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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: Bloomington, Illinois Week of: 11/21/22 This past week I was home doing almost nothing. Our boss sent an e-mail to everyone thanking us for a tremendous year, telling us to relax all we can before the push to end the year. Next starts off hot n heavy for me. I have the first week of January free (No travel, not teaching), and two weeks of planned vacation the week of February 20. Other than that, I'm delivering every week through April 10th! Of course my schedule can change on a moments notice, but right now I will be in Schaumburg, LA twice (January and March), Kansas, Colorado Springs, Tennessee (Twice I think), Maryland, and Kentucky. Ten weeks of delivery in the first quarter, it would be more if not for that planned vacation. In Closing I will be home to celebrate Thanksgiving next week, then off the following week. My last two weeks of classes in 2022 will be a portable/mobile radio class in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania, and yet another Networking Class in Fort Lauderdale Then it starts all over for me. Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE! Jim Dorrell |
| Locale: Madison, Wisconsin Week of: 11/14/22 This past week I was in Madison, Wisconsin delivering that basic Networking class once again. I had five students originally, but one dropped out Monday at lunch when his wife tested positive for COVID. Of the remaining students, three of them has as much Networking knowledge as I do, if not more. The nice thing though, is they didn't try to run the class, they remained students throughout the week. That's harder to do than you might think, but they seemed to have mastered that part of things. Once again, it was a fun class, made that way all the more so by their willingness to learn, and help the one student who wasn't as up-to-speed on networking knowledge as they were. We did cover a little extra in our discussions, but for the most part, we remained on topic. As of now, I will return to Madison in May of 2023 for the second Networking class. Madison is a nice place, a college town/city, with a lot going for it. It's small in size, and that suited me just fine. I enjoyed my meals at night, except for one. Let's just say I didn't choose wisely as far as my meal is concerned. However, I did experience a few excellent meals! Noteworthy Restaurants: Takumi Japanese Restaurant https://www.orderonlinehub.com/takumijapaneserestaurant I really enjoy dining at a Japanese restaurant, and Takumi was what I longed for this night. I had their Godzilla Roll as an appetizer, and their Shrimp Tempura Udon for mt meal. It had been a bit cold that day and the Udon noodles and Tempura really warmed me up. Erin's Snug Irish Pub Restaurant https://www.erinssnug.com/dinner It was my last night in Madison, and an Irish Pub sounded perfect to me. And it was. I will admit that my appetizer and dessert were definitely not Irish, but my meal sure was. Guinness Stew! Nice and hot, topped with a housemade puff pastry and baked. Definitely worth the visit. The dessert was Bread Pudding, and was good, but not fantastic. Then again, I'm spoiled when it comes to bread pudding.'' Buck And Honey's https://monona.buckandhoneys.com/monona-buck-and-honey-s-monona-food-menu There were 3 or 4 appetizers on the menu that I wanted, so I opted for their appetizer combo. Bacon Wrapped Dates, Sassy Curds (Local Cheese Curds), and Firecracker Shrimp. I should have ordered two of these and nothing more, it was that good! Instead, I did order dinner, and had their Seared ahi Tuna Salad. This is a very nice place, I don't think I could have gone wrong no matter what I ordered. In Closing I will be home to celebrate Thanksgiving next week, then off the following week. My last two weeks of classes in 2022 will be a portable/mobile radio class in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania, and yet another Networking Class in Fort Lauderdale Then it starts all over for me. Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE! Jim Dorrell |
| Locale: Schaumburg, Illinois Week of: 11/7/22 This past week I've been in Schaumburg delivering a more Advanced Networking Class. Well, it's not that much more advanced. The basic class teaches students the subject of IP Addressing, how TCP works, what a switch and router are and how to configure each, as well as backing up and restoring each. This week's class teaches them just about the same subject, except the discussion is centered around their operation in our radio systems. Plus, in the basic class, an older Cisco router is used. In this one, we use a Motorola Router, and soon, a Juniper Router. So same subject in some ways, but we cover the material in a more in-depth manner. It was a fun class, even if I did get the impression that someone was 'taking' cables they shouldn't (my impression was wrong), or that someone had taken one of my USB drives (again, I was wrong). I really enjoy delivering each of these classes and try to impart that feeling to my students. With three and a half days of all hands-on activities in this class, it's a fun class to deliver. If you don't mind doing the hands-on activities yourself. I enjoy doing those activities which makes it all the more fun. Noteworthy Restaurants: Buffalo Wild Wings https://www.buffalowildwings.com/menu/ If you've read any entries in this blog at all, you know I typically do not dine at a National Chain restaurant. I sort of make an exception when in Schaumburg, because having lived here for 15 years, it's like being home. NOT! Okay, it's a place I'm quite familiar with, and at times I make an exception. Let's leave it at that. This particular night I was in the mood for Wings. But I didn't have them. Why? Because I found they have a Green Chile Cheeseburger!  They label theirs as a Bacon Smashed Hatch Chile Burger. This was a no-brainer in my eyes. And as fate would have it, I ordered an appetizer, the Hatch Queso. You can never have too much Hatch Chile if you ask me.Fat Rosie's Taco & Tequila Bar https://media-cdn.getbento.com/accounts/b4b148424bd38e72d3c74dc5c074a855/media/FeX9P0J7SbCDdAYMbAma_FatRosies_L_Dinner_11x17_08192022B.pdf It was Taco Tuesday, that's what I wanted. Where else should I go besides here? It was good, not spectacular. Fa Rosie's Queso Dip and a couple of Taco's, plus a nice Margarita set me up well. In Closing I will be in Madison Wisconsin next week, then celebrate Thanksgiving the following week. Only two more weeks of delivery this year before having three weeks off for Christmas/New Years. Then it starts all over for me. Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE! Jim Dorrell |
| Locale: Schaumburg, Illinois Week of: 10/31/22 This past week I've been in Schaumburg delivering a basic Networking Class. This is a class that I don't get to deliver often, but one I really enjoy delivering. But, here is what's happened with this class. I delivered the original class for 4 years in the mid-2000s. As I qualified to deliver new courses and new instructors (contractors) arrived, I didn't deliver it for 8 years. In the meantime, the course was rewritten. Suddenly we cut back on using Contractors, and I was once again scheduled to deliver it. With it having undergone that rewrite, I essentially had to re-qualify on it. I spent 2-3 weeks during a December holiday period reviewing the course materials and performing the hands-on activities at home using equipment that had been shipped to me. I've now taught it 7 times in the last four years. That's not often enough to really get comfortable with the flow of it. Don't get me wrong, the class has gone well overall, I'm able to answer their questions without having to look things up. There are just 3-4 small things that you have to know/do to preclude having issues during the hands-on exercises. It seems I remember them AFTER we have those issues. But it's been good overall. I've had some fun despite seeming to struggle with minor stuff, the students have been great. I guess I just enjoy delivering a Networking class. Schaumburg is my office location, about 2 hours north of Bloomington Illinois, where I live. As such, every class I deliver in person is a field class or road trip. I find I don't miss Schaumburg one bit and love living in a smaller town. There are pluses and minuses to this, as there are to everything in life. For me, the pluses outweigh all the minuses. Noteworthy Restaurants: The Local Kitchen And Tap https://thelocalkitchentap.com/menu/ When I travel to a city, I will pull up Google maps and look at nearby restaurants. I find their menu to see what they offer, and choose a restaurant that way. Having lived up here for 15 years, I know the area decently well, but new restaurants pop up all the time. Such is the case here. One look at their menu and I knew I had to dine there. For an appetizer, I had their 3 whiskey/3 cheese offering. It was three one-ounce shot glasses of whiskey. One not aged at all, a Rye Whiskey, and a cask-aged whiskey. The cheeses were sliced cheddar, Mint Goat Cheese, and Jalapeno Cream Cheese, grapes, and Naan crackers. WOW! For my meal, I chose their Blackened Mahi Tacos., Again, WOW. Street Tao size, perfect as a follow-on from the Whiskey/Cheese tray. Tokio Pub https://www.tokiopub.com/menu/dinner Again, the menu here drew me in. The meal was good, but not near as good as the Local Kitchen. I had the Ahi tuna Hot Rock Appetizer. Thinly sliced Tuna in a soy ginger marinade (it wasn't covered, it was sitting on a rectangular plate with the marinade not quite covering it), with Cucumber Salad, and a Sesame Ginger dipping sauce. A River rock heated to about 500 degrees F was in a small bowl. You placed the Tuna on the rock for as long as you like, then dipped it. Yummmm . It was Taco Tuesday, so I had to have their Crying Tiger Shrimp Tacos. Jumbo butterflied shrimp, avocado, sriracha chili sauce, house slaw, cilantro. In Closing I will be back in Schaumburg next week before going to Madison Wisconsin the following week. If you're in the NW Chicago burbs and would like to meet for coffee or a meal, let me know! Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE! Jim Dorrell |
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is better than suspended upside down in the 'void'. 
