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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: 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'. 
