I know, I know… it’s getting colder, and the rain is starting, and I shouldn’t be happy about that, but I really am!  The leaves are changing colours.  I can walk through leaves falling from the trees like rain.  And even when it actually rains, and the leaves on the ground start to melt, you get a beautiful ochre paste coating the sidewalks.  The crispness of the air means bigger coats, maybe even mittens and scarves.  Everything is changing with season, and for me, the most exciting sensation is the excitement of the Olympics growing with the cooling air.

Today’s most exciting news is about tickets!!  The third and final phase of ticket for the Olympics and Paralympics starts on November 7th at 10am (Pacific Time).  This ticketing phase is for Canadian residents.  However… if you are a Canadian resident there will be a lot of tickets available!  There will be more than 100,000 tickets available to Olympic events in the city!  Plus thousands of tickets for Paralympic events!  So get registered if you aren’t already (and I’ll tell you why you should be in a minute, but don’t wait, take my word for it and register now!!).

More exciting news!  If you live (primary or secondary home) between Squamish and Mt. Currie you count as a local and you get to buy tickets to events in Whistler!  But it’s one weekend only!  So you need to register before 7pm October 23rd and purchase your Whistler Olympic tickets between October 24 at 10:00 am to October 25 at 5:00 pm for events at Creekside, the Sliding Centre and the Olympic Park.  Plus, if you’re fast, when you buy tickets you’ll get two tickets to a Whistler Victory Ceremony.  The small(-ish) print is that these tickets are not eligible for the Olympic Bus Network (hence Locals only) and are not re-sellable on the fan-to-fan marketplace that will be launched later in fall.  Check out the rest of the info here.

Lit model of Molson Canadian Hockey House at Concord Pacific's display centre

And last (and to my thinking best of all) if you are a Vancouver 2010 ticket account holder then you can take advantage of an offer to purchase individual day passes for Molson Canadian Hockey House!!!  So far only 4-day passes have been available.  We signed up for a one-day ticket for 4 people today!  I really, really can’t wait!  It’s going to be an insanely good day!  Woohoo!  I can’t wait for 40-foot big screens.  Maybe we’ll even get hockey trivia! That would be cool, though I suspect I would suck terribly compared to a lot of Canadian Hockey Fans!  Woohoo!

Other news today was the announcement of the second phase of the Vancouver 2010 Integrated Transportation plan.  Honestly, I haven’t read it yet.  I should have, but I haven’t.  So I will by tomorrow and will report things of interest.  Though I expect a heck of a lot to be said before I write tomorrow, so I’ll keep my ears open and say something interesting about it all.  I guess I’ve just been anticipating walking or taking transit everywhere during the Games so I’m not too perturbed about the announcement.  But I know not everyone feels this way so I will report!  Gotta know what’s happening in my home! 

So, today’s take home message is to sign up for a ticketing account!  All sorts of excitement will come of it!

Oh, and don’t forget to make a suggestion for my ‘100 days of 2010vanfan’ contest (scroll down to the bottom of the post)!  I have not had one single entry so far and I have a Vancouver 2010 Pin Album up for grabs for the best suggestion!  So far I get to keep it for myself, and while I would like one, I’d love to hear from all of you more!