Where In The World Is Sum1?

Traveling Is Back!

Locale: Bloomington Illinois

Week  of: February 20, 2022

         Well, I knew this day would come, and it has.  This past week I made my first flight plans in over 15 months to travel on business!  I will be flying to Philadelphia to deliver a short class in Westampton, NJ.  While I've gotten to love working from home, I am really looking forward to traveling again.  The only drawback to all of this, is that due to our recent weather (almost 2 feet of snow in since Ground Hog day!), I decided to fly out of Bloomington.  That means I can't fly United (where I still have a little bit of 'status'), and will fly Delta (No status).  It's okay though, I'll live.

         My recovery from Cervical Spine Surgery is going well, though I still have a bit of pain 24/7.  It's not unbearable, Tylenol does help, but I find myself taking Tramadol more than I'd like.  If I'd stop shoveling snow (no one else to do it here), or carrying about 125 lbs of dog meat (Meat for our dogs meals, they're on a bones and raw food diet) to the basement, I wouldn't hurt near as much.  Oh, and if I kept my head straight, don't look down, it wouldn't hurt either.  Looking down tends to put pressure on nerves near the metal in my neck.  If ya wanna see photos of it all, let me know...   The photos are not of the actual surgery, just my scar, and X-Rays of my neck afterwards.  Not bloody, promise.

         Work will only get more and more busy too.  One of our senior instructors decided to make a shift in his career, and has accepted a position elsewhere within Motorola.  If you know any one who has a technical background and enjoys teaching, have them send me their resume!  You never know.... Even when they do manage to hire a couple of instructors, will by 4-6 months (depending on their background, and their abilities) before they can really contribute.  Right now, March and April are booked solid for me.  My upcoming classes are:

Week of 2/28:  Dept of Nat'l Defense, Canada (Online class, teach from home)
Week of 3/7:  Burlington County NJ (the trip I mentioned above)
Week of 3/14:  US Navy, San Clemente (Online class, I will spend one night in Schaumburg for it)
Week of 3/21:  Emporia, Kansas
Week of 3/28:  Northampton, Ma
Week of 4/4:  Cross Train one of our Instructor who works out of Indonesia.  I cross trained her manager last year (Online of course, 5 days).  She's scheduled to teach a class in our Florida location, then spend some time in Schaumburg.  He told her to ask if I would be available, and spend a week with me cross-training her.  I feel honored that he would tell her to do that.
Week of 4/11:  Teach from home.  (I bet this class is canceled.  No one has signed up for it yet.)
Week of 4/18:  Washington DC, with the Secret Service
Week of 4/25:  Los Angeles, Port Of Los Angeles to be exact.  I should, and hope, to meet NaNoNette , maybe Jeff , and if she's available, Schnujo's Doing NaNoWriMo? .

         May and June, along with the rest of the year look to be just as busy.  I don't have that many classes that will require a lot of traveling, but that's only the first half of the year.  I'm scheduled for classes throughout the year, but they can change quickly.  Right now, there's only TEN weeks that do not have a class scheduled through the rest of 2022!  I just hope I can handle all the changes...

In Closing

         That's about it for now, til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE!




Jim Dorrell