MAR. 2 (T) – LAST DAY OF WORK
That’s it. Today is the official last day of Jet Set…for 2010 at least. We returned our work phones, which makes that official, and we witnessed the Meduse leave the dock, which makes that official too. So, thanks for all your patience in waiting to learn who our clients were for Team Vulcan. The names Meduse and Vulcan give it away if you give it a little “google”, but I’ll spell it out for you here. Our client was…drum roll…Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft with Bill Gates, currently worth $10.5 billion dollars….uhh, that’s A LOT! Only actually saw him for a few hours one day, but we witnessed a fair chunk of his change get contributed to the Olympics by him and his “parties.” Wishing good health to Mr. Allen and everyone included in his Vulcan posse. It’s been real…interesting. Until next time…thanks for reading!
MAR. 1 (M) – Recovery Day?
I labeled this day as “recovery day” early on when I setup this blog template, and indeed it was a recovery day. Our drivers were tied up doing runs for the boat crew, but I got to sleep in (ahh J), buy toilet paper again, eat some simple food at home, and talk to Shannon! I’m thankful for this recovery day, as I’m contemplative about returning to my “real” work on Wednesday. A brief spell of downtime is much appreciated. Tonight we’ll enjoy the all-staff Jet Set party, and see if it’s all they built it up to be… … …Well, it was open bar, so it was entertaining. Nice close to this whole experience—nice dancing crazy & bubble drinking Hilary, nice entertaining drunken Jeremy, nice secret photo rampaging Sharna, nice girlfriend plate breaking Harp, and nice co-not-so-drunk Nancy—good times! :) Alex & Brian--we missed you!
FEB. 28 (Su) – DAY 17 OF OLYMPICS -- CLOSING CEREMONIES
Well, what do you know…after all that prep, our clients decided not to show for this final day of the Olympics. I was quite perplexed and disappointed initially upon hearing the news. However, I reset my mind when I began to realize that I could still enjoy these major final events – gold medal men’s hockey AND Closing Ceremonies – and without the headache of dealing with clients! It was a bit of a challenge getting into the hockey game, but I persevered and managed to catch the last two periods sitting in a great seat just in front of EP’s Jim and Kevin…and just in time for the US to lose (or Canada win, depending on how you look at it). Too bad, but congrats to Canada—this win means more to you than it would us, I’d say. After the game I met up with Sharna and Hilary from my group and we made our way to the Closing Ceremonies. Good times, then off for a little more drinking and celebrating to close out our Olympic experience…and what an “experience” it has been.
FEB. 27 (S) -- DAY 16 OF OLYMPICS
Today was a prep day. Our main guests return to town again tomorrow for the final day of the Olympics. Unreal, I can’t believe it’s nearly over. Originally our clients didn’t have any tickets for the end of the Games, but shocker, they managed to score tickets for gold medal men’s hockey and Closing Ceremonies!? Tomorrow will be a busy busy day, so today was our chance to scout out the venues and exact paths of travel getting from one thing to the next. Last day is here…wish us luck! And soon enough, I’ll reveal who our clients have been all along.
*HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALISON!
FEB. 26 (F) -- DAY 15 OF OLYMPICS
Shit show day. Thought we had nothing and turned into taking the boat crew to two events, back-to-back essentially. Turned out to be an alright day in the end, but it was a startling awakening to get a call and be out the door in less than 20 minutes. Speed-skating at the Oval and short-track speed-skating at my beloved venue PAC. I wish I could say I was more impressed with the Oval, but the logistics of it were terrible. The pine beetle wood is pretty though. Exciting races at short-track, my new favorite winter games sport. The Canadian men’s relay team won gold!
FEB. 25 (Th) -- DAY 14 OF OLYMPICS
Today was the day of prepping for one fabulous night of women’s figure skating finals. Our main guests came to town for the day -- 5PM event, dinner at the famous Kirin, and then back to the Abbotsford airport to fly back home on one of their massive private jets. What a day. Spent a lot of it outside running around the PAC venue and making friends with both security people and golf cart drivers--wow! A lot of effort for a small bit of a day, but the figure skating was lovely to watch, especially next to my “crippled” friend Chris…gotta love foolish EP guys…and spotting Michelle Kwan in the crowd!
FEB. 24 (W) -- DAY 13 OF OLYMPICS
Wow, do I like this job afterall?? There are definitely parts I enjoy, but I don’t think I could ever do it regularly. Hmm, I think I just like having the EP entertainment/excitement around…or really just having some real tasks at hand. Our main clients are due to return to town tomorrow, so we actually had some prepping to do today—thrilling! Truthfully though, it was a great day overall. Lots of hockey, woo! Canada AND USA won today!! U-S-A … U-S-A … U-S-A Harp and I again sought out the lounge that Jet Set employees are entitled to use, which was well worth it! From what I’ve seen Canada Hockey Place’s lounge tops them all—phenomenal view of the ice and free food & drink again. Now these are the perks I was looking for when I applied for this job J After the USA game we had someone fly out and another someone fly in. Sorry, still no names. Tomorrow should be a busy, but hopefully good day.
*HAPPY BIRTHDAY MORGAN! SPECIAL LOVE TO MY DAD!
FEB. 23 (T) -- DAY 12 OF OLYMPICS
Almost a full day today… Started off with a zoo of random pickups for meetings and such of various venture capitalist guys. I couldn’t even explain it if I tried. Things settled a bit before the women’s figure skating short program, which was nice to watch…especially for me & Harp and our newly discovered lounge at Pacific Coliseum (including free food and drink!). Thursday night will determine the winner of the women. After the event, there was some boozing for our “clients” and a failed attempt at entry to the Russia House (thank you Steve for only trying so hard to get in there). Tomorrow we start early, so to bed I go at 2:15AM…geesh. Maybe our crazy schedule is back.
No photo for today, but here's a youtube link to the Flash Mob my friend Mel participated in on Robson Street http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq8YbrilnLc
FEB. 22 (M) -- DAY 11 OF OLYMPICS
Today was a leisurely start, but it picked up and did end with the Cypress event I learned of late last night—YAY! Our new group of guests attended the qualifying men’s freestyle aerials tonight at Cypress. The jumps, flips, and twists were amazing, and I even used my all-access pass--heated bathrooms in the cold are amazing! While we were there, the Canadians did take another gold in Ice Dancing, but the US still got silver. After the event, our guests were on their own on the town. Soooo nice to have self-sufficient guests! Tomorrow we’re looking at men’s hockey and women’s figure skating.
Caught a glimpse of the Colbert Report tonight, so for laughs I'll close with, “Canada is like Europe, just with normal toilets.” - Stephen Colbert
FEB. 21 (Su) -- DAY 10 OF OLYMPICS
Day Off #4, nearly. I had the morning off and went to watch a figure skating practice with Chantal, Dani, and two others, which was quite fun. Then I was technically on duty for the evening for after the USA vs. Canada hockey game (USA won, by the way!!), but we weren’t needed afterall. Early night for me, but back on in the morning. Cypress event tomorrow maybe, which I would LOVE! Our major guests have not returned to town, but some friends of theirs are here using our services instead.
I really should be enjoying these days off, as many groups within Jet Set are far from seeing these, but it’s just turning into being quite boring for me. I’m doing my best to keep up with the sports and the excitement going on, but it’s tough when you know you might be on-call for something unexpected around the corner.
FEB. 20 (S) -- DAY 9 OF OLYMPICS
Rolling right into Day Off #3 – Wow, I’m lucky! It was a gorgeous sunny day here in Vancouver, so I joined Mike & Dani on a bike ride out to the Spanish Banks. Jay & Jess joined us too, and we had an exciting game of Yahtzee on the beach, haha. Who would’ve thought we’d be able to play on the beach in mid-February…or that I’d have time off to do such things during the Olympics?! Not me. In the evening I joined Mel and some of her friends to see Sam Roberts play at LiveCity Yaletown. A great show indeed, but would’ve been even better had I known the songs. The rest of the crowd did though! A highlight of this night might have been jumping the fence to join them in line to enter, but then getting turned away moments later by a security lady—whoops!
FEB. 19 (F) -- DAY 8 OF OLYMPICS
Day Off #2?! -- Well we thought our clients were returning today, but they apparently are not, and may not come back all weekend. Not sure where that leaves us for going forward into the last week of the Olympics, but we’ll find out in time. As we’ve learned with this group, we never have much notice of anything happening. An hour’s notice is good. But for now, I’m going to enjoy another day off! Lunch with Mel and then hoping to land myself on the Robson Square zipline—woot woot! I don’t care how long the line is! … Apparently I jinxed myself by writing that earlier because Nancy and I managed to wait in line for 6.5hrs! I know, ridiculous, but it was ridiculously fun once we got up there.
Nancy’s video to document…(scroll to bottom)
FEB. 18 (Th) -- DAY 7 OF OLYMPICS
My true “Day Off” – Sleep in with NO alarm! Scheduled massage to help work out my sore neck from a snowboard tumble yesterday. Maybe yoga tonight. Maybe lunch with a friend. Maybe some events/celebration stuff scattered in there. We shall see…beauty of a day off. J … Ended up going for lunch with work friends at the German Saxony house—yay for German beer and sausages! Then I lounged before my incredible massage—thank you Danica! Then I met up with Meabh for a long night out—dinner at Bellagio, drinks back at her place briefly, Richmond O-Zone briefly again (wasn’t too impressed, but we got right in with our badges thankfully), and then ultimately to the famed Irish house for some fun! Good thing Meabh is actually Irish because her passport got us in the VIP line. Normally lineups are upwards of an hour. Ended up meeting some fun people and had a good stake out on the couches. Left there slightly prematurely and wound up back at the Saxony House just in time for it to close. Good thing we managed to catch a ride back home in some limo…oh, the Olympics. To bed now…
FEB. 17 (W) -- DAY 6 OF OLYMPICS
Whistler day with Hilary (my new all-girls-private-school-partner) … FUN! We drove to Whistler very early in the morning after a very late night of drinking and silly balloon hats the night prior. Rough morning, but a very worthwhile day up at Whistler. Hilary and I caught the women’s downhill skiing on tv during our lunch break, and then later on we watched the men’s snowboard halfpipe on tv, which was awesome!! Just being in the Whistler Village is quite the buzz too. Tons of people around—some skiing/boarding with their nation’s flag wrapped around them like a cape…big screens showing all televised events scattered around…live entertainment in multiple locations…and last but not least, the cool Olympic rings in the center of town. An excellent, and well needed DAY OFF for all of us! One more day of freedom tomorrow, and then our guests return for round 2 of the Olympics this Friday.
FEB .16 (T) -- DAY 5 OF OLYMPICS
Departure day = nothing day. We did manage to watch the entire Womens Snowboard Cross event on TV though…from our very favorite coffee shop hangout. Canada took the gold and rightly deserved. Our clients headed home today, but only until the weekend. They’ll be returning Friday for another round of it. In the meantime, we all catch a little break, including the boat staff. Drinks tonight and Whistler bound tomorrow!
FEB. 15 (M) -- DAY 4 OF OLYMPICS
This job is nuts and these people are even nuttier, but our Jet Set group is fabulous and our EP guys are even more fabulous. I may or may not have a crush building here, but I’ll just enjoy it for what it is these few weeks. Canada earns its first ever home-soil gold medal thanks to Alexandre Bilodeau in Mens Freestyle Ski-Moguls. A very exciting feat for Canada and a very cool story for Bilodeau. For our group, today was another big Robson St. shopping day and then the Figure Skating: Pairs Free Program to determine the winners. China it was and they deserved it! After the event they went off to dinner and our team had the most delicious sushi dinner at Miko Sushi ever…mmm, mmm yummy. Until tomorrow…and thankfully these rich people are taking off for a few days, so we’ll get some time to breathe/snowboard…booyah!
FEB. 14 (Su) -- DAY 3 OF OLYMPICS
Today was a good day. Oh, happy Valentines Day…mehh….but rose petal pranks can be fun. We had a slow start to the day, but it was beautifully sunny in the city, so I was happy to be out and about. We eventually made it to Gastown with our group to do some shopping for First Nations wood carvings and artwork. After that we made our way back to Pacific Coliseum, this night for Figure Skating: Pairs Short Program. I tuned in for some, but I didn’t have a seat, so I watched more from the sidelines with Grant and Jim, and then had some handstand time in the venue. Good times!
FEB. 13 (S) -- DAY 2 OF OLYMPICS
Highlight BY FAR was watching Apolo Ohno in the short-track speed skating today at Pacific Coliseum. They are ridiculously fast, but that would make sense considering it’s the fastest humanly powered sport in existence! Then there was the women’s relay race, which is basically roller derby on ice, that was awesome! Aside from this event, I spent most of my day “assisting” in a massive shopping spree (upwards of $3000) and playing “find and seek” throughout an insanely crowded Official Olympics store. Fun times. The waiting around in the car and eating in the alley was fun too, hah. I could SOOOO never be an EP like these guys. We’re hearing funny stories and learning crazy random stuff along the way though, so I guess I’ll go again tomorrow. Until then…
FEB. 12 (F) – DAY 1 OF OLYMPICS -- OPENING CEREMONIES!!!
Today’s the day…ready or not, the Opening Ceremonies are here! GO TIME! I started my day off early to watch the torch relay along my neighborhood streets—Stanley Park: Georgia St. and Denman St, which was very exciting! Then it was a slow afternoon until Opening Ceremonies time in the evening. All in all, things went smoothly (aside from our initial “mis”-seating and those darn UMBRELLAS), but I understand what our EP guys mean now by “you’re working at the event, so it’s only so much fun.” I’m glad I got to see the rehearsal earlier in the week, so I knew what was coming. By the end of the evening, I was exhausted, but still reserved a wee-bit of energy for a beer or two at the end of the night with Harp and Nancy. Oh, what a sight when Grant and Chris saw us walking back to the seabus. Ahhhh well, good thing they’re cool. 0 Days to go…The Games are finally here!
FEB. 11 (Th) -- DAY 9 OF TRAINING
Today marks the busiest day Vancouver’s YVR Airport will have ever seen, and may ever see. Actually, March 1st when everyone leaves the city may be the busiest. Fortunately though, I got to miss the whole thing, as did my fellow host, Harp. Instead, we spent the day with our EP guys—Grant, Jim, & Chris. Pretty cool guys and what a crazy job they have. Harp and I heard some wild and ridiculous stories from them over lunch today. It truly is amazing (or absurd) what money can buy you. I think I’d rather earn a fair wage and still feel privileged when I got the chance to attend the Opening Ceremonies to the Olympics, which…drum roll…I WILL BE ATTENDING!! Drinks with Meabh and Chris to top off the night…Happy Olympics Eve!!! 1 Day to go…
FEB. 10 (W) -- DAY 8 OF TRAINING
Today we had our final free day to refresh any last venue/hotel/attraction runs, as tomorrow will be airport arrival day, tying up most of our drivers for the day. Sharna and I cruised the city, grabbed lunch, picked up our coach driver, Jason, (yes, we also have a coach driver!), and made our way to meet the security or EP “executive protection” (yes, they also come with security consisting of 3 muscle men!) We’d been told the security guys might be scary, but they seem cool and I think they’ll make our job easier, as they’re used to working with this “special” group of guests. I ended my evening by attending a coach driver reception, as requested by our program manager, Emily, who’s asked me to assist her quite a bit. If only I was getting paid more, but I’ll be happy with the spread of food despite the schmooze event that it was. 2 Days to go…
I got to talk to Shan tonight (at length!) too…ahhh J
FEB. 9 (T) -- DAY 7 OF TRAINING
More errands…blah blah. Drop-offs, pick-ups, wait arounds, everything in between… Good team meeting and a nice team dinner at Burgoo courtesy of Kris though. Mmm, mmm, yummy! Meet coach driver and our head of security tomorrow. 3 Days to go…
Burgooey...mmm, enough said
FEB. 8 (M) -- DAY 6 OF TRAINING
Today was a slower day for me. I’ve found myself playing dispatcher for our drivers. It’s a fair bit of coordination (and with a po-dunk 1994 cell phone that isn’t text friendly or really anything friendly), but I guess I shouldn’t complain. Come the afternoon, we did get wind that our whole team of 8 got tickets to the Opening Ceremonies rehearsal! Yes, this would definitely be the highlight of my day. The world is in for a treat come Friday J 4 Days to go…
First Nations dances at start of Opening Ceremonies
FEB 7 (Su) -- DAY 5 OF TRAINING
Today a group of our team made a trip to Whistler for some of the boat crew. I opted to hang back and play a support role from a distance. I think it worked out in my favor because I managed to work in a yoga class, some bike riding in the city, and even the Super Bowl tonight—GO SAINTS! I helped arrange a few things for our team, as “team coordinator”, so I still pulled my weight. 5 Days to go…
FEB 6 (S) -- DAY 4 OF TRAINING
Exactly one year ago today my Mom and I flew to Vancouver…my, how time flies. I’m finding myself in a MUCH different role today than I did a year ago. Still debating on the preferences, but different indeed. Today half of our team started out early to assist the crew of the yacht to take care of some errand running and stocking up on groceries and such. We enjoyed a nice Thai lunch as a full team (while the Canucks won—woo!), and then switched out the crew for an afternoon shift. We met back up for a brief meeting with the Event Coordinator for our client. Yes, he has an Event Coordinator! 6 Days to go…
FEB. 5 (F) -- DAY 3 OF TRAINING
Wow, just one week to go until Opening Ceremonies—can’t believe it! We started off the morning with our all-staff group photo at the Inukshuk at English Bay. It wasn’t the clearest Vancouver day, but at least the rain held off. After the photo, our intimate team of 8 practiced being good drivers and hosts while driving around town. We still need a little work on our CB radio skills and directions, but we’re getting there. It’s tough when they’ve suddenly added marina destinations into the mix. 7 Days to go…
FEB. 4 (Th) -- DAY 2 OF TRAINING
We got our uniforms today! We’re not allowed to wear them in public (aside from our group photo tomorrow) until Feb. 9th, but we’ll be looking stylish come then. Plus, we’ll stand out with our slick backpacks. Photos to come (when that’s allowed). We also met our project teams and got a bit more information about our client. I wish I could tell you more, but lets just say our client is by-passing staying in a hotel and staying aboard his yacht instead. Needless to say, he’s a bit high profile and brings along his own security too. Oh, I’ve said to much…! 8 Days to go…
FEB. 3 (W) – DAY 1 OF TRAINING
So I didn’t exactly manage not to sneeze throughout the entire day. I kept it pretty clean, but I was also thankful for my full box of tissues in my bag and easy access to the washroom. TMI? Oh, sorry. Today was our first day of “work” for Jet Set Sports/CoSport. Some might have called it training, some might have called it recapping the training we had for the past several months. I’ll call it 1st day down with lots more to come. I think the excitement will only go up from here! Oh, and I got to hang out with my Irish friend Meabh all day, who even tolerated my constant sniffles. Bless her J 9 Days to go…
FEB. 2 (T)
Study day. Still a bit sick, but managed to renew my SIN card, meet my friend Mel for lunch, and read through half my manual. Thank you library for peace and quiet until the smelly homeless dude came in and took off his shoes…you do the math. Tomorrow is D-Day…hope I know something, and can manage not to sneeze through the entire day. 10 Days to go…
Free entertainment on Granville St.
FEB. 1 (M)
First day of my Leave of Absence (LOA) from CANNON DESIGN work begins…and it begins with nursing a sore throat. Really need to get well soon with all that’s coming my way soon. Sleep…honey lemon water…sleep…soup…sleep. G’night.
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