I travel the country on business, sometimes the world. Come see where I've been. |
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. |
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 Doing NaNoWriMo? & Kåre เลียม Enga . 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 เลียม Enga 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 |