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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: Ft Lauderdale, Fl Week of: 12/12/22 This past week I was back in Ft Lauderdale to deliver a Networking Class that focuses on the Networking used in our radio systems. This class was a little different than most others in one way. I had eight students total, only one was a customer, the rest were Motorolans supporting customers around the country. It was definitely interesting, and fun. Part of this class involves configuring routers that send data across the network. These routers are small, babies if you will, compared to the routers used to route traffic across the Internet. They work the same as those routers, just on a much smaller scale. One of the settings in the routers is to disable what's called the Boot Monitor mode. You have to follow a certain procedure to enable it, and it's not hard. During a break, the one Non-Motorola student removed his base card, the one that contains the router configuration and such. I immediately noticed that this card was set to allow entry into the Boot Monitor mode, something we don't teach in class. I know how to do it, I know what it's for. I held the card for a moment and removed the jumper. This guy already knew about the Boot Monitor mode, he just didn't know exactly how to enter it. One of the Motorola students who did know mentioned how to do it.... so I answered that the jumper was removed and it wouldn't enter that mode. The student tried to anyway, and to my surprise, it did enter the Boot Monitor mode! Well, that wasn't right, and I knew someone had reconfigured something in the startup that allowed that. This occurred on Wednesday, so after class on Thursday I stayed late and spent an hour reading the depot manual. I found what I was looking for, and disabled it. I also wrote a short note describing what I'd found and sent it to everyone who delivers this class. Why? We share knowledge! And, the man who edits this class didn't know about it, he of all people should know this! I was surprised too, because Dan knows an awful lot about Networking in general. In fact, I tell my students that he was there helping Bill Gates with the early Microsoft development (I know, Microsoft is not about routing and such, but you get my point). The class critiques were good, except one Motorola student selected the wrong boxes. What do I mean? The students grade us on our knowledge, ability to deliver the class, etc. This person chose 'Very Dissatisfied' for all six boxes, then proceeded to praise my delivery and knowledge. He just selected the wrong box by accident is all. Thank God for small favors too, because the praising tells anyone (like my boss) who sees the reviews (he looks at almost all of them) that the wrong box was accidentally selected. All in all, a very nice last delivery for 2022. I didn't visit any new restaurants this week. In fact, I had dinner in my room two nights. One, I was tired. Two, I started trying to eat less and limit my weight gain. I'm now at 225# and would like to be at 210 max, and ideally less than 200#. That's not easy when you visit nice restaurants. In Closing I am home for 3 weeks, my only real time home for any length of time through July right now. Some classes may be cancelled or delayed, those dates will most likely be filled in too if that happens. Look for a Notebook entry about my 2023 first half schedule. It's a bit insane compared to just 6 years ago. Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE! Jim Dorrell |
| Locale: Wilkes-Barre, Pa Week of: 12/5/22 Last week I was in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania delivering a class on one of our hand-held radios. This class includes radio disassembly/reassembly, programming, checking its operation to ensure it meets Motorola Solutions Specification, tuning it, as well as submergence checks/pressure checks. Yes, this radio will survive if dropped into a six foot water depth for two hours! (I still find that amazing.) But this customer isn't doing all that. Essentially all they do is ship a faulty radio to the depot for repair. They do not perform any checks whatsoever. This meant that about 75% of the class would not need to be covered. After all, why train them on something they'll never do? Yes, they might (a BIF might here) one day get around to doing that, but I seriously doubt it. Why? Because they would need to invest in some test equipment and adapters. To set up one station for doing those tests they would need to purchase about $75,000 worth of test equipment! While they might need just one in Luzerne County where Wilkes-Barre is, the whole state is doing the same thing. So again, doubtful that they will do this in the near future. Wilkes-Barre is a somewhat depressed area, an area that needs a bit of TLC. TLC in the form of major road maintenance and more. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice area (not an area where Jim wants to live), the people are really great, other than a bbit of "I come first" when driving on the roads. But it is a little too far north for a person of my age, so given my choice, I wouldn't live there. During the week I had another of those distractions from our support team. The Department of State wants another class, a class only two of us are qualified to deliver, and the other instructor can't travel for health reasons, so it will be up to me to deliver it. It looks like I will spend two weeks in Frankfurt, Germany! Yeah, I'm already excited about it., EXCEPT.... To do this will tire me out for a couple of days. Doing an international class requires a free week before the class (for travel and jet-lag adjustment), and a free week after for the same reason. So, four weeks in this case since it's two weeks of deliver there. With my schedule the way it is, (and part of it will not change most likely), I don't have four weeks free until November! So the way it's scheduled right now, I will be in Los Angeles in late July. Fly from LA directly to Frankfurt on Friday, start class the following Tuesday, with class ending on Friday. Then teach Monday-Friday the following week. Fly home when done and have a blessed week of recovery before flying back to LA on Sunday. Yeah... I know. I do have a tough life. (NOT!) Along with this, the Senior Training Manager in our Asia region wants me there in February/March, but that won't happen. Between January and March, I have 5 weeks of 'No-Delivery'. Two of those are vacation I've asked for, one is the week of Memorial Day, one is a week to work on course materials for a special class in Kentucky. Yep, the first half of 2023 is 'chock-a-block' full. Sadly, I will not be going to the Philippines, another instructor is. That's fine though, I can't do it all, can I? Getting home Friday proved to be more of a challenge than I imagined. On the drive from Wilkes-Barre to Harrisburg, I stopped at the Yuengling Brewery Gift Shop. It's a large place, I had a lot of fun spending a bit of $$. The flight to Atlanta, so I could connect to my flight home was unewventful. However, once there we found out that we couldn't leave because the Bloomington area had dense fog, It was so dense that officials were advising people not to drive! The small planes that service Bloomington (and other airports of similar size) do not have the necessary instrumentation that allows them to safely land in dense fog. So, I ended up spending the night in Atlanta. Because of delays in rescheduling/checking on the morning flight, I didn't get to my room until after midnight, I managed to grab about 4 hours of sleep before going back to the airport. I arrived home about 10:30 am, and instead of resting more, I went to an Estate Sale because a friend of ours had her eye on some furniture there, and my van would be needed to get it to her house. No rest for the weary, I managed to nap at 5 pm or so for a couple of hours, but needed to get up and repack to head to Ft. Lauderdale... Yeah, I was pretty tired yesterday. Today is a new day, all will be good. Historic/Interesting Places Visited: https://www.nps.gov/stea/index.htm I discoveredf Steam Town National Historic Park while browsing Google maps one night. Being a National Historic Park, I knew I had to get there. Google Maps said it closed at 5 pm, so I had time to get there after class was done. But again, I have to say EXCEPT... Google maps was wrong, it closed at 4 pm. What time did I arrive? 4 pm. I did manage to see the park a little, but was told to leave by a couple of Park Rangers. Now I need to return there because I was unable to get a stamp in my National Parks book. Maybe on one of my trips East I can do that. Photo's From Visit:  In Closing Right now I am in Fort Lauderdale delivering a Networking class. I will arrive home Friday, and have three weeks to relax. Except, I will be working on course materials and improving my knowledge on our 'new' Juniper Router for those LA classes. But I'll be home, that's what counts! Then 2023 starts with a bang!. Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE! Jim Dorrell |
| Locale: Bloomington, Illinois Week of: 11/28/22 This past week I was home and finally got some work done. I have upcoming classes in Kentucky (April), and NYC (Long Island Railroad, but not until May), and Los Angeles (Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communication System in January) that requires me to prepare course materials, or become much more familiar with a new device (Juniper Router) that has been added to our systems. I was going to spend my week working on adding a Powerpoint module to an existing course for the upcoming class in Kentucky, but my priorities were changed last Wednesday when I was tasked with creating three short videos for use by some customers. This requires creating short videos (less than 10 minutes in length) using Powerpoint slides and narrating with a lot more information than provided on the slide. I finished one, but once again had my priorities changed when I learned that the customer in Los Angeles has that somewhat new (to us) Juniper Router in it. We have some information on it and its configuration, but not a lot. I'm fine with the basics about it, but really need to know it indepth. The problem is, that device is locked down pretty well, so there's not a lot we can do when it comes to hands-on activities. Fortunately, a co-worker (Instructor) prepares all materials for this course, and he's hot on getting the course materials completed. Friday one of our training consultants called me and said that the Asia-Pacific Training Manager wants me in the Philippines in January/February twice for 2 sessions. With my schedule as solidly booked at it is, I couldn't do those classes until July at the earliest, so another instructor will probably be assigned. It's nice to have a senior manager ask my support team to send me for this class, though she did say another instructor would do if I wasn't available. A second call came in Friday, this time the State Department wants me in Germany again for about 2 weeks of classes. We'll see what the future holds, huh! Despite these minor distractions and excitement, I did manage to get a bit done. I did more than just that video (I had to prepare the Powerpoint slides to support that first). I managed to add in a little cross-training on a course I've long wanted to deliver. I also worked on that module for a class with the Kentucky Emergency Management. Again, we'll see what the future holds, and how many changes occur to my schedule between now and the end of the second quarter. Right now I'm scheduled for 90 days of delivery in that timeframe. A few years back, 90 days was 15-20 days from a full years delivery! How things can change! In Closing Next week I will be Wilkes-Barre Pa delivering a basic radio class, followed by yet another Networking Class in Fort Lauderdale Then 2023 starts with a bang!. 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'. 
