Flashback to 2002, Day 8

February 18,2002:
It's hard to believe that we are already at Day 11 of the Olympics. Everyone is generally pleased about the outcome of the skating mess. The Canadians have been seen here and there and have behaved extremely well, considering that they have been constantly dogged by the media.
The staff have anticipated the general letdown we are starting to feel - I think we existed on adrenaline until this weekend and now most everyone is starting to drag. In an effort to re-energize the team, today the supervisors decorated the staff tent with crepe paper and balloons and brought dominos and cards and other games to play during breaks. And we also were a given an incredibly strange pin "from" Steve Young - It has a big number 8 with a football player in red and white. There is a dinky little logo in the corner to designate it as an Olympic pin and it is signed (printed) on the back with his signature. I know I am rejuvenated.
Our happy little band in the IB are having our own problems. We are all here today, but the two guys might as well not be. One is bored with it all and doesn't think that the work is fulfilling enough and the other is so lively that he can't stand to be cooped up, so they wander a lot. I was alone quite a lot, which is really just fine, since there are periods of quiet during the medals and concerts.
For some reason, we seem to get a lot of the same problems on different days. Today was Airport Day. About 5 people needed to know how to get to and from the airport and all from different starting places. So I called around and found a suitable airport shuttle for them all. It's just odd that we have had no airport questions before yesterday. One of the people I worked with had a succession of problems, including a lost key to a rental car, so he wanted to get out to Avis to get another one. After I tried a couple of things and got him taken care of, he was so thrilled that he wrote down my name and said he was going to write to SLOC and tell them how wonderful I was. I can't wait to hear from Mitt.
I had a Japanese couple come in to check for a lost scarf. While I was talking to the wife, the husband was filming both of us and all I said. He even took a close-up of my handing her the paper with the Lost and Found Center address and phone number. He said he wanted to have a memory of everything.
Our super supervisor has a headset radio that she needs to keep track of everything on the OMP. She ran into the restroom trailer, which has tiny little stalls. She took off the radio and her coat and set them on the minute counter by the sink. Just as she got settled, her radio started calling her frantically about some major issue. She started saying, "Holy cow, holy cow!" and trying to hurry so she could get out and grab the radio. When she finally emerged from the stall, a half dozen women were staring at her and wondering what kind of problems she was having in there.
About a dozen US women athletes barged in to the IB and wanted directions to the Olympic Alumni House. Just when you think you know everything - now we have quite a list of these places.

I have one more day to work before a day off again. I wanted to have Wednesday off so Bob and I could take Paddy down to see a few things while we still can. Luckily, one of the others needed Tuesday off, so we made a trade.
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