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.
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