As we head into the weekend, the 21st Winter Olympics will draw to a close, marking the end of an amazing two weeks here in Vancouver. Though the Paralympic Games are still to come, Sunday will definitely mean an end to some amazing competition and events. Some of the pavilions and venues will pack up and close, while the many visitors to Vancouver will begin their journeys back home.

If you live in Vancouver, I encourage you to get out and enjoy the wonderful atmosphere and spirit that has permeated throughout this city. At the risk of sounding like a cliche, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for Vancouver so go out and enjoy it for one last time.

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This evening, a co-worker and I decided to have a few drinks at Joey's on Burrard, just a few blocks from the Olympic cauldron and the international broadcast centre. While we were discussing the results of today's Olympic hockey games, I noticed a quiet and unassuming gentleman returning to his seat at a table not far from ours. The gentleman was Teemu Selanne, current player for the Anaheim Ducks of the NHL and even more currently, Finnish Olympian in the sport of ice hockey.

Selanne had just arrived at the restaurant/lounge from his team's 2-0 victory over the Czech Republic out at the UBC Thunderbird Arena. I guess the team didn't linger out at UBC because he was downtown well before 11pm. Selanne went relatively unnoticed for the most part. He shook a few hands and a few people gave him a thumbs up from outside through the windows. The most overt bit of gawking came from a few young Canadian males who cautiously came somewhat near his table and took some pictures, much like a person takes a picture of a deer in the wild. I tried to be discreet while taking the above photo of Selanne from my own table. My co-worker and I debated the merits of approaching him but decided he deserved to have his privacy.

We left before Selanne did but he appeared to be quite relaxed as he enjoyed a beer with his two companions. With the sheer number of athletes and celebrities in the city, I wish I've had more brushes with greatness over the last few days. The Olympics aren't quite over just yet, so let's see what happens.

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We've been working really hard to get skate 3 out the door and to show their appreciation, management arranged to have a massage therapist come and work on our tense muscles. To be clear, we were offered 15 minute sessions so these are short intervals to help us quickly relax. Your usual spa type massages last much longer but with so many software engineers on our team, it's not practical to spend that much time with each person.

My first massage was on Friday and while I was on the chair the nice massage lady asked me if I played a lot of sports. I told her I hadn't participated in sports in many, many months. She then said she had asked because the muscles around my right shoulder showed the same amount of development as people who played racquet sports. I kinda laughed because I used to play lots of tennis but it's been a good year since I stopped that. I also mentioned that my mouse arm is my right arm. She said that could account for the muscle development, given the amount of time I spent at the computer.

The massage lady returned again today and I was fortunate enough to get another session with her. This time she had the full table so she was able to work on my legs a bit. This time, she asked me if I played soccer (football for you Brits) because according to her, my leg muscles showed signs that I participated in athletic activities. I again laughed because I'm essentially a sloth for nearly the entire day as I sit at my desk. I told her again that I just at my desk all day.

She explained to me that some people have muscles that retain their state to a certain extent after levels of exercise, even if a lot of time has passed since the last bit of athletic activity. That made me feel good about myself, even though I'm still quite tubby around the middle. I wondered out loud what would happen if I actually exercised on a regular basis. The massage lady suggested that maybe I should give it a try and find out.

I'm going to open a bag of chips, watch some TV, and think about that.

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I finally found some time to upload my pictures from the hockey game that I attended last Thursday. If you're keeping score, this game was the start of the stumbles that Team Canada had that has led them to their current predicament. Had they just beat the Swiss in regulation but still lost against the US, they'd be facing Finland, not Russia, should get past Germany today. While the Finnish team is still quite good, I think Russia has an edge on them. Well, it won't matter if we don't even get past the Germans.

Click here if you want to see the pictures.

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Through luck and the generosity of others, I managed to go an Olympic hockey game for three straight days in a row starting on Thursday. The game on Saturday night was a complete surprise as I didn't even know I was going to that game until less than three hours before game time. A friend of mine suddenly got three tickets when someone he knew couldn't use them. He decided to give one ticket to me and another to my co-worker.

It turned out we had tickets to a women's ice hockey game out at the Thunderbird Arena at UBC. My two previous games were at Canada Hockey Place, so I welcomed the change in venue. The rink out at UBC is much smaller than CHP but it's much more intimate so you can really see the action up close. The concessions are also much more reasonably priced out at UBC. While you'll be ripped off for food and drink at CHP, the items out at UBC don't appear to have an "Olympic" premium placed upon them.

The game itself was between Russia and Slovakia. Both these teams aren't on the same level as the US and Canada but it was an interesting game nonetheless. Early on, it was clear that Russia had an edge on the Slovakian team which caused me to cheer for the Slovaks the entire game. In the end, Russia won 4-2. The Slovakian goalie was very busy and played very well. She was a victim of a few unlucky bounces.

After the game, we just left the campus as the arena is really the only Olympic thing out there. It's weird since if you exit CHP after a game, it's downtown and there's everything related to the Olympics around you.

My luck ran out today as no one offered me tickets to anything! Though to be honest, I'm kinda glad I didn't get to see Canada play the US today. It was disappointing enough to watch it at home, I can't imagine how much it probably sucked to watch it live at CHP.

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