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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: Washington DC Area (Glenarden actually) Week of: 9/25/2023 I'm out in Glenarden Maryland again this week delivering the same Networking Class I delivered to them four weeks ago. New students of course, and having delivered this just four weeks ago, my memory is a lot fresher, resulting in a class that has flowed much better than the last time. It's not that the previous class didn't go well, because it did. It's just that this class is heads-n-tails above that one as far as my delivery goes. You have to understand though. I have a high school diploma, no Master's Degree, nor Bachelors Degree, no Associates Degree. So you get in front of the students and the first thing you ask, is for them to tell you a bit about themselves. Their background, interests, what their knowledge/background with the subject matter is, etc. And at least two of them respond that they are a Cisco Certified Network Administrator (CCNA). At first it's a little unnerving. But as you discuss things, you realize that their knowledge is good, but rusty. You ask questions, cover the material, and can see them struggling with answers. You see their knowledge is there, but it's covered in cobwebs that they are brushing aside to find the answer. This is the kind of thing I learned long ago. The students are knowledgeable, but most likely their knowledge needs a a bit of refreshing. And of course there's the hands-on activities that I've done many times, and am very familiar with. However, it's all new to them. I love teaching these classes. This week I've made an effort to get to small 'mom-&-Pop' places for dinner. Please see below. Both had excellent food and service, even if I did get my dinner to go. (Neither had much of a dining room though, which is why I got it to go.) Next week is vacation for two weeks! Home to New Mexico, then back at it with a class in Schaumburg. Upcoming on my schedule. 10/16: Schaumburg (original class in Marin County was cancelled this week because they and their radio system are a long ways from being installed. The class would have been delivered far too early.) 10/23: Work from home, 10/30: Schaumburg 11/6: Schaumburg (Too many weeks there!) 11/13: St Johns Newfoundland (Maybe) 11/20: Thanksgiving week 11/27: Los Angeles with LAPD 12/4: Fort Lauderdale 12/11: Michigan 12/18: Christmas Break (Work From Home) 12/25: Christmas Break (Work From Home) 1/1/24: New Years Break (Work From Home) Noteworthy Restaurants: The Silver Diner https://www.silverdiner.com/ You know you like a place when you return to it the next time in town, and return I did to the Silver Diner. This time I had their Burrata Bruschetta, & their Kickin' Crab And Corn Chowder. Yep, I'd dine there again if I came back to this area. 5 Taco's De Mayo https://www.taco5demayo.com/ I found this small mom-n-pop place on Google maps, which is how I find most places to dine. Their food was excellent. The burrito weighed about 1000 pounds, or so it seemed. It was heavy, you knew you had something large there, I couldn't wait to get to it. I also enjoyed one of their loaded taco's plate. Some of that became yesterday's lunch Sea Starr Restaurant https://seastarrestaurant.com/ Another small Mom-n-Pop place with little, to no dining room. My only complaint is that their actual menu is nothing like the one on the website. Excellent food though, you almost can't go wrong. Peel-n-Eat Shrimp, Seafood & Vegetable Scampi. Yummmmm Tomorrow is the last day of class, and my vacation starts! I'll keep you informed about things as we drive to Albuquerque. Might stop in a couple touristy places, you never know. Well, that's about it for now. Until my next post, be good to those you love, spoil them, and write!  Jim Dorrell |
| Locale: Schaumburg Illinois/Los Angeles Week of: 9/11 & 9/18/2023 I've spent the week of 9/11 delivering a small class. I should really say short, but it would be accurate to say short, and small. Short as in three days of class, small in that there was only ONE student in attendance! You might wonder why we'd schedule a class like this? Well ,this particular class is not delivered that often anymore. When it is scheduled it is usually cancelled due to a lack of students. Apparently someone called the Manager and essentially begged us to deliver the class. This was back in April or so. Since I'm the Lead Instructor for it, it was placed on my schedule. Two students were scheduled, but one didn't show up. So the lone student received a lot of one on one attention that week. It all went well, but I almost forgot (or did forget) to post about it. This past week (9/18) I was in Los Angeles for the fifth time this year, delivering a class. This is the third of this series of classes, and the third different class I've delivered to them. This was a very good class. Well really, this particular class is a two in one class. Two products that work together, but very small in scale. I'm the only instructor who delivers one of the products so of course it fell to me. I've tried to encourage others to learn this small device without success. It's fine by me though. After all, this small product is why I was sent to Germany and Thailand in 2017 & 2018. Someone has to learn it soon though, I do plan on retiring after all. I will be in Los Angeles one more time this year, but with a different customer, the LAPD. I'll be back in March and April for other classes with them. Today I flew from Los Angeles to Washington DC for another class with a customer here. I'll be here all week before flying home Friday and starting a two week vacation then. I'm actually out in the Glen Arden area. If you'd like to meet up for coffee or something, let me know. Maybe we an work something out,. Well, that's about it for now. Until my next post, be good to those you love, spoil them, and write! Jim Dorrell |
| Locale: Bloomington, Illinois Week of: 9/4/2023 I've spent the week of 9/4 here at home. Well, it's a holiday week, we don't normally deliver classes those weeks, which explains why I get to be home.  It's been a nice week of relaxation for me. I did get some work done, but I worked when I wanted to essentially. I managed to get a Powerpoint slideshow formatted in the fashion I prefer. I didn't change the slide contents at all, I only increased the font size in some areas and arranged the contents to look a bit better when presenting it. We'll see how it goes. My 'big' project though was purchasing some inexpensive USB drives for one class I deliver. The reason I did this is it's a class I will deliver more than most other classes. I needed larger (32 GB, which is not large by today's standards) to hold the course contents, plus the drive could be no larger than 32 GB (and formatted in either FAT32 or FAT ) for use in class. Those drives will be used to complete one portion of a router hands-on activity. You might ask why don't we have the students bring their own drives to class? There's a simple answer to that. Because they will forget most likely, or will format the drive using NTFS, which will not work. I like to come to a class prepared for everything I can think of. This is one minor thing in my opinion. I think that's about it for now. Until my next post, be good to those you love, spoil them, and write! Jim Dorrell |
| Locale: Hyattsville, Md Week of: 8/28/2023 The week of 8/28 found me in Hyattsville, Md, just east of Washington, DC. This class was a bit different from the others I've delivered. I'll explain that in a minute. While I was in Los Angeles though, I received an e-mail from a co-worker who was with this customer. He told us that the hotel he initially stayed at had Bed-Bugs, in his room! Needless to say I changed hotels right then. This was a difficult class to teach for a couple of reasons. I'm still getting comfortable with the Juniper Router that's in their system. Plus, the students were a bit hand-tied by their IT department. They were unable to add software we use in the class, and could not change the state of their PC Firewall. If there's one thing I 'preach' about before/during every Networking class, is that the IT Department of the Customer must give the Technicians full Administrator rights on their PC so they can complete those small tasks. I realize it's something that all IT Departments are reluctant to do, but they either grant those rights, or accompany the technicians on their field calls. Fortunately, 4-5 of the students brought in their personal PC's allowing them to complete the hands-on activities. Class done about noon on Friday as usual, now was the time to fly home. Except, my flight from Reagan Airport to O'Hare had been delayed. This would result in me having maybe a 30 minute layover there. Since I'm not near as young as I once was, and am somewhat hampered by my back and left leg 'not cooperating' at times, I knew it would be tough to make that connection. A kind American Airlines employee at the airport changed my flight, so I left about 2 hours earlier than originally scheduled. As it turns out, that didn't really matter because my flight home was delayed two hours Yeah, I could have remained on my original itinerary and still made the flight. Better to be safe than sorry though. Noteworthy Restaurants: The Silver Diner https://www.silverdiner.com/ The Silver Diner is an excellent diner located in the Woodmore Centre. Their menu is diverse, I ended up enjoying their Old Bay Fried Shrimp appetizer, and their Summer Watermelon & Shrimp Salad. If I were to complain about my dinner/service, it would be that I ordered a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, and was served a glass of Red Wine. I think there was a lack of communication between the server and bartender, as well as a lack of knowledge on the server's part. The Copper Canyon Grill https://ccgrill.com/glenarden/glenarden-menu/ My discussion here will be a bit different, especially since my meal was very good. Let's start by saying I won't dine here when I'm back with this customer the week of 9/25. Why? Because I ordered my meal, and it was delivered in less than five minutes. So why am I upset about such fast service? Ordering an entree and receiving it so quickly tells you that the food is prepared ahead of time, and is not necessarily fresh. My entree was their Rattlesnake Pasta. It should have taken a few minutes to get the Pasta cooked, but apparently it was prepared well ahead of time. Many restaurants do this, it's not a practice I'm a fan of. Yeah, I know, I'm picky. The meal was delivered so quickly that my drink hadn't even arrived yet! Plus, my server couldn't have been more inattentive. She walked past a couple of times, and on one occasion asked if everything was okay. It was, I didn't need anything. Am I being too picky here? Possibly. The Hook & Reel Cajun Seafood Barl https://hookreel.com/menu/ I dined here Saturday night after arriving at the Reagan National Airport. I love places like this, and enjoyed their Catch-22. Essentially it's a choose 2 seafood boil, with a third choice tossed in. Shrimp, Scallops, and Crawfish made for a tasty seafood boil! I think that's about it for now. Until my next post, be good to those you love, spoil them, and write! Jim Dorrell |
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