London Calling

About 8 years ago I was in London on a trip. A few days before we left there was a Tube strike and at midnight one night, while I was riding on the Underground, the strike went into effect and all riders were shuttled off the train at the next available station. The streets were crowded and we were left to find our way back to Oxford street. We ended up back tracking a few times - but the whole experience became an amusing anecdote.

Not so today in London.

I can only imagine the number of people that fled out of the stations this morning and how much more chaotic it was for Londoners and tourists alike. At 7:30 this morning I called a friend of mine who works at the BBC in London. She is always late for work and so I was surprised to find her in her office. Turns out today she managed to leave for work on time and was about 3 trains ahead of one of the explosions. God was certainly watching out for her and I pray she sees that in her life. She also said that Britain shut down mobile phone service to prevent the terrorists from sending detonation signals that way. And yet, I was able to get through to her. This means that if they did want to do that, they would still be able to, as long as they conducted the calls from outside the UK. I find it interesting that they could shut down mobile service at all, let alone only in such a way as to prevent outgoing mobile phone calls...?

In these situations I find the timing and dissemination of information to be interestng. Five minutes before my friend in London was telling me all about the terrorist countermeasures, a Cleveland radio station was reporting that the Underground explosions were due to a power surge in lines. In any event, things seem to be more under control now and as Jim Geraghty reported this morning: "Londoners have always been made of uncommonly tough stuff."

Also, I agree with Mark's Stones Cry Ouy post that we should not react too quickly in terms of the stock market. It will rebound a lot sooner than we think. Some will rebound better than others and actually, from a financial perspective it will be better to find stocks now that you know will rebound well and purchase them.

But of course, I recommend praying first.


Cross-posted earlier today at Stones Cry Out