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 |  I travel the country on business, sometimes the world. Come see where I've been. |
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Talk about perks, my job has one of the best ones I can think of! I travel in the course of business, delivering classes for my employer. I am a Senior Training Specialist for Motorola Solutions, and teach classes on a wide variety of subjects centered around 2 way radio communications. I'm qualified to deliver approximately 30 different classes, but about half of those are 'Legacy' classes, and are not in demand anymore. My students are technicians, those who maintain, program, calibrate, and repair large 2-way radio systems. Some of these systems are statewide, and use TCP-IP networking to allow sites to communicate with others. Some are small, traditional type radio sites. The size doesn't matter, in each case the systems must be kept operational at all times, since many of them are Public Safety Systems. So I get to travel, sometimes frequently, 3-4 weeks in a row.... where am I this week? This probably won't have daily entries, but I will make entries when I get to go somewhere, and keep an updated list of coming trips. My schedule changes faster than the weather, so don't be too surprised to see me list an upcoming class, only to remark later on that it is cancelled, or delayed. Delays are fine of course, but a later date might mean that someone else gets to go instead of me,,, Well, here we go with this, let's see where it takes us.  Best Cultural And Regional Honorable Mention |
| Locale: Queens, NY Week of: 6/12/2023 I spent last week in Queens delivering two short classes to the Long Island Railroad. I had an advantage though with these classes. I wrote both of them!  And even though I hadn't taught one in 5 years, it went very well. Both classes went very well actually. The trip there was another story.I've been using a soft sided suitcase the last couple of years. Somehow the outer pocket zipper was broken. It's repairable, but man... Both zipper pulls are gone, one zipper is missing, the other is missing the part that the pull slides into. The same for a smaller outer pocket on that pocket. Additionally, the seam along the zipper is ripped for about 6 inches. I have to wonder what happened during the baggage handling., Then there's the flight home. The flight was delayed 1 hour, then 2, then 3.5, and finally 5. I'm not sure if it was cancelled or not, because American Airlines rebooked me the next morning. Their first booking was laughable, I mean that. It was then that I call American Express Global Travel, and they booked my on United Friday night, reserved a room near O'Hare airport, then on to Peoria Illinois, where a rental waited, and I drove home. However, that damaged bag? Yeah, it was never retagged, and was essentially lost. United is still looking for it, even though I have it. How's that? Well, I looked at the final American Airlines itinerary, and I was to fly Saturday morning to Detroit, then O'Hare, and finally home by 9 pm or so. I figured the bag was on those flights, and it was! I went to the Bloomington Airport to check and see if by chance it was there, and it was. I have no idea which flight it came in on, but it was there. That's all I cared about, In Closing The week of 6 /19 I will be in Cheyenne Wyoming for a class with the Department of Transportation. After that, I get to spend 3 weeks at home! I will deliver an online class the week before and week after 7/4. Looking forward to a relaxing time,. Until next time, be good to those you love, spoil them, and write! Jim Dorrell  |
| Locale: Schaumburg, Illinois Week of: 6/5/2023 I spent last week in Schaumburg delivering what we call a resident class. In this case, it was a class I've delivered for 22 years now. I can deliver it blindfolded and one hand tied behind my back. The class was excellent, the students involved in discussions every day, everything I could hope for in a class like this. It's a class that covers basic RF theory, with 10 different subjects discussed throughout the week. I've tried to get other instructors interested in delivering it, but have had little luck in that regard. It's okay, I like this class, but we need other qualified because I know I won't be around forever. One of my students was in my GTR class in April, it was nice seeing him again. He did tell me that after that April class, he found out that one of his sisters had a very aggressive form of Cancer. Forgive me, I don't recall what type it was, but for some reason Ovarian Cancer sticks in my mind. When she received the news, she just gave up on life in general, and died just over a month later! I know I've mentioned this before, but something I learned over 40 years ago is, Never Give Up! In this case, it wasn't life and death, I was trying to qualify as a Radiological Controls Shift Supervisor. It was an oral board, and I was doing well. Then came the casualty that everyone gets during their board, and still, I was doing well. Then they threw a twist in the scenario, and I actually said, "Well, since I screwed up the immediate actions and everything after that, I guess you're going to fail me." That was the anchor that sank me. They told me afterwards that the only reason they failed me was that I gave up. That was the only time I've heard that, because I've never given up on anything since then. End rant. In Closing The week of 6 /12 I will be in Queens NY for a second class with the customer I delivered a class to in May. That too should go very well since it's a subject, and device that I've taught for 12-13 years now. Until next time, be good to those you love, spoil them, and write! Jim Dorrell |
| Locale: Bloomington Illinois Week of: 5/15/2023 thur 5/29/2023 The week of 5/15 I was scheduled to go to Brooklyn, NY for a class. As fate would have it, that never happened. Why? Well, my last entry was about being in Queens NY the prior week. I got home Friday night, and Saturday morning we headed to Indiana to get our young Akita in a 'FastCat' run. This is a timed 100 yard run to determine how fast he runs. (about 22-23 mph as it turns out). It's fun for him, he seems to love everything about it. Well, that Saturday was also the day I started the next cycle of my Chemo drug. This drug is to have several side effects, some of them could be severe. You know, Heart Attack, Stroke, and many other less severe. It was one of those less severe side effects that hit me. A side effect I'd never experienced before in the two years I've been taking that medicine. I spare you the details, but know that it left me dehydrated, and very weak/disoriented. I slept almost the entire 4 hour ride home on Sunday. I was scheduled to fly to NYC on Monday, but had already warned my manager about what was going on. We talked Sunday, and he decided I wasn't traveling. That was a good thing, because I was in no shape to do much. I ended up sleeping most of that drive as I mentioned, all night Sunday night, and napped as needed the next couple of days. It wasn't until Wednesday that I started feeling like myself. I found that an Electrolyte Solution worked well to help me recover. Electrolyte Solution = Adult Pedialyte. When I wasn't sleeping I worked on course materials and studied courses I might qualify to deliver. The class I couldn't deliver has now been moved to July, on my schedule still. It has to be on my schedule, I'm the lone qualified instructor. The following week was a scheduled off week, so I kept working on the things I'd been working on the previous week. The third week was Memorial Day week, and I came to Schaumburg to finally connect a small device to the repeaters on the system I maintain. Except that never happened. One of our adjunct (contractor instructors) was there preparing for his delivery this week. Part of it involved hands-on activities on a radio site. This instructor is a good friend of mine, a former Motorolan now working as a contractor. The help he needed I have knowledge of, so I worked with him all week instead of manufacturing the cables I intended to make. I felt it was more important to help him gain the knowledge needed for this delivery than manufacturing those cables. Why? Because the cables are for a portion of a course we have yet to deliver in Schaumburg, even though that equipment has been installed for seven years or so. The cables can wait. Him learning this stuff cannot. In Closing The week of 6 /5 (right now really), I will be in Schaumburg the following week for a resident class. The following week I will be in Queens NY again, then Wyoming. Until next time, be good to those you love, spoil them, and write! Jim Dorrell |
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