02-10-2016, 10:58 AM
I forgot to mention the cool SB50 lid, which I will wear proudly. Note that the lid didn't come from the NFL. The NFL are tight-fisted greedy bastards. They provided minimal schwag, which was particularly annoying because there was so much schwag to be had. It was the 49ers that sprung for the lids. They are easily $30+ and I doubt NFL gives the niners a discount.
BTW, I was given an SB50 gold pin several months ago. I passed that along to Greg during my last Hollywood trip because I figured he'd appreciate it more and didn't think I was going to work SB50. Turns out that pin was unavailable merch - it was exclusive for pre-promotion. Everyone was looking for those because they were particularly nice. I'm glad Greg has it now.
There was one station that was outside the perimeter, in the dungeon of the Convention center. No one knew it was there. Those vols were hating it. I had to deliver some Keflex for a really bad spider bite and it took me forever to find it because no one knew where it was. I had to make a few runs out there, and had to go through security again to get back in several times. But that became fun later because there was no longer a crowd.
NFL only provided a crappy box lunch, but I will give them cred for having a veg quinoa wrap option. We fed off the Firehouse, since we have a good relationship with them. Firemen know BBQ, so it was pulled pork for lunch and tri-tip for din din. Which didn't do a lot for vegetarian DM, but he appreciated that his fellow vols ate well because we all needed fuel. Another cheese sammich for me.
I did buy a pin. I wasn't going to because I already got some souvenirs with the lid, lammy, lanyard and name tag. I should have bought a bunch and resold them at a profit. Before it started, I checked out the bazillion stacked-to-the-rafters merch booths. Hoodies for $175. Shirts $50+. Pins weren't bad at $12+. At the 2nd quarter, I escorted one of our senior nurses to the main shop at Levi's. It was gutted. Everything sold out. Fans were dropping thousands. Retailers were pulling stuff out of the back and selling them as they walked down the checkout line.
I was on the move working it until the National Anthem. I managed to catch Lady Gaga and the Blue Angels. The roar of the crowd was deafening, and I'm quite accustomed to loudness. Then I caught some of the 1st quarter, enjoyed an $8 bowl of very delicious nachos, and things were pretty chill until halftime. There are monitors in our internal med stations so I saw a lot of the 1st half there and in the stadium. Only caught a few commercials. Still haven't seen the monkey-baby-puppy thing everyone is talking about.
I saw the halftime show out of the corner of my eye moving some stuff from station to station. I could heard it and catch it on the monitors that I passed but the delay on the monitors was distracting. The show seemed great from that perspective and I didn't key in on Beyonce's BLM controversy at all until later. Mostly, Coldplay seemed out of place, Bruno and Beyonce seemed very Bollywood, and the rainbow thing, well, I didn't see that at all from where I was.
Second half I was working more, or sitting on my ass because I was tired. At the end, I was on the move again, pulling stuff down. I had to swim upstream with a cot as fans were exiting. That was a bitch because it wasn't a gurney, it was a cot on wheels, heavy and hard to manage on slight uphill inclines. That, or taking a box of lunches out to Convention Center, were my hardest tasks. The rest was little stuff, like making an otoscope out of a pen light and an otoscope cone (old skool RM that).
I didn't see any celebs. Other vols did but I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I did see some NFL team owners (that's who I was told they were). One of their shoes was worth more than I make in a month. Such gluttony.
It was really fun. I feel so privileged to have been there to witness it all. The consumerism and commercialism was American capitalism at its finest. And the reaction of people who weren't there is as polemic as the elections this year. The mayor of Santa Clara quit right after SB50 - he had 3 years left on his term. He cut the ribbon on Levi's and Levi's was mainly built for SB50. It's a terrible venue, crappy sound, logistically awkward, and the sun beats down on the crowd mercilessly. Now the next mayor will be left holding the bill. Classy. But I'll be back at Levi's for Beyonce.
BTW, I was given an SB50 gold pin several months ago. I passed that along to Greg during my last Hollywood trip because I figured he'd appreciate it more and didn't think I was going to work SB50. Turns out that pin was unavailable merch - it was exclusive for pre-promotion. Everyone was looking for those because they were particularly nice. I'm glad Greg has it now.
There was one station that was outside the perimeter, in the dungeon of the Convention center. No one knew it was there. Those vols were hating it. I had to deliver some Keflex for a really bad spider bite and it took me forever to find it because no one knew where it was. I had to make a few runs out there, and had to go through security again to get back in several times. But that became fun later because there was no longer a crowd.
NFL only provided a crappy box lunch, but I will give them cred for having a veg quinoa wrap option. We fed off the Firehouse, since we have a good relationship with them. Firemen know BBQ, so it was pulled pork for lunch and tri-tip for din din. Which didn't do a lot for vegetarian DM, but he appreciated that his fellow vols ate well because we all needed fuel. Another cheese sammich for me.
I did buy a pin. I wasn't going to because I already got some souvenirs with the lid, lammy, lanyard and name tag. I should have bought a bunch and resold them at a profit. Before it started, I checked out the bazillion stacked-to-the-rafters merch booths. Hoodies for $175. Shirts $50+. Pins weren't bad at $12+. At the 2nd quarter, I escorted one of our senior nurses to the main shop at Levi's. It was gutted. Everything sold out. Fans were dropping thousands. Retailers were pulling stuff out of the back and selling them as they walked down the checkout line.
I was on the move working it until the National Anthem. I managed to catch Lady Gaga and the Blue Angels. The roar of the crowd was deafening, and I'm quite accustomed to loudness. Then I caught some of the 1st quarter, enjoyed an $8 bowl of very delicious nachos, and things were pretty chill until halftime. There are monitors in our internal med stations so I saw a lot of the 1st half there and in the stadium. Only caught a few commercials. Still haven't seen the monkey-baby-puppy thing everyone is talking about.
I saw the halftime show out of the corner of my eye moving some stuff from station to station. I could heard it and catch it on the monitors that I passed but the delay on the monitors was distracting. The show seemed great from that perspective and I didn't key in on Beyonce's BLM controversy at all until later. Mostly, Coldplay seemed out of place, Bruno and Beyonce seemed very Bollywood, and the rainbow thing, well, I didn't see that at all from where I was.
Second half I was working more, or sitting on my ass because I was tired. At the end, I was on the move again, pulling stuff down. I had to swim upstream with a cot as fans were exiting. That was a bitch because it wasn't a gurney, it was a cot on wheels, heavy and hard to manage on slight uphill inclines. That, or taking a box of lunches out to Convention Center, were my hardest tasks. The rest was little stuff, like making an otoscope out of a pen light and an otoscope cone (old skool RM that).
I didn't see any celebs. Other vols did but I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I did see some NFL team owners (that's who I was told they were). One of their shoes was worth more than I make in a month. Such gluttony.
It was really fun. I feel so privileged to have been there to witness it all. The consumerism and commercialism was American capitalism at its finest. And the reaction of people who weren't there is as polemic as the elections this year. The mayor of Santa Clara quit right after SB50 - he had 3 years left on his term. He cut the ribbon on Levi's and Levi's was mainly built for SB50. It's a terrible venue, crappy sound, logistically awkward, and the sun beats down on the crowd mercilessly. Now the next mayor will be left holding the bill. Classy. But I'll be back at Levi's for Beyonce.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse