March 21. 2014
It's been a while since I have posted a blog. I have been dealing with some self inflicted physical trauma's while beginning my journey of 241,668 steps over my nine day stint at the Technology Entertainment Design show, aka TED, at the Vancouver Convention Centre. My first gig as a Security Professional. That's what the government calls us now. I expected to walk through every inch of the the VCC by the time I was done. What I didn't expect was the journey I took within myself. For ten consecutive days I worked TED from 0600 until 1400 more or less. That's how us SP's tell time.The first five days were the set up by the patrons and sponsors and I was there from the start.
At 0600 the VCC was empty for about the first hour. During the set up stage the lights on the second and third levels are off or dimmed right down. The first couple of days I patrolled all three levels. The view of the sunrise from level three is spectacular and the weather was cooperating nicely. I would walk along singing out loud. That's when I met the guys installing all the furniture, a company called Steel Case. I came around the corner and there was Norm and Tim sitting on a plastic wrapped couch drinking coffee. "I didn't know anyone was here yet" I said "Don't let us stop you" so it didn't. Once there were a few people around I moved the hit parade into my head. At a certain point everyone is busy, except me. I was rover on the site. My job is to walk. And walk I did. 32,564 paces the first day. By the end of the day my feet were sore but that was because my shoes had stretched out and my feet were sliding inside them. I switched shoes the next day. That was the day the heel and sole came unattached and created a couple of blisters on my left heel. By the end of the day between the Duct Tape and the overcompensation for the now angry blisters I managed to bruise my right heel.
The first aid attendant gave me a bandage and a wet nap and said "That's going to hurt like hell!" Ya think!
On the way home I stopped and bought some better quality insoles. I could only use them in my right shoe because it lifted the blisters into the exact wrong position when I tried them in the left shoe. By the end of day three I had two blisters, two bruised heels and the beginning of a tooth issue. After walking for more than 25,000 steps the last 1000 to where I parked the car were the hardest. The best parking deal is on Seymour at Pender. $11 early bird. It takes me four minutes to walk to VCC in the morning. It takes me twenty minutes or more to walk back after work.
The weather was amazing and I had a couple of spots along the way to rest my feet. Downtown Vancouver has a lot of benches and small green spaces all over the place. When I get to the parkade I wait for the elevator. I'm parked on the first level but the stairway appears to be the toilet for the entire Downtown East Side. I'll wait for the elevator, besides my feet hurt.
Once again I have to say I won the lottery when I married the lovely Lisa. She has been so attentive and caring when I'm at home with feet so sore I can barely stand up. Friday night she says " What's wrong with your face?" I thought, how rude! When I looked in the mirror it was a little bit puffy. By 20:30 I was on the phone to my dentist and to my employer. What a start to my career in security. Broken feet, broken tooth and booking off on short notice after three days! I didn't sleep for more than an hour at a time even after I took one of the painkillers they gave me for my Kidney Stones, the tooth still woke me up.
At 8:30 Saturday morning I was sitting in the waiting room at my Dentists. I have ground the tooth and the one beside it down to the quick. She was going to have to yank the tooth. I love this dentist. She has never hurt me. I have had a few different dentists at this practise and they all were very good. This one is a ninety pound woman of Asian ancestry. They were fitting me in between patients with appointments so I ended up being in the chair for about ninety minutes. By this point the swelling was obvious. Thank God for suction. It took her a long time to get the tooth out. I have been on antibiotics for a week but am in the chair again this afternoon with the second ground down tooth acting up. Oh yeah, and the Tooth Fairy didn't come. Bitch! The Poop Fairy on the other hand has been coming by on a regular basis lately.
I spent the rest of the day in bed. Only 650 steps on the pedometer. Watching college basketball and resting my still aching feet. I set my alarm for 04:20 and drifted off to sleep. My feet felt not too bad. I had bought the ones where you step on the machine at London Drugs and it measures 2200 stress points on your feet. $50 but worth it if it helps. Not really. I could still only wear one and again by the end of the day I was practically crippled. I had brought a pair of Crocs with me for after work thinking that would make the walk back to the car easier. Not really. Both my heels are badly bruised and I left my Ballet shoes in my other pants!
Sunday was frantic for everybody but me. I was now responsible for Level One and had the freedom to move around as I chose. TED starts tomorrow at 07:00 I was able to see it come together from Day 1 right up until the final preparations. The energy was amazing. I was taking it all in as I perfected my Security Stride. I found the stride with the lowest impact and soon had it down pat. It's kind of a slide with very little knee bend then roll the heel to the toe. Think JJ Walker crossed with a Camel. It's the best of everything at TED. The Gift Cave was full. The gift bags waiting.
The first day was a Zoo! 1600 people paid to be at TED. That's not counting the TEDActive at Whistler and other spots all around the world, all connected in real time of course. The line up for the Gift Cave was 200 people long all day long. One of the gifts was shoes. People try shoes on. Slow moving freebies. A lot of these people know each other and their work so it was a real social event with waiters walking around with trays of assorted beverages. After leaving the Gift Cave loaded down like Sherpa's they made their way back to their various hotels with their newly acquired loot. A large number staying across the street at the Fairmont. I can say without a doubt no one in attendance was staying at Motel Six. There was a shuttle running between VCC and The Meeks theatre in North Vancouver where the TED Fellows gave their talks. These are first time TED Talkers and are not quite ready for the Main Stage. They were excellent. As I made my way around the VCC I was seldom out of sight of, and never out of hearing range of a giant TV.
Two hours and twenty speakers later covering everything from art projects in Chile to astrophysics the talks were done for the day and so was my shift. I limped home and the lovely Lisa fed me even though her wake up was an hour before mine. I went to bed praying my feet would work at 04:20 when I would do it again.
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It is as eclectic a crowd as you could possibly imagine. There was a women in evening wear at 0800 sitting with a guy in Army Fatigues with snake like Dreds hiding half his face deep in conversation. There was lots of plaid. Lots of frilly skirts with combat boots. More grey ponytails and bad comb overs than you could shake a stick at! I would say overall the theme was " I have no mirrors and dress in the dark but I'm rich and smart. And your not." Everyone I talked to was very nice.
In all more than ninety people gave talks on the main stage. Some I liked, some not so much, all were thought provoking. TED is not just about the technology. It's about the social responsibility that comes with creating the technology. We have places in this world were people don't have clean water or indoor plumbing and yet they have a cell phone. Monica Lewinsky was the star of the show. Her talk was open and heartfelt. How difficult it must be for her to stand up in front of the world and tell her story. For a dozen years she made no comments, she was ridiculed and ostracised. She was the first victim of Social Media. She wasn't the first 22 year old to fall for her boss and won't be the last. She didn't blame anyone, she merely related her experience at that time. I was impressed with her as was everyone else there. It really brought home the double standard. Bill Clinton is treated like royalty and Monica Lewinsky as a whore.
Brushes with greatness at TED. Bill Gates walked by me staring at the floor on the way to the theatre. That is the most common posture at TED. Everyone looks at the floor. It's actually difficult to make eye contact with a lot of these people. Maybe they all have shoe fetishes? Or maybe Bill Gates is actually their Alien Overlord and they must "Walk Like Bill".
I talked briefly to Jaden Smith. It went like this. I said "Good morning" Jaden said "Wasup" I said "Are you enjoying Vancouver?" He said "S'cool" Then he was gone.
I twice saw Al gore. The first time he was walking away from a woman he had been talking to and he nodded and said Good afternoon as he swept past on his way to save the planet! The second time he was in the Gift Cave so I walked up to him and said hello. He reached out and shook my hand. I asked him if he was enjoying Vancouver and he said it was one of his favourite cities. I guess it's because you can't get any further left without falling off the continent.
I talked to so many clever, passionate informed people over the five days most of whom I couldn't name. One I can name, and who was out of this world was Chris Hadfield the astronaut.
I talked to him for three or four minutes about playing music in space and he told me he wrote a symphony while he was there and the Vancouver Philharmonic is going to play it. He seemed like a very nice man. I thought he'd be bigger.
In the end I came away with broken feet two less teeth. That's right they yanked the other one today, and four sets of insoles! Oh yeah and a smile. I liked the work. I like the interaction with the people and the time alone with my thoughts. We're not encouraged to start up conversations with the clients, that is a rule I choose to ignore. The same with using the bathrooms . When you gotta go, you gotta go! What is the mind set? 1950's Mississippi? "Let my people go!!" My people are of course Old men with weak kidneys! Once I get my feet things worked out I'm excited to see what comes next. Also I was a little loosey goosey with the no pictures rule. I took none of the guests.
I want to take a moment to acknowledge the accomplishments of my daughter Jennifer. The fruit of my looms has just gotten her first Gig as a Production Manager on a feature film. I am so incredibly proud of her. After my Grandkids, this is the greatest thing ever!! I love you Baby Girl. Of course now she'll be too busy to read this.
That's all I've got
Till Next time
Peace out Y'all
©2015 Dave Squatch Ward
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