Where In The World Is Sum1?

El Centro, California, I Spent A Week There One Day

         Well, for the first time in about three months, I'm once again traveling.  It's not that I haven't been busy, because I've been as busy, or busier than I am while on the road.  And I'm not here a week, only two days.  El Centro is a pretty small town off I-8 in Southern California.  It's about 5 miles from the Mexican border, with a large population of Chinese, and Mexicans of course.
 
         I'm here to teach the Imperial Irrigation District radio programming.  You might be surprised to learn this, but the radios used by police, most large utility companies, the FBI, and any major industry (as well as the Military) are programmed using computers.  The students range from very experienced to apprentices, but all are eager to learn.

         I may be back here in January, we'll see.  At that point, I would teach them radio maintenance.  How to check proper operation, tune/align the radios, and basic maintenance.  Unfortunately, because most of the electronic components in a radio are as small or smaller than the ones in your computer, little hands on repair is done by shops.  So I teach first echelon maintenance, things they can easily do before deciding to send it back to Motorola Solutions.

         Next week it's Spokane, before going to Charlotte NC the following week.  I'll spend almost two weeks there, teaching two different classes, then doing a make up lab for them from a third course.  Long story there, don't ask.