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 Being Retired now, I thought that it was time for a new name to this Blog |
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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 was a Senior Training Specialist for Motorola Solutions, and taught classes on a wide variety of subjects centered around 2-way radio communications. I knew that when the time arrived that I would retire, and I have. 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 were not in demand anymore. My students were 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? Some of the places I've been (I can't list them all here, the list would be too long) are pretty interesting. 1. Hawaii - Four times, Oahu, Maui (twice), and the Big Island 2. BangkokThailand, twice 3. Frankfurt Germany, twice 4. Algiers, Algeria 5. Melbourne Australia 6. Bismarck North Dakota, Summer & Winter 7. Los Angeles, Too many times to count 8. Washington DC, Too many times to count 9. Seattle three or four times 10. Texas, all over the state 11. Florida, all over the state 12. New Mexico, HOME! Several times  Best Cultural And Regional Honorable Mention |
Getting Our New (Used) Van Well, it seems like I'll be flying to Atlanta Wednesday to complete the purchase of our Van. It's in Woodstock, Georgia, about 40 miles north of the Atlanta Airport. An early flight, completing the paperwork needed to make the Van mineours, and an orientation on the Van itself. Why an orientation? Good question!  The orientation will involve learning what this Camper Van has to offer. It will involve things like knowing the connections for the Black & Gray Water hose. Yuck, that hose will carry the contents of Black Water Tank, which fills when you flush the toilet. You empty the Black Water tank first, then the Gray Water tank so the hose is flushed, then it's cleaner than it was. The Gray water tank contains the water that you use to wash dishes, etc. So I need to see those connections in person. Also, what they call the Shore Power Cable. Now this makes me laugh, because we has Shore Power Cables on Submarines, they weighed 60 lbs/ft! This cable is much smaller and lighter. I need to see that cable, connect it, and maybe purchase adapters for it because campgrounds have different connectors for power based on their amperage carrying capacity. I can adapt down, not up, which makes sense (to me at least). The van also has an awning on the passenger side, that will be opened during the orientation. Essentially, we'll do every thing that might need to be done when camping. Except, we're buying this for a more comfortable travel experience, not necessarily for camping. It looks like I will arrive at either 9:30 (If I fly Delta Airlines), or 1:30 (If I fly American Airlines). I'm waiting to speak with the Sales Manager to see which will work better for them, since they will pick me up at the airport. Once I know, I'll book that flight. The advantage to flying American Airlines is that I can use my flight miles for the ticket, plus $5.60. I don't have enough miles to fly Delta, since I flew that airline very infrequently. That would be $499 to fly one way to Atlanta. I can pay that, but I'd rather not of course. So I'll see what works best for them. I mean, arriving at 1:30, it would be about an hour drive to the Dealership. Could we complete the paperwork and orientation before they close at 7? I guess we'll see, huh! We have a few things to buy once we have the van. I will call today to see about getting a new radio installed, one that supports a backup cam. Right now the van doesn't have a backup cam, I would feel a lot more comfortable having one. It doesn't have to support Satellite radio usage, but that would be nice too. There's a bit of camping stuff we need too, despite not planning to camp often. If we do decide we'd like to go camping, we need a portable fence that we can connect to the van, much like a fence in the backyard. That would be for the dogs of course. There's more, we'll get it slowly but surely. If any of you have camping experience and want to offer advice, please do! Til next time ... See ya! Jim |
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I was very glad to see that they'll be picking you up at the airport. You can sit back and watch the fun as the dealership rep navigates the adventure back to Woodstock. I've rented a car at Hartsfield-Jackson and driven to my dad's house NE of Atlanta. As travel in and around ATL goes, it wasn't bad, but I was fortunate to be going the "right" way both times during rush hour traffic. Enjoy your new-ish van!
But, I always appreciate that you tried... 
