Olympic Games - Preparing to Party?

We British can be a dour lot. Much of the  first world including the UK is in the middle of economic turmoil and strife. Spring has not quite yet sprung and today's weather is coldish  greyish wetish and windyish.

However with one of the world's  greatest excuses for partying becoming clearer as  time progresses to the London 2012 Olympic games, due to start in July, more people are still moaning and making dire predictions about travel, tourism, theatre shutdowns, and hotels' problems, and about their disinterest in matters sporting and of course the cost, than are actually celebrating the great opportunities  for  enjoying amazing sporting spectacles and awe and wonder at the physical limits human bodies can achieve.

Hosting the Olympic games is likely to cause a  different and exciting atmosphere to permeate everyday life by way of unique contrast with the routine of normal metropolitan living and working- or could do if people give the  new atmosphere a chance to affect them.

The financial costs are high but nowhere near as high as the cost of say the UK government bailing out the Royal Bank of Scotland. Olympic money spending unlike say Quantitative Easing cash is   shared around as it happens in the form of wages building contracts employment and heaven forbid even  shopping  - as witness the success  for those who like shops and shopping of the new  Olympic Stratford Westfield centre  already The recipients mostly pay tax on their salaries contracts profits and spending much of which goes back to the government. Previously hideous swathes of part of East London are made more attractive.

Wimbledon  being an Olympic town by virtue of its hosting the Olympic tennis this year, has had its main SWTrain and District and Tram line station concourse entrance improved. Out are the cars that for years had  had priority over passengers walking to the station entrance although the  entry concourse that replaced the road, slopes sideways a little steeply.

This week though trees have been planted  and luminescent colourful light strips placed within the paving leading from the station - the lights are fun at night  and the trees a significant improvement. The neighbouring streets and shopping mall are also being worked on at present. Momentarily on Thursday this week  the concourse was covered by an array of Olympic flags though these have  since disappeared  and on Friday a smart looking  info kiosk  and several benches were added so things are looking up.

The local atmosphere  during the annual Wimbledon Tennis championships is always upbeat despite the minority of moaners that invariably raise issues such as not being able to park as easily as during the rest of the year . In my view the different party-feel about the town and village is even better when the Davis cup tennis tour turns up for a couple of weeks. The Olympics should create a  buzz locally and far beyond,  better than both those already exciting events combined.

Particularly after  having been lucky enough to land some tickets for the Olympic tennis  at Wimbledon, athletics at Stratford and football  at Wembley, I hope and intend as they say 'to have a ball.' Boring the games will not be...