%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |  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.  Best Cultural And Regional Honorable Mention |
Schaumburg Week of 11/18/24 Wow, I did not realize I was so far behind in keeping this blog up-to-date! I'd love to say I've just been too busy, but that wouldn't be entirely true. Let's face it, I just forgot. This past week I was in Schaumburg once again. Before that I had a week of no-delivery, a week in Seattle, Vacation, and a week in Schaumburg. I've been busy, but I've also had weeks off with no delivery, so there's really no excuse. Howver, I'm off for Thanksgiving this week, and will be in Seattle next week. This week's class in Schumburg was a good week, and another Networking Class. Everything went well, other than one hands-on activity we couldn't accomplish satisfactorily, but in not accomplishing that the students said that the problem we encountered is one they would see at times. The best thing about it though, is that I showed them why we couldn't complete it, and what should be done so it could be completed. So despite not completing that hands-on activity, it was a win-win. I'm hesitant to go into details here about the issue, mainly because I think most of you would become glassy eyed pretty quickly. Either way, here's what we we doing. The students had the exact routers used in our system. The idea is to copy the configuration file to the router, then go to our system and place it in service. To do that, we remove the operating router from service and connect the cabling so the 'new' router operates in its place. The crux of the problem was that the routers had an older operating system, one that is not compatible with the current system. As a result, the alarms we received would never clear. Like I said above, the students might encounter this at some point when replacinfg a failed router. Fortunately, those things don't fail very often. All in all though, it was a good learning experience for them. Noteworthy Restaurants: Chicago Ramen Annex https://chicago-ramen.us/collections I really loved this place, and will return. Why? I enjoyed some of the best Ramen I can remember having in recent years, simple as that. I had their Spipcy Red Miso Ramen W/Sweet Corn. My mistake was taking the red clump of pepper that sat on top of the dish, and just stirring it into the Ramen. It was just a little spicier than I wanted that night. It wasn't too hot for me, but it was spicy enough. Westwood Tavern https://westwoodtavern.com/menus This is a nice tavern and very close to my office. I dined there because I was invited to join several of the students for dinner Thursday night! I don't normally have company at dinner, I usually dine alone. So dining with them was a treat. I enjoyed their Braised Short Rib Foot Long Grill Cheese (Mushrooms, Gouda, Cheddar & Fontina Cheeses served with a tomato basil dip. I still have leftovers in our Fridge here too. My Current Schedule - Below is my schedule through the end of my career at Motorola. I have thought about this a lot, at times thinking I wouldn't retire, at times knowing I would. I can't continue to hem & haw over it, I've told my manager about the date, I will stick to it. As you can tell, I don't really want to retire, I'm not ready in some ways, but this old body on mine says I should. If anyone is in any city I'll be visiting between now and the end of April, I'd love to meet up. I'll even buy you dinner if we chose to meet at night! (e:smile} Nov 25: Thanksgiving Dec 2: Seattle Dec 9: Washington DC Dec 16: Fort Lauderdale Dec 23: Christmas/New Years 'Relaxation' Dec 30: Christmas/New Years 'Relaxation' Jan 6 - Sacramento Jan 13 - Upstate NY (I don't know where yet) Jan 20 - Work From Home Jan 27 - WMATA Virtual Class (teach from home) Feb 3 - Washington DC WMATA Feb 10 - Vacation Feb 17 - Vacation Feb 24 - Harris County Tx (Houston) Mar 3 - Washington DC Mar 10 - Vacation Mar 17 - Schaumburg Mar 24 - WMATA Virtual Class (teach from home) Mar 31 - Sacramento Apr 7 - Schaumburg Apr 14 - Work from home Apr 21 - Work from home Apr 28 - Work from home RETIRED! 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 |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
is better than suspended upside down in the 'void'. 
