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.