Due to no income coming into the home, we had to look for work. I saw an ad for caterers during the Olympics through Kelly Services, which would pay between $8-13 an hour. At first, I was going to apply by myself, then Uhl decided to apply. We went into the Kelly Services office and filled out the forms. Of course, they immediately loved us. They knew someone with a Ph.D. and someone with a computer job and professional background would make great employees. We had to get fingerprinted because anyone working in the Olympic venues had to have a background check. Those jobs were the best thing that happened to us. We really enjoyed the Olympics. We worked for a company called “Culinary Expressions International.” It was a company formed by the merger of a New York company and a Utah company. They secured most of the catering jobs during the Olympics. They also have contracts to do the 2004 Athens and 2006 Turin, Italy Olympics. The company provided high-class catering. They flew in most of their staff from around the country. It was really fun to work with people from all over the US and Canada.

Uhl scored a job working at the Nike venue. He received over $1300 worth of Nike merchandise. Plus Uhl worked 40 hours a week receiving $13/hour. Uhl got to associate with people working for Nike, plus he got to serve several Nike athletes. He saw Sasha Cowen, Derek Parra, Apollo Ohno, and many of the men’s and women’s hockey teams. Uhl also got to see the 5000 M women’s speed skating, so he cheered loudly as Clara Hughes won the bronze (Clara is a cyclist who won two bronze medals in the 1996 Summer Olympics). The other added benefit was all the incredible food we were able to consume. We always ate during our shift. Plus we could take home any leftover food; it is amazing how much food gets wasted in foodservice. Uhl began taking a cooler to work and bringing the food home. We had a freezer full of food by the end of the Olympics, and it took us six months to finish it all.

I worked a lot of the USOC parties. I also worked at the Visa venue. I got to meet Kristy Yamaguchi and Alexi Yaguden. The Visa venue was right next to the Medals Plaza, so we could hear all the concerts each night. I also went to the Medals Plaza for the Goo-Goo Dolls concert. I must admit that the best part of the night was the medal ceremony. You don’t realize how much emotion is there until you actually witness these amazing athletes getting their medals. I worked at McDonald’s in the Paralympic Village during the Paralympic Games. Those athletes are so inspiring. Because there weren’t as many athletes, we got to talk to the athletes a lot more. So many of the athletes came to McDonald’s for the fries. McDonald’s was a great company to work for. They have researched how they prepare products, and it is a science; that precision guarantees that the experience at Mcdonald’s is the same in California as it is in New York.