The Beast is a very bad beastie as it has “done a leg” and gone on sit down strike a) right in front of our container and b) on the main horse walk in to the stables. To be more accurate, the Beast can easily be repaired if a) the AWOL driver could be found and b) the driver was given accreditation so he / she / it could access the venue and remove the Beast. I just hope that we are not contributing to the day rate for the Beast to be away from his / her Cave of Residence as its role was to offload containers, two of which are ours. Well the budget is looking a little frail so a few more dollars will perhaps not over exasperate the issue.
I ache. Every part of my body aches and parts that I didn’t think were supposed to ache are joining in on the Achey Flacky Party. I suspect that Leah, Ana, and Christy are feeling not entirely differently. Full on in the stables today; Stars and Stripes up, branding on the tack rooms done, tack rooms set up and saddle pads / Horseware rugs distributed. Another task was to erect a screen that will reduce the afternoon sun shining in to some of the stables. We did not “bed down” as they are in the process of disinfecting the stables. Only downside was the USOC’s super smart decals will not stick to the tack room containers – so they will be on display in the Hotel and Grooms’ Village.
So where is Andy Fingers Thomas – the Advance Party is in need of the “laying on of hands” – ok.. so I agreed his travel plans but I still blame him. Get here NOW and bring those heeling fingers. [reader note: Andy Thomas is the Team Physio]
Coca-Cola product update: Team USA generous supporter Coca-Cola has delivered liquid sustenance to the venue and to the hotel plus a ginormous cooler for the venue – only slight challenge is that the cooler wants to suck 220V and the sockets at the venue (in the stables) are 110V. A small challenge. I believe other outputs at the venue are 220V so there could be some sparky challenges ahead.
Delivering our Coca-Cola fridge:
Following lunch we took time out from abusing our usually office bound muscular skeletal systems and headed to the Grooms’ Village. This involved crossing the bridge over the River Styx (for those missing the Classical education hit Google). This is the Achille’s heel of the venue as it smells like a regurgitated curry that has been combined with rotting goats’ cheese and left in a warm car for a month. Not ideal. But we were met be a super enthusiastic Grooms’ Village Manager who showed us around. The apartments are certainly ready but they are fighting the clock in a couple of areas such as laundry machines (present but not connected) and ice machine (on strike and not attending). We will be hitting the shops tomorrow to make sure our grooms have all the creature comforts possible. We have shipped fridges and kettles for them (we will see what voltage the sockets are!) and we need to make sure the apartments do not smell of brand new concrete. Some challenges but we are on a mission.
Grooms Lounge:
Ensuring the funcionality of the equipment in the Grooms Lounge:
We were all ready for an early meal and an early night (ok, so early night = early to one’s room to catch up on work) so we headed to an Italian buffet restaurant. Some members of the team felt relaxation in the lap of luxury was a requisite right and settled down for a post dinner siesta . . . can’t take them anywhere.
Back to the venue tomorrow a.m. then shopping and then a few hours with a cold towel over my head trying to figure out how we make the very complex transport plan work; not so easy when the drivers do not speak English and do not know the area of Rio we are operating in.
Today nearly concluded with the ultimate disaster; having returned from victualing my beaten body, I sat down to type a few thoughts for the blog only to find that I could not get my IPad to play online radio – no Classical music = no brain function = clinical death. All is sorted so a few more minutes at the keyboard before heading off to la la slumber land.
Raising the Stars and Stripes is not a job for the faint of heart:
The barns BEFORE. Tune in tomorrow for the Team USA transformation!
