Friday, March 19th

The Thunderbird at UBC Thunderbird Arena

Is that all you have boss?

Matt and I fought a good match. No, I did not hit him.

Here are a few pictures from the first time USA faced Japan this tournament. USA won 6-0.


MOUNTIES! I love women in uniform.

Only a few more days left. Tonight is the Bronze medal game between Canada and Norway. Tomorrow is the last game, the Gold medal match between USA and Japan. I am very excited that the US is in the final, and that Canada will not have a hockey gold medal hat trick. I would never hear the end of it from my good-natured hosts.

The group tonight is already starting the load out. 6 of the teams will be done, so we will be pulling the coolers and stock from their locker rooms. Tomorrow will be very busy getting all the point of sale (POS) items out of the venue and boxed up for redeployment.

Sunday night the city team is going out for dinner at Cyprus Mountain. I am glad that I will be able to make it up there before I leave.

It will be very strange to get up at 6 am rather than get to work at 6 am when I get home. I will actually have to pick out something to wear each day as well! I am not sure that my boss would appreciate me dressing in my uniform each day.

If I have a chance to post more pictures, I will. I am not sure that I will be able to post another note until after I have returned home. Thanks for reading!

Saturday March 13

Wow have I been busy. We worked all week getting the venue ready for competition. Yesterday we worked a full shift at UBC then went over to the stadium to work the opening ceremony. It was really cool. I did not get to see very much, but what I did see brought tears to my eyes. I saw some of the very beginning with the white pom-poms with the red lights. So cool to see 50,000 people waiving them at once. I was able to see a little of the flag raising and the very end of the Canadian team entering the stadium. Very moving experience. I wish I could have watched more.

Today was the first day of competition at UBC. We had 4 games scheduled. Of course the first game has to be Canada, so it was sold out. Actually all the games are either sold out or within 500 tickets of selling out. The Prime Minister was at the game. I had the opportunity to see him up close, as he walked right by me to get to his seat. Strange to be within 6 feet of the leader of a nation. and all of his security detail.

Tomorrow will be another busy day. 4 games again. We are loosing an hour of sleep due to the time change. Ugh. I really could have used that extra hour of sleep.

I will be very busy with the games on now, but I will try to update as often as possible. I have posted more photos on facebook.

Oh, I should mention that my boss and I will be arm wrestling each other on Sunday. Should be a great time. We are planning on taping it and posting it for the Whistler team to view. We may even stream it live if we can figure out how to.

Sunday March 7th

Today I had breakfast at the public market on Granville Island. Then I set off for the UBC Museum of Anthropology. I spent hours there. It was great. Check out the pictures I posted from my visit.
They are located at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=9953&id=100000332906213&l=a531650c4b

Tomorrow I start work at 6:30 am. Back to work!

People actually put their recyclable items OUTSIDE the trash when a bin is not available!
My room from the outside (of course).
The totem pole on Granville Island.
Today's lunch
A Canada goose searching for food.
This guy eyed my gelato the entire time I was eating.
The recycling containers at the public market. They had one for everything!
A carving made out of Canadian Jade.
The ROO team poses for an offical photo.
An "in process" work of art.
Dinner at The Keg on March 5th.
The ROO team showing our spirit!

I had the day off today, so I spent it exploring Granville Island. I went through a bunch of little shops and the public market. I have attached a photo of the recycling they have at the public market. I continue to be impressed by the ease and accessibility of recycling in this area. I found it refreshing that people were putting recyclables by the trash on the island rather than IN the trash.

The team working at Whistler left today. It seems sort of like a ghost town around here now. I think there may have been more folks assigned to Whistler than to city venues. My teammates that I enjoyed dinner with last night are among those who have left. Rumor has it that the team is coming back on Wednesday to help prepare for opening ceremonies. I hope so, I miss them already.

It was a beautiful day, clear and mild temperatures. I was very comfortable walking the island without a jacket. The island reminds me of Cedarburg a little. A lot of people walking around with the majority of them being tourists. I ate lunch at a soup place called the “Stock Market”. I had Yam and Ginger soup. It was really good. For dinner I went down to Tony’s Fish and Oyster Café. I had a sampler platter of the local seafood. It just proved that I am not much of a muscle or clam person. The scallops were good, but I really should stick to shrimp, crab and lobster.

Tomorrow I am going to the University of British Columbia's Museum of Anthropology. They have a very large collection of First Nation art and other items. I am really looking forward to it. I will take the opportunity to walk around the UBC campus while I am there. Yes, this is where my venue is located.

The picture of the open windows is my hotel room. You can always tell where I am staying, you just look for all the open windows.

It is hard to think that I only have another 16 days here in Canada. It has been a great experience so far. It has been a lot of hard work, but very gratifying. I have met many different people from all over the world with whom I will remain friends with after we have all left for home. I am very thankful that I was selected to have this opportunity. Tom, thank you for starting the process.

Thursday, March 3rd

I had today off. After shipping 3 boxes of assorted Olympic stuff home, I went to the Vancouver Aquarium and Stanley Park. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the aquarium had bats in the amazon rain forest display. I spent more time watching the fruit bats than looking at the fish. They also had black fin tip sharks. I am not sure I have seen those type before.

I then walked around Stanley Park. The views of the city were spectacular. There were ocean liners loading and unloading in the area as well. The park has a collection of totem poles that I took many pictures of. There were the largest cedar trees I had ever seen in the park. The trees were HUGE.

This evening a group of 10 Coke people went to dinner on Granville Island. Two ROO teammates were in the group, Steve and Alun. Steve is taking a holiday in Whistler starting tomorrow with his family. Alun leaves to work at the athlete's village in Whistler on March 6th. I am going to miss my ROO team. Yes, even my great supervisor Richard. There's my shout out to you Reco!

Tomorrow starts at 615 am. We are going to the venue to look it over and fill up some more coolers! My boss mentioned something about locker rooms, so this will be a new experience since the oval did not have locker rooms. After that we are going to get our accreditation for the Paralympic games. Should be another great day of spreading happiness far and wide.

Tuesday March 2nd.

Wow. It is hard to believe it is March already. I have been very busy the last few days. Competition finished at the ROO on the 27th. We packed out on the 28th. March 1st we loaded out at the O Zone. Of course during this time I had to catch a viral infection. Lucky me. I was dragging on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I started to feel better on Monday, but today I am feeling worse again. I just need to get some rest.

Monday night was the going away party for the entire group. They rented out an entire nightclub for us. It was so great. The food was excellent and they had lots of cool entertainment for us. No, I am not feeling worse today because I drank too much last night. I was drinking Coca-Cola Zero all night long. I will be posting pictures of the celebration soon. Right now I can't get the computer to recognize my flash drive! It's always something with technology.

We have moved to our new hotel on Grandville Island. Very, very nice place. I have a new roommate. Liz is a project manager for CCNA and is based out of Atlanta. The room is great, but smaller than our previous room. We have a mini fridge in the room so no more having to ice up the cooler to keep my coffee cream cold. The TV is much bigger and we have an arm chair in this room. No bathtub, but a very modern shower in our bathroom. Should work out just fine. Liz and I already hit the hotel restaurant for dinner. Good food and good service. The view was amazing as well.

I will be working at the UBC for the Paralympics. This is the venue that hosts sledge hockey. I am really looking forward to seeing some games. I have a new boss and a new team. I have not met the rest of the team yet. Alun, the gent from Great Britain that was at the ROO with me will be a supervisor at Whistler Athlete's Village for the Paralympics. I am going to miss working with him as well as just having him around.

The Paralympics should be a different experience. A little less rushed and stressful. I hope to have time to update the blog more often and explore the city more.

Wednesday Feb 24

Good evening!

Yesterday was a long day as I had thought it would be. It turns out that the "winner" of the race was disqualified for an improper lane change or something. I just know that the folks in Orange were not very happy.

My boss gave me a ticket to Short Track Speed Skating tonight. It was great. I got to see Ohno win his heat. I also got to witness Canada winning the Silver in the 3000 relay and the USA bring home the bronze. It was a hike to get to and from the venue. The walk from the bus station into the venue was over 1 Km. I ended up walking over 14 Km today.

While I was downtown for the speed skating I had the chance to trade more pins! Yeah! I also checked out the Olympic flame. Very cool. Words really cannot describe what it is like to see this huge structure with 5 flames and the meaning behind it.

Tomorrow is a day off from competition at the ROO. However, it does not mean a day off for our team. We are meeting at the normal time of 6:30. I will try and get some pictures of the flame and the short track races posted tomorrow.

Cheers.

Monday Feb 22nd

I had a great day off. I went down to Kitsilamo beach (not sure if I spelled that correctly)... I walked along the beach. A real beach. With sand and waves and birds and stones and shells. I spent several hours just enjoying the beach and all it had to offer. There were many ocean liners in the area. I love the big ships. It was warm enough that once again I spent most of the day just wearing a T-shirt. I could really get used to this weather.

After the beach I got on a bus and just went for a ride. I ended up somewhere near downtown. Koen happened by and saved me from walking in the wrong direction. I ended up back at pacific center where I walked around for a while and ate some really good sushi. I then headed back to the hotel.

Tomorrow will be a long day. Concessions open at 9 am and stay open until after 1 pm. It is the longest race, I think the 10,000 m. We should be rather busy. It will make the day go by fast but it will be a lot of work keeping the coolers filled and ensuring that each and every customer gets a perfect serving of Coca-Cola products.

Sunday, Feb 21st

Nice day off yesterday. I walked 13 Km around downtown Vancouver. Walked along the river, by the Olympic Athlete's village, into China town and other assorted places. It was a great day, I spent most of the day in only a T-shirt.

The medals ceremony was nice, but no medal were presented at our site, only Whistler. They did have some First Nations dancers, and they were great.

I ate in Chinatown. I had curry chicken with vermicelli and shrimp with pork salad rolls. I washed it down with Vietnamese coffee. Yummy.

I am having a hard time uploading photos to my blog. The computer doesn't have the newest version of adobe flash whatever... and I cannot download it on to the PC. So check out my facebook photo album at the following address:

http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=100000332906213&k=Z6E3Y5TXWW5A4CGJPB63QTVVUTE1666NUWFWKCP1UU&oid=1137978788182

My last scheduled day off is tomorrow. I plan on finding a sand beach and spending some time walking around on it. Nothing else really planned.

Saturday

I have the day off today. Medals Ceremony tonight. Should be lots of fun. We went to the shore yesterday and had Fish and Chips for lunch. I even was able to get a little sun. I plan on going downtown today and also trying to find the water. I am looking forward to walking on the beach if possible.

Thursday Feb 18th

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to my blog. It has been very busy around here. We have been working 12+ hour days. I did have a day off on Tuesday, but I went into work from 630 to 11 am. We were down a few teammates and my boss asked me to work. Of course I said yes.

Today was my first "real" day off. I slept in then went to a local mall. I did some shopping, picking up Olympic items for a few friends and family. I then went over the airport for dinner. Tonight I am staying in.

Saturday I have tickets to the medals ceremony. Should be lots of fun.

I saw Jerry Thornton again today. It is so nice to see folks from "home". The recycling that they have in this area is impressive. Everywhere I go, there are recycling bins. Each bin has pictures of what is acceptable. People actually seem to follow it as well. I am not referring only to the venues, but the malls, the airport, the skytrain stations and the hotel. It is like everywhere I turn around they have recycling available. I am looking forward to the day that our city does this.


Here are some photos from my venue and last few days.

Friday, Feb 12th

Overall it was a relatively quiet day. We finished preparing the venue for competition tomorrow: checked vending stocks, cleaned all menu boards etc. We should be good to go.

Not sure what to expect tomorrow. Competition is between Noon and 2:40 or so. The concessions are open for 6 hours, and the workforce dining will serve twice the number of people as before. It will be challenging to keep up with the orange juice there. It seems like all the workers really like OJ, it has been the best mover since we opened.

We got off a little early tonight so my boss and teammate can make the opening ceremonies. Like most people, I will be checking it out on TV.

Tomorrow starts at 6:30 and could be a long day. The rumor is that on Sunday we will start splitting up the hours between a morning and afternoon shift.

My next day off is Tuesday. I will be going to watch Curling in the evening.

Thursday

I had a rare day off today. My boss had tried to give another teammate the day off, but he showed up to work. So I joking offered to take the day off in his place. My boss said, do it. I didn't think he was serious, but he was. So I went over the daily safety training and went back to bed.

I took the Sky Train to the downtown area. I walked around the mall and went to the Olympic Superstore in The Bay store. It was huge. It had a full Coca-Cola Happiness Cafe in it. I was able to enjoy my very first Coke Zero from a glass bottle there. YUMMY. I shopped for my friends and then waited in a very long line to check out.

I met up with one of my teammates at the airport and we had dinner together. There was an Olympic store there as well. I was able to finish off some lists at that store. Much easier to shop. More organized and they had kids sizes too. So I finished off my list there.

Even though it was my day off, I still ended up walking for over 9 KM.