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[Catch up on The Beginning and The Middle ...] Last Day The end. Always bittersweet. Busy day with two finals, and then final tear down. This event is a bit different, with the knowledge that we're all coming back in February for the Scotties, so the good byes weren't as sad as usual. The volunteers and local media have been great, so it'll be nice to see the same people again in a couple months. I think I've also sussed out the cheap & cheerful eats near the arena too, score! And as always, I cherish the time I spend as a fly on the wall as the veteran curling media guys swap stories and reminisce about curling events and personalities from the past. It really is a privilege to work with them event after event. They're always really good to me, welcoming me and making me feel comfortable in the media room. Besides my curling boss (who is my favourite boss because he says thank you and is always a pleasure to work with), I tend to get along well with the variou...

Day 3 Curling. For a bit on the media bench, I got to sit next to one of the Winter Youth Olympians - Team Canada is visiting and learning and practicing this week. Very cool. I'm obviously jealous those kids are going to Norway. I also managed to find a dinosaur sponsor pin! No time to visit the new Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum this trip, maybe in February? I went for a lovely short walk through the park that goes through Grande Prairie. It was such a beautiful December day! The non-highlight of the night was when my computer crashed in the middle of editing a scrum and I lost it all and had to start again. Then that froze and I found the old one. And there's timing for these videos - I have to post them and pass on the link to my boss who is posting the article and needs the video embed link and this all needs to be done as quickly as possible after a draw. Fortunately I still squeaked in under the wire! My favourite uniform #1: Team John Epping - My Favourite Purple. L...

Day 1 It's like riding a bike. Sort of. First I got stranded at the hotel because there's no shuttles out front. Thankfully an old friend saved me and called dispatch - oh how I've missed my curling friends! Dispatch number is now in my phone. Then there was no accreditation for me, so again my friend saved me and got me access. It's a nice venue, small but just perfect for what I'd want from a curling rink (minus the awesome food truck that parked outside at the Kamloops Brier, or the Safeway a dozen steps away at the Moose Jaw events, that was pretty exceptional). I helped set up the media scrum area, all the while pretending I totally knew what I was doing. Then it was watch a bit, film a bit, edit a bit, post. Repeat. I mostly got it right. Record is the big red button. Press record. Easy peasy day back on the bike. It's good to be back. Ah. This view again. Under the media bench. Wicked good storage at this venue. Taking photos for a calendar giveaway. Norm...

As I start writing this post, I'm currently sitting in the airport, on my way to Grande Prairie for the 2015 edition of the Canada Cup of Curling . This is my first curling "volunteering" gig of the season - and this season is the busiest curling season I'll be participating in since my first shift of the 2009 Canadian Curling Trials in Edmonton. Over a dozen events in numerous cities later, here I am ready to spend over half my vacations days in a curling venue. I sort of thought my Curling Canada days might be over: changing times, nothing locally, and the last event I worked, the Scotties in Moose Jaw, was the most fun event I've done so I was ready to go out with a bang. But, I'm super happy to be joining my Curling Canada people in Grande Prairie for not only the Canada Cup this week, but also the Scotties in February ! It will be nice to get back into the routine, catch up with old friends, and watch some curling. The Canada Cup is actually my favourit...

Last day. Women's final was in the morning, and was quite exciting. Then there was a ridiculously long break, in which I went for lunch with my favourite CCA event accountant. Good times. It was great to catch up with an old friend! The evening ended with the men's final, which was quite anticlimactic. I filmed the scrum on the ice, which usually scares the crap out of me, but this year was different. I love doing these events because I get to learn skills that I wouldn't ordinarily pick up at work. So far I've learned how to film and edit video, and I got supervisory experience from the 2012 Brier while I was a director. This event I learned how to film video without a tripod - not as terrifying as I originally thought! One of these days someone will teach my how to successfully manage the lighting and white balance! Sweeting vs Homan in the final. Team Sweeting won the Women's event! Russ, Cheryl and Vic doing a tv spot right above where I was sitting. Working on ...

No tiebreakers means I got to sleep in! Yay! Only 2 games going on so it was fairly quiet work wise, nothing out of the ordinary really. Except I happened to open my big mouth which got me in trouble (also nothing out of the ordinary really) but I didn't get fired - yay! Haha, all is well in the curling world. I met more nice curling people today, CCA staff, volunteers in the sponsor's lounge, fans, and ended up sitting and chatting with a couple timers in the stands. And that's why I'm here. Good people. Good times. Team Nedohin vs Team Sweeting - maybe they should draft in the newest snow sculpture? The view from the media bench is always my favourite. A better view of the Canada Cup on my 'desk'. Someone shined it up all pretty too! Team Fireball! I met this lady in the bathroom putting on her costume. I happened to run into Stu, the announcer, on my way out and told them about her. She got to play one of those between end games and won Big Valley Jamboree ti...