Starting a new venture

I've given this a lot of thought. Well, maybe not too much thought, but some.

So, I decided I'd continue blogging in order to share my thoughts and whatnot about life.

I'm not too sure how long it'll last, or who might be interested. I think it's presumptious to think that folks would actually want to read this, but you never know. Also, it'll be good to practice my writing skills.

Also, I have to keep it fairly neutral, although I'm sure anyone reading will be able to determine my leanings through what I write.

Hope you'll check back from time to time to see if I misspelled anything or had something really stoopid to say.

Home at last

Sorry for the delay in posting this - I know many of you have been waiting for this with great anticipation.

Right.

Anyway, the trip home was good. Beijing's airport is not well marked and is laid out kinda funny, so it took us a while to get checked in. While at it, thoug, we spotted a Kenny Rogers Roaster, if you can believe it. Had to eat there to get a dose of mac and cheese and mashed potatoes!

Had a rough flight at the beginning just north of Beijing. It was also unique to me to travel in daylight both coming and going. Got great views of the Artic ice cap. Lots of it, that's for sure.

Landing in Chicago was a very welcome experience. Cranky federal employees had never sounded so good.

FAA had had some problems, though, so I was delayed 2 hours in departing. So, in my desire to get reacclimated as soon as possible, I had a Vienna Beef Chicago Hot Dog, chips and a Diet Coke. Not a Coke Light, mind you.

That hot dog had peppers, mustard, celery salt - I held the onion - and some relish that was a decidedly unnatural shade of mint green. Yummy. Should have taken a picture.

Flight home was good - it brought me home.

The little girls cried when they saw their daddy, Kim was a bit misty too and I got a little verklempt too.

So, I don't know if I'll continue this blog or not. Not really sure what I'd write about. Or, to be honest, what I'd write about that wouldn't get me in trouble.

Finnish Diver at Oh Hi

It can be really fun watching OTHER people make fools of themselves.

We were having a nightcap at a nice little place in this fantastic entertainment area with a lake and motorized, private paddleboats.

There was a sudden commotion and while I normally don't react to that type of thing, I couldn't resist going over to check it out.

Some Finnish guy (or he may have been British - he had made a pass at Nicole as we were to find out later) somehow fell off of the bridge and into the lake. Thankfully, the boat traffic had stopped.

The greatest part is that he wasn't hurt and was very entertaining in his efforts to get out of this canal. There were 6 cops, alternating between wanting to jump in and talking on the radio - but basically doing nothing.

It would seem that if you worked security in an entertainment area like this, you'd have trained for this eventuality. I mean there's a bridge connecting bars over a canal that has brick, vertical walls that are 10 feet high. Spells trouble to me.

Anyway, there were some random guys on the rooftop bar overlooking the canal were heckling this guy. Hilarious. I felt kind of bad for him because he was in water up to his neck.

Then he discovered he could stand up in the 3 feet of water.

The cops finally found a ladder that they tried to hold for the guy to climb, but that didn't work. Finally the drunk guy told them to let the ladder go so it would rest on the bottom of the canal and he could climb out.

And the crowd went wild!

I love a self-rescuer.

Thanks!

Chip, Garrett, Angela, David, Bill, Bill, Bill, Bob, Kevin, Betsy, Peggy, Leslie, Mary Beth, Cliff, Jonathan, Nicole, Alicia, Kathy, Jim, Bob, Jay T, Darryl, Lynn, Ira, Craig, Benn, Scotty, Heather, Ricky, Casey, Silvan, Cathy, Nathan, Rami, Carrie, Maggie, Brett, dining staff, Jo, Todd, Greg, Nicole, Lisa and anyone else I forgot.

Final evening

READER ADVISORY - I may get a little sappy with this one.

It's been a real learning experience for me on this trip - in so many ways.

I've met so many people, some that will remain friends and some I hope I don't ever run into again.

Beijing offered it's best to us. The folks were very friendly. Beijingers wanted us to have a good time and share the pride they have in both their city and country. I think they realize that there's a real disconnect between them and the rest of the world.

This will bring the world closer to them and vice versa, to what I hope will be a greater sense of understanding among all of us.

They sure are different though, so it's only natural that we will have misunderstandings and conflicting priorities. Anyway.....

The USOC Media Services folks - Bob, Kevin and Jo - aranged an incredible dinner last night. I'm glad I was there for it. About 30 of us descended on this very nice restaurant that was in a traditional courtyard setting -outside - and where all the service staff were dressed in very elaborate costumes.

I ended up joining a great group of folks at the self designated "fun table" and off we went with chopsticks and Great Wall Cabernet in hand. Imagine that.

Our menu served on a huge lazy susan:

• Some kind of fish with the head and tail still on
• Two types of venison
• Chinese Krystals (sesame rolls with spiced shredded beef)
• Duck hamburgers on what looked like oyster shell rolls
• Lightly fried rice
• Spicy chicken
• Sweet and sour prawns
• Sesame crusted almonds
• Cabbage
• Flowers - yes, flowers - with a tangy vinagarette
• Salad - with a dressing that snuck up on you and set your mouth on fire
• Something that looked like peanut butter fudge but really didn't taste like anything
• Birthday cake for Peggy

Toward the end, we all started talking about meaningful things that happened over the week. I have so many it's hard to single out one. If pressed, my top pick would be going to the masses I attended at the South Cathedral.

Darryl gave a little speach of thanks to us all, and said that this is something we'll tell our grandkids about. About when we were all a big part of an event that changed history. That we each owned a little piece of this event that will bring nations closer together. That every encounter we had with the Chinese, each smile, each friend, each kind word we shared with them says more about the United States than anything else. Really put this into perspective.

I'm going to miss Beijing. I'll probably never be back, and that's too bad.

I'm not staying, mind you, I gotta get home to my girls. Phone calls and emails, while nice, just don't cut it.

So, it's pack it up and head out to the airport 3 freaking hours early. But I don't mind. As I said, I gotta get back to my girls.

End of the road is near

The most asked questions are:

1. When are you leaving?
2. Do you have a ticket to the closing ceremonies - I am currently sans ticket myself

Things are getting packed up, notices are being posted on how to logistically get the hell out of Dodge and time is running short to see things and have that "beer before we get outta here".

Note the new slideshow - Leslie (USA Gymnastics) and I ran over to the Forbidden City this morning on a beautiful day. She caught a 4pm flight and had to leave by 11a to make all that happen.

Forbidden City is huge. Someone told me about a park across the street from there that overlooks the city, so I scaled that and got some pretty good photos of the entire skyline of Beijing - cool stuff.

This has been great, but I'm really ready to come home!

Another sad day at SORCP

Big time rain yesterday at Shunyi. It rained all over our semifinal parade.

Rami was not able to advance to the semis in the 1000m, but I thought their both moving to the 500m finals was in the bag. And it almost was - Carrie only missed by 0.51 seconds - what a letdown.

I feel so badly for Rami and Carrie. They've both worked so hard in training - all aspiring Olympians do. But they also had to overcome physical issues on top of all that effort and work.

I wish all of you could meet them and our slalom athletes as well. You'd gain a lot from it to see the fine athletes and people who represent our country.

Our competition is now over in China. We can now look to all the great competition over the next four years and to London in 2012.

Let's all try to remember our athletes during these next four years and the struggles they will go through to train, live and stay on the path for themselves and US!

It can sound a bit trite, but it's true - "It's not every four years, it's every day".

Support them as much as you can!

Gas

Our awesome Diplomatic Security guys, Chip (L)and Garrett (R-duh), have given me a lift to BNU over the last few days. It's been great. The ride is much better than the bus, and the company is fantastic. These guys are a lot of fun to hang out with and have shared lots of information on Beijing and China with me. And a few jokes too. Some of Chip's are actually funny.

Know what kind of car they drive? A minivan. A BUICK minivan (Note 8/11 post).

The best part? They have "Dip Tags". DipLOMATIC tags. Which means they can park almost anywhere.

Their boss (Shawn's a great guy!) has the coolest of cool car Olympic credentials. He can go anywhere, park anywhere and they cannot search his car. I bet that causes some confusion at security gates across the region!

What was I writing about? Gas.

The Buick was on fumes. Went to one station - closed. Went to another station and a conversation began. The attendant pumps the gas. Garrett speaks fluent Chinese. Chip speaks a bunch too. It still took forever to get them to pump the gas. There was concern that they were going to put diesel in the blue Buick. No worries in the end, and off we went.

This all with 2 Chinese speakers in the car.

Lesson here is don't rent a car in China. Or, if you do, hope you don't have to get gas.

PS - The station was on the OLD road. I've not seen any gas stations on the new main highway between here and Shunyi.

Oh, and the station that was open didn't sell beef jerky or Icees. We don't appreciate what we've got in the good old USA.

Where's Larry Sprinkle when you need him?

P-O-U-R-I-N-G today.

One forecast I saw said - not making this up - "tons of rain today". Did this guy get his weatherman degree by mail?

Shunyi local forecats is rain, cooler and less rain by 5pm.

I hope the semis are not delayed to tomorrow. I would suppose that would move the finals to Sunday? If not, we'd have them on back-to-back days.

Nothing would surprise me, though.

I'm kinda looking forward to the last BNU/MPC/Shunyi/MPC/BNU round trip.

I promised more on taxis---

BREAKING NEWS: I have now seen three accidents. Only two involved taxis and one was a tow trucking making it's own business by hitting a taxi.

As I've said befire, I'm shocked that there are not smashed taxis pushed to the side of the road everywhere in Beijing. I'm also shocked that the hospitals aren't filled (though they might be, what do I know?) with pedestrians, byclists and taxi passengers with cardiac arrests. All victims of these green and yellow cars.

There are 64,000 taxis here. All but 3 of them are green and yellow. And all those drivers wear yellow, collared, buttoned, short-sleeved shirts.

There is no road rage. Everyone - bikes, cars, pedestrians and cyclists - cut each other off. But they do it calmly and move on to their next encounter. They ring bells, whistle and blow horns, but no yelling, bird flipping, stare-downs etc.

I heard that a cyclist will keep peddaling as long as they see the driver look at them. If not, they brake. Wise.

I've had great, OK and poor cab rides. Most great! But, as in the rest of life, the bad ones stand out.

To have at least a 50/50 chance of getting to your destination, it helps to have your destination written in Chinese characters. It helps more to have someone who speaks Chinese tell the driver your destination. It's a bonus if you have a map to which you can point and grunt.

I had two of these the other day when I was running to the MPC to catch the Shunyi shuttle. None of it helped. He even spoke a bit of English, so less grunting was required. He drove me everywhere BUT the MPC. After awhile, he was so embarassed that he turned off the meter. I was nice, don't worry.

Once reaching the MPC and having learned a hard lesson (and missing my shuttle) I needed ANOTHER cab to take me to the venue in order to be there when needed. So I asked an English-speaking volunteer to help me explain my destination. One driver was hopeless and we sent him on to a less complicated location. We found another who understood. Right.

He took me on a scenic tour of the Village, Birds Nest, Shanghai, the Great Wall, the Not-So-Hot Wall (OK, so I'm making some of this up) and finally got on the highway to Shunyi.

Moral to the story? In order to get where you're going by a Chinese cab, be Chinese.

Confucius says...

Grabbed a quick cab to see the Lama Temple and Confucius Temple before heading to Shunyi.

I'll tell you later about the horrors of that day's taxi rides. Yikes.

Anyway, Confucius was a pretty cool guy. We've all heard the jokes, eating jellybeans, going to bed with an itchy butt, etc.

But WOW, is this guy revered and rightfully so. There is even a picture of the Japanese invaders paying tribute to him at this temple.

Here are a few things he said or did in addition to the above:

1. If the government (king) wasn't doing his job, it was the public's right to overthrow him.



2. Don't do anything to someone you don't want done to you (did he make this up?)



3. All people have a right to education. He started public education in China. Up until his time, only the elite got educated.
   

The funny thing is that even though he said number 1 above, there are no less than 6 huge carved monuments outside his temple commemorating the suppression of various riots in the late 1600's and early to mid 1700's.

I guess he didn't say that the public had the right to be successful.

Who's the Smelliest? Medal Ceremony

What a great idea the last poll was.

GOLD = Wet Bill
SILVER = Wet Dogs
BRONZE = Wet Photographers

Thanks for voting.

Great start at Shuyi and American heroes

Rami Zur planned the work and worked the plan.

He got a great start to his 1000m campaign by getting a great start to his heat yesterday, then making sure he made the semis without wearing himself out.

He and Carrie have their first heats in the 500 today. Rami is doing both the 1000 and 500m.

It's really great to see Nathan, Cliff, Rami and Carrie. I really just started getting to know them a bit in Oklahoma City at the Trials. They're all great folks!

Chip and Garrett are still out there (US Diplomatic Security) and that's a great thing. What pros these guys are.

Chip talks about the athletes being American Heroes, and they are, but so are these guys. Respectful, fun, competent, helpfull and great ambassadors for the US. Both speak Chinese and know everyone at the venue.

We can all be proud that there are guys like these out there representing our country all over the world.

I heard a young American lady say how the world was getting worse all the time. For the record, I do not believe that. And, if that young lady would conduct herself like Chip and Garrett do on a regular basis, have a positive attitude about our country and share that with the folks she comes in contact with, she'd make the country and world a better place.

Sharing what's great about America with the world is what we as individuals need to do. Where else are the people of the world going to get their POSITIVE views of America? The news media? Bad news and controversy sells, right? Hollywood with their crappy TV shows that portray America as totally materialistic, sex obsessed and petty? Please.

It's up to us as ambassadors of the US to spread that word. Be nice. At least try to say hi or thanks in the host language. Something.

It infuriates me to see visitors from the US and elsewhere being impatient (and thus rude) with the Chinese volunteers that are really trying to help. It's like they expected everyone to learn English before we all came over here. Give me a break.

Enough of that.

Sunday at the South Cathedral

My second Sunday in China was a little rainy to begin with, but became a sunny day despite that.

I was able to catch a Mass at the South Cathedral in Beijing which really lifted my spirits and made me feel a comforting sense of normalcy.

I had missed last week's mass, so I was really looking forward to it. Last week, I had visited St. Josephs, and thought that's where the English mass was being held. As usual, I was slightly mistaken. The taxi took me to the South Cathedral for the mass and all was fine, even though I was in a TOTALLY different area of town.

The cathedral was built in 1601 and was visited over 20 times by Chinese Emperors. They have masses in English every Sunday at 10.00 and 4.30.

I was really overcome, quite frankly, by being at this church. I got a bit emotional. Not only because it felt great to be going to mass, but because of all the hardships this parish and diocese has had to go through over the years just to survive. Riots, Japanese occupation and the PRC's policies have been tough, I'm sure. To a certain extent, I applaud the Chinese for "allowing" the church to continue, although I have heard that masses are restricted to foreign nationals. I did not have to show a passport or anything (like anyone would confuse me with a Chinese national) but I didn't see anyone else showing theirs either.

There was a heavy media presence there as some kind of political - Western - big shot was there. Strange to see video and still photographers shooting communion and wandering all around mass.

Father's homily included "questioning authority" which was an interesting topic. Nothing too hard hitting, but a message there nonetheless.

The congregation applauded us visitors and were obviously happy we were there. We outnumbered the parishioners - no surprise - a fact pointed out by the priest to much laughter.

They have a great choir and a beautiful church. I look forward to next week's mass.

PS - Father told me that he has 17 seminarians helping him with services at the athlete village. I told him I thought that was so kind. "God bless you", he said "but that's our job, isn't it?". Touche.

Baseball and the haves and have nots

Had a great time today at the USA vs. CAN baseball game.

I didn't realize that they have two baseball venues - the main field and field 2. I went to main, the game was on 2. That's me, The Natural. Get it? Baseball movie reference? Get it?

Anyway I got to the right field in the bottom top of the third, with the US down 4-0. Sat in the media section right across the barricade from three young ladies chanting all kinds of pro Canada stuff with French mixed in and shaking these hideous things that kind of looked like abacuses (abaci?). Very annoying.

Then the action started with a solo home run from the USA. Team USA went on to score 5 unanswered runs and won 5-4. Very exciting. Didn't win them a medal or anything, but a win is good. Not sure what their next step is, but they have one.

The Olympic family, VIP's and the media are all in the shade. Regular old spectators sit frying in the sun. The venues let you use an umbrella, which is pretty cool, but there are going to be some sunburnt folks tonight!

That is the way it is at a lot of events of all types, right? A real separation between the haves and have nots. Haves get special credentials, parking, vehicles, access, entrances, hospitality, etc. Have nots get sunburnt, walk a lot, eat hot dogs on a stick (not making that up) and are the ones really raising hell in support of their teams. Haves talk alot about how much money and/or connections they have. Have nots are talking about batting averages and trading pins.

Don't get me wrong, being in China is not turning me into a socialist - far from it. I'm just observing from the middle, in a sense.

See my credential is great, but walks the middle between the two. I can catch all kinds of busses and shuttles and can buy food at private concessions. Caviar is ain't, but it's better than hot dogs on a stick. And I'm not as sunburnt.

This Just In - It was Barbara Bush - not Jenna -

Had to Google it - the Internet has spoken.

Note new poll-----

USA House

USA House is a hospitality venue the USOC sponsors (with help from sponsors, I'm sure) for Athletes (past and present Olympians), assorted VIPs and families of current medalists.


Access to this place is what you want.


Access to this place I ain't got. BUT, I was invited to go last night. Very nice.


They took over a multi-story restaurant and divided it into dining, private dining, coffee/smoothie bar and retail store. The retail store sells USA stuff you can't get anywhere else - cool.


I met Lopez Lomong, this years USA flag bearer. If you haven't read his story, you need to--http://lopezlomong.org/. Our Sprint Team Leader, Cliff Meidl, was the flag bearer in Sydney. We got a picture of the two of them together - I'll try to get it and post.

If you think about it, being flag bearer is a big-time honor. That's a pretty small group.

Almost as small as John Edwards fan club has become. Sorry, that was too easy.

Anyway, David, Cliff, Jay T, Nathan Luce - Sprint Head Coach - and I had dinner there last night. It was a great time. Thanks again David!

I'm actively trying to get Jay T to list me as his guest to USA House, but I know I have no shot. Y'all know me though; I'm not above bribery. I've already offered round-trip cab fare anytime he wants, but I think I'm gonna have to go stronger than that.

Off I go - thanks for reading and your coments - I really appreciate hearing from y'all!

A Carolina Gully Washer

The good news is that it's beeeeutiful today. You don't need a positive outlook or a PR firm to say it's a blue sky day with lower humidity. Most other times I've said it's a nice day, you would have needed both.

The bad news is that we got rained out yesterday thus our semis and finals are today, so I'm off on another BNU/MPC/Shunyi/MPC/BNU do-si-do.

What a storm it was - heavy rain, wind and lightning. Lightning was one reason we were delayed to today. Same as pool rules - everyone out of the water for 30 minutes after the last lightning strike.

I waited most of it out in the media "lounge" at the venue with a bunch of wet photographers. Might start a new poll. Which smells worse? Wet dog or wet photographer?

The other reason we were delayed is darkness. Tough luck that the Chinese didn't put in lights like at our FANTASTIC US National Whitewater Center!

What to pack

Our venue is about an hour NE of Beijing, out past the airport.

I met a photographer who has lived in Beijing for 9 years. He'd never been there. "We're in the sticks, man" was his comment I think.

So, I have to carry a lot of stuff. See photo below. I may add another poll to see what you think this baby weighs. Then again, I don't have a scale and I hate not to at least pretend to be precise.

Here's the ever-evolving list:

1. Passport - don't ever let anyone keep this from you!
2. Credentials - USOC, BNU, BNU part 2
3. Camera
4. Laptop - what a pain
5. Orbitz - Dirty mouth?
6. Glasses
7. Hat
8. MP3 and earphones - so I don't have to listen to all the photographers.
9. Beijing map - so I can point and grunt at cab drivers
10. Moola - yuan, RMB, whatever. I bought a water - at a VENUE - for 50 cent. Silly.
11. Jacket - hopefully not
12. Umbrella - oh, I forgot, I left it in a damn cab!
13. Pins - I'll have a whole new post about this - always sumpin new on the McBlog!!
14. Clif bars
15. Pens - gotta have a Sharpie
16. Flash drive - I now hang that on my cred
17. BlackBerry
18. Phone
19. Extra shirt - don't know why. New ones just get drenched too.
20. First aid - moleskin, Tylenol, back meds (just in case), band aids, heartburn stuff
21. Hand sanitizer
22. CRSC sign - thanks again Barry at Conder Flags!!
23. Sunglasses
24. Business cards
25. Are you still reading this? Get back to work. You'll get in trouble.

Not another one!

Again, a missed gate has ended competition for our athletes.

First Scott Parsons - who I saw today in very good spirits with his very supportive girlfriend and Fraker - get's a "50" and now the fantastic pair of Rick Powell and Casey Eichfeld.

Years of work, sacrifice and (quite frankly) money went into getting these two fine young men to Shunyi and a 50 knocks them out on their second run - just like Scott.

They did so well in their first run too.

I'll tell you, though, they handled it like very disappointed champs.

And what the heck do you say to these three guys? Better luck next quad? How do you put a "sorry" onto something of this magnitude?

The only good news is that they are great kids, have loads of talent and are young. Like really young. Like "I could be their Dad" young. Does that say more about my advancing years or their youth. Who cares?

All I can say is WATCH OUT LONDON in 2012!!

A sad day for Scott - a great day for Benn!

We are so sorry to see Scott Parsons fail to move onto today's semifinals in the K1. He missed a gate - BARELY - late in is second run and got a 50 second penalty. Without the penalty, he would have easily made the semis.

What a class act he is. He did great interviews with NBC, Washington Post and AP in which he was calm and collected. He sets a great example and is what being an Olympian is all about. "No regrets" he said, and I believe him.

His family - who are great folks - were upset, naturally, but very proud of Scott - we all are.

Benn Fraker - he of the black painted fingernails - kept focused after a self-described dissapointing first run - and will participate in the semis today.

Wish him luck!!

Cars and bikes

I guess it's because I'm a red-blooded American, but I'm fascinated by the kinds of cars on the roads in Beijing.

Most of them I do not recognize, and I'd tell you the names, but they're in Chinese (duh). There are a few I easily recognize like Mitsubishi Monteros. We used to have one. They probably have a pretty big carbon footprint if they smoked like ours did as it got older.

After Chinese cars, I'd say European cars have the most market share. BMWs, Porsches, lots of Audis, haven't really seen many Mercedes.

American cars I've seen have included one Ford, no Chevys, 2 Cadillacs (!!), and can you believe it, a ton of Buicks, of all things. Vans and sedans - mainly Lacrosses. Buicks. I would never bet on that. Whoever that Buick salesman is, I'd like to meet him.

And since I own a bike and actually used to ride one, I notice them too.

All have fenders, most have bells, some have little motors and all are pedalled by the bravest cyclists I've ever seen. In and out of traffic they go - staring straight ahead, oblivous to the honks and stupid pedestrians (like me) that step right out in front of them.

Some have little platforms on the back where girlfriends or kids sit side saddle. Some have great big platforms on the back where all imaginable types of goods are piled precariously. Some have two back wheels for elderly parents. Some have roofs and even full enclosures.

I was told that this is all fascinating to me because I hadn't travelled much in the Third World. I really don't consider Beijing a third world kind of place, though. With KFC, Mickie D's, Subways, Nike stores and all the rest, how could it be?

I didn't say that I didn't choose to travel to the third world, thank you very much, but maybe I should!

Jenna?

I made a little side trip on Saturday to pick up a few things for family.



Went to this market on the south/central side of Beijing to do a little shopping.



Pearls, jade, silk, electronics, belts, brushes, luggage, suitcases, t-shirts, perfume - you get the picture. Tight spaces and small booths. Lots of agressive sales folks, mostly women. Everyone shouted "Hey Mister, you want some fill in the blank".



I had read a bit about this. As usual, just enough to get me into trouble. I didn't get into any real trouble, but it was unexpected to be pawed at like that.



It was also unexpected to see our First Lady and Jenna Bush (I think it was Jenna - you be the judge). Laura is just so classy looking and seems like a really warm person.



Obviously, there were lots of Secret Service watching us watch them. It was gratifying to see that the agents had made a concessionto the heat and were not wearing ties. I've dealt with Secret Service folks in my past life, but I don't know that I had ever seen them look at me like I might do something hinky before. Really serious guys - I wouldn't mess with them.



Anyway, Laura was waving to and chatting with the crowd that gathered because others had gathered. Very few Americans were there, but she was recognized nonetheless. Kinda funny to hear people explaining to each other who she was.



We look at ourselves so seriously and much of the world could give a crap about us.

Tragedy

I don't know anyone involved with USA Volleyball. It doesn't matter. What happened Saturday hit me and everyone in the US delegation to whom I've talked.

I got the Breaking News email about this while on the bus back to Beijing. What a shock.

After spending the afternoon at Shunyi, I went back to the MPC at about 7.30pm. You could feel the determination to get the job at hand done, but it was with effort. The normally chatty and laughing room was quiet.

I tried to go to the volleyball venue to just assist their press officer in any way I could, but I don't have the right credential. The USOC sent someone over to buddy up with him, which was a great thing for them to do.

Glad to hear the FBI is involved. If there's anything to be found out about this, and they're free to do their jobs, they'll get it done.

Also glad to see the Team win today!

Opening Ceremonies

Tickets were hard to come by (if not impossible) so it was a dilemma - how to best see the event?

USOC to the rescue. They put together a viewing party in our dining area that was great. Simple - just dinner - but the cameradie was fantastic. We were all glued to the TV. I could have gone to the Green or to the area right outside of the Birds Nest or any one of a hundred places - and may of our folks did. But the atmosphere at BNU was relaxed, excited and familial all at the same time. Plus, we got to bed a helluva lot earlier!

If you didn't catch it you missed something. It might be that it was more topical to me (us), but I think it's the best one I've ever seen. It was just so impressive in so many ways - technologically, logistically, creatively and the incredible coordination and training of all those good folks involved - wow.

I heard that the guy who is in charge of opening ceremonies for London 2012 left immediately following the event bound for his desk to revise his plans. Just kidding, I made that up. But, you know he was watching this going "Blimey - enough already!"

Got a few laughs at the expense of some poor guy who was shown talking on the phone while marching. I know, I know, lots of athletes were on the phone. Well, this guy was no participating athlete for sure, and it looked like he was having a conversation with his boss or something. Dude, a freaking BILLION people saw your very underwhelimg reaction to your time and place.

Ran into a reporter from a certain European country whose main reaction to the ceremony was "They played the KID card too much" and "I've seen better". Alrighty then. What do they say opinions are like?

THE day

Friday - 8.8.08

This is THE day. Opening Ceremonies tonight and you can feel and see the excitement. More on that later.

Took a bus to the Canoe/Kayak venue in Shunyi to see the team, walk the course and meet the press folks.

They said it would take an hour to get there and it sure did.

NO traffic on our way out there. I don't know whether it was just lighter traffic in the country, or if there were traffic restrictions. Really nice drive. Out in the country, very green and lots of corn, some horses and surprisingly little crepe myrtle trees planted roadside. The only difference between their crepe myrtles and mine in Charlotte is that theirs are blooming.

The Chinese have set up "Olympic Lanes" on the highways for the obvoius use. A lot like the HOV lane on 77. When I drive the HOV lane in Charlotte, I'm usually getting passed on the right, and so was the bus. The driver could have driven down the middle of the highway in reverse for all the other cars out there. It was kind of eerie. You know, like when you're driving somewhere in Eastern NC on a brand-new 4 lane divided highway going from Nowhere to Nowhere Else and all you can see is 4 cars, and one of them is broken down.

The facility at Shunyi is incredible. BIG water and BIG stands. I heard there are 27,000 seats and all sold. That's going to be quite a sight. I was doing fine until I stood still and then I thought someone threw a bucket of water on me. "It's not the heat, it's the humidity" I heard in my head. Sorry to say that I was wearing a cotton shirt and thus my sweat for the remainder of the day - ugh.

The team practiced from 10 - 11 and they seemed really loose and relaxed. They practice again on Saturday, and I'll head out there again to see them and to visit the sprint course.

Went back through the Main Press Center to get a few things done and back to BNU for a much needed shower.

In Beijing, there were definitely traffic restrictions with the pleasant result of cutting taxi fares by at least 25 percent! Less traffic, more relaxed insurance companies. See, there's something for everyone!

More later!

It's Game Time

I had a great (looooong) flight from Charlotte to DC over Canada, the North Pole, Siberia and into Beijing. Caught a great view of the ice over the Arctic Circle and "Be Kind, Rewind" as well.

We had the treat of having both the US and Canadian baseball teams on the flight. Real gentlemen - easy to call them "Olympians".

Arrival at the airport was great - a huge throng of folks greeting the athletes. The airport is big, but not very busy. Brand new everything and really well appointed. Saw Venus, Serena and Lindsay Davenport arriving. They really drew a crowd, but if they felt like I did, I'm sure the last thing they wanted was all that attention.

I did get to throw the Immigration folks a curve, though. They don't get the whole "William" and "Bill" thing here. Don't know that they still do, but I got through.

Got to our lodging at Beijing Normal University at about 5.30p on Wednesday. I was able to stay up until 9.30 after a nice walk to the WU MART to look for a power converter.

While looking for the Wu Mart, I came to the "Duh Huh" realization that traffic is really wild. I can't imagine it while traffic restrictions are not in place. Trucks, busses, taxis (there are over 60,000 taxis), pedestrians and bicycles of all descriptions sharing the road and all uniformly taking a really casual view of traffic signals.

I must say that I think the bicycles and pedestrians have a lot of clout on the road. Honks from anything barely register or cause alarm in these folks.

Everyone has been really nice. Not hearing much English spoken by the local folks, but I've gotten a lot of head nodding and smiles.

The air is kind of thick. Poor visibility, but that's certainly not breaking news. I hope it clears up some tomorrow for the Opening Ceremonies. Which, by the way, I don't have tickets to. What's up with that?

More later - thanks for reading.

The Final Touches are Done - I hope.

Looks like everything is is done as it's gonna be.

Had to pack 2 bags - United allows a bag to weigh 50 lbs or less for no charge. If it's over 50, there's a $50 charge. I love symmetry. However, they allow you to take 2 bags under 50 lbs (each) for free, so I'm now gonna schlep 2 bags.

I'd love suggestions on how to pack for three weeks in one bag weighing 50 pounds. I'm confident it can be done - but not by me.

Anyway, I'm off at 6am tomorrow. Next post from China.

Wish me luck -

Took a peek at the globe today and saw that Charlotte sits at approximately 35 degrees latitude. Beijing is at 39. So I got to thinking what city was close to that and lo and behold, the great city of Baltimore is also 39 degrees latitude. That'll give me - and you - a bit of reference. So, if anyone has spent a summer in the Baltimore/DC market, you'll have an idea on how hot it'll be over the next month. Urban heat dome, concrete, tall buildings, crappy baseball teams. Except they don't play much baseball in Beijing.

It's not Columbia, SC hot, but pretty durn warm nonetheless.

Not really sure what any of this means. It could draw some parallels or not. I'm no weatherman, though I have been wrong several times in my life, so we have that in common.

While I was at it, I looked at the distance between here and thar. Beijing is 7134 miles or 11,480 km away, or a convenient 15 hour plane ride. A mere pittance.

While I was at that, I figured I'd look at how one flies from there to there. According to United Airlines, DC to Beijing takes you north to Alaska (catchy) via Canada. Then we wave to the crab fishermen in the Bering Sea and voila, we're in China.

Some other ramdom thoughts:

• Do the kids in China play "Marco Polo" while swimming like our kids do? Or does "IT" say "Mao" and the other kids say "Tse Tung"? Or maybe"Dick" and "Nixon"?
• Can you really call guys that sail and work on crab boats "fishermen"? Aren't they really crabbing? Surely that's so, because they only catch fish by accident. That's why John Owen and I don't calll ourselves fishermen.
• What kind of bird lives in the "Bird's Nest"? Whatever it is, I'd hate to be standing underneath when it exacuates itself. A really stinky avalanche - yikes.

Look Ma, I'm on the TV

Our great local NBC affiliate - WCNC - just did a shoot at the McMillan homestead all about me geting ready to leave. Packing, no less!

What fun people they are - we had a great time. I showed them clothes, Chinese language books, pins and yes, the Immodium.

Bewteen you and me, I really didn't actually pack. We were kinda pretending. Show Biz stuff, you know?

Looks like it'll air somewhere around the Opening Ceremonies.

This whole thing is getting weirder all the time.

Allllllrighty then.

Two weeks and counting.

Vacation is over.

Packing is almost done.

My hepititis shots have sunk in.

Final touches are being made to outstanding items for both my jobs.

I'm excited!

The last conference call I had with the USOC Media folks was incredibly valuable. Those men and women are such pros. Great advice was given to all of us that included things from leaving a copy of your passport at home in case you lose yours to taking 5 minutes everyday to sit on the Olympic green and people watch.

So, to all you regular visitors to the blog (all 3 of you - thanks kids), bear with me while I struggle a bit with content until I hit the road and really have something to blog about.

Last Staff Meeting

With upcoming vacations, travel and other general mayhem, yesterday was the last day the whole CRSC staff will be together until the Tuesday following Labor Day. It's hard to believe and something I hadn't even thought about.

So, while we were having a meeting on the upcoming Countdown to Kickoff luncheon, those sneaky devils bought some cupcakes and asked the Panthers to put up a good luck message on the ribbon boards in Bank of America Stadium (see photo below). What a thrill for a dyed-in-the-wool Panther fan like me. THANKS SO MUCH TO YOU ALL!

Personally, I'm making a packing list (chewable Imodium, toilet paper and Chinese language flash cards) and tying up loose ends. Thank goodness for the CRSC staff!

Also, got a brandy new St. Christopher's medal from Dad and Gail Mooney, so we're truly covering all the bases.

On the USACK side, the team has been named, and we'll have 7 great athletes representing the US in Beijing. I don't know them all really well, but have met most of them and look forward to getting to know the rest "over there".

It's a really diverse group from the young guns Fraker, Eichfeld and Powell, to veterans like Zur, Johnson, Corrie and Parsons.

Keep an eye on USACK.ORG to check NBC's awesome coverage options - internet and all their cable platforms - to see all the action.

How many days to go?

My oldest daughter Carson told me last night that she couldn't believe that I was going to be gone for a month soon. Kinda sobering.

That made me think of how much I'm going to miss my girls and HOW MUCH CRAP I HAVE TO GET DONE!

Gotta get the next Hepititis shots and some new glasses, pack up the wide brimmed hat and sunscreen, grab some Immodium (just in case!), voltage converter, etc. etc.

While I'm no stranger to travelling, the trip to China will be a totally new experience.

I've been listening to a Chinese language CD (not as much as I should) so I can be my Mom's good boy and say "please" and "thank you". Unfortunately, the Chinese language is finding it tough to gain a beach head in this Southern boy's thick head. Thankfully, "thank you" sounds like Shealy's name, so that one I've got down pat. I used it the other day at lunch, and the really friendly waitress said something that sounded like dropping a set of maracas down a flight of steps, so I just smiled and nodded.

That's another thing. Will I eat McDonald's the whole time or will I risk intestinal disease and eat the local cuisine? Those and other really important questions will be answered over time.

Ok, here we go!

This is my first blog - anywhere - and I'm excited and a bit nervous.

I'll be posting stuff periodically over the next few weeks while getting ready to head to China by documenting some of my experiences and preparations for this huge trip.

But first, I want to thank:

• Kim, Carson and Shealy for their love and encouragement
• Jeff Beaver and all the staff at the CRSC for aiding in the decision to go in the first place and their support while I'm out of the office
• David Yarborough at USACK for considering me worthy of this great honor
• USOC for all their help setting up all travel details and logistics on the ground in Beijing

Overall, I'll be in Beijing for about 4 weeks, and don't expect any time off for "touristy" pursuits. I hope to squeeze in a trip to the Great Wall, but that comes second to making sure I represent the CRSC, USACK and Charlotte well at the Games.

My work will revolve around supporting media relations for the USACK teams during practice and competition and the USOC during all other times.

This will be a fantastic chance to meet media from all over the world and gain a ton of experience in assisting them in their jobs.

So, please check back to see what's happening. I hope I'll be able to make it worth your while!