Geek Philosophy

(This post is a part of my series on volunteering at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. If you’re new here, feel free to start at the beginning)

Yesterday I had my second shift, although it was supposed to be my fourth. Weighing on my mind for most of the day was the thought of attending the Venue Specific Training (VST) for Canada Hockey Place (CHP) that I had scheduled later that evening (making for a 14.5 hour volunteer day). This shift was somewhat similar to my first shift, in that I was moving around printers and TVs and doing other initial setup that won’t be needed come games time, but there were a few differences as well.

First of all, security is now in effect. On my last shift, I just walked into the compound, although I had to show accreditation before entering any buildings. Yesterday, I had to go through the full security procedure – walking through the magnetometer, having all metal possessions go through X-ray scanning, and gawk at the huge number of police everywhere.  I don’t think I saw a single officer on my last shift, but on this shift I don’t think there was a single time when there wasn’t a cop in sight. It was quite interesting – they’ve flown in police from all over. I didn’t get any pictures of the myriad uniforms (O.P.P., RCMP, York, Montreal, and many more) – something about taking covert photos of uniformed officers inside a security zone made me queasy.

Coke had a greatly increased presence as well – they’re in the process of stocking the dozens (hundreds?) of Coke vending machines strewn around the compound. This is definitely not a comfortable place for a Pepsi-lover, but I was able to rustle up something besides Dasani.

Costco would be proud (those are pallets of Coke in the background)

As mentioned, I spent yet more time moving giant printers and large TVs around. No 58″ monsters this time, although I did help mount 5 42″ plasmas and drag another 3 into storage (along with several 26″ screens). I hope by the time my next shift comes around that all TVs are set up, although I guess I should be thankful that they aren’t CRTs. I also got to walk into Canada Hockey Place for the first time in order to deliver some toner – exciting, I know.

All plasmas, no LCDs - greenest Olympics ever?

Lunch was soup and a sandwich – not near as tasty as last week’s vegetarian pizza, although we did get fresh buns and a drink was included. Afterward, while waiting for another task to do, I was quite happy when my supervisor suggest that I attend an earlier session of VST – effectively cutting 6 hours off of my volunteer day. I arrived in the parkade of CHP (miraculously transformed into a suite of offices over the past few weeks) just in time for training.

CHP is quite an impressive venue – much newer than BC Place, although smaller. There will be over 3000 people working there over the Olympics, about 1300 of them volunteers. Apparently this is the first Winter Olympics where figure skating isn’t located in the premiere venue, and I feel quite lucky to be able to be in and around the building during some awesome events (including the Men’s Hockey gold medal match!). I can’t say too much about what I saw inside, but I will say that it’s very strange to see the interior of this venue with no advertising (an IOC rule). I’m sure I’ll be able to share more as I learn a bit more.

Next up is a shift this coming Wednesday, when I start a gauntlet of 5 shifts in a row (contributing to 12 straight days of either work or volunteering). Until then, I’m taking it easy.

(Click here to read the next entry in the series.)