left my brain, the realization hit.

A few minutes later, they announced the Pentagon had been hit and all aircraft were landing at the nearest airport. Was this the beginning of the end of the world? As it turned out, it was — at least the end of the world as my generation knew it. Were more cities being targeted? I tried calling my wife who was visiting the kids in Chicago, but couldn't get through. Could the Sears Tower be the next target?