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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: Denver, Colorado This week finds me in Denver, Colorado for a different type of class. In a way. This week, my students are not from a local shop, nor are they from a city/county/state. They are from Motorola shops that support cities and such that don't have their own technicians. The subject this week is Networking Essentials. The course covers basic Networking, how a Layer 2 Switch operates, as well as a Layer 3 Router. We use older Cisco routers for this class to prevent/reduce overlap between this class, and the second class we have on this subject. This is the class I struggled with a bit in Phoenix in January. But, I've studied more, practiced more, and taught it more. The result? Far better results of course!  I landed here in Denver on Sunday, October 27th, and there was this white stuff on the ground, and still coming down.      Sadly, I didn't get to make a  for a couple of reasons. But someone please tell me why Avis would rent me a car that week, and not provide an ice scraper?? I had to use my coat sleeve to get the snow off the windshield on Monday and Tuesday. By Wednesday it had cleared up, but was cold, so the snow remained on the ground. But it was a good week that flew, or so it seemed.Noteworthy Restaurants: /pĂ´r/ Wine House https://www.porwinehouse.com/food This place is a hole-In-The-Wall type of restaurant. Looking at it from outside, you'd think it couldn't be good. And, you couldn't be more wrong. I couldn't bring myself to try their 'Blistered Shis***o Peppers', and settled for their Bacon Wrapped Dates for my appetizer instead. I wanted their Spicy Ahi Tuna Nachos, ,but thought they might be a bit much, since I was dining alone. I'll be back next week, when I'm here the week of 11/4 for another class. I 'settled' for two of their Fish Tacos, and they were excellent! In Closing I will spend the weekend at home. Okay, I'll be home only 36 hours before flying right back to Denver for the second of those Networking classes. Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE!  Jim Dorrell |
| Locale: Philadelphia, Pa This week finds me in Denver, Colorado for the third of four classes with the Federal Protective Service. It's the same class I've delivered in Suitland, Md and Battle Creek, Michigan, and Denver, Colorado. This was a fun class to deliver because of the interaction with the students, and because I've finally come to know quite a bit about the system. You might wonder how I could 'not know their system' very well, and still deliver this class, right? Well, the class only covers a small portion of the system, so I don't need to know everything about it to deliver this class. This system though, is very complex. It's one of the most complex I've dealt with in my 18+ years at Motorola! No matter how much you study or exchange e-mails with the customer, there's no way you can really know a customer's system when you walk in the door. I'm lucky, I've been able to deliver this class in all four of their major locations, and that has helped. We've discussed basic (and advanced) RF Theory and Operation, system management, maintenance and troubleshooting, configuration and programming, and IP Networking. It's been a great series of classes. You can't come to Philadelphia without seeing a few historic sights. This is my fifth time in this area, so I've seen a lot of it, but today I was drawn back to the Liberty Bell. This piece of American History means a lot to me, mainly because of my personal beliefs, and serving our country for 20+ years on Navy Submarines. Some of you gave me feedback on a notebook post about a new Trinket, and I thank each of you who took the time to respond. It's always nice to get feedback from others.   I don't normally smile that broadly for photo's, you can blame the man who snapped it for that. As he was snapping, he said, "Let's be sure to get the crack in the photo. Not YOUR crack." Made me laugh a bit as you can tell. Noteworthy Restaurants: Newportville Inn http://newportvilleinn.net/# I originally found this wonderful small restaurant in June of 2012. Since then, every time in the Philadelphia area, I visit it. I'm not an expert on German food, but I really enjoy 'good food', and this place is excellent! Historic/Interesting Places Visited: The Liberty Bell https://www.nps.gov/inde/learn/historyculture/stories-libertybell.htm This is MUST SEE historical site to visit on a trip to the 'City of Brotherly Love'. The history of this city, the aura that surrounds the grounds is enough to inspire anyone. In Closing I will spend the weekend and next week at home before traveling again the week of Halloween. Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE! Jim Dorrell |
| Locale: Philadelphia, Pa This week finds me in Denver, Colorado for the third of four classes with the Federal Protective Service. It's the same class I've delivered in Suitland, Md and Battle Creek, Michigan, and Denver, Colorado. This was a fun class to deliver because of the interaction with the students, and because I've finally come to know quite a bit about the system. You might wonder how I could 'not know their system' very well, and still deliver this class, right? Well, the class only covers a small portion of the system, so I don't need to know everything about it to deliver this class. This system though, is very complex. It's one of the most complex I've dealt with in my 18+ years at Motorola! No matter how much you study or exchange e-mails with the customer, there's no way you can really know a customer's system when you walk in the door. I'm lucky, I've been able to deliver this class in all four of their major locations, and that has helped. We've discussed basic (and advanced) RF Theory and Operation, system management, maintenance and troubleshooting, configuration and programming, and IP Networking. It's been a great series of classes. You can't come to Philadelphia without seeing a few historic sights. This is my fifth time in this area, so I've seen a lot of it, but today I was drawn back to the Liberty Bell. This piece of American History means a lot to me, mainly because of my personal beliefs, and serving our country for 20+ years on Navy Submarines. Some of you gave me feedback on a notebook post about a new Trinket, and I thank each of you who took the time to respond. It's always nice to get feedback from others. I don't normally smile that broadly for photo's, you can blame the man who snapped it for that. As he was snapping, he said, "Let's be sure to get the crack in the photo. Not YOUR crack." Made me laugh a bit as you can tell. Noteworthy Restaurants: Newportville Inn http://newportvilleinn.net/# I originally found this wonderful small restaurant in June of 2012. Since then, every time in the Philadelphia area, I visit it. I'm not an expert on German food, but I really enjoy 'good food', and this place is excellent! Historic/Interesting Places Visited: The Liberty Bell https://www.nps.gov/inde/learn/historyculture/stories-libertybell.htm This is MUST SEE historical site to visit on a trip to the 'City of Brotherly Love'. The history of this city, the aura that surrounds the grounds is enough to inspire anyone. In Closing I will spend the weekend and next week at home before traveling again the week of Halloween. Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE! Jim Dorrell |
| Locale: Denver, Colorado This week finds me in Denver, Colorado for the third of four classes with the Federal Protective Service. It's the same class I've delivered in Suitland, Md and Battle Creek, Michigan. This was a fun class to deliver because of the interaction with the students. Well, this trip started out with a bang. NOT! Yes it did... What I mean is, I flew to Denver on Tuesday morning, and would be flying home on Friday. Except that when I checked in for the first flight, I realized that my flight home was Thursday, not Friday! Oooops! So, after a call to American Express, and paying the flight change fee, and a fare increase fee (scheduling the flight home with less than 7-14 days notice), I was scheduled to fly home Friday. The hard part was calling my manager and telling him I'd spent $500 (OUCH!) that I shouldn't have had to spend. A drop in the bucket for my employer, but we are supposed to limit our spending of course. This was a first for me, but man, did I ever beat myself mentally for such a stupid mistake. In teaching a technical subject, the one area most every technician wants to learn is hands-on activities. You can't learn to maintain a radio system worth several hundred million dollars without knowing how to troubleshoot, maintain, calibrate/program everything in it. This class had a bit of hands-on activities, but we were limited by equipment accessibility. The story on why access was so limited is too long to relate here, but just know that the 'central location' where the entire system is monitored is in Orlando, and there we were in Denver. We did have a bit of gear on hand, but it was not near enough. Things went well, but it could have been much better if you ask me. Often in our classes, we get asked questions by a student that has nothing to do with the class. Basically, they wonder why 'we' (or they really, since it is their system) didn't do it this way or that way. One question I was asked this week, was "Why don't you use layer 3 switches in the system, instead of a layer 2 switch, and a layer 3 router?" This is a system design question really, and I told him that. Others in the class know him well, and asked him not to ask such questions, but I said go ahead, because I love a good discussion session. We discussed many things during class, many of them being system type questions, others just being 'old fashioned' RF knowledge questions. Just a three day class, and all these questions and answers! In the end, the one who asked the layer 3 switch question told me he'd learned not to challenge my knowledge of this system. He made me smile, but I told him not to stop, to always challenge me (us), because we probably don't know everything, and what he knows, and can bring to the table will help everyone learn more. I'm not always right, nor do I want or need to be. What I want most of all, is for the correct knowledge to be passed on.Noteworthy Restaurants: Smokin Fins http://finsconcepts.com/smokin-fins-menu/ Their Lobster Stuffed Fried Avocado is something you really have to try.... I'd been here while in Loveland Colorado last year, and the Stuffed Avocado brought me back again. I wasn't disappointed. In Closing I will spend the weekend in the weekend at home before flying to my next destination on Tuesday. Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE! Jim Dorrell |
| Locale: Plattsburgh, New York This week finds me in Plattsburgh New York delivering a class for Clinton County. It was a good class, but small. Six students were registered for the class, but only two showed up. Of course this caused things to flow a little faster than normal, and at their request, class ended on Thursday instead of Friday. The class itself was excellent. With only two students, it was easy, and good, to concentrate on a couple of areas they were mainly interested in. We even found time for a small field trip to one of their radio sites, and I found myself giving thanks for it being September, and not December/January. Plattsburgh is in the northern Adirondacks on the shore of Lake Champlain, and the area around it is mountainous. These are not the size of the Rockies and such, but being far enough north, they receive a lot of snow. Another thing that made this class a bit more special, was the journey. The best part was the return trip. It was extra special because of a nearby location. Plattsburgh sits about 50 miles northeast of Lake Placid. Of course, Lake Placid is the home of the 1980 Winter Olympics. What some of us fail to remember, and rightly so, is that Lake Placid also hosted the 1932 Winter Olympics. This caused me to do a little research. In the 1932 Winter Olympics, 17 nations participated, with 252 athletes in competition. At the 1980 Winter Olympics, 37 nations participated, with 1072 athletes in competition. The biggest question that crossed my mind, was 'Where did everyone stay, and how many people attended the games?' So, you know I had to visit Lake Placid. It was quite the experience really, especially when I stopped for breakfast at a local restaurant. Photo's From Visit:  Ski Runs At Whiteface Mountain  Ski Jumps At Lake Placid Historic/Interesting Places Visited: Lake Placid https://www.lakeplacid.com/ You really need to visit here if you're ever in upstate NY. Fascinating, and beautiful. In Closing I will spend the weekend at home before hitting the road again next week. Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE! Jim Dorrell |
| Locale: Battle Creek, Mi This week finds me in Battle Creek Michigan to deliver a class to the Federal Protective Services. It's the same class as last week in Suitland Md, with the same issues concerning equipment on hand. Once again, the students have been great at understanding the limitations we face, but we've done a decent job in discussing key things with their equipment. I would love to tell you more about the classes, but frankly, I think you'd get glassy eyed from boredom quickly. Other than the class, I have to say that Battle Creek is pretty interesting. After all, it's known as the cereal capital of the USA, and at one point had over 100 cereal manufacturers here! That's pretty amazing in and of itself, but where the class is being held is something worthy of a novel. Not just any novel, but maybe a horror novel, or at least a deep mystery. Now why would I say that? Well, it's quite the story. The Kellogg brothers (John Harvey Kellogg and W.K. Kellogg) had the Sanitarium built as a Spa of the Day. Yep, I too thought Sanitarium = Hospital for the Insane, but it's not even close to that. It was built as a Spa where Harvey promoted a healthy diet (shades of today and how we are looking eat less processed food!), but also some bizarre treatments, even for adults. Add to this that John Kellogg had some very disturbing ideas about what caused young children (male and female) to start 'experimenting with self pleasure'. The things he did to both boys and girls would have him in prison quickly in this day. I want to keep my blog E-rated, so I can't describe what he did here without changing the rating. But you get the idea. So here we are, almost revering Kellogs in today's world, yet a lot of what he did would cause us to think of him as a pervert. Historic/Interesting Places Visited: The Battle Creek Sanitorium http://www.asylumprojects.org/index.php?title=Battle_Creek_Sanitarium This is quite an interesting read. Especially when you look up Harvery Kellogg, and his practices. https://pictorial.jezebel.com/john-harvey-kelloggs-legacy-of-cereal-sociopathy-a... https://factslegend.org/20-interesting-john-harvey-kellogg-facts/ In Closing I will spend the next week working from home before traveling to Plattsburgh, NY the following week. Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE! Jim Dorrell |
| Date: Week of September 2nd Locale: Suitland, Maryland This week found me in Suitland Maryland for a class with the Federal Protective Services. You probably just did what I did when I saw their name. "Federal who?" Th e Federal Protective Services are part of the Department of Homeland Security, and that's about all I know about them.This was an interesting class to deliver because they had no equipment we could access. Well, for the most part that is. Let's say that the most important piece we needed to access was no where nearby, and while we could have accessed it over the network, we couldn't do any testing on it without being there. It just made for an interesting delivery is all. The students were great. They understood the limitations imposed by the lack of equipment access, and we worked together to make sure they had the necessary information needed to support their system. It was a short class too, only 3 days, and because we couldn't do much in the way of hands-on activities, I was done by noon today. Sadly, my flight was at 6pm, and I just didn't feel like getting out much, so I sat around Reagan Airport in Washington DC for 5 hours, waiting to fly to Illinois. Getting an earlier flight would have resulted in additional charges, and since I already had a reserved seat the same day, I couldn't really justify the expense of it. It was okay though, I spent the day relaxing, or trying to. During a recent class in Schaumburg, one of my students told me to visit National Harbor, about 5 miles from my hotel. Wow, what a nice time I had there. Went there Wednesday and Thursday for dinner and had a great time. It's an area on the waterfront (Imagine that. It's called National Harbor, and sits on the water!) that consists mainly of shops and restaurants. I was interesting the restaurants, not shopping. Had a pretty good meal both nights. You'll see my note below about one of the restaurants. National Harbor has quite a few statues around the streets. You can see Maryland Monroe and her famous dress being blown up from behind scene, Rosie The Riveter, famous presidents, and a recreation of the famous couple kissing in NYC when it was announced WWII had ended. Noteworthy Restaurants: The Walrus Oyster and Ale House http://www.walrusoysterandale.com/assets/walrus-nh-main-summer2019.pdf Their menu appealed to me, that's why I chose this place. Their Fried Artichoke Hearts, Farmhouse Saison Beer Batter, Home Made Beer Salt, with Spicy Remoulade. Yummy appetizer. For dinner, I had their Shrimp & Grits. It was good, but no where close to the fantastic dish served at Fleet Landing in Charleston, SC. Graces Mandarin http://www.gracesrestaurants.com/menu/ I chose this location for Thursday mainly because their menu featured a Crab Stuffed Avocado. I had that in Fort Collins Colorado last year; loved it, so thought I'd have it again. Wasn't anything like the dish served at Smokin' Fins in Fort Collins. It was good, but a major disappointment just the same. Photo's From Visit:  A collection of statues of a member of each of the Armed Services In Closing I will spend the weekend home before driving to Battle Creek Michigan Monday to deliver the same class to this customer again. Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE! Jim Dorrell |
| Date: Week of August 26th 2019 Locale: San Diego, California The flight home from San Diego was interesting for a couple of reasons. First, the man seated next to me wore a ball cap and polo shirt emblazoned with 'Golden Eagles Hot Shots'. He wasn't the only one, there were about 9 others wearing identical shirts and caps. We started talking, and I had to ask what/who the Golden Eagles are. His answer was a little surprising. The Golden Eagles are not a Sports Team or something similar. They are employees of the Bureau Of Indian Affairs, and members of the Sycuan Fire Department of the Kumeyaay Nation. They are one of three in California, and you know I had to look them up. Here's what I found out. The Sycuan Fire Department / BIA Golden Eagles Hotshots organization was established in June 15, 2000 initially as a Type 2 crew. In August 2001, the Golden Eagles received status as a Type 2 initial attack hand crew, which provided the opportunity to take more advanced assignments. By January of 2003, the BIA recognized them as a Type 1 training crew, and by October, 2005, the Crew was fully certified as a National Interagency Hotshot Crew, having met all the standards and qualifications necessary to become one of the nation’s elite type 1 hand crews. We talked a little more, I discovered they were flying to Miami to provide hurricane relief support. I have to tip my hat to those men, they do a valuable service that many people don't think about very often. Then, there was the layover at O'Hare. It was long (fine by me), but it was towards the end of it that struck me funny. I was at the gate waiting for my flight, and noticed a flight leaving for Clarksburg, West Virginia about a half hour before my flight. What struck me as funny, was there was only ONE passenger on the plane! I really wondered who that passenger was, but never found out. But, in the process, I thought of a small skit that could be done with that in mind. Imagine Tim Conway (RIP) and Harvey Korman in a Carol Burnett skit. Tim is the airline gate attendant, Korman is the only passenger on a flight that will soon board. Also, Tim is the 'Oldest Man In The World', a character he made famous. Harvey Korman's tickets reveals he's in Boarding Group 6, even though he's the longe passenger on the plane. When it comes time boarding, Tim Conway starts going through the standard airline verbage of boarding groups. He offers boarding to disabled people, and looks around patiently, as if waiting for anyone to come forward and board. Then he offers boarding opportunities to Active Duty Military. Again he waits. Then those with special airline boarding privileges. Finally he announces boarding group 1, then 2 through 5. Each time, he waits 20-30 seconds for people to come forward. Meanwhile, Harvey Korman, the lone passenger is waiting, wanting to get on board, and knows he's the only passenger. Each time a group is called, he tries to board, only to be rebuffed by Tim. By the time group 6 is called, Harvey Korman is beside himself, and can't locate this ticket. Eventually, Tim Conway closes the gate, and it's about 10 seconds later that Harvey Korman finally finds his lost ticket. Well, okay, I guess you have to have seen Carol Burnett Episodes similar to this to appreciate it. Try this one... Til the next time, when I'll write about my visit to Suitland Maryland. Take care of yourself and those you love, and write! Jim Dorrell |
| Date: Week of August 26th 2019 Locale: San Diego, California This week finds me in beautiful San Diego to deliver a class to the county of San Diego. The topic is two classes, but there's a lot of overlap in delivering them. Fortunately the customer asked us to deliver it in four days instead of five, so that helped a lot in the timing of the modules. Instead of making it two classes, I treated it as one. Let me explain. The first part of the class was on what we call the GTR 8000 Expandable Site Subsystem. It involves a base radio, and the other equipment mounted in the rack that makes this part of a larger system. The second class is called Simulcast, a method of transmitting the audio over a wider area, increasing the customers ability to remain in communication. Well, the radio sites in the Simulcast System are GTR 8000 Expandable Site Subsystems. You can see the overlap, and our problem delivering both classes back to back. Treating it just one class with a focus on the GTr 8000 part made it a lot easier. It went smoothly and the students seemed to receive it well. I arrived a bit early on Monday, and thought I'd visit the San Diego Safari Park. If you like seeing animals in the closest thing to their natural habitat, visit this place! Also, once class was done Friday, I decided to play tourist a little, and visited Cabrillo National Monument. It was the first place a European stepped foot on the west coast of what became the United States. Great views of the ocean and harbor from high above the coast! Noteworthy Restaurants: 94th Aerosquadron https://94thsandiego.com/ This is such an interesting place to dine at! They exist at small airports in large cities. I first found one of these in Miami in 2004, and have since visited one in Wheeling Illinois (now closed), Columbus Ohio, Atlanta Georgia (100th Bomber Group is the name of that one), the Proud Bird near LAX, and one somewhere in Pennsylvania, but for the life of me I can't remember where. The food is excellent, with an atmosphere that's even better. Duke's La Jolla https://www.dukeslajolla.com/menus/dinner/ If you know me at all, then you know how much I love Hawaii, and the great food you can have there. Duke Kahanamoku was the man who brought surfing to the world, and an Olympic Champion Swimmer. The food here is better than most places I've dined, with a wonderful Hawaiian atmosphere. Photo's From Visit:  WWI Tri Plane Replica  Cabrillo National Monument Historic/Interesting Places Visited: San Diego Zoo Safari Park https://www.sdzsafaripark.org/ I was here about 17 years ago, and it's changed dramatically. No animals live in cages, they are in the wild essentially, on 1600 acres of land! Of course carnivores are separated from the herbivores with large walls separating them. A great place to visit and spend an afternoon, though I was pretty beat at the end of the day. Cabrillo National Monument https://www.nps.gov/cabr/index.htm This site honors Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, the first European to set foot on what became the west coast of the United States in 1542. In Closing I will spend the weekend at home, and fly to Washington DC for a class just south of the National Mall next week. Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE! Jim Dorrell |
| Date: Week of August 19th 2019 Locale: Schaumburg, Illinois This week I became the student when I was asked (told) by my manager that I would be there. I was originally scheduled to work from home, so really no difference to me in many ways. This class was called 'Fleetmapping', which probably sounds a little strange to most of you. In many (almost all) companies (our customers), the workers who use radio are divided into groups. This is because when they transmit on their radios, they should talk to their co-workers, not just any one at all. Thus, the radios are programmed to allow this to occur. Not only that, the rack mounted radio system nees to be properly configured and programmed to allow communications to occur over a large area. Modern two-way radios can communicate over wide areas, often on state wide systems. They can roam much like a cell phone (but don't ever tell a cell phone technician they work just like that, because you'll be corrected quickly). This class allows us to teach customers how to align their users into groups, giving them the same capabilities (modern radios can do a lot of different things), that every one in the group has. To me it sounds easy, but complex at the same time. You have to know quite a bit about radio programming. I do, since I can teach radio programming on every radio we've engineered for public safety use since 1990 or so. Probably a little earlier. Fortunately, most of the older radios classes are not taught anymore, and that's a good thing. You also have to know a bit about configuring the radios, radio users and groups, in the system. A course I don't teach. I know a lot about it, but not near enough to teach the class. Learning this class will help me in that one of course! Now to study, and learn as much as I can about this class...In Closing I will spend the weekend iat home, then fly to San Diego for a class with San Diego County. Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE! Jim Dorrell |
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