Two trips at once

I have to admit, I was caught off guard a bit when I got an e-mail from the Beijing Olympics accommodation system telling me that they would be letting us know about our accommodations for the 2022 Winter Olympics this week. I guess I was too busy thinking about the Tokyo Games this summer and what I have to do to prepare for them, that Beijing wasn't on my mind.

However, I checked the accommodation management system today and sure enough, they had given me accommodations for February and once I finished filling out the paperwork, they were going to send me an invoice and the first payment for the Winter Games accommodations is due by the end of this week. So, I guess I will be making a trip to the bank as soon as the invoice comes in.

Like in Tokyo this summer, the Beijing Winter Games are using existing hotels to house the media next winter and I was given the Beijing Changbaishan International Hotel in the Chaoyang District of Beijing. It is about four kilometers from the main media center. As has been the case in previous Olympics, my main criteria for choosing a hotel is the price and this was one of the cheaper options available to us.

I considered booking hotels in the mountain zones in Beijing, but those were significantly more expensive and since our media transportation is free, it made sense to just take the high speed rail from Beijing to the mountain zones for the competitions. 

Tokyo is going to be my first Olympics in a massive city. Sochi and PyeongChang were both large cities, but Tokyo and Beijing are on another scale and this certainly makes things a bit more interesting. I anticipated a much different experience in Tokyo, even before all the pandemic stuff was factored in to the mix. And, I think Beijing may be somewhat similar. However, there will also be similarities to the previous two Olympics, since they also had indoor venues in the city and outdoor venues in the mountains outside the city.

So, I guess this week will be spent dealing with Beijing stuff, but I imagine it won't be long before there's more Tokyo stuff to deal with. Our second payment for accommodations will be coming in a few weeks and that payment is due by early June. 

It's getting a little confusing dealing with the two different Olympics at once. I know that up until 1992, there were always two Olympics in the same year every four years. I can see how that would become a bit of a nightmare for those having to deal with both. 

However, I guess it's not a bad problem to have. Going to the Olympics is a great experience and worth the small inconveniences that come with having them back to back.

100 days and counting ...

Last week we reached another milestone in the countdown to the Tokyo Summer Olympics, as the calendar marked 100 days until the opening ceremonies.

So, 100 days seems like a fairly long time, but in reality, it's not that far off. I am scheduled to fly out of Logan Airport in Boston in the middle of July for my two weeks-plus in Japan. The remainder of the money for my lodging is due in early June. In that regard, I've been splitting my part-time job checks between my Olympic account and my regular savings account and should have the Tokyo trip covered pretty easily and the Beijing trip also has funds already allocated.

As I've made my way around the state throughout the winter sports season and now into the spring sports season, a question I get from people who know about my planned trips is "are you still going to the Olympics?" 

I always tell people, that as far as I know, as it stands right now, the answer is yes. But, I am well aware that these things can change at the last minute. I don't anticipate the Olympics being cancelled at this point, even given the fact that the pandemic is still a thing. With all the organization and scheduling and money that has gone into these Olympics (and all Olympics), I just don't feel they can cancel them. The athletes who have worked hard for four years now with their eyes on Tokyo deserve the chance to compete and I think the IOC feels the same way.

As we know now, foreign spectators are not allowed at the Games, many media outlets are going to work the Olympics remotely, at least in part and there is still discussion ongoing as to whether there will be spectators from Japan allowed in the venues. This Olympics is going to be entirely different than my previous two Olympic experiences in many ways. First and foremost, it will be summer and sweltering hot instead of winter and a tad bid cold. As someone who prefers the cold over the heat, this part doesn't thrill me, but I also know it's something I signed up for. And the fact that media members are not going to be able to move around the city as freely as we have in the past is also a big difference. We have to file a plan for our first 14 days in the country and basically stick to it. I've drawn up a preliminary plan, but obviously that could change at any time.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a pain in the ass for more than a year now. It was late March last year when the Games were postponed for a year and in the year since, while things have gotten somewhat better, there are still plenty of issues. I anticipate plenty of more updates to come in the next month or so and hopefully there will be a clearer picture by then.

But then again, who knows. I've learned not to anticipate anything over the course of the last year.

Last week, the countdown to Tokyo clock stood at 100 days.

Scary moments ...

When I got laid off last April and the gym closed, I started walking a lot. In the morning I'd go into Wolfeboro and walk for about 45 minutes before getting my breakfast and then in the afternoon, I'd head to the Cotton Valley Rail Trail, starting at Fernald Crossing in Wolfeboro or Clark Road in Brookfield. Those afternoon walks usually averaged somewhere between four and eight miles, depending on how much time I had, the weather and how I was feeling.

As I got back to the job, I still kept walking in the mornings when I don't have to work at the Yum Yum Shop and if there was still time, I'd try to get in a walk in the afternoon, but with games, it's not always possible. However, right now we are at a break in between seasons, so I have been walking every day. And it was on one of these walks on Friday afternoon when a text message came across my phone from my Yum Yum Shop co-worker, Joe, with a video of firefighters going in the back door of the Village Players Theater.

The Village Players, before the pandemic hit, was the place I spent the most time in outside of work. I was on the board of directors for a number of years, I've produced a number of shows, been a stage manager and done other backstage work and even been on stage a few times. The people there have all become friends and it is truly one of my favorite places to be. We had to shut down the theater during the pandemic, but I've still been there a few times a month for one thing or another. In fact, on Friday morning, I stopped in to see the work being done to replace the HVAC system.

The text with the video of firefighters hit me in the gut. Moments later, my phone rang with a call from the alarm company that monitors the theater's fire alarms, noting that the alarms were going off. At that point, I was almost two miles away from my car and had no idea just what was going on. I texted a few other members of the theater who I knew would be closer in town to get to the theater quickly to assess what was going on. I walked as quickly as I possibly could back toward my car, not knowing just what the situation was and what I would be walking into when I got back to town.

I made it to my car and drove quickly into town, feeling good that I didn't see large plumes of smoke streaming into the sky. I parked on Lehner Street and made my way on to Glendon Street on foot and caught up with board member Stefanie Marsh, who I had texted while on my walk. She had gotten the story from the HVAC guys about what had happened. Thankfully, they were still in the building at the time, called the fire department right away and the fire department was there before the alarm actually went off.

That being said, the theater is an old building, with numerous additions and strange walls and ceilings going here and there. The possibility of things going wrong was very high, and for that reason, Wolfeboro wasn't alone in fighting the fire, with Alton, Tuftonboro, Wakefield and Ossipee Corner all sending help. Eventually, I found Deputy Chief Tom Zotti, who I have dealt with on numerous occasions when it comes to inspections, etc. for the building. He caught me up on what was going on and asked me to hang around, since they needed a representative for the building. 

Once they had the building vented a little, they asked Stef and I to go inside with a couple of the firefighters to take a look at what was going on. There was still smoke throughout the building, but according to the firefighters, it had dissipated quite a bit. The damage from the fire was limited to the back corner of the stage and the basement underneath it. The stage got plenty soaked, along with the curtains, but for the most part, things could've been much worse.

The HVAC guys got some plywood and, once the fire department cleared everything, boarded up the corner of the building where the firefighters had torn out the wall to fight the fire inside of the wall. I made a few walk throughs of the building as we waited for the heat to warm things up inside. Jay Sydow, Tom Bickford and I were the last three out of the building, about 8 p.m.

Driving home, I realized just how much stench the fire had put on me, but I finally was able to get a little sleep before waking up early to go to the Yum Yum Shop. On my way there, I stopped at the theater at about 3 a.m. to check on everything, doing a walk through. I went up again on my lunch break mid-morning and reset the alarm and checked everything again. The smell was still there, but the smoke was gone.

The good news is, nobody was hurt, the building is still inhabitable and we have insurance. But, for a little while, out on the middle of the trail with no quick way back, it was scary.

Many, many thanks to all the first responders who turned out to help save our theater on Friday. Without a question, we are indebted to all of you. 

Wolfeboro Fire-Rescue members show where the fire at the Village Players spread in the basement. The light in the background is where the basement wall used to be.