Rough landing!

Well, I'm here, and just finishing my first day of work at the IBC.  It was a long haul to get here, and it started out great, when I got pulled for a random "drug/explosive" swab test.  As a consolation for the 30 second delay, they sent me to the Nexus line for security, which means I didn't have to remove my laptops from my bag, or take off my shoes and belt, or even my coat.  Nice!

Flying in to New Jersey, the pilot took us by the Superbowl stadium!

 

On my flight, I met a guy from Burlington who is working in Audio at the Ski Jump venue.  I'll probably end up chatting with him when we check in his venue every day.  Once we got to Newark, we found that NBC people were allowed into the Delta club to wait for our flight on our 3.5 hour layover.  Free snacks and drinks, and you could even take a shower if you wanted.

 

My flight to Sochi was a direct NBC charter flight with United.  The NBC charters are always great.  Our dinner started with jumbo shrimp cocktail and a small salad.  The entrée choices were Beef Tenderloin, Rotisserie Chicken, Ginger Soy-glazed Sea Bass or Eggplant Parmesan, followed by a selection of international cheeses and crackers, and either New York Cheesecake or Hagen Daz ice cream bars for desert.  I chose the Tenderloin, accompanied by several glasses of a very nice Cabernet Sauvignon!  (and of course the New York Cheesecake, which was awesome!).

 

Unfortunately, I was assigned a middle seat (first time that NBC has not left the middle seats empty on a charter), and was unable to sleep.  However, I did watch four movies - Thor, Thor: The Dark World, The Fifth Estate (the Julianne Assange Wikileaks story), and Jobs (the Steve Jobs bio-pic).

 

I landed in Sochi at around 1pm local time (4am EST), but it took 3 hours to get through immigration, collect our luggage, get our Olympic accreditation validated, and take the bus to our hotel.  Once I got checked in at the main building (there are at least 12, because I am in building 12), I found that the elevator was broken, my room key didn't work, nor did the TV, and the room temperature was about 90F (there is a radiator that I turned off completely). 

 

There is WiFi, but it only works in the hallway, or if I sit on the floor just inside my room.  There are lots of amenities missing in the hotel (no soap, no shampoo, one bath towel, no wash cloth, etc...) but the room is decent, if a little on the small side.  Another weirdness, the comforter on the bed is EXACTLY the same size as the bed, so it doesn't overlap the side or bottom at all, and there is only a fitted sheet, no top sheet on the bed.

 

My room...

 

There is a tiny desk with the (non-working) TV, and no drawers, but there is an armoire beside the bed that has a few shelves for clothes, and about 5 hangers.  I've brought enough shirts, pants, socks and underwear that I hope to only have to do laundry once or twice, as it is very expensive to do.

 

My only pieces of furniture...



 

By the time I got settled in the room, it was about 5pm, and I was exhausted, so I went to sleep (without even unpacking), woke up briefly at 9pm, and then slept through till 2am.  Unfortunately, I was wide awake then, so I caught up on some email (sitting on the floor by the door), and tried going back to sleep.  Managed to stay in bed till 6:30am (but didn't sleep much).

 

Got up, unpacked, and realized that I brought my camera, but forgot to bring a memory card (hopefully I can buy one here).  Then I made my way to the IBC for my first day at work.  The bus ride was only about 20 minutes, and it was surprisingly (and a little unsettlingly) easy to pass through security (no laptop check, no belt removal...). 

 

We had a very busy first day here.  I broke a chair (no jokes about weight please!) in the first 10 minute by leaning backwards, and then I disabled the NBC Director of Communications keypanel for about 5 hours during a remote upgrade (fortunately, he is a friend, and is in Florida, and was sleeping while it happened).  A bit of a rough landing, but I did hit the ground running!

 

More (happier) adventures tomorrow...