The weather is improving ....

A couple of days have passed since my last entry to this blog. That does not mean that nothing is happening but it does mean that I have been busy enough to not sit down and write a bit about what we have been doing. I have not chronicled any of the activities from Wednesday to today. Ok now I am in gear and have a few items of interest to share with you.

The biggest thing is that we have now been here for a week and our hosts have not yet asked us to pack up and head back east. That is a good thing. We have all settled into a routine that seems to work as a family unit that has been operating for some time. Bree has returned to work after a few days off before the Olympics hit her and her store just outside of the Whistler Medals Plaza. Her store , Le Chateau, has recently been expanded to twice its size and they are all stocked up for the big event. Gray has been working long days getting the house ready to deliver to their client and is experiencing some fatigue with the stress of getting it done. Tara-Lee is still working 2 jobs but that came to an end yesterday. Her time at the Vet is now over as she focuses on her role as a concierge at the Hilton Hotel in Whistler. She is on regular shifts and enjoys working in that environment. Freddi has also started her shifts with the Olympic Volunteer program at the Sliding Centre where she is one of a small number of Accreditation people at that venue. Her first shift was a learning experience where she got hands-on with the computers and better understanding of the processes she will be involved in. In her estimation her largest number of clients will be the media and they will start to arrive next week. Freddi also has been testing the transportation systems to get to and from work. That is another story as the bus system is making a huge transition to Olympic service where the frequency and numbers of busses triple or quadruple to move people around. She managed to get to work (JIT) and back here for dinner last evening. That is a good thing. Transportation is the story of the day as people talk about the lack of parking available in Whistler, the road closures, the changed street directions and the upcoming controls on the highway. The only real option is to take the bus and plan to be longer than the reported schedule. But once again I digress....

As you can see from the above paragraph everyone has settled into their respective jobs – except me. So the obvious question is why have I not had time to write some notes to this file? Well it seems that because everyone is busy working on legitimate jobs that I am the default house husband and have a regular list of things to do that seem to be directed at me each day. Yesterday I was busy all day working on such things as kitchen cleaning after our great meals, laundry, dog walking, shopping for groceries and beer and wine, and generally paying attention to other’s schedules. This is different for me but so far I seem to have adjusted and am turning into the “house boy”. My job at the Olympics doesn’t start until next Friday (1 week today) when my first shift starts at 5:15 am. Until then I guess I will continue to cook, clean and shop for the troops who are actively engaged. Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining, just learning some new things about managing a house for family of four or five plus 2 dogs and a needy but lovable cat. There are some bonuses though as I was the only one home to watch the Senators beat the Vancouver Canucks until well into the 2nd period. By the end of the game most of the family were home and we started our dinner. It is weird to watch a hockey game starting at 4:30 pm (PST). By the end of the game, which I repeat we won (11 in a row now), it was time to prepare dinner and settle in for the evening.

On Wednesday Paul and Mary Ellen and Freddi and I went to Vancouver for the day. Our purpose was to pick up our volunteer tickets for the dress rehearsal of the Opening Ceremonies. That will happen on the 10th in the early evening. AS volunteers we receive one free ticket and the opportunity to purchase another one. Employees of VANOC get two free ones but they missed out on the bottle of wine that was donated by Kittling Ridge for each of the volunteers who picks up their tickets. Our drive down to Vancouver was through all sorts of weather (rain, fog, sunny breaks) and there was a distinct lack of traffic heading south. We got to Vancouver at around 11 am and were astounded to see that the line-up to collect tickets would almost all the way around the block from the office on Dunsmuir. In actual fact we were 65 to 70% of the block away from the front door. Quick discussion resulted in accepting our fate and not returning another time so we joined the line. We met some interesting people and were particularly surprised by the enjoyment most were having waiting to get their tickets. There was an air of excitement and we hardly heard any complaints about the wait. We had a Chai tea and some food as we worked our way closer to the front door of the building. It also gave us time to enjoy the decoration of the building beside us as the Pacific Mall is the home of the Hudson’s Bay. The photo in this blog is one that shows the effort they put into their decor for the event. Our turn to enter the building came 2.5 hours after we arrived in the line and we were processed very efficiently. I think they learned a lot during the day as we had heard that some had been there for greater than 3 hours. We left the building with 8 tickets to the event and 4 bottles of wine. Not bad for a couple of hours investment.

We then had some lunch at Paul’s Omlettery on Granville and we did our respective shopping at Future Shop. Paul needed to replenish his printer cartridges as he printed some of the manuals for Mary Ellen’s training with Event Services. Freddi became a MAC owner as we finally gave up on her mini eeepc as it wasn’t cutting it. To my MAC friends – we are converted! After that little shopping spree we set out for the return trip to Pemberton. Suddenly we recognized that it was getting dark and we would definitely miss the opportunity to stop and watch the Bald Eagles at Brackendale but we will do that another day. On the way home we stopped in Whistler to get Paul and Mary Ellen fixed up with their Accreditation and Uniforms. Freddi was called as she was on a wait list for a smaller size for her issue pants but she did not have them with her so we had to go to Pemberton to get the pants and back to Whistler to exchange them. We managed to do that before dinner and then we sat down to a great gourmet dinner prepared by the girls. It turned out to be a long day.

As you can see we have settled in to a pretty regular lifestyle in our new location. The picture at the top of this blog is of the development that Gray and Bree live in and the picture at the bottom is the view we have out our bedroom window when the fog goes away. The other photos are just there to show some of the things I have noticed while moving around which include everything from security to serenity. There are as many dogs as inhabitants in Pemberton and the sign in this blog made me laugh and think of my friend Tony in Virginia.

I almost forgot to mention that I started today with a rally to get to my Job Specific Training session in Squamish. There were some details on the website that lead me to believe that the training would be conducted in Whistler. I was wrong and Bree kindly lent me her car to run down to Squamish in time for the training. As I arrived there I came face to face with the parade for the “Flame” and managed to see the flame as it passed our venue. It was pretty impressive and filled one with pride as I realized that this flame is almost at its destination after 45K km trip from Greece. We will see it again in Pemberton on Saturday morning. The training was well done and I had an opportunity to meet some of the other Team Leaders in the Whistler Olympic Park venue. Once home I went to the grocery store for dinner supplies and then sat down to watch a little golf. Pretty nice life right now......