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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 |
Weekend in Frankfurt, Germany Have I told you that despite the nice amenities we get to travel to an International destination, that I don't really enjoy the trip? No, it's not the destination, it's getting there. I love the destinations! I travel a lot, but not near as much as Schnujo's in Alabama   & Kåre Enga in Montana  . They travel for pleasure too, I travel on business. Which is better? Theirs, in my humble opinion, because they travel to destinations they want to viit. I travel where I'm scheduled to be. My internationaal destinations, though few, have been fantastic. And forgive me if I don't consider Canada an International destination. To me, Canada is our Northern Brother/Sister, an independentn country admittedly, but still, our Northern Brother/Sister.This is my second time in Frankfurt, I was here in December 2017 and was able to experience their Christmas Market. Essentially it was across the street from my hotel. I'm at the same hotel this time, and walked through the same area of City Center that held the market in 2017. It looks much the same really, I really enjoyed the walk,. I went back later in the evening for a reason that I'll talk about in a minute, and ended up walking twice as many steps as my daily goal in a total of 2 hours! Now why did I go back out when I'd already walked 1.5 times my daily goal. On my initial walk I looked for a specific supermarket in a shopping mall, but didn't find it. It never occurred to me that it would be downstairs in the lower level. I looked upstairs and on the main level, but not downstairs. Why was it so important to go there? The students in my class are holding a BBQ at 2 pm today and invited me to join them. It's a BYOB party, and while I could have arrived empty handed and be welcomed, that's not me. So I went back out, found a six pack of San Miguel (It won't be near as good as the San Miguel you can purchase in the Philippines, but it will work), and a 4 pack of a nice IPA. It will be nice to meet the guys before the class on Monday and get to know them as a person, not just as a student. I'm hoping to not talk business today, we'll see how it goes. I snapped a few photo's while out yesterday. Here is one of a statues of Goethe.  It's a very appropriate photo of the man who is widely regarded as the greatest and most influential writer in the German language. 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 |
Los Angeles, Callifornia This was my 11th time in the Los Angeles area in the last 12 months. You might think I'd grow tired of the city, but I didn't. That's mainly because half of the classes I delivered were not in downtown Los Angeles. Instead, I was out in the Alhambra/Monticello area with a different customer. It has been interesting to say the least. This was the second round of our networking classes for LA Unified School District (LAUSD), and what I found disappointing was that there were only 3 students in the class, the same three who attended the first go-round. Y'see, the customer is billed a specific amount for a class of up to 12 students. So sending 12 students to a class is the best 'bang for your buck' so to speak. But 3 students? Yeah, they are billed the same amount. You see what I mean. That's not for me to say though. I realize that sending someone to a class can be harder than you might think. I did that at Firestone for 2-3 years. On a Monday there would be 7-8 or more students in a class. But,the need on the manufacturing floor for a maintenance technician can override that need for training. Often I would have only 3-4 students in class come Friday. So I understand why I might only have 3 students in a class. That doesn't stop me from being disappointed. Then again, it was good in a way, because the students encountered problems completing the hands-on activities. Having only 3 in class helped me in assisting them as needed. Then, there's always that one student who really doesn't belong in the class. They lack the necessary computer skills, background knowledge, or just the ability to follow directions. Perhaps all three! Yeah, there was 'one of them' in both classes. It just makes me concentrate on helping them more as the class progresses. As I might have said in a previous post, this is my last full year with Motorola. I will retire early next year, at the end of April, at the latest. Why so late? I have to ensure I'm employed through the 'drop dead' date so I can receive the bonus check for 2024. It's far too much money for me to throw away. I will be checking with HR so I know what that date is. And of course, my Current Schedule is below. Aug 19 - International Travel on 8/21, work at the Embassy the morning of 8/23 to ensure the classroom is set the way I prefer. Aug 26: Frankfurt, Germany Sept 2: International Travel (Fly home on 8/31). No time to sight see.  My own fault, but I wanted to get home and rest for almost 2 weeks.)Sept 9: Boston Sept 16: San Francisco Sept 23: Kalispell, Montana (I might fly into Missoula because it has the nearest semi-large airport. If so, I'm hoping that Kåre Enga in Montana lives somewhere nearby. It would be good to meet him, or anyone else from WDC in the nearby area.)Sept 30: Vacation Oct 7: Tennessee Oct 14: Work from home Oct 21: Schaumburg Oct 28: Vacation to attend the Akita National Specialty Dog Show Nov 4: Seattle Nov 11: Schaumburg Nov 18: Schaumburg Nov 25: Thanksgiving Dec 2: Seattle Dec 9: Fort Lauderdale Dec 16: Fort Lauderdale Dec 23: Christmas! 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 |
Cavalier, North Dakota It is thought that I wouldn't, or don't like being alone. Far from it. I can exist around other people, or I can just as happily exist on my own, with no one near. This is what the area of North Dakota I was in last week was like. I drove to work 1.5 hours one way, and all I could see was the horizon in all directions. Why the 1.5 hour drive? I have to use our Travel Site to make reservations, and there were no 'approved' hotels listed in Cavalier ND. The nearest ones were in Grand Forks, about 70 miles away, but 1.5 hours to drive. I loved my morning and evening commute despite the length. So where was I for this class? I was at Cavalier SFS Station last week for 2 days. Well geez, it took me two days of travel to get to and from this area. I flew into Fargo, ND, and stayed in Grand Forks. I love this area of the country. I could say I love any area of the country where you do not have large (or small) cities all over the place. Such was Grand Forks. Once I started driving to the base, I left what most would call Civilization, behind. Yes there were towns on my route. One particular town had no businesses in it, just houses. And very few at that. The largest town I drove through was Grafton. There was one hotel there, but I try to stay at either a Marriott, or Hilton Brand hotel, those brands were not in Grafton. Go ahead, call me spoiled. Because I am. Like I said though, I loved the drive to and from work. No, I didn't really see the towns becauseI was just passing through and didn't want to spend time seeing what the town had to offer. The class was an easy one to deliver, and I will 'brag' a little and say that the customer (Space Force at Cavalier SFS) was very pleased with my delivery. I hope so, I spent a couple of days editing the course materials, combining courses so I would deliver information only equipment they were using. I added drawings of their system layout and IP address plan to show them what they had. So all in all, a two day class was recieved very well. I didn't say this to them, but the current Sgt (an E-6, I learned) who is in charge of the radio group was 'just a kid'! Geez, he looked like he belonged in College still. His relief, a Master Sgt (an E-7, I also learned that) looked just as young. But when I think back to my career, we were 20 something men (we were really kids!), operating and maintaining a multi-million dollar nuclear reactor. For example, I was 23 when I tested and was advanced to E-6. Yeah, I need to calibrate my eyes, huh.  First, I apologize for the quality of the photo. I was about a mile away anad because yours truly left his camera and telephoto lens in his van, I had only my phone to use. Holy Cow, this building has 6-foot thick Concrete walls surrounding it. It's designed to withstand a direct hit, but I don't remember if that included a Nuclear Attack or not. No RF/WiFi signals can get in or out. The white area in the photo contains hundreds of small radar antennas. They are fed a radar signal from vintage 70's technology equipment sitting in trays that are about 6 foot long, and 18 inches wide. Being so old, certain members of the staff repair these if/when they fail. Sometimes they have to purchase components and mount them on the boards. Wow, I was impressed. By changing the amount of signal fed to the various trays, they can change the area being monitored. The antennas are on the North Side of the building, which caused me to ask why? Canada is not an enemy after all. Keep in mind that this was built early in the Cold War, when the Soviet Union still existed. Our government was concerned that the Soviets would place a missile submarine in the Hudson Bay to launch missiles, so mon itoring of the frozen north it did. And it did it, and still does do it, quite well. I was given a tour during lunch Thursday. It was an eye opener and very enjoyable. I was not allowed to have my phone with me during my tour of the building, but I still learned a lot. Obviously I did not teach in this building. As I might have said in a previous post, this is my last full year with Motorola. I will retire early next year, probably March or April. Why so late? I have to ensure I'm employed through the 'drop dead' date so I can receive bonus check for 2024. It's far too much money for me to throw away. I will be checking with HR so I know what that date is. And of course, my Current Schedule is below. Aug 19: International Travel (Fly there on Wednesday 8/21) Aug 26: Frankfurt, Germany Sept 2: International Travel (Fly home on 8/31). No time to sight see. My own fault, but I wanted to get home and rest for almost 22 weeks.)Sept 9: Boston Sept 16: San Francisco Sept 23: Kalispell, Montana Sept 30: Vacation Oct 7: Tennessee Oct 14: Work from home Oct 21: Schaumburg Oct 28: Vacation to attend the Akita National Specialty Dog Show Nov 4: Seattle Nov 11: Schaumburg Nov 18: Schaumburg Nov 25: Thanksgiving Dec 2: Seattle Dec 9: Fort Lauderdale Dec 16: Fort Lauderdale Dec 23: Christmas! That's it for now. Until my next entry, write all you can, and love everyone, especially those special people who fill your life! JimD Jim Dorrell |
Schaumburg This past week I was in Schaumburg again for a resident class. This is a class I haven't delivered often, yet I've been qualified to deliver it for 16 years! The knowledge is there, but the smoothness of the delivery seemed a little off. Everythign must have gone well for the students based on their grades and comments. Still, I just have th feeling that it could have been so much better. I guess I could say I know Schaaumburg quite well, having lived in that area for 15 years. Things have changed of course, but not so much that don't know where to dine and such. The bright spot of the week was when I went to the Naval Hospital at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center. I was there to get my wife's prescription for Trulicity filled. It was a 3 month supply, and if we'd gone to CVS in town this would have cost us close to $900, if not a little more or less. At the Naval Hospital, we got it free of charge since I have TriCare for life. It's one of the nicest benefits of hacving served 20 years in the Navy. But what made this a bright spot in my week was taking four Tank You Veterans Challenge Coins in with me and handing them to Veterans. Some were old, older than me, some about my age. They were gone in less than 5 minutes! The looks on their faces, the smiles of gratitude for being recognized, was almost too much. If I'd had 100 coins, I could have given them away during my long wait Yes it was long, but was it worth it? I think so, every minute spent there. Work has not slacked off one bit, I find myself really looking forward to retirement at the end of 2024. My Current Schedule is below. Aug 5: Cavalier AFB Aug 12: Los Angeles Aug 19: International Travel Aug 26: Frankfurt, Germany Sept 2: International Travel Sept 9: Boston Sept 16: San Francisco Sept 23: Kalispell, Montana Sept 30: Vacation Oct 7: Tennessee Oct 14: Work from home Oct 21: Schaumburg Oct 28: Vacation to attend the Akita National Specialty Dog Show Nov 4: Seattle Nov 11: Schaumburg Nov 18: Schaumburg Nov 25: Thanksgiving Dec 2: Seattle Dec 9: Fort Lauderdale Dec 16: Fort Lauderdale Dec 23: Christmas! That's it for now. Until my next entry, write all you can, and love everyone, especially those special people who fill your life! JimD Jim Dorrell |
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