Talk about perks, my career had one of the best I can think of! I traveled 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 (for eight more weeks). I knew that when the time arrived that I would retire. That time is now. I've always said that if you can't stand the heat in the kitchen, get out! I can't handle the heat anymore. I was qualified to deliver approximately 32 different classes, but about half of those were 'Legacy' classes, and are not in demand anymore. My students were/are technicians, those who maintained, programmed, calibrated, and repaired 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 traveled, sometimes frequently, 3-4 weeks in a row.... where have I been?
This probably won't have daily entries, but I will make entries to update you about my life before and during my employment with Motorola Solutions. I also intend to update you all about what I'm doing in retirement. Well, here we go with this new adventure, let's see where it takes us.
1 & 3 are such a pain. Especially the passing then slowing dopwn thing. I live in the country; doing that is downright rude!
As for 2, saying "No problem" to a thank you is almost expected here. In general, we don't like to bignote ourselves (we have a terrible 'tall poppy syndrome' at play), so it becomes hard to accept thanks or praise. Unless you're from Sydney or Queensland... because those people are weird.
4 is not anything I have come across except online and I tend to play the dumb Australian hick.
5 is some I also agree with... though I rarely associate with people who are seen as "intelligent." They don't make for good story fodder.
Wow...a lot of information. My friend's son joined the Navy this past year and has gone to Submarine School to become an underwater welder. Wonder how different things are now compared to "back in the day" LOL.
Places may be small when first named and grow later into a city or megacity. Tokyo and New York City are two examples of megacities of cities.
-vik = bay in Norwegian and most probably the source of of -wick -wich.
In Norway, most places translate into common words. Åndalsnes is easily separated into ånd (spirit) dal (valley) s (genitive/possessive) and nes (headland); therefore, Spirit Valley's Headland.
The town where I grew up was named after crabapple trees (but not in English).
I love this sort of little detail information. It is the sort of thing you can only get from someone on the ground, not a book or online. If I ever set something on a submarine, this is the information that will make it feel more realistic.
I grew up in a small town just outside Sacramento. Apparently California's capital (and the surrounding valley and river) were discovered by Spanish explorer Gabriel Moraga in the early 1800s who, upon discovering the location, exclaimed "¡Es como el sagrado sacramento!" ("It's like the Blessed Sacrament!").
Having lived there for 20 years and not being terribly impressed with the area, I can only assume that Señor Moraga didn't get out much...
The reason for so many "hams" in England is that "hamlet", while used by the French, comes from the Danish for town. The Vikings who raided and conquered England were mainly Dutch, and so their way of naming was what was used.
In Australia, we use a lot of English naming conventions, name places the same as English places, name places after people and we have a lot of places named for local indigenous words, or phonetic approximations thereof.
In my second bachelor's degree I had to write an essay on the history of my suburb, including where the name came from, and reading everyone else's essays, it is amazing where so many of these place names come from.
I've looked into this as well, because it interests me. What I find even more compelling are those places that are named after things that don't exist anymore. Like "Mountain View" or "Montevideo" for a place where the local mountain has been stripmined out of existence, or the ubiquitous "Springfield" where the springs have long ago dried up. See also: Native American place names that linger after the Native Americans were told to go be Native somewhere else.
That last bit isn't unique to the US, either. In France, there's a fairly famous city called Tours. "Tour" in French translates to "tower," so I'd been suffering under the misapprehension that the city must have some towers. Well, it does, but only because every French city seems to, though it was named after the Celtic tribe that used to ply the Loire Valley. The French, however, put towers on the city's banner because even the French are fond of puns.
This was my last time delivering a class for Motorola. Everyone felt I should feel 'something', the only thing I felt was relief, coupled with a sense of accomplishment. The class this past week was that basic RF class, the one designed for non-technicians. I will say that it really needs to be updated and re-written. I've pushed for this to be done for years. That statement/thought was always pushed aside by management. I would love to be involved in that rewrite, but it will take months to complete. Plus, that has to come from the Content Developers, not from an instructor, so it's not going to happen.
The class itself went well, at least in my opinion. I didn't have the usual training aids though. A co-worker was delivering this class in California, and since they paid to have the training aids there, I didn't have them with me.
Once class was done Friday, there were a few touching moments. About half the students stopped to shake my hand, wishing me luck in retirement. The kicker though, was having the support guys, the ones who fix our system when something breaks, stop by and tell me I'll be missed. I know I will be missed, I teach some courses that no one else does, or wants to. Now, they'll have to learn those courses, won't they? One of our Adjunct (Contractor Instructor) also stopped in. That was especially nice because I wouldn't call him a friend. Co-worker would be best, even that stretches it some if you ask me. In the end though, I drove home to Bloomington and will send this week and next getting things wrapped up by May 2nd. The boss is even throwing a farewell luncheon that day, and has invited everyone who is local to attend. We'll see how many instructors show up, few are in town next week.
That's it for now. Until my next entry, write all you can, and love everyone, especially those special people who fill your life!
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