3:55

Not my photo

As most of you know I have a little something called Olympic Fever. It's not serious, but every now and then I need to get my fix.

Today's must see event was the Men's 200 metre race. It featured the world's fastest man, Usain Bolt, of Jamaica and two of his fellow compatriots. After the 100 metre race, which Bolt won in an Olympic best time of 9.63 seconds, this was the next most anticipated one.

It was slated to begin at 3:55 p.m. Eastern Time. 680 News (680 AM) said they'd air it live on the radio as it happened. Since I would be on the road working, it would be the next best thing to seeing it.

Throughout the day I made my deliveries watching the clock as it counted down closer and closer to start time.

At around 3:50 I arrived at the back of Golden Court Chinese restaurant on Highway 7. Only five minutes to go until the race. I asked myself if I should sit in the van and wait or run in and make a quick drop off. Normally it would only take three or four minutes tops for me to pop in and out of this particular place.

I decided I would go in.

The lady I usually deal with was nowhere to be found. Instead I found the cashier. I told her there was one and 1/3 box of wet towels left and she agreed that I should bring another box in.

When I came back from the van with the new box she had the money all ready to give to me. That was good. It made things faster. She gave me the cash and I gave her a copy of the receipt from my book.

I put the new box beside the full one that I brought last week and took the small bag of wet towels out of the other box and put it up on top of the cupboard beside the other two boxes.

As for the empty box? I brought outside where I saw a large recycling bin. You know... the ones the size of a big dumpster.

Now I can't remember exactly what happened next... I believe I had the money and my receipt book in my left hand and the empty box in the other. From the top step (fourth or fifth step of the metal stairs leading into the back of the restaurant) I tossed the box into the bin. As I did I inadvertently bumped my left hand. Something fell into the recycling bin.

I checked my left hand. The cash was still there. Thankfully. But, the receipt book was gone. I had to get it.

I looked over the edge of the bin. The box was on top, but the book wasn't. Why, oh why, wasn't it on top? No, it had to fall down a slim crack to the bottom of the wet bin (it had been raining all day). I had no choice but to jump in and dig. Thankfully this was the cardboard recycling bin, not the garbage bin on the other side of the steps. I seriously don't know if I could have waded through that filth.

A few minutes later I found the book. A little damp, a little dirty, but fine nevertheless. I had to move a bunch of stuff around inside the bin (yuck) so I could get down to the very bottom, but I eventually found it.

When I got back to the van and turned on the radio I was just in time to hear the announcer say that Usain Bolt had made history becoming the first person to defend both the 100 and 200 metre titles he won in the previous games. Greeeaaat.

Olympics - Day 8

Not my photo - Clockwise from top left - Rosie MacLennan, Paula Findlay, Women's Team Pursuit, Ryan Cochrane

Day 8 was pretty special for Canada at the 2012 Olympics in London. Understand that we're a relatively small country. Winning a medal of any kind is great for us. So when we won three on Saturday it was a wonderful accomplishment.

Up until that day we had only won seven medals (2 silver and 5 bronze) in total. That all changed when 23-year-old, Rosie MacLennan, of Toronto won gold in Trampoline. She beat her main rivals from China Shanshan Huang (silver) and He Wenna (bronze). Unfortunately they bumped fellow Canadian Karen Cockburn to fourth.

In the pool Ryan Cochrane edged out Tunisian swimmer Oussama Mellouli for silver in the Men's 1500-metre Freestyle. China's Sun Yang won the event going away setting a new world record at 14:31.02.

Finally the trio of Gillian Carleton, Jasmin Glaesser and Tara Whitten won bronze on the track in the Women's Team Pursuit. They edged out a game Australian team over the 12-lap (3000-metre) race by less than two-tenths of a second. Thrilling.

Sadly it wasn't all happy news for Canadian Olympic fans. We saw a tearful Paula Findlay struggle through injury to finish last (52nd place) in the Women's Triathlon. An emotional, Findlay, apologized to Canadians for letting us down.

What she didn't realize is she has nothing to apologize for. She's a hero to many of us epitomizing the Olympic spirit of perseverance and class by never giving up no matter how badly she felt. She made me, for one, proud to be a Canadian with her gutsy performance. That's as important as any medal as far as I'm concerned.