Sunday, August 12
(Please excuse the typos and bad writing in this friendly message to family. This is the last report; Im sure many of you are glad you dont have to guiltily hit the delete button on this email every day. Theres no more Olympics to explore.)
Breakfast: Mixed fruit, awesome crunchy bacon (ACB), great link sausage, scrambled eggs, canaloni beans (pork n to us rednecks), wheat toast with currant jelly, orange juice, no yogurt.
Nicki and I walked into Russell Square to take photos and enjoy the green grass, cool morning and healthy sycamore trees. With the drought back home, Im sure the sycamores have gone to sleep.
Commute: A volunteer came onto the 8:30 a.m. red double-decker bus to tell us we were taking an alternative route today, which would add five minutes to the normally 35-minute commute. The bus will be on diversion.
Like last Sunday, it was because of the marathonmens this time. We did get back on the normal route in time to pass the Tower of London and Tower Bridge for the last time. Funny how the magnificent can become routine, but I never got tired of seeing those icons. I remember how they took my breath away the first time I saw them. I will miss them. Also will miss that first look at the Olympic Stadium each morning.
Today on the bus a clean-cut young reporter from the Kyoto News sat next to Nickishe loves the front row on the upper level because of the big window and I sit behind her. The guy fell asleep shortly after we left Russell Square and leaned on Nicki the whole way.
We passed a really old church with playground equipment in the yard. Day care.
Nicki spotted a magpie. I saw 30 pigeons in the park. They were not being poisoned.
Two volunteers delivered candy bars and granola to the office this morning. Is this a great world, or what?
Two members of the Spanish Olympic Committee came into the office and said, its the day for traveling; does anyone want to exchange clothing? Its an Olympic tradition; you give me your Spain shirt, I give you my USA shirt.
I yelled to the staff, does anybody want to change clothes with Spain?
Yes, they teased me. Yes, I deserved it.
Londons incredible diversity is reflected in the Olympics volunteers. They are every color, every religion. There are disabled volunteers, old ones, young ones, ones in thick glasses, tall ones, short ones, ones in religious scarves.
Those volunteers brought cookies and candy to the office again this afternoon.
History note: In 1920, the Belgian Olympic Committee presented the IOC with a sik embroidered flag in honor of the Olympic Games. Baron de Coubertin (founder of the modern Olympics) awarded custody of the flag to the host city Antwerp, with the mission to pass the flag on to the 1924 host city, Paris, and a new custom was born. The Antwerp Olympic flag was replaced with a silk flag in 1988.
Volunteer du jour: Marion, 55-ish. Directing folks onto the buses at the Main Press Center. She took our photo. She wasnt particularly happy directing traffic. It wasnt what I wanted when I volunteered, she said. I am on my feet all day here in this parking garage.
However (comma) I will never forget these Olympics. I have met people from all over the world. We are all the same. It was really a remarkable opportunity. In fact, I have signed up for the Paralympics.
We distributed the last set of tickets today: mens basketball gold medal game, and closing ceremonies. The demand was heavy, but only one person was really upset.
The Brits have been very interested in the Mars Rover. Usain Bolt bumped it from the front pages, but not far off.
History note: in 1908 there was no closing ceremony because the Games lasted months!
Last nights entertainment in the little plaza between the IBC and MPC was a woodwind trio: flute, oboe and clarinet. No one was listening until Nicki and I stopped on our way to the Olympic Stadium. They were excellent
Lunch: peanut butter and crackers. Yogurt. Cookies.
Someone e-mailed a medal-count chart from an Australian newspaper. The numbers arent accurate because Im writing this from the bouncy bus, but heres what it said:
United States 84
China 70
Great Britain 50
Nice Korea 30
Naughty Korea 27
Etc.
Love those Aussies!
Todays confirmation that George Bernard Shaw was right when he wrote that we and the British are two peoples separated by a common language. If someone said they had me sussed, it meant they had me figured out. Now that Ive more-or-less sussed Great Britain, it time to go home.
Speaking of Shaw and the athletes at the closing ceremony, certainly they could have danced all night.
It was a day for goodbyes. I went to see G and H and the others. G said this might be their last Olympics. The Olympics is a big family reunion for many people. Well miss them.
The Olympic Park was mostly deserted today. Only folks with ceremony tickets were allowed in, and I think those werent valid until 5 p.m. A few reporters and workers milled around, but that was it. The MPC was quiet.
I kept doing my job, which was to help folks, provide some calm, friendly maturity and eat cookies.
GBR hoped for a couple more medals today. So did USA. We got two golds. Yes, Im delighted the USA won the medal count. Yes, other things besides competition are important to me.
Its true: if the USA women were a country, they would have finished fifth in the medal count, with 58. (The USA men also would have finished fifth, with 45.) We have a dang good team.
Weather: High 77, low 61. Another splendid day, although I spent it all indoors distributing tickets.
Question from home: what has happened to the little one-eyed Olympic that was introduced before the Games? I think I have seen one of them one time.
Answer: I really dont know. The mascot was at the track event several times, and Ive seen people carrying little mascot dolls. But thats about it. For me, Barcelonas COBI was the last truly memorable mascot. But Im not in the demographic for such things. (Hey, Im only in the demographic for Hermans Hermits!)S
We watched very little Olympics on commercial television. Our office did get the Olympic network39 channels, one for each sport, with several for track. (One for the jumps, one for the weight throws, one for the running.) It was awesome. We had four monitors, and there was no fussing over who controlled the remotes.
Dinner: chicken pie at Olympic Stadium. Cookies.
Walking through the bowels of the stadium from the red double-decker media shuttle to our seats at the closing ceremony, we passed props and painted performers preparing for the show. We got to the stadium early, while a rehearsal was in progress. So we saw some of the ceremony twice.
Workers in day-glo orange and yellow vests assembled the set right up until about 8 p.m.. We early arrives were entertained by fun music.
Upon seeing the stage Nicki Hancock the Shakespeare girl, was thrilled. It had eight runways, each laid out to look like a newspaper. But the headlines and text were from British literature. For example, out large headline said TO BE OR NOT TO BE. Under that is a subhead reading, That is the Question. Then under that was a sub-sub head that says Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows .
Nickipedia told us what it all meant. Until the giant octopus appeared, that is.
It was SO clever! Oh, heck, you all saw it. So you know.
Second Person du Jour Pat, who sat next to Nicki at the closing ceremony. He attended the 1948 Olympics as a 14-year-old. During the Blitz, he and his family slept in a tube station every night. Just an amazing guy, and we were lucky that he fell into our lives for two hours.
The show started at 9 p.m. BST3 p.m. CDT. (I LOVE the phrase British Summer Time!) I assume the show was on NBC Sunday night. All reporters got the usual script booklet including all the details, with an embargo until 8 p.m. BST. Will be interesting to see if anyone breaks the embargo.
The shows organizers performed magic with the lights in the stadium. A little light was behind each seat, including ours in the tribune. I accidentally leaned on one of them and broke it when I caught up with Jim and Harry at the track last week. So there was an empty place in Section No. 233. The show went on.
After the extravaganza, we made one last walk back through the enchanted night to the Main Press Centre, and then took the red double-decker bus to Russell Square for the last time.
The Brits have been so friendly, so polite, so eager. They have cherished every moment. The columnist summed it up when she wrote that London has not been this happy since VE day.
What a privilege it was to have been a part of all that! Every day was an adventure. Inspire a generation. And mind the gap. See you at home.
(Please excuse the typos and bad writing in this friendly message to family. This is the last report; Im sure many of you are glad you dont have to guiltily hit the delete button on this email every day. Theres no more Olympics to explore.)
Breakfast: Mixed fruit, awesome crunchy bacon (ACB), great link sausage, scrambled eggs, canaloni beans (pork n to us rednecks), wheat toast with currant jelly, orange juice, no yogurt.
Nicki and I walked into Russell Square to take photos and enjoy the green grass, cool morning and healthy sycamore trees. With the drought back home, Im sure the sycamores have gone to sleep.
Commute: A volunteer came onto the 8:30 a.m. red double-decker bus to tell us we were taking an alternative route today, which would add five minutes to the normally 35-minute commute. The bus will be on diversion.
Like last Sunday, it was because of the marathonmens this time. We did get back on the normal route in time to pass the Tower of London and Tower Bridge for the last time. Funny how the magnificent can become routine, but I never got tired of seeing those icons. I remember how they took my breath away the first time I saw them. I will miss them. Also will miss that first look at the Olympic Stadium each morning.
Today on the bus a clean-cut young reporter from the Kyoto News sat next to Nickishe loves the front row on the upper level because of the big window and I sit behind her. The guy fell asleep shortly after we left Russell Square and leaned on Nicki the whole way.
We passed a really old church with playground equipment in the yard. Day care.
Nicki spotted a magpie. I saw 30 pigeons in the park. They were not being poisoned.
Two volunteers delivered candy bars and granola to the office this morning. Is this a great world, or what?
Two members of the Spanish Olympic Committee came into the office and said, its the day for traveling; does anyone want to exchange clothing? Its an Olympic tradition; you give me your Spain shirt, I give you my USA shirt.
I yelled to the staff, does anybody want to change clothes with Spain?
Yes, they teased me. Yes, I deserved it.
Londons incredible diversity is reflected in the Olympics volunteers. They are every color, every religion. There are disabled volunteers, old ones, young ones, ones in thick glasses, tall ones, short ones, ones in religious scarves.
Those volunteers brought cookies and candy to the office again this afternoon.
History note: In 1920, the Belgian Olympic Committee presented the IOC with a sik embroidered flag in honor of the Olympic Games. Baron de Coubertin (founder of the modern Olympics) awarded custody of the flag to the host city Antwerp, with the mission to pass the flag on to the 1924 host city, Paris, and a new custom was born. The Antwerp Olympic flag was replaced with a silk flag in 1988.
Volunteer du jour: Marion, 55-ish. Directing folks onto the buses at the Main Press Center. She took our photo. She wasnt particularly happy directing traffic. It wasnt what I wanted when I volunteered, she said. I am on my feet all day here in this parking garage.
However (comma) I will never forget these Olympics. I have met people from all over the world. We are all the same. It was really a remarkable opportunity. In fact, I have signed up for the Paralympics.
We distributed the last set of tickets today: mens basketball gold medal game, and closing ceremonies. The demand was heavy, but only one person was really upset.
The Brits have been very interested in the Mars Rover. Usain Bolt bumped it from the front pages, but not far off.
History note: in 1908 there was no closing ceremony because the Games lasted months!
Last nights entertainment in the little plaza between the IBC and MPC was a woodwind trio: flute, oboe and clarinet. No one was listening until Nicki and I stopped on our way to the Olympic Stadium. They were excellent
Lunch: peanut butter and crackers. Yogurt. Cookies.
Someone e-mailed a medal-count chart from an Australian newspaper. The numbers arent accurate because Im writing this from the bouncy bus, but heres what it said:
United States 84
China 70
Great Britain 50
Nice Korea 30
Naughty Korea 27
Etc.
Love those Aussies!
Todays confirmation that George Bernard Shaw was right when he wrote that we and the British are two peoples separated by a common language. If someone said they had me sussed, it meant they had me figured out. Now that Ive more-or-less sussed Great Britain, it time to go home.
Speaking of Shaw and the athletes at the closing ceremony, certainly they could have danced all night.
It was a day for goodbyes. I went to see G and H and the others. G said this might be their last Olympics. The Olympics is a big family reunion for many people. Well miss them.
The Olympic Park was mostly deserted today. Only folks with ceremony tickets were allowed in, and I think those werent valid until 5 p.m. A few reporters and workers milled around, but that was it. The MPC was quiet.
I kept doing my job, which was to help folks, provide some calm, friendly maturity and eat cookies.
GBR hoped for a couple more medals today. So did USA. We got two golds. Yes, Im delighted the USA won the medal count. Yes, other things besides competition are important to me.
Its true: if the USA women were a country, they would have finished fifth in the medal count, with 58. (The USA men also would have finished fifth, with 45.) We have a dang good team.
Weather: High 77, low 61. Another splendid day, although I spent it all indoors distributing tickets.
Question from home: what has happened to the little one-eyed Olympic that was introduced before the Games? I think I have seen one of them one time.
Answer: I really dont know. The mascot was at the track event several times, and Ive seen people carrying little mascot dolls. But thats about it. For me, Barcelonas COBI was the last truly memorable mascot. But Im not in the demographic for such things. (Hey, Im only in the demographic for Hermans Hermits!)S
We watched very little Olympics on commercial television. Our office did get the Olympic network39 channels, one for each sport, with several for track. (One for the jumps, one for the weight throws, one for the running.) It was awesome. We had four monitors, and there was no fussing over who controlled the remotes.
Dinner: chicken pie at Olympic Stadium. Cookies.
Walking through the bowels of the stadium from the red double-decker media shuttle to our seats at the closing ceremony, we passed props and painted performers preparing for the show. We got to the stadium early, while a rehearsal was in progress. So we saw some of the ceremony twice.
Workers in day-glo orange and yellow vests assembled the set right up until about 8 p.m.. We early arrives were entertained by fun music.
Upon seeing the stage Nicki Hancock the Shakespeare girl, was thrilled. It had eight runways, each laid out to look like a newspaper. But the headlines and text were from British literature. For example, out large headline said TO BE OR NOT TO BE. Under that is a subhead reading, That is the Question. Then under that was a sub-sub head that says Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows .
Nickipedia told us what it all meant. Until the giant octopus appeared, that is.
It was SO clever! Oh, heck, you all saw it. So you know.
Second Person du Jour Pat, who sat next to Nicki at the closing ceremony. He attended the 1948 Olympics as a 14-year-old. During the Blitz, he and his family slept in a tube station every night. Just an amazing guy, and we were lucky that he fell into our lives for two hours.
The show started at 9 p.m. BST3 p.m. CDT. (I LOVE the phrase British Summer Time!) I assume the show was on NBC Sunday night. All reporters got the usual script booklet including all the details, with an embargo until 8 p.m. BST. Will be interesting to see if anyone breaks the embargo.
The shows organizers performed magic with the lights in the stadium. A little light was behind each seat, including ours in the tribune. I accidentally leaned on one of them and broke it when I caught up with Jim and Harry at the track last week. So there was an empty place in Section No. 233. The show went on.
After the extravaganza, we made one last walk back through the enchanted night to the Main Press Centre, and then took the red double-decker bus to Russell Square for the last time.
The Brits have been so friendly, so polite, so eager. They have cherished every moment. The columnist summed it up when she wrote that London has not been this happy since VE day.
What a privilege it was to have been a part of all that! Every day was an adventure. Inspire a generation. And mind the gap. See you at home.
