I wish to remind everyone of this quote from THE PRINCESS BRIDE:

Vizzini: You only think I guessed wrong! That's what's so funny! I switched glasses when your back was turned! Ha ha! You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders - The most famous of which is "never get involved in a land war in Asia" - but only slightly less well-known is this: "Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line"! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha...

And then to say …

ADD THIS QUOTE TO THAT LIST:

Dmitry Kozak, the deputy prime minister responsible for the Olympic preparations, seemed to reflect the view held among many Russian officials that some Western visitors are deliberately trying to sabotage Sochi's big debut out of bias against Russia. "We have surveillance video from the hotels that shows people turn on the shower, direct the nozzle at the wall and then leave the room for the whole day," he said.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1 ... 2107461956

We are watching you so the three greatest blunders are:

1) Never get involved in a ground war in Asia

2) Never bet with a Sicilian when DEATH is on the line

3) Don't shower in Russia the Mirrors are watching (take a Seven Say Deodorant Pad. They'll die after three days but a bottle will last long enough. Beside, no one will notice you unless you use the tandem buddy toilets… die commie turds die!)

Never get involved in a land war in Asia?! So, that's where I made my mistake. --FLO--

I made my mistake when I actually thought one Seven Day Deodorant Pad meant the effect lasted 7 days and not the pad lasted 7 days…

Well, sort of, I might be mis-remembering that.

I had one of those "moments of clarity" sudden "flashes" - light bulbs blinking overhead -- stars exploding

when I heard "we have surveillance about the showers"

Wallace Shawn appeared in my mind and died over and over (that is Vizzini's death in the movie, ICYDK)

"In USA you watch TV, in Soviet Russia TV watches you."

In short - I started reading the news about Sochi. I don't know if I should laugh or cry.

"Do not read soviet newspapers before breakfast! - But there are no other newspapers! - Then don't read them at all."

Oh, and the exchange rate of rouble dropped... looks like we are going to see problems after Olympics. Or may be not. Who knows.

PS. Re: Showers russians in cities can survive without hot water. Every summer there were prophylactic works (oh, really?) on water system (for about 20 days, just short enough so that there would be no compensation for that) - so no hot water for 20 days.

What people have to realize and has been said about at least the Salt Lake City and London Olympics is that from the instant the public pomp and circumstance begin, nothing works right and yesterday's planners are now runners and firefighters making sure that whatever is going wrong does not affect the outcome.

Nothing much works as planned and everyone involved knows it.

It seems to me that a whole lot of the world is organized under the central theme that nothing works, but everything works out.

It's one of those ESL problems that crops up.

We hear "surveillance" and think electronic and more intrusive. The most likely facts are that he means maid service or hotel employees noticed water running and no one in a room. These are brand new facilities. Russia simply rebuilt everything and intends to create Sochi as a grand resort for tourists so they want things to work and remain good looking. That's a good thing.

I had a LOL moment with raging giggles for a few hours thanks to his interview. A head popping -- "he said what?"

I also think that certain reporters were having too much schadenfreude over their rooms and the problems with their rooms. IT makes an easy and lazy story.