The Winter Olympics and Zambonis

Like most of you, I've been watching the Winter Olympics off and on. I haven't been obsessive about it. I don't watch them on my cell phone or look for constant updates. In fact, our DVR allows us to record the games and fast forward through four hours to see more than enough in about an hour a day.

Still, I'm happy and strangely proud to see Americans like Shaun White and Lindsey Vonn perform their best and be rewarded with Gold Medals. I also like watching athletes from all over the world doing their best.

When I was a child, I remember hating those stern Russians and Eastern Europeans who would beat our smiling Americans in ice skating competitions because of their judges not being as fair as western judges, or at least that's how I saw it. After visiting St. Petersburg and Warnemunde, where I found the people to actually be very much like Americans only living in more harsh conditions, I now find myself sympathetic toward them.

I'm pulling for Russia's Evgeni Plushenko, who is making an amazing comeback after three years off during which he found driving a fast car and being relatively wealthy couldn't equal the thrill of beating his "enemies," by which I believe he means his opponents, although I'm not completely sure.

Selling cruises is not very much like being an Olympic athlete. However, I can help my clients "watch the right events," which is to a great extent the equivalent of getting them on the right cruise line and ship in the perfect room for their budget. I can even help them know what to watch for as highlights on their cruise so they don't miss out.

Many people, however, will hunt and peck their way through web sites to find their own trip, and if they devote enough hours to their search or get lucky, they may find the best possible choices for themselves. Even if they don't book the perfect trip, they're likely to have a good time if they make it onboard, because as my buddy Mike frequently says, "I've never been on a bad cruise."

In addition to the shining moments and heart-breaking falls, the Winter Olympics this year has also experienced a few technical difficulties. Perhaps you saw different skaters and coaches complaining about the ice surfaces being uneven and unacceptable, and like me you concluded that the Zambonis had failed to do their jobs.

It turned out that was an incorrect judgement. You see, Zamboni did not win the Olympic sponsorship this year, and a company called Olympia which sells a similar machine is responsible for the poor ice conditions. If everything had gone well, no one would have said, "Wow, look how smoothe that ice is for the skaters. That's going to lead to amazing performances. Three cheers for Zamboni!" However, when things weren't so smoothe, Zamboni was immediately the scapegoat.

Perhaps most people will never know that Zamboni wasn't responsible for the ice problems and that a company named Olympia was. Fewer still will know that Olympic organizers brought over a Zamboni from an ice rink in Calgary to bail them out of their rough situation, so now it should be smoothe skating.

You see, it's only when things go awry that you begin to realize that cutting corners might be a problem. My brother-in-law Mike has lamented the fact that his plumbing business has been undercut on quite a few jobs lately. His company pays a fair wage to their workers and does top quality work, but he's losing bids to people who may not even know what they're doing but will do it cheaper. The lesson will only be learned when the leaks begin and the company you bought from is nowhere in sight.

Sometimes, it pays to go with the REAL Zambonis of the world. "Better service leads to better trips!"

P.S. Did you know you could ice skate to the Caribbean, Mexico and Europe? Call 866-554-5553 and ask me how.