the continuation of my unedited (even when i really want to correct typos and bad grammar!) 2002 olympic experience recap:
The buses on the night-route are, at the very least, not easy. Tuesday evening was particularly difficult because…well, basically, I wasn't well-prepared, though I thought I was. The short of it, is that after standing outside waiting for a bus for over an hour on the `coldest night in Salt Lake in six years,' I finally called Aunt Shannon and begged her to come get me, which she did graciously.
On Tuesday, we had another SLOC briefing, at which several local media were in attendance, but no recognizable national reporters. I did get introduced to several members of the IOC staff, and since it has been pounded into our heads that this is the IOC's games, and we are only here to serve them, those introductions, were perhaps a little more nerve-wracking than necessary.
I took advantage of our on-site doctor today, who has been dispensing free flu shots and B-12 shots. I got both. I don't remember this from watching the games, but apparently, in Nagano, there was a rampant flu outbreak that affected huge numbers of people. As a result of that, our medical staff is striking preemptively, with the hopes that a similar situation will be entirely avoided.
On Thursday, we had our regular SLOC briefing, and the remainder of my time was spent putting out small fires, and continuing to familiarize myself with the venue and all its little intricacies.
Security, for me, has been a breeze—much to my surprise. They are still working out the kinks, and there have been some breaches, but it has never occurred to me to feel unsafe there. And as I've said before, if there were to be any attempts at an attack of any sort, I doubt the Media Center would be a target, since most nutjobs like to have their `work' publicized.
At any rate, it is still an adjustment for me to have Secret Service, regular police, and military guys with BIG guns, everywhere I go. Those guys with the big guns are also in the mag and bag tents (our playful nickname for the magnetometers and bag searches), so the idea of setting off the mag, brings on an entirely new fear. So far, I haven't done so, and know that it wouldn't really be that big a deal, yet the sooner I'm out of the tent and away from the Uzi's, the better!
For Dylan's sake, I'll mention here, that the Russians are crazy. I also mention it because they have been the surprise entertainment of my games so far. We have these nutty Russian translators—a man and woman, who always arrive in more fur than most animals have on them, and leaving us to wonder if, at 10:00am they have already started the daily vodka regimen. They like to sing Russian folk songs very loudly, if that paints any kind of picture for you. Today, another of our Russian guests—a reporter—had a heart attack, and refuses to go to the hospital. Word on the street is that he has a little thing with our rather busty, blonde, Russian translator, and is hesitant to leave the venue on that account. The even crazier thing is that I am not kidding.
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Monday, February 01, 2010
happy new year!
in case you hadn't heard, january was such a disaster (on both personal and global levels) that i've written it off completely. which means 2010 starts now. because i said so.
now that that's out of the way, 2010 is off to a good start. no major traumas today and lots of looking forward to do. the most exciting of which is just three(ish) short weeks away, and it can't get here quickly enough.
as soon as i return from vegas, a work trip i'm also sort of looking forward too (ssh, don't tell), i'll be swapping suitcases and heading off to portland, where i'll be meeting spencer and we'll be driving up to vancouver to bask in olympic spirit.
our home away from home is a lovely little carriage house in surrey, about 30 minutes outside vancouver. we got a steal on the place, and couldn't be happier. i mean doesn't this look like a place you could settle in for a few days??
i certainly plan on taking advantage of the fireplace in my room, although i expect my opportunities will be somewhat limited as we've gotten tickets to hockey and (drumroll please), curling. and i expect that we'll spend a fair amount of time wandering the streets looking for trouble:)
needless to say, i'm excited about reliving my glory days. and, over the course of the next couple of weeks, i'll be reposting the recaps i sent out to family and friends during my experience at the salt lake olympics.
since there's no time like the present (after all it is the first day of the new year) i present, 2002, part 1:
I got the dog dropped off at a friend's house on Sunday night, which was difficult, probably more for me than for her. I was up late to finish packing, and was relieved to eventually be done with it. I am a notoriously bad packer—one of those people who will take twelve changes of clothes and 6 pair of shoes for an overnight stay. So you can imagine what packing for a month was like! Though I continually tried to remind myself, that since I have to wear a uniform, there was no justification for over-packing, I still managed to give myself stress headaches the entire week prior to leaving. The final result? Well, I did over-pack, but not grotesquely so—so, I can still live with myself. :)
Monday was a travel day. It was a long flight, but fortunately, an empty one. After the in-flight movie, I headed to the back, where I could have an entire row to myself, and managed to sleep through the rest of the flight. After arriving at Aunt Shannon's in Salt Lake, I unpacked, and pretty much relaxed the rest of the day—knowing it might be my last opportunity!
I did touch base with my friend Sara, who had already been here for a couple of days. I got the update, and it sounded like things were getting pretty wild at the Media Center. That just makes it more fun though, right?
Tuesday was my first day… I was scheduled to report at 9:00am, but since I didn't know how long the bus or security would take, I caught the 7:30am bus, and was on my way. I arrived at the building at about 8:00am, and security was a breeze.
My first Press Conference was the SLOC Daily Briefing at 10:00am—and also the only one on the schedule for the day. No major problems, and I spent the rest of the day orienting myself with the Main Street Vendors, the Bullpen, the PDC, etc, and meeting those who I'll be working closely with.
The bulk of the media have not arrived, since the US Press won't be coming until after the SuperBowl on Sunday. So it was a somewhat quiet day. However, it still ended up being a 12 hour one, and I was informed that there is no such thing as a weekend and no such thing as a day off. I guess it was to be expected, but I'll admit that I was hoping to have a little bit more time to catch up with old friends. Speaking of old friends—I neglected to mention that I have run into several former Salt Palace co-workers, so it is already becoming very comfortable for me to be back.
now that that's out of the way, 2010 is off to a good start. no major traumas today and lots of looking forward to do. the most exciting of which is just three(ish) short weeks away, and it can't get here quickly enough.
as soon as i return from vegas, a work trip i'm also sort of looking forward too (ssh, don't tell), i'll be swapping suitcases and heading off to portland, where i'll be meeting spencer and we'll be driving up to vancouver to bask in olympic spirit.our home away from home is a lovely little carriage house in surrey, about 30 minutes outside vancouver. we got a steal on the place, and couldn't be happier. i mean doesn't this look like a place you could settle in for a few days??
i certainly plan on taking advantage of the fireplace in my room, although i expect my opportunities will be somewhat limited as we've gotten tickets to hockey and (drumroll please), curling. and i expect that we'll spend a fair amount of time wandering the streets looking for trouble:)
needless to say, i'm excited about reliving my glory days. and, over the course of the next couple of weeks, i'll be reposting the recaps i sent out to family and friends during my experience at the salt lake olympics.since there's no time like the present (after all it is the first day of the new year) i present, 2002, part 1:
I got the dog dropped off at a friend's house on Sunday night, which was difficult, probably more for me than for her. I was up late to finish packing, and was relieved to eventually be done with it. I am a notoriously bad packer—one of those people who will take twelve changes of clothes and 6 pair of shoes for an overnight stay. So you can imagine what packing for a month was like! Though I continually tried to remind myself, that since I have to wear a uniform, there was no justification for over-packing, I still managed to give myself stress headaches the entire week prior to leaving. The final result? Well, I did over-pack, but not grotesquely so—so, I can still live with myself. :)
Monday was a travel day. It was a long flight, but fortunately, an empty one. After the in-flight movie, I headed to the back, where I could have an entire row to myself, and managed to sleep through the rest of the flight. After arriving at Aunt Shannon's in Salt Lake, I unpacked, and pretty much relaxed the rest of the day—knowing it might be my last opportunity!
I did touch base with my friend Sara, who had already been here for a couple of days. I got the update, and it sounded like things were getting pretty wild at the Media Center. That just makes it more fun though, right?
Tuesday was my first day… I was scheduled to report at 9:00am, but since I didn't know how long the bus or security would take, I caught the 7:30am bus, and was on my way. I arrived at the building at about 8:00am, and security was a breeze.
My first Press Conference was the SLOC Daily Briefing at 10:00am—and also the only one on the schedule for the day. No major problems, and I spent the rest of the day orienting myself with the Main Street Vendors, the Bullpen, the PDC, etc, and meeting those who I'll be working closely with.
The bulk of the media have not arrived, since the US Press won't be coming until after the SuperBowl on Sunday. So it was a somewhat quiet day. However, it still ended up being a 12 hour one, and I was informed that there is no such thing as a weekend and no such thing as a day off. I guess it was to be expected, but I'll admit that I was hoping to have a little bit more time to catch up with old friends. Speaking of old friends—I neglected to mention that I have run into several former Salt Palace co-workers, so it is already becoming very comfortable for me to be back.
Monday, January 25, 2010
can i open my eyes now?
alright, i'm facing it, the christmas recap just ain't gonna happen. suffice it to say, i really enjoyed having my family here. we spent our time checking out the sites in la, experiencing disneyland through the eyes of a 5 year old, enjoying milkshakes on the pier, and just generally appreciating having the family all together again. the pictorial can be found here and here.
sadly, the good times did not continue as my family departed and the calendar year changed. i'm beginning to think that the whole 'broken mirrored closet door' thing may have had more of an impact than the bleeding forehead originally indicated.
i've spent the entire month of january trying to shake a bad luck streak that keeps getting longer and longer. it started with a toxic ingestion that resulted in an admission to animal hospital for kidney failure. $3k later and cordy came home mostly recovered and happy, while i took a turn for the worse. fighting some kind of random sickness, i couldn't take any time off as i prepared for my biggest event of the year. i did make it to that event, and that's something, but on my first night there i sprained or broke my big toe (there is some debate about which). since my glorified pedometer had me averaging 8 miles a day on that toe, you might imagine that there was a lot of crying. crying and vicodin.
just when i was sure i'd had my 'bad things come in threes' conclusion, and was looking forward to my arrival home and spending some time with deb (who was in town for the wedding of a mutual friend), i ended up with a flat tire in los angeles (an hour from home) at midnight.
you know, because all i needed after a $3k vet bill was to buy new tires.
not sure if i've got a shot at making it out of 2010 alive, but for the moment i'm going to focus on safely putting january behind me. the wedding was lovely though, so maybe there's hope afterall...
...oh, and i did manage to have a little fun in orlando. melissa recapped our shared adventures here...Friday, January 15, 2010
did i miss something?
when did 2010 get here? oh, it must have been somewhere between my family's visit to california for 'a week in the life of tara' and my dog nearly dying of kidney failure!
needless to say, the last three weeks have been chock full of excitement, some good, some bad.
my folks arrived in california with my sister and my niece on christmas day - or rather, on christmas day night. we started our girl bonding, mom, sis, and i, by taking a late night drive up to lax airport (about an hour from home) to pick up their luggage, which, thanks to the inevitable holiday airline delays and changes, did not arrive with them in orange county.
fortunately, the drive and conversation were enjoyable and the luggage pick-up fairly simple. the only negative was that it meant i'd be in bed later than i'd have liked given the next day's planned adventure.
since we had decided to cancel our plans for yosemite due to concerns about weather and transportation, i agreed to accompany my dad on his own personal national park passport stamp hunting adventure. so at 7am on saturday morning, we were on our way to death valley national park.
i'll be honest, death valley is not a park i've been particularly motivated to visit. i mean, just the name of it alone is enough to make you want to stay away. but, i needed to get te stamp at some point, and truly there's no better person for me to go stamp hunting with!
our first stop made for a longer drive. it DID included a bonus stamp, though not much else. as a result, the mojave national preserve was a fairly quick drive by. we got out of the car, took a few pics, locked ourselves in jail, and demonstrated how to mount a saddle before heading on to death valley.
what surprised me most about the park was that i enjoyed it. the landscape was more diverse than i expected.
we stopped to enjoy a section that reminded me of the badlands, before heading on to my personal highlight, badwater basin. at 282 feet below sea level, it is the lowest point in north america.
dad and i made sure to stand in holes so we could TRULY be at the lowest point. silly tourists just walking on the well-worn path. ha!
i'm not sure if you can tell, but there's a sign on that wall of rock that indicates where sea level is.
how bout now?
after badwater basin we hit the golden canyon where we did some light hiking and a little climbing.
and then it was time to head home. remember how i said we left at 7am? well we arrived at home around 9:30pm, and of that time, spent all but probably an hour and a half in the car. needless to say, it was a long day, but we were happy to arrive and find that dylan and kelly had made it safely from oregon (via car). we spent some time chatting and planning for the week's adventures before i said my goodnights and goodbyes, leaving them to enjoy the donahoo's vacant and generously 'donated' home away from home.
needless to say, the last three weeks have been chock full of excitement, some good, some bad.
my folks arrived in california with my sister and my niece on christmas day - or rather, on christmas day night. we started our girl bonding, mom, sis, and i, by taking a late night drive up to lax airport (about an hour from home) to pick up their luggage, which, thanks to the inevitable holiday airline delays and changes, did not arrive with them in orange county.
fortunately, the drive and conversation were enjoyable and the luggage pick-up fairly simple. the only negative was that it meant i'd be in bed later than i'd have liked given the next day's planned adventure.
since we had decided to cancel our plans for yosemite due to concerns about weather and transportation, i agreed to accompany my dad on his own personal national park passport stamp hunting adventure. so at 7am on saturday morning, we were on our way to death valley national park.
i'll be honest, death valley is not a park i've been particularly motivated to visit. i mean, just the name of it alone is enough to make you want to stay away. but, i needed to get te stamp at some point, and truly there's no better person for me to go stamp hunting with!
our first stop made for a longer drive. it DID included a bonus stamp, though not much else. as a result, the mojave national preserve was a fairly quick drive by. we got out of the car, took a few pics, locked ourselves in jail, and demonstrated how to mount a saddle before heading on to death valley.
what surprised me most about the park was that i enjoyed it. the landscape was more diverse than i expected.
we stopped to enjoy a section that reminded me of the badlands, before heading on to my personal highlight, badwater basin. at 282 feet below sea level, it is the lowest point in north america.
dad and i made sure to stand in holes so we could TRULY be at the lowest point. silly tourists just walking on the well-worn path. ha!
i'm not sure if you can tell, but there's a sign on that wall of rock that indicates where sea level is.
how bout now?
after badwater basin we hit the golden canyon where we did some light hiking and a little climbing.
and then it was time to head home. remember how i said we left at 7am? well we arrived at home around 9:30pm, and of that time, spent all but probably an hour and a half in the car. needless to say, it was a long day, but we were happy to arrive and find that dylan and kelly had made it safely from oregon (via car). we spent some time chatting and planning for the week's adventures before i said my goodnights and goodbyes, leaving them to enjoy the donahoo's vacant and generously 'donated' home away from home.
..........to be continued............
Friday, December 18, 2009
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