Ramping Up

Alrighty then. That was a busy afternoon/night/morning. 22 skids, 18 the night prior. Remarkably, most of the groceries are gone the next afternoon when we come in. That should give you a small insight to the sheer volume of meals being prepared. Nearly 8000 yesterday & the kitchen is open to eat 24 hours a day.

I'm also finding my military training kicking into high gear now. An event of ths magnitude is really not all that different than large military exercises in terms of the logistics required. The only real difference is the type of food, the amount of menu choices, & the fact there's a very impressive kitchen set up here. While in the military we're under tents or in a kitchen trailer. We also have the benefit of doing what we do best, all the time.

Also similar to a military exercise, groceries/rations are ordered & received every single day, usually in the evening hours under the cover of darkness. As cooks, we received, rotated and stored our own rations. Like Bill mentioned in an earlier post, most chefs are preparing for much smaller numbers, thus the amount groceries would be relative.

It's rewarding being able to use that background experience here, knowing it's making difference. Even if it's shaving off a couple minutes of someone elses day when they're looking for that certain item that they need for their recipe. Or at the very least, being able to let them know if it's out of stock so they're not wasting their valuable time searching for something that's not there. Working smarter, not harder.

I'm just on the bus heading in for my shift. I've been told another 22 skids for tonight & we should up to our max of 12,000 meals a day by Thursday the 11th. That's 2600 athletes & 1500 workforce. We'll let you how it goes.

Cheers, Olympic FSM Mike