Rich Roszel

I hate it that, in my time here in Whistler, I haven’t done more posting to my blog. Two things stood in my way: long hours and a really lousy internet connection. Whistler, apparently having it’s own rate of exchange whereby a pack of gum, under the right conditions, could cost $4.00 US, is more than pleased to charge $14.00/day for internet access, yet the only place in my room where I can use the internet at all is in my bathroom.

I didn’t discover this until a few days ago. I would be online for a few minutes, then I couldn’t connect to anything. Then an hour later, I would be on again. When I mentioned this at work, someone suggested the bathroom. It’s not great, but at least it’s consistent. So now my computer is propped up on the counter next to my sink and my desk chair is squeezed in between the toilet and the tub and here I sit, trying to post to my blog. As you might imagine, sometimes I just didn’t feel like the hassle after a long day at the venue.

Speaking of the venue, managers had internet access on their manager computers, but for the rest of us, we could buy internet access for something like $30/day. My manager let me use his computer on occasion, but I didn’t feel right about doing blog updates on it.

Nonetheless, I’m back in my room, and updating the blog. So here’s the latest. We struck our part of the venue last night after the final day of competition. This means my work here is done. Striking the venue, in case you’re interested, is when we unwire everything, inventory and pack all the gear to be shipped back to OBS, and try to be good campers — leaving the place better than we found it. I’m afraid we may have failed on that last point, but we did our best. Frankly, it would be interesting to come back here next winter and see what the place looks like in real life. Every Olympic experience is somewhat surreal and we all leave here knowing that this isn’t real life.

And speaking of real life, I think I mentioned in an earlier post that we have some students here who are majoring in film and television production. They saw this as an excellent opportunity to get a taste of what it’s really like to work in television. Unfortunately, this ISN’T what it’s really like to work in television. On the plus side, though, so much of what it takes to get the good jobs is knowing the right people, and these students did get to work with the right people. If they did a good job here and stay in touch with their co-workers from the venue, they will go far.

On a different note, I did get a chance to go into Vancouver a couple of days ago to visit the IBC (International Broadcast Center), see the Olympic Flame and, best of all, spend some time with a few friends from my Olympic Venue in Beijing. For me, it’s all about the people. After I get home and have a little time to go through all my photos, I’ll post some more and give you more of the stories.

I will mention here that spontaneity, which used to be central to my way of life, has been in hiding for the past few years. I don’t know why that happened, but it did. Well, it reappeared quite, uh, spontaneously during my Vancouver trip. And when it appeared, good sense went on vacation. I was trying to be frugal and practical so when I found out that what was going to be a free day of skiing was no longer going to be free, I turned down the chance to ski because I didn’t want to spend the money (If gum costs $4/pack, how much does skiing cost? I didn’t want to know). Instead, I met up with my friend, Brian Gray, in Vancouver. We were minding our own business, just having a cup of coffee as we looked out over the harbor to watch the sea planes take off and land. Next thing I knew, I was skimming above the water with about 12 other passengers on a beautiful 45 minute tour of Vancouver and the surrounding mountain range in one of the sea planes I was just watching, and my wallet was $140 lighter. I’m glad we were watching sea planes and not standing next to the Maserati dealership. Spontaneity can get expensive.

That’s all for now. I still have to pack, find a printer in the hotel so I can print my boarding pass, eat one last expensive meal (a sandwich I picked up at the grocery store), and get some rest. Tomorrow is supposed to be the busiest travel day in the history of the Vancouver airport. Fun, eh?

More to follow,

– Rich