Are the Olympics really over already?

I went in to work on Friday and Saturday but they were both very quiet days. We had been expecting some more of the top executives from Panasonic to arrive for this weekend but, in the end, we only had one in town. With three VANOC drivers and two private cars on duty, there really was not much to do. This suited me just fine though because we were able to spend time in the driver's lounge watching the last of the events, and watching Canada sweep up a few more medals (do you like that allusion to curling?!).

Sunday was a very interesting day. We were all asked to come in for 9am and, as VANOC drivers, we were due to end at 3pm. After 3pm, only the buses remain in service as they try to reduce the number of vehicles on the roads before the Closing Ceremonies. I did do a run from our hotel to the Canada Hockey Place (straight across town) with one of the assistants. She was supposed to arrive in advance of the executives so that she could make any arrangements that were necessary. However, there were new road closures in effect that we were not aware of and a lot of traffic so it took us 40 minutes to make a trip that should have taken 5! Fortunately, we were then able to advise the other driver about the changes before he left the hotel and he made the trip in about 10 minutes, arriving just after us. A month ago, the threat of route changes would have sent me into a tizzy because I was so unfamiliar with the roads. I was happy if I knew the one route properly! Now, I know the streets of downtown like the back of my hand.

After returning from that run, I parked myself in the driver's lounge with the other drivers and we started to watch the hockey game. We were all on pins and needles! During this time, one of the Panasonic reps advised us that we were being given tickets to the Closing Ceremonies - how awesome! I told Sabine, one of the other drivers, that I wanted to be outside with the crowds for the end of the game, if it looked like we could win. At the beginning of the third period, we headed over to Robson Street, the epicentre of the public portion of the Olympics. We did not head over to Robson Square where the super huge tv was because we were afraid that the crowds would be too huge and we would get stuck in the middle of it all and not be able to get out in time for the ceremonies.

We parked ourselves in front of the CTV booth on Robson but were disappointed to realise that we could not actually see the screen. CTV only had a small overhead tv screen on their booth (this is where they have been filming their shows every day) and it was covered with a protective plastic screen that caused terrible reflections. A small handful of people at the front could actually make out the action and we all had to react to their reactions. We often had no idea what we were cheering for!

Everything was fine until the game became tied in the last 25 seconds. At this point, Sabine and I started to worry about what could happen if the Canucks didn't win. Vancouver has had a couple of riots in the past and we really did not want to be there for that. We headed back to the Sutton Place Hotel and decided to watch on the big screen in the lobby. We sat on the floor of the lobby, along with about 20 or 30 other people, and watched the overtime play. The moment Sidney Crosby scored the winning goal, I leapt to my feet and ran out of the hotel to listen to the roar from the crowd down the road. And what a roar! It went on and on and on. What a thrill to be there with the thousands of people who just wanted to celebrate!

Shortly after this, Sabine and I headed down to the Westin Bayshore Hotel to turn in my vehicle. Sunday was my last day of work and I had to turn in my car and cell phone. It was sad in a way because they have been such a huge part of my life for the past four weeks. I have driven over 4100km in my Chevy Traverse, around Vancouver, up to Whistler, and home to Maple Ridge. Of the four drivers who were part of the Panasonic Team, I am the only one who returned the vehicle undamaged (there were a couple of problems with tight spaces on parking garages, one faulty rear hatch that popped open and hit a roof support in the parkade, shattering the window, and one true accident with no injuries) but I drove the same vehicle the entire time and returned it with nary a scratch.

In addition to turning in my Traverse, I also picked up my last shift gifts. VANOC has provided us with several gifts during our work time, one every three shifts for the first fifteen shifts, and then a final shift gift. I have received two special volunteer pins, a stuffed Miga (and my teammate Dick gave me his Quatchi since he does not have children), a set of Olympic handtowels, an Olympic Participation medallion, and a Birks silver keychain. The last shift saw us getting a special Thank You Pin from the IOC and a 2010 Olympic edition Swatch Watch. Of course, all of this has added significantly to the amount of luggage that I am bringing back!

Sabine and I set out from the Westin back to the Sutton Place where we were to meet the rest of the drivers and then walk across town to BC Place for the ceremonies. Unfortunately, the traffic had become far worse and it took us half an hour to get back to the hotel. By this time, the other drivers had left so I set out across town on foot, making my way through the cheering crowds. There were so many people cheering, wearing red jerseys and Canada Flags, and even a few people doing some sort of Captain Canada thing, wearing red tights and shiny helmets! I did finally make it to BC Place at 4:45pm, in plenty of time for the show.

I had heard rumours that the Closing Ceremonies would include lots of performers and famous Canadians but the secrecy around the show is pretty serious so none of us really knew anything. However, when the performers appeared, I was thrilled but can't say that I was surprised since we had seen shots of them all at the hockey game just prior to this! The best surprise though was seeing the faulty torch "fixed" and having Katriona LeMay Doan relight it. That was the one part of the Opening Ceremonies that left me feeling a bit down and that was resolved in beautiful style.

After the ceremonies ended, I made my way out of the stadium with the thousands of others and followed the flow to the Skytrain. Despite the huge crowds heading for the train, there was absolutely no wait to get on a train. They were being pumped into the station as quickly as possible and as quickly as people could make their way down in to the station, the trains were being filled and sent on their way. I travelled a few stops to the Waterfront terminal and then crossed the station to the West Coast Express Train (this is a longer distance commuter train). The gates were not yet open to access the West Coast platform and there was a small crowd of people waiting. The attendant appeared and informed us that the gates would open once we had sung the national anthem. The crowd gave a rousing rendition (just one of many heard yesterday) and the gates opened. I boarded the train and rode/slept my way back to Maple Ridge where Debbie was waiting for me.

Yesterday marked many lasts for me - my last day of work, my last trip on the Skytrain and the West Coast Express, and my last day of the Olympics. I am going downtown tonight for a Panasonic party and then, after a few short hours of sleep, I am heading to the airport for an early morning flight home.

Trying to pack

I have a day off today and I have no other plans. I figured that it would be a good time to try to pack some of my things and make sure that they are going to fit. I came out with a large suitcase and a duffle bag as checked luggage, and a backpack as carry on. Of course, in the meantime, I have acquired an Olympic uniform (which I had planned for), a Panasonic coat along with numerous other Panasonic goodies, and I have bought some gifts. All of this amounts to more than the space available in my bags! I figured that I would go out and buy a small rolling suitcase to use as a second carry on bag and I knew that Canadian Tire often has that sort of thing quite cheap. Since it does not have to endure being thrown around by luggage handlers, I was really just looking for something to get me home and that Alex can use for his skating stuff later on. On the way out this evening, Debbie stopped at London Drugs to pick something up and I noticed that they carry all sorts of stuff, including electronics and furniture. I jokingly said to Debbie "perhaps they have suitcases too" and sure enough, I found a small rolling suitcase for the whopping price of $19.99. I never imagined that I would get a suitcase at the Drug store but there you go. Now I can resume packing without worrying about how it will all fit!

Another trip to Whistler and another Victory Ceremony

I drove a couple of the Panasonic executives up to Whistler again today. It was pouring rain for most of the trip up and then it turned to snow by the time we got to the Olympic Park. My guests wanted to see the different venues up here so we started with the ski jumps and then went over to the Cross-Country venue.There were all sorts of dignitaries there including the King of Norway, the King and Queen of Sweden, and John Furlong, the CEO of VANOC (okay, so maybe he's not a dignitary but he is a VIP at the Olympics!). I also caught a glimpse of the skiing, the 4x10km relay.

We did a drive-by of the biathlon site and then my guests did a quick tour of the Whistler Olympic Village. We then drove to Whistler Village where they did a quick tour and then on to Creekside to watch some of the Women's Super G. Since I had already watched some of the downhill here the other day, I headed to the workforce break area to watch the sports on tv and get a hot coffee. I was sitting at the table near the door when a man walked in and shook the hand of the man next to me, and then he shook my hand. I thought he was just a friendly man introducing himself until I looked at his accreditation and realized that it was John Furlong. He was thanking us, the volunteers, for all of our work at the games! That was certainly a nice surprise for me.

In the evening, Nelson, Debbie, Cathie, Geoff, and I all met up for the Victory Ceremonies.This time, we were able to see Clara Hughes get her bronze medal for the speed skating. No anthem for us this time but another medal is great. We also found out during the ceremony that the Canadian women had won the silver and gold medals in bobsled!

The band tonight was SO much better than last night - INXS has a new lead singer who is from Ontario, hence the reason they are playing on Ontario Celebration night. They played a bunch of songs that I did not recognize but also some of the classics such as Need you Tonight and New Sensation. It was a great concert and we all had a lot of fun.I have also picked up a couple of tickets to Newfoundland night with Great Big Sea and Debbie and Nelson are going to that. I have a volunteer party that evening so I will be enjoying myself elsewhere.

Another chance to sing the National Anthem

Tonight I went to the Victory Ceremonies with Nelson. We were very fortunate to be present on the day that Ashleigh McIvor won a gold medal in ski cross so we were able to sing the National Anthem again. That's two days in a row - let's keep it up because we are going to the ceremonies again tomorrow night.

It was Saskatchewan night tonight so we were treated to an intro by Brent Butt (of Corner Gas fame) and a couple of musical numbers by Saskatchewan groups.

The ceremony was really neat because they are actually combining the ceremonies from two locations. There is a medal ceremony at Whistler and one in BC Place in Vancouver. They are linked and the whole program is broadcast on the big screens in both venues (courtesy of my group, Panasonic!). One set of medals would be presented live on our stage in the Vancouver, and then we would see the live broadcast of the medal presentation at Whistler. The whole process was repeated a couple of times so it really felt like you were in both places (now if Panasonic adds the 3D HD technology that they are demonstrating here it will feel very realistic).

Following the medal presentations was a concert by Billy Talent. I had never heard of the guy before and, although it was interesting to see the lighting and camera equipment for the show, I could really have done without hearing him tonight! It was really too loud and heavy for my liking. Apparently I was not alone as Nelson was ready to leave early as well. We have higher hopes for INXS tomorrow night.

My day at Whistler and Figure Skating

I am getting quite accustomed to this run up to Whistler. It is definitely a much nicer drive done during daylight (only because it is not as tiring on the eyes) and it's really quite a nice highway to drive when the skies are clear and you get the fantastic views.

This time at Whistler, I visited Whistler Olympic Park and was able to watch some of the ski jumping. This is really amazing, another example of getting a real sense of perspective. You just don't realize how high and far these jumpers are going when you see them on tv! I only watched a few of the jump before the event was over.I did get a good picture of Black Tusk, a nearby mountain that has been covered in cloud the other times that I have been here.
I got back to the Sutton Place Hotel in the afternoon and met Debbie. We made our way to the Pacific Coliseum and watched on pins and needles as the skaters performed. It was a fantastic evening as pair after pair posted their season's best marks. Everyone seemed to have peaked at just the right time.

Finally it was time for Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.We were totally entranced by their performance but knew that they had to post a great score to beat the Americans, Meryl Davis and Charlie White. We watched as they waited in the Kiss and Cry area and we had our fingers crossed that the judges liked the performance as much as we did.And they did!Now we only had to sit through two more performances before finding out how Virtue and Moir would finish. We were a bit concerned after the second American team of Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto ended because they did skate a nice program but they were placed in third. Then the Russians, Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin, skated and we really didn't think they had what it took to beat Virtue and Moir. Sure enough, they were placed in third, bumping Belbin and Agosoto down to fourth. I think that the results were exactly what they should have been although the Russian team was clearly not very happy with the results.

For some reason, the figure skating medals are handed out right away, on the figure skating ice, rather than at the Victory Ceremonies at BC Place or Whistler Medal Plaza. That suited Debbie and I just fine because it meant that we were able to sing our national anthem and see the Canadian Flag raised. We watched while the carpets were rolled out and the podium was assembled. And then the medalists skated out on to the ice and took their bows.The medals were handed out, the flags were raised, and the audience sang their hearts out!

What a night!!!

I WAS THERE!!!!

I have had a long day with a drive up to Whistler and back (I will blog more about that later) but I just have to say that I WAS THERE!!! I was given two tickets to the Free Dance this evening and Debbie and I went to the event. We were there when Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir won the Gold medal and, since skating medals are handed out right away, we were able to sing our national anthem with thousands of other fans. What a night!!!

Downtown with the Gillettes

Today is one of my few days off so what did I do? I got up ridiculously early to go downtown with Nelson, Debbie, Cathie, and Geoff! Downtown Vancouver is crazy busy right now so we decided to head out early and try to beat some of the crowds. We left the house at 6:45am and took my vehicle all the way to the Sutton Place Hotel (free parking after all!). We headed straight to the Bay to the Olympic Superstore (they were open all night) and walked right in. This is quite a feat since the lines to get in are usually over an hour long! Unfortunately, we were not able to get the red and black scarf that Nelson wanted or the Canada jacket that Cathie had been hoping for. They have been very popular items and they have been disappearing from the shelves the moment they arrive. The Gillettes did find a few shirts to make the trip worthwhile.

After the Bay, we headed down to the cauldron. Sonja and I saw the cauldron the other day from the viewing platform but since then, part of the chain link fence has been replaced with plexiglass allowing for better photos of people in front of the cauldron. We didn't go up to the viewing platform because it had not yet opened for the day.

We then made our way to the German Fan-Fest tent but discovered that it was not due to open for another 45 minutes. That gave us a bit of time to head down into Gastown to do a bit more shopping. It was also the first time that Cathie had seen the Gastown Steam Clock. Apparently, it has been gone for a couple of years to be repaired and cleaned, ready for the tourists that would arrive with the Olympics.

Back to German Fan-Fest!We entered the tent at 10am and found out that it was really just a beer garden. Well, we had to make our wait worthwhile so Nelson and I had brats on a bun, Cathie and Geoff had blechkuchen, and Nelson and Debbie had a beer. Too early for a drink? Not when you get up before 6am! Unfortunately, the photo of me with my brat did not work out too well but it does show me with my sausage!

We were planning to go to the Royal Canadian Mint Pavilion to hold some medals but decided that the 6 hour line up was really not worth it. We then went looking for Casa Italia. Unfortunately, we could not remember quite where we had seen it on Friday night nor did we have an address for it so we wandered around for a long time looking. We did eventually get there only to learn that it was closed for a few hours for a press conference. Part of it was open so we went in there. We had just missed the samples of Kinder Chocolate and they had handed out the last of the Kinder baseball caps. There was a store with the Italian team outfits and giant plastic wheels of fake parmesan. We waited around for about 10 minutes and were able to sample prosciutto, parmesan, and wine.

After Casa Italia, we took a water taxi over to Granville Island. When I went to Granville Island (which is not really an island), I came by bus so I did not see the pretty little buildings on the water's edge.We started with Swiss House but found out that it is only a restaurant, also with a very long line. We did get some Swiss pins but they didn't even have samples of Swiss chocolate! We were going to wait in the line for the Maritime Provinces House and had the foresight to ask a couple of questions. The long line was for the food samples (which would be handed out in about 30 minutes but only to the first 100 people and there were already far more than that in line) and the short line was just to view the displays. However, we were told that the displays were really only some photos and tourism posters.

At this point, we were really done and ready to go home. We walked back to the car and headed out. We stopped to pick up some finger foods so that we could eat in front of the tv and watch the Canada/US hockey game. And Canada lost.

Overall, I was really disappointed with the National Houses. I was hoping for displays of each country's culture, things that would make me want to go for a visit but they were mostly just a place with really long lineups to sample tiny bits of food. We did hear that the Northern Territories house was really good but we didn't make it there. Perhaps another day.

Disappointing houses, long lineups, and a loss in hockey - it was just one of those days I guess.

A quieter day

Today was a much quieter day than most lately. I didn't have to be at work until 10am so I was able to sleep a little bit longer. I only had to drive to three places, the IMAX theater in Richmond (Panasonic was looking to purchase tickets for their guests in March, and the Richmond Oval.

I was only at the Oval for about 15 minutes but it was really great to see the arena from the inside. I watched a couple of skaters do their laps of the rink and was once again amazed at the speed. Some things just lose some perspective on tv and the speed is one of them. I was also suprised at the huge number of Dutch fans in the arena, clearly evident in their orange outfits!

One of the neat things outside of the Oval is the sidewalk. It is a poured concrete pathway but it also has skate markings engraved in the surface. At the beginning, they are short and close together, and then they become longer and further apart. They are the same marking that you would see on the speed skating track.

Super Day at Super G

Today, I drove up to Whistler again. Since I knew that I was going up there, I made sure to pack a bag with pyjamas and clean underwear and socks - I am not going to get caught again!

My guest was doing some more filming for Panasonic and this time we were at Creekside. I was able to take the chairlift up to the finish area of the slope and I could see the skiers coming down the hill in the men's Super G event. I also saw Miga and Quatchi for the first time!
I stayed at the base of the hill for quite a while and watched several skiers come down the mountain. I actually captured american skier Bode Miller on film as he approached the finish line.

Other than watching the skiing, I drove a couple of guests around to the village and then we all headed back to Vancouver.

In the evening, Debbie and Nelson had plans to come into town and meet some friends. The idea was to go bar hopping and I was going to drive the three of us home again at the end of the evening. We started out at the Ice Bar at Monk's restaurant on False Creek. Alas, the wait was over 45 minutes so we decided to pass.

We took the water taxi across the creek to Yaletown and started looking for a bar. There were large crowds of people everywhere and the lineups at the bars were horrendous. Eventually, we managed to find a lounge where we could get drinks. We spent about an hour and a half at the Shore Club before leaving. We were all rather hungry but could not find anywhere to eat either. The streets were now just packed with people.

Granville and Robson Streets are both closed for the duration of the games and have been turned into pedestrian avenues. However, this evening, there were several more streets closed because the crowds were just so huge. For the most part, people were just out to have fun and were all in a very good mood. There was clearly a lot of drinking being done but we only saw a small handful of people who were totally drunk. Despite the thick crowds and the need to push through, no one was getting upset and no one was in the least bit aggressive. We did see a lot of police officers who were standing by just in case.

Since we never found any food downtown, we took the water taxi back across the creek and ended up having pizza at Nelson's friend's house where we had started the evening.

A Day Off!

Today, I had a day off - Yippee! Sonja and I decided to meet up in town and explore some of the Olympic sites downtown. We figured that the lines might be a bit shorter since it was mid-week. HA!

We started out heading to the Live City Yaletown to see the Panasonic display. It took us about half an hour to get through the security to get into the park and then we had to wait in line for about half an hour to get into the Panasonic theatre. They have a 3D HD home theatre set up there. The images are really impressive and this technology will apparently be available to the public in April. We decided to pass on the Coke house because there was a big line for that as well and we didn't really see a need to line up for Coke products.

We left Yaletown and wandered towards the Live City Downtown site. This is where the Canada House is located. However, we never saw the house because the line to get through security and into the park was just too long.

We then headed to the Waterfront to see the outdoor cauldron. There has been a lot of public outcry about the location of the cauldron because it is entirely behind a chainlink fence. You can put your camera through the fence to get a good picture but you can not take a picture of your family or yourself in front of the cauldron with getting a good shot of the fencing. They have somewhat remedied the situation today by removing a portion of the fence to make it easier to get photos of the cauldron and they have opened a raised viewing area from which you have a clear view of the cauldron. It is now possible to get a good photo with the cauldron although you still can't get close to it. Apparently, all of the fencing will be removed once the Olympics are over. It turns out that the concern is over the accessibility to the International Broadcast Centre adjacent to the cauldron. We did spend about half an hour in the line to go up to the viewing area but it was worth it to get the picture.

We finished up our evening with dinner at White Spot, a BC burger restaurant. The burger was good but I thought the fries were better (and I still prefer In'N'Out). After leaving the restaurant, we walked up to Robson Street which has been closed to traffic during the games. This has definitely become the place to hang out downtown and the crowds are thick at all times of day and night. It was really neat to see all of the people who are just there to celebrate.

Whistler

I arrived at work yesterday and was surprised with two bags. One bag was from Panasonic and contained all of the goodies that were given to the Panasonic guests. It included a rain poncho, binoculars, a seat pad, hand warmers, two shirts, a toque, gloves, and a three-in-one winter coat! I was also given a bag and told that my American guests, who had now returned home, had left it for me. It turns out that one of them had purchased me a red fleece from the Team USA store as a thank you gift. I was so pleased to know that I had obviously made an impression (that might have something to do with being able to avoid a taxi that swerved in front of us and came VERY close to crunching up the front of my car!) One of the other drivers told me that the wives were commenting on my driving skills and the fact that I was able to share so many tidbits of information about Vancouver. I found this quite funny since I have only been here for three weeks myself!

My assignment for yesterday was to depart from Vancouver at about 4pm and drive one of the Panasonic team up to Whistler. He was transferring to a hotel there and I was going to come straight back. Not a problem - the trip would take about 4 1/2 hours and I could stay on the highway on the way home, avoid downtown, and go straight home. Alas, it was not to be.

My guest was in a meeting that ran late adn it was nearly 5:30pm before we could leave. In the meantime, I was asked if I could spend the night in Whistler because the guest would need to come home the following afternoon.

I called my supervisors and they contacted Whistler. They were able to arrange for me to stay in a small room in the bunkhouse that has been set up for some of the Whistler volunteers. I arrived in Whistler at about 8pm with nothing but the clothes on my back. NADA! Fortunately, I did have a little plan.

I have an elementary school friend who has been staying in a Whistler hotel for 6 months because her husband is working for Bell on Olympic stuff. I called Devon and asked her if there was any way I could borrow some clothes to sleep in. She hurried down with not only clothes but toothpaste, a toothbrush, soap, shampoo, and conditioner, all snagged from her hotel's front desk. She then took me on a driving tour of the Whistler area showing me some of the neighbourhoods, the school, the rec centre, and some of the shops.

After my tour, I went along to the bunkhouse and found my room. The rooms are fitted out with a tall bunk bed, a chest of drawers, a wardrobe, and a sink. There is a bathroom with a toilet and a shower between each pair of rooms. Unfortunately, the bunk beds were put in the room the wrong way around so the ladders were against the wall. I did not realize that I would be earning a medal in monkey-climbing! I had to climb on to the lower bed, then on to the chest of drawers, and up to the top bunk. I had to do all of this while trying not to disturb Jamie, the girl in the lower bunk who was about to sleep before her early shift on course crew in the morning.

I slept reasonably well until about 4 in them morning when the fellow in the next room decided to take a shower (I think that he was just coming in from a night of drinking). The fan in the bathroom is rather loud and it is connected to the light so it was on the whole time. I finally fell back to sleep and woke up when Jamie did at 5:30am. This time I could not get back to sleep so I decided to get up. I put on my old clothes, ran my little comb through my hair, and headed out for the day.

I walked out of the bunkhouses to find giant snowflakes falling heavily. Whistler Village was absolutely beautiful with a fresh coating of snow. I packed my winter boots to bring to Vancouver but alas, they are still in my suitcase in Vancouver!

This fresh snow created other problems as well. My guest had come up to Whistler to film footage of the women's downhill ski racing. The ski racing was postponed because of the snow.

My guest managed to rearrange his schedule so that he would take footage of the luge instead. I spent a couple of hours in the village with my friend Devon and then headed to the hotel where my guest was staying. I took him and a few camera operators over to the Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre. Panasonic has a hospitality lounge here and I was invited to join the crew for lunch. The food was great!

We then headed over to the sliding centre where I was able to watch the women's luge while my guests filmed. I have watched the sliding events on tv but was completely unprepared for a couple of things. The sliders come shooting past at incredibly high speeds so they are only in front of you for a split second. The other thing is the outrun at the end of the course. I always knew that it ran uphill in order to slow the sleds down but I never realized just how long and steep the outrun was. It climbs a long way after the finish line! I tried to take a few pictures, particularly of the canadian sliders but was only able to get one with a slider actually in the frame, and I have no idea who she is. She is beautifully captured though in the Vancouver logo in the ice.

Eventually, me made our way back to Vancouver and I went home, a mere 36 hours after I left.

Lesson learned: always carry a spare pair of underwear in the vehicle!

The VIP VP

I have been driving around a couple of executives from Panasonic America and we have had some fun! Last night, I took them to the Pacific Colosseum to watch the short-track speed skating. I was able to get into the arena for a little while to watch some of the events and watched Apolo Anton Ohno win the silver medal in the 1500 meters. It was a very exciting race with quite a lot of jostling and two Korean skaters who knocked each other out on the final corner. I was just happy to have been able to see the skating live. I also took my guests to the USA house.

This morning, my guests, the two executives and their wives, asked to be taken to the US Consular General's house for a brunch. I arrived early and drove the four to the residence and then I spent about an hour sight-seeing. I returned to the area of the residence about an hour before my guests would be leaving and parked down the street next to a small army of motorcycle police. They were stationed there awaiting the departure of a special guest at the brunch, VP Biden. About 5 minutes before I was due to pick up my guests, the motorcycles set off and the motorcade passed right past me as it left the neighbourhood with Mr. and Mrs. Biden.

I picked up my four guests, along with a couple more, and we headed to the UBC Thunderbird center for women's hockey. We commented on the gorgeous weather, the sunny skies, and the crocuses that entirely covered a lawn.

Once we arrived at the Thunderbird arena, we came to a complete standstill for no apparent reason. After a few minutes, traffic started to move again but I was informed that the T1 drop-off area was closed (T1 is for top level sponsors, dignitaries, and Olympic committee members). I asked why the T1 area was closed and I was told that there was a very special VIP using it. My guests chuckled and said that it must be Biden! I was instructed to use the T3 areas (T3 is general drop-off for anyone who qualifies for VANOC car transportation). Because I was arriving in a different area, I escorted my guests into the building and made sure that they were sorted out before returning to my car. I then moved my car around to the T1 area which was now open again. Sure enough, there was a small army of limos and trucks in the parking lot and snipers on the roof.

My guests also found out during this time that the motorcade had been involved in an accident between the brunch and the arena. It was reported in the paper that the location of the accident would not be released but I had a pretty good idea about it since we had travelled a similar route just minutes later. It was also reported that road conditions or an oil spill could have been to blame. However, the roads were clear and dry and I somehow doubt that there was a spill. I think, based on my observations from the last couple of days, that the cars were just following much too closely and higher speeds and the rear car was unable to stop in time.

After the hockey, Biden's motorcade made a quick and quiet getaway and I took my guests to the USA house once more. An hour later, I picked them up and took them to the Pacific Colosseum for the short program of Pairs Figure Skating. This time, Panasonic arranged for me to have a ticket so I was able to watch almost the entire thing from the seats. I was thrilled to be able to watch the skating! I watched Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison but was saddened to see that they were only placed 6th.
Guess who was sitting on the other side of the arena to me! Biden!

After the skating, I drove my guests back in to the downtown area, dropped the ladies off at the Bay so that they could do some shopping, dropped the men off at the hotel, transferred one of the men over to the USA house for an appearance at a function, and then took him back to the restaurant where he joined the rest of his party.

It was a long day but it was also a lot of fun! I really enjoyed my guests and it was funny to see Biden at every turn.

I went to the Opening Ceremonies!!

Three of the four ICS drivers for Panasonic arrived at work this morning for 7:30am ready to start one of our busy days. We knew that we had several places to take our clients including venues and restaurants. Around lunchtime, we were pulled aside and asked if we had plans for the evening. We all had the same plans - to return home and watch the opening ceremonies with our friends and families. These plans were about to change. We were told that Panasonic wanted to offer us four tickets to the Opening Ceremonies (there are four drivers, three on duty at any given time). We called the fourth driver and passed the news on to her, only to be told five minutes later that the tickets might not be available after all. We spent the afternoon waiting to find out if we were going and if so, how many of us would be going. While we were passing the time, we went up to one of the rooms in the hotel that we are using as a lounge. We had a terrific view down over Burrard and Robson Street. We could see a large number of police officers standing in the street, blocking all traffic. Then we saw a large vehicle pull out of the back of the Hotel Vancouver. It was followed by another car and another and another. In the end, there were 16 vehicles in the motorcade and we could see US flags on the some of the vehicles. We realized then that we were looking at the motorcade carrying Joe Biden. It sure made the view interesting.

At 3:15pm, we were finally told that we were all going!

The four of us headed out to BC Place. Dick went by his apartment first and the three girls, Sabine, Emily, and I all walked across town. We walked past Robson Square to see the countdown clock, now at less than two hours until the start of the games. We continued along with crowds of people until we arrived at the stadium. We were all so excited to be there that we hadn't even noticed that our tickets were worth $1,100 each! Unbelievable!!!

We made our way to our seats and picked up our audience participation kits which included a bluish/white poncho, a commemorative program, a flashlight, and a candle. Every person wore the poncho which created a screen on which images were projected. The flashlights and candles were used during the ceremony for stars, lightning, and flames.

I loved the perfomances by Brian Adams, Nelly Furtado, and KD Lang and the show was great. I thought that the people chosen to carry the Olympic flag were wonderful. I also thought that it was really special that there was not just one person to light the cauldron but four!

Sometime this week, I will have to make my way back to the waterfront area to see the outdoor cauldron. I am going to treasure the memories from tonight forever!

On my way home from the show, I was driving along Hastings Street when I came across another motorcade. This one was a little different though in that it was led and followed by police vehicles but constisted of about 20 motor coaches. I couldn't figure out what they were all about until they turned onto Highway 1, headed for Whistler. I realized then that they were the buses carrying all of the athletes from the ceremony back up to the Whistler venues.

What a day!

Opening Ceremonies Dress Rehearsal

First of all, let me say that I do not intend to reveal any secrets from the ceremonies.

This evening was the second and final dress rehearsal for the Opening Ceremonies on Friday, February 12th. All of the volunteers were given a free ticket and we were able to purchase a second ticket. Unfortunately, a lot of volunteers had to work this evening but I was lucky enough to have the day off. Debbie and I went downtown to partake in the activities.

We took the Skytrain into the city and got off at the Stadium stop. It was a short walk over to BC Place. Before going in to the stadium, we walked past a few police officers, one of them from the OPP. I stopped and asked him where he was from and her replied Ottawa. When I said that I was from Stittsville, he said that he was too. It turns out that he lives just the other side of Poole Creek from me!

Upon entering the stadium, Debbie and I found my friend Raina. Raina and I met in Ottawa when we were assisting with the interviewing and we had arranged to meet in the venue. She is working at the Richmond Oval and is just beginning her shifts. We then went and found Sonja and her cousin. It was really nice to meet up with all of those friends.

After chatting with both of those friends, we headed to our own seats and waited for the beginning of the show. We were actually treated to a pre-show which lasted close to an hour. Then the real show began. At the first rehearsal on Monday, some of the performers were not available so they used stand-ins but we were informed that we would be seeing the real thing. However, there would be stand-ins for the athletes and dignitaries.

The parade of athletes was really quite amusing because the volunteers who were acting as the stand-ins were clearly having a lot of fun, some of them dancing and some even doing cartwheels as they entered! The parade also led to some questions about how countries are placed in alphabetical order. For instance, the People's Republic of China was in the C's but the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was in the D's. I will have to try to figure out why this is!

I can't really say much else about the show because, in the words of one of the speakers, this is a big gift from Canada to the World and we do not want to unwrap it until the 12th. I will tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed it and that I can't wait to watch it on tv on Friday. You really must watch the whole thing!

After the show, about 30,000 people all left at the same time. Debbie and I hung back a bit after watching the sea of people outside. After about 10 minutes, we decided to head out. There were still large crowds outside but we headed back to Stadium Station to catch the Skytrain. We were somewhat concerned about how long it would take us to get on a train. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the wait was not long at all and we were back on the train and on our way home.

Enjoy the ceremonies!

Panasonic Hotel

The Sutton Place Hotel is home to the Panasonic Team during the Olympics. The hotel is being decorated for the games and the Panasonic people have added a small decoration of their own to the lobby - a 103 inch television. The viewing is good around here!

A day trip to Whistler

Today, I was asked to drive up to Whistler to check out the Olympic sites for the Panasonic Team. I will probably be driving delegates up there later in the games period and we all wanted to make sure that we know where the designated drop-off zones and parking areas can be found. I was asked to take Keiko with me and this proved to be a great opportunity for me. Keiko is a tour guide who was able to point out all sorts of interesting view points along the route, all of the things that were in the dark on my ski trip last week with Nelson and Debbie.

We started our day to beaming sunshine in Vancouver and set out with high hopes for more of the same at the mountain venues. We headed across the Lion's Gate Bridge to the Sea to Sky Highway and soon found our first view point. We stopped at Shannon Falls, took a few pictures, and the headed up the highway again. We also took some photos of the snowy peaks of the mountains that tower over Howe Sound, afraid that the clouds could roll in at any time and obscure our view.

Once we arrived at Whistler, we checked out the Alpine venues at Creekside and then headed over to Whistler Village. We scouted out parking for a local restaurant and then made our way down the pedestrian area of the village. We had lunch and, of course, another Beavertail! It seems that Quatchi, Sumi, and Miga were also enjoying the lovely weather by eating out on the patio! We also had our picture taken in the Omega bobsled. This is the second time that I have found a bobsled for a photo at Whistler and I know that there is another one in downtown Vancouver - perhaps boblsedding should be my sport!

The views of Whistler today were absolutely spectacular! The sky was clear and blue and there was no haze. You can see the runs of Blackcomb on the left and Whistler on the right and they meet at the base next to the Village.

On the way back down from Whistler to Vancouver, Keiko and I made a couple more stops. We got some wonderful views looking down over Howe Sound and then we stopped at Porteau Cove Provincial Park. This is the British Columbia of our childhood, with driftwood on the beach ready for Nick Adonidas to haul away.
In fact,across the sound from Porteau Cove is the town of Gibson's Landing (if you catch all of these references, you know that you were a faithful CBC viewer!).

We eventually returned to Vancouver after a 7 hour round trip thrilled with the adventures that we had.

Another day of driving

The last couple of days have not been terribly exciting. I have been driving all over town just visiting the sites that Panasonic would like us to take the executives to once they arrive. Panasonic is providing the audio and video equipment for the games and their tv screens are all over the city. There are very large screens set up at a couple of different public venues in the city such as Robson square. They also have a booth at the Live City site at Yaletown so we have been there a few times.

Last night, Panasonic also installed a 103 inch screen in the lobby of the Sutton Place hotel so we have a very big viewing area for sports!

Tomorrow, I am driving up to Whistler. I am going to be checking out the Creekside Alpine venue, the Squamish Lil'Wat Cultural Centre, and one of the restaurants at Whistler.

With any luck, it will be a clear day and I might get some photos this time!

A hike to Golden Ears Park

Yesterday, I spent the day downtown with the Panasonic team. I am part of a team of three VANOC drivers including Dick and Sabine. We are still waiting for a fourth driver to be added to our team so that we have three regular drivers and one support who covers our days off. We spent time yesterday at a Kick-off meeting where we met various members of the Panasonic team who are providing the hospitality services for the Panasonic VIPs who are coming for the games. We also drove to a couple of the sites that the Panasonic VIPs are likely to visit.

Today, I have the day off. It is absolutely beautiful outside, sunny and warm. Debbie and Cathie are in Penticton for a swim meet so it is just Nelson, Geoff, and I at home. Since the weather is so nice, we headed up to Golden Ears Park for a walk with Odin the dog. It was only about a 15 minute drive up to the trail head where we parked the car.

The woods up in the mountains are eerily beautiful. The air is so damp that the trees are all covered in a moss that hangs from the branches. It makes for an almost spooky feeling.

We walked along the North Beach Trail down to Alouette Lake. Odin spent a long time chasing his ball into the lake (which was REALLY cold!) and then he played with another dog that came to visit.

The view was wonderful with mountains rising up all around us, some green and some with snow-capped peaks.

It was really a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon and so much nicer than the regular grey, rainy weather that has been the norm for this trip (and the norm for Vancouver at this time of year).

Panasonic

Yesterday, I went in to Vancouver to do some driving to the venues. When I arrived at the Westin Bayshore hotel, I was told that I would be on the general support team. This would mean that I would not be assigned to one person but rather that I would come in to the hotel and be available to cover for anyone who might need a day off or be sick. I went out with a couple of people and we drove to a few of the venues to familiarize ourselves with the drop-off zones.

By the time I returned to the hotel two hours later, I had been assigned to the Panasonic team as their support person. This would mean that I would cover days off for a small group of people, in this case three drivers.

Within an hour, I was bumped up to a Panasonic driver. I am no longer support. I have a car, a Chevy Traverse, to drive around clients and I take that car home at night. If I need a day off, our support driver will take the car and cover the shift.

The downside to this posting is that we are not in the Westin Bayshore hotel so we do not have access to the volunteer lounge, the meals, and the general camaraderie of the other volunteers. Today, we were given a hotel room where we were able to relax while on standby. Four of us were able to chat and watch tv while we waited.

Tomorrow, we have a kick-off meeting where we will meet more of the Panasonic group. We are really in a unique situation because this was not the anticipated running of the International Client Services. We are working out the details as we go.

The weather has been warm here but most days have been cloudy, wet, and grey. Today, I woke up to a lovely shining sun and I had a great view of Golden Ears, the mountains that are visible from my bedroom window. I also had Geoff take a picture of me with the car that I brought home.

The drive in this morning was long as there was a considerable amount of traffic, even at 9am. However, once I arrived to the downtown area, the travel was very easy as the Olympic lanes officially started today. That means that only buses and Olympic vehicles may use them. I only saw two cars in the lane that shouldn't have been. One was a lady who was stopping (in addition to the lanes, there are no stopping signs all over the downtown area) and she moved when I beeped my horn at her. The other vehicle was a pickup truck that was being ticketed by the police!

While I am on the topic of driving, I have a couple of tips about Vancouver. Highways here are not the same as in Ontario (or most other places for that matter). The highways here all have traffic lights on them! I have not driven one road yet that has a speed limit of 100km/hr because they all have lights. This also means that traffic just doesn't flow as well. The second tip is especially important. A flashing green light in Ontario means that you have an advanced green, left-turn priority. Here is means that you are approaching a pedestrian crossing and, at any moment, the light could turn orange and red for a pedestrian. If you assume that you have left-turn priority, you are likely to cause an accident! Fortunately, Nelson and Debbie told me this on the first night.

Me and my new clothes

I have had my uniform for a few days but today was the first time I had the whole thing on. I am really impressed with this uniform because it is very comfortable and it looks good on everyone. I have seen it on all shapes and sizes and it really does look sharp on every one of them.

More sightseeing!

After a long day at Whistler, we all spent Sunday just recovering! We came home from the ski hill and spent a long time just relaxing in the hot tub (definitely the place to be after a ski day) and then there were no plans for the rest of the weekend other than just getting the regular household jobs done.

On Monday, I decided to head downtown again to see if there was anything happening at the Westin Hotel. The International Client Services team was preparing to move in to the hotel over the weekend and they were also moving 325 cars from the lot in Richmond up to the hotel in Vancouver. These are the vehicles that we will be driving. Unfortunately, upon arriving at the hotel, I found that there really wasn't anything that I could do to help out and the training sessions that I need to complete will not be starting there until Wednesday.

I decided to do some more sightseeing in Vancouver. I walked back to the Waterfront Station where I got off the train in the morning and then headed up Granville Street. I looked around the huge Sears and Bay stores and then back out to Granville. This portion of the street has been closed to traffic and has a really neat art installation. There are about 20 "trees" in the street with each one covered in lanterns. The lanterns have been coloured by children in Canada and Tokyo and there are 2010 of them covering the branches.

At this point, I saw a group of people in red and white jackets. As they came closer, I could see that they were a group of Russian athletes (at least, based on their apparent level of fitness and their young age, I have to assume that they were athletes). Alas, I did not have my camera out so missed this photo opportunity.

My accreditation gets me free access to all of the local transportation including the bus, seabus, skytrain (local commuter train with frequent service), and the West Coast Express (a longer range commuter train with limited service). It does make it easy to get on and off to do tourist things. I hopped back on the bus to Granville Island but missed my stop, not realizing just how small the island is. I found myself quite a bit further along Granville Street than I had intended but just walked back down the hill to the island. Granville Island is a former industrial area that now houses a wonderful public market and all sorts of artsy shops and studios. At one end of the island there is a little hill with a nice view along False Creek. As you look across the water in the photo below, you can just see the Telus Science World globe-shaped building (right in the centre). To the right of that, not really visible in the photo below, is the Olympic Village and to the left, again not visible in the photo, are GM Place, home of the Olympic hockey games, and BC Place, home of the opening and closing ceremonies.

After exploring the market and shops on the Island, I took the Olympic line straight to the Olympic Village. My accreditation also gives me access to all venues and I thought that I would have a look around before most of the athletes and delegates arrived. The buildings are new and quite funky. They will make a very nice waterfront neighbourhood once they are converted after the games. There were very few people walking around the village, most of them being volunteers. However, I did see a few police officers with very familiar uniforms. There are police officers from all branches of the service all across Canada and I happened to find three OPP. They were from Muskoka, Killaloe (this seems to be a theme this trip with this officer and my Killaloe Sunrise Beavertail), and one from Smiths Falls. I also figured out that at least one group of athletes seems to have arrived at the Village already.

After exploring the Village, it was time to head back to the Waterfront station to catch the West Coast Express and head for home.