Two hundred and ten hours and counting

The Paralympics feel like such an afterthought. There is now more coverage of St. Patrick's Day than there is of the Paralympics. The media is more concerned with what we are doing for this Irish celebration than for covering a blind skier (and guide) skiing down the same run our Olympians competed on. There is limited coverage here in BC but I understand that there will only be highlights for the rest of the country. I feel lucky that we have camera coverage from each venue (with just "satisfactory" commentary I might add--no big guns here). The "secure" village has shrunk as two lots (3 and 4) are not being used by athletes and only half of lot 17 is being used. Even the Canadian moose is gone! Flags are the only decoration the athletes use to liven the place up.

As for the Bell team here, we have changed from looking at the number of shift cycles we have left, to the number of days we have left, to the number of hours we have left. Some of us have even downloaded a countdown clock. Things are pretty slow during these games otherwise. It looks like the people in VSS are responsible for the increased usage of condoms but not in the way you would expect. They must be bored as well.

Remembering what Annlou's school does in Belgium in their final year (where her school marked the 100th day left with a party), I suggested we have a 100th hour party and what the heck, a 200th hour party. I know I still have a bottle of red, a bottle of brandy and a couple of shots of vodka that I am not going to pack! That should get the party started!

The 200th hour party was celebrated a little early on the evening of St. Patrick's Day. The dining tent even gave us cheese cake as a dessert with an offer of "green" topping. I took the cheese cake with special Baileys topping, thank you! ("Tweedle-Lee-Dee Potatoes" as the Scottish comedian Danny Bhoy would say!)

Joe and I were on the fence this morning as to whether we should go skiing or play golf. Since I brought all my ski stuff home I would have had to borrow gloves and used my one free ski rental. Too much drama! We decided to play golf since it was going to be 12C, sunny and calm in Squamish. We were in our short sleeves all day, shot a good round and apres, found out how tasty "15 16" lager was. When I placed my order, it sounded to me like I couldn't make up my mind on how large a beer order I wanted. The bartender didn't think that was so funny! I guess she hears that all the time!