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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: Frederick, Md Week of: 226 The week of 2/26 I was in Frederick Maryland delivering a class to FEMA. Yes, that FEMA. I was with their Mobile Emergency Response System (MERS) team. I always learn something in every class I deliver, in this class I learned a bit about their operations. When a disaster occurs and FEMA is on the scene, the students in my class this week are too. The people assisting the local populace need to stay in touch with their HQ, they do it using radios. So the students in my class also deploy to set up communications for them. It's very interesting how this is done, but I won't bore all of you with details because you'll probably fall asleep in seconds.  I'm delivering this class to FEMA because a co-worker recommended I deliver it, They are looking for specific information on a couple of our products, and I'm the SME (Subject Matter Expert) on these two devices. Like I've said before, it's nice to be needed, but it's not nice when you are going East Coast to West Coast, and repeating it. Yeah, in the last three weeks I've been in Dover New Hampshire, Beaverton Oregon, now Frederick Md, and next week, Beaverton Oregon again. That back and forth from one coast to another can really get to you. Plus, by the time I go to Oregon again, I will have spent about 30 hours at home in three weeks. It's okay, it could be a lot worse. I did enjoy myself, there's a lot more going on in Frederick than you might think. Plus, downtown there's a small canal/creek that has quite a few small boats in it. I found myself fascinated by this area, and snapped a few photos of it with my phone. I found this while going to dinner one night. See what you think.  Noteworthy Restaurants: Firebirds Woodfired Grill https://firebirdsrestaurants.com/frederick/menu I dined at this restaurant while in Brentwood Tennessee last year and really loved their menu. I had to return, didn't I? I enjoyed myself again by having an excellent appetizer of Lobster Spinach Queso - Lobster / spinach / pepper jack cheese / tortilla chips. There were far too many chips with this, I didn't even try to finish them, but the Queso was history. For my meal, I enjoyed their Seared Tuna Superfoods Salad - Seared sushi-grade tuna / organic ancient grains / cucumbers / spinach / radish / avocado / grilled corn / edamame with an outstanding avocado lime vinaigrette dressing. This was exactly what I was craving, and didn't know it until I was eating it. Brewer's Alley https://brewers-alley.com/menu/to-go-menu/ My students recommended several breweries around Frederick, however almost all of them had food trucks instead of a dine in restaurant. I wanted a dine in area, and chose this place. It was very good. I had a nice sized serving of their Fried Pickle Chips - Cajun Spices, Kölsch battered kosher pickle slices with Sriracha ranch. For dinner I had to try their Kölsch Fish & Chips - Kölsch battered Pacific Cod, Fries, Coleslaw & Tartar Sauce. I was in the mood for Fish-n-Chips that day, this hit the spot for me. Isabella's I dined here, but was seriously disappointed. Why? Well, I really wanted Paella, and ordered it. BUT, they burned the rice on the bottom of the pan, and I didn't notice it until I was almost full! Nuff' said, I would dine there again to give them a second chance, but you know I'd have something other than Paella. My schedule has not changed recently, here's where I'll be through April. Week of: 3/4: Beaverton, Oregon (look for a Blog entry about this week 3/9 or 3/10) 3/11: Travel to Bangkok Wednesday/Thursday 3/18: American Embassy, Bangkok 3/25: American Embassy, Bangkok 4/1: Work from home 4/8: Strafford County, New Hampshire 4/15: Schaumburg, Illinois 4/22: Work from home 4/29: Los Angeles Well, that's about it for an update, at least for now. Until my next post, be good to those you love, spoil them, and write!  Jim Dorrell |
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is better than suspended upside down in the 'void'. 
