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!