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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 |
Bloomington, Illinois Just a short entry for now. The work continues.... It's only Monday, but it's been a busy day of work in the kitchen. It's all being done without me lifting a finger too! That's probably a good thing, because I have been known to break more than I fix in things like this. I'm not really that clumsy, I wouldn't be where I am if I was. But work like this I prefer to leave to those who are being paid to do it. Today the second layer of Mud was added to the Drywall, I have to say it looks good. Also today the Sub-Floor was laid down and stapled in place. There was a little extra work that the guys undertook. The sink in our bathroom, the only place we have running water right now, was slowly backing up. I was going to pull it apart today, but remember what I said about breaking more that I fix? Scott jumped right to it and pulled the drain piping apart. That was my plan, but once he started, I didn't have to do a thing. He found a Grape in the drain. We bought some fresh fruit the other day, and my wife always washes it before we get to have just one. Somehow a grape escaped into the open drain while she was doing that. He said he also found a nice hairball.... In putting it back together he managed to break 2 fittings in the pipe fittings (whatever they're called). It's all fixed now, but it's nice to know that I'm not the only one who can break things at times. The plan for the week is to finish the floor and lay the new tiles next Monday. There was some consideration given to getting heated Tile placed in the kitchen, but it would add an extra $4400 to our price, plus a couple of days (?) delay laying it down. A painter will come here Friday and paint the kitchen. I'll be sure to snap some photo's Friday night/Saturday morning. Next week the new cabinets will be installed, and we'll have the new Appliances delivered. We need to pick out another stove/oven though, the one we chose is on back order until MARCH! Wow! So tonight off we go looking for a Stove, again. I'm not sure what's going on after that, but I think looking in the Crystal Ball a week ahead will do for now. There, Kitchen update done.  Jim Dorrell |
Bloomington, Illinois Just a short entry for now. I left for Sacramento Monday, and while I was gone my wife got upset with the Kitchen. Something about it was a mess, I'm not really sure what caused her to be so upset. Anyway, she grabbed my sledgehammer and took her anger out on the kitchen. I came home to this.  The truth.... I don't have a sledgehammer. We have been planning on having the kitchen remodeled for over 2 years. There were several delays, chief among them were trying to find a Contractor who would respond to things, health issues with us, our designer and her mother.... Our contractor worked for 4-5 hours on Friday, this was the result. It will be 5-6 weeks before this is a 'done job'. We are really looking forward to getting this done. Jim Dorrell |
Sacramento, Ca Week of 1/14 After spending the weeks of Christmas and New Years somewhat ill, I was finally healthy enough to travel. That's the problem having this Multiple Myeloma. My immune system is healthy, but I'm still taking the Chemo drug Lenalidomide. This weakens my immune system, so I'm suspectible to illnesses. Chief among those are Fungal infections (I'm battling toe nail fungus for example), and since I also have Asthma, I can easily get flu type illnesses. All's well though, I am fine. The customer this week is the California Office Of Emergency Services (Cal-OES), I delivered the course I edited a lot, Fleetmapping. It's a course I love delivering, the students really enjoyed it. At least in my opinion, and my view of things, is that they did. I'll be back in March for the same class too. It's one of the few classes I have left to deliver. Today two more classes were added to my schedule, shown below. Of course I enjoyed dining out, and found a couple of nice restaurants. Noteworthy Restaurants: The Virgin Sturgeon https://virginsturgeon.net/ I was browsing Maps yesgerday, and found this place accidentally. I thought going here would be a good choice, and it was. Excellent food? Not quite, but still far above average. Excellent Service? Definitely. Some older restaurants rely on their reputation, Virgin Sturgeon does not. Their Smoked Sturgeon Salad was very, very good, their Seafood Pasta was the same. No complaints at all. All in all though, I won't be returning here. It just didn't strike me as a place I must visit again. Satori Sushi & Teriyaki Grill https://www.satorisushiandgrill.com/uploads/1/3/1/4/131430107/menu_natomas.pdf This place is very close to my hotel, an easy stop once class was done. I love good Sushi, but I didn't order that. I love Jalapeno Poppers, this place had an excellent take on that dish, I had to try theirs. Wow! Also, I've had a craving for Ramen lately, and had to have that. Their Jaalapeno Bomb (those poppers) came 8 to a dish, half came back with me for a late night snack. Yum! My Current Schedule - Below is my schedule through the end of my career at Motorola. I have thought about this a lot, at times thinking I wouldn't retire, at times knowing I would. I can't continue to hem & haw over it, I've told my manager about the date, I will stick to it. As you can tell, I don't really want to retire, I'm not ready (mentally) in some ways, but this old body of mine says I should. If anyone is in any city I'll be visiting between now and the end of April, I'd love to meet up. I'll even buy you dinner if we chose to meet at night! (e:smile} Jan 13 - Sacramento (Cal-OES) Jan 20 - Work From Home Jan 27 - Work From Home (Customer cancelled all Fleetmapping classes) Feb 3 - Washington DC (WMATA) Feb 10 - Vacation Feb 17 - Vacation Feb 24 - Harris County Tx (Houston) Mar 3 - Sacramento (Cal-OES) Mar 10 - Vacation Mar 17 - Washington DC Mar 24 - Manhattan Kansas (I think) Delivering a short class to the National Bio & Agro Defense Facility Mar 31 - Schaumburg (Cross Training a Co-Worker) Apr 7 - Schaumburg (Cross Training a Co-Worker) Apr 14 - Schaumburg for the last time! (As of now) Apr 21 - Work from home Apr 28 - Work from home RETIRED! That's it for now. Until my next entry, write all you can, and love everyone, especially those special people who fill your life! Jim Dorrell |
Bloomington, Illinois Week of 12/23 & 12/30 Well, after a great time in Fort Lauderdale, we came home just to become sick. I started feeling unwell on Christmas Eve, and it has carried forward to today, and still appears to be going strong. I thought Christmas Day was my worst day, though now I think it's just been ongoing all this time. Christmas Day found me at my weakest though. I could not stand up without a bit of assistance. My legs just wouldn't function to allow me to stand from sitting in a chair. We both went to Prompt Care last Sunday, but test results were inconclusive, Why? We were only tested for Flu, which was Negative. The Doctor told us that we could have a COVID test done, but it wouldn't change the treatmentr plan. I opted not to have that done, in retrospect we probably should have had it done. At least we'd know one way or another, What I do know is that we have a nasty virus running rampant in our bodies. And I'm afraid that we're in this for the long haul. At least until it warms up and we can air out the house. I was supposed to fly to Sacramento tomorrow, but when my manager heard my voice (or lack thereof), he said to forget about traveling this next week. That's a good thing really, despite the obvious reasons. Why? The kitchen remodel is scheduled to start on the 13th, and we're struggling to move everything out of the kitchen. We'll get it done, but dang I hate feeling so 'Puny'. If I exert myself at all, I start to cough. Often it's a violent cough, almost making me faint. I can feel it when that happens too. My face turns beet red, the room starts to spin, sometimes my legs grow weak. I always make sure I'm sitting down when this starts, or at least have something to hold on to, in case I do pass out. This past week, my Supervisor realized that I will be retiring soon, and that someone needs to be cross-trained to fill my vacancy. We've started on some courses, but not all. A friend was scheduled to sit in my Virtual Class with WMATA at one time, only to learn later that day that he would be doing something else instead. Oh well, that's not my problem, and I really hate saying that. Until an emphasis is placed on cross training to make the department more flexible, they will have these kind of issues. Like I said, not my problem. My Current Schedule - Below is my schedule through the end of my career at Motorola. I have thought about this a lot, at times thinking I wouldn't retire, at times knowing I would. I can't continue to hem & haw over it, I've told my manager about the date, I will stick to it. As you can tell, I don't really want to retire, I'm not ready (mentally) in some ways, but this old body of mine says I should. If anyone is in any city I'll be visiting between now and the end of April, I'd love to meet up. I'll even buy you dinner if we chose to meet at night! (e:smile} Jan 6 - Work From Home Jan 13 - Sacramento (Cal-OES) Jan 20 - Work From Home Jan 27 - Virtual Class (WMATA) (Teach From Home) Feb 3 - Washington DC (WMATA) Feb 10 - Vacation Feb 17 - Vacation Feb 24 - Harris County Tx (Houston) Mar 3 - Sacramento (Cal-OES) Mar 10 - Vacation Mar 17 - Washington DC Mar 24 - Virtual Class (Teach From Home) Mar 31 - Schaumburg (Cross Training a Co-Worker) Apr 7 - Schaumburg (Cross Training a Co-Worker) Apr 14 - Work from home Apr 21 - Work from home Apr 28 - Work from home RETIRED! That's it for now. Until my next entry, write all you can, and love everyone, especially those special people who fill your life! Jim Dorrell |
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Although, I hope you've got a portable table set up for prep while you wait for counters or a microwave for those frozen meals.
