#644 Olympic flashback - Feb. 14, 2002

Happy Valentine's Day, friends! (And happy birthday Kelsie!) In today's Olympic flashback, I break SLOC (Salt Lake Organizing Committee) protocol and talk trash about some fellow volunteers that I don't even remember. One of the things we were told was that by being volunteers, we would make friendships that would last a lifetime. I didn't. I don't actually remember the names of any of the people I volunteered with. Some of my memories didn't last 10 years. I'm actually taking a trip down memory lane here and I remember stuff now that I'm re-reading it.

Thursday, February 14, 2002

Happy Valentine’s Day! Today was my least favorite day of volunteering so far. I was in the Plaza, but I didn’t have as much fun as I did last time I was in that sector. Maybe it was because of my team leader, Diane. I just don’t really like her. Hmm. Note to self: avoid working with Diane in the future.

Today was a late shift. I had to be there by 1:30. I took T to school early because I knew it would be a fun day for him. They had a Valentine’s Day party. I went to the office to do a few things for a couple of hours. I was productive, so it was worthwhile. I left pretty early to get to the Oly staff parking lot. When I got there, the shuttle was waiting. Hooray!

It was a beautiful clear day. The skies were blue, but the wind was blowing so it was cold. Like I said, I was in Sector Plaza. I was the rover, which meant I gave breaks to everyone else. At first I was just kinda hanging out, reminding people to watch their step and listening to the entertainment. The Acapella Bobsleigh group was there, and a Marine band. The band was excellent. Later, I gave a break to a woman. She was opening the door for people, and got cold. Boo hoo. Her name is Jan, and if she was cooler, she would remind me of Melinda, my sister-in-law. Then I had to go to an access point and check credentials. That was not fun. I made up a song about it, but I don’t remember the words.

One fun thing happened at the access gate. I traded a pin with a Russian coach. He got my bobsleigh pin, and he gave me a Russia House, Nagano pin. Trading pins on shift is against SLOC policy, but I did it anyway. It’s a cool pin. Another thing that happened is that I overheard a Canadian guy talking on a cell phone near me. He said that Sale and Peltier, the silver medal winning Canadian figure skating pair, were sitting right in front of him. The fact that they were there created quite a stir. I didn’t see them, but I did go inside and watch a couple of races. That was great!

At the end of my shift, I was at ticket rip. It always surprises me that people come in with only 10 minutes of competition left. It happens every day. Then there was the egress. That’s my favorite part. I got off at 7.

Tomorrow there is no competition at the Oval, so I don’t have to work. I have a lot of household things to do, and I need to go to the office for an hour or so to make sure some subs get paid. My next shift is Saturday morning. I’m going to hold out for an inside position, even though it’s supposed to be super-nice that day (mid 40s). That is the men’s 1000 meters. I think I’ll try to go to Sector South. Other than that, I think I’ll stick with Entry. I like Lee, the Sector Coordinator, and I don’t mind being outside.

This is a photo of the egress, my favorite part of every shift. All the volunteers and security would line the path the guests used to go back to their cars and we would smile and wave and thank people for coming. We'd get high fives and lots of pictures would be taken. It was a cool way to end the day.