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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 |
Schaumburg Week of 11/25/24 This past week I worked from home once more. But to say I worked would be overstating what I've accomplished, which is very little. It's Thanksgiving week, usually a week of little work getting done, so I've taken advantage of it. Our managers email told us to complete what we needed to do each day and log off. I think I'd like to reflect on both this career at Motorola, as well as my Naval Career. First, the Navy. I enlisted as an 18 year old on 25 August, 1972. I thought I was 'grown up', never realizing how much growing I had yet to do. I was chosen for the Navy Nuclear Power Program from day 1, but if you know my background, you would know that I was one of the most 'unqualified' individuals to enter that program. The 2 years of school was tough, the toughest I've ever been in. The minimum requirements were these. A GCT/ARI score of at least 115. No bending of the rules was allowed, if you scored 114, you didn't qualify. My score was 127, the best you could get was 135. In high school, you had to have completed 2 years of Mathematics, Calculus or Trigonometry was recommended, not required. I had a year of Algebra and a year of Geometry. You also needed to complete 2 years of Science. Physics or Chemistry was recommended, not required. I had a year of General Science and a year of Biology. But I had those test scores. I had no interest in Electricity/Electronics, or anything Mechanical. I was a Music Major, I played French Horn, and taught myself how to play Trombone. So no hands-on experience, and minimal course completions. Still, there were those test scores. If a recruiter manages to get a potential sailor designated for the Nuclear Power Program, it was quite an accomplishment and a feather in his cap. I have no idea if he was given a bonus for that feat, but in my opinion he/she would deserve one. There was a high attrition rate in this program, and remains close to that today. The attrition rate was about 35%. My first at sea assignment was on the USS Theodore Roosevelt SSBN 600 (G), repoorting there in September 1974. I earned my dolphins on 25 April 1975, something I am very proud of. There were other things I did, other qualifications, but earning my dolphins is #1 on my list, I was promoted to E-5, then E-6, followed by E-7 (Chief Petty Officer), a promotion I earned with less than 8 years of service! This was unheard of then, and is even more rare in today's Navy. In 1993, I'd been passed over for promotion to E-8 (Senior Chief Petty Officer) many times. Promotion to E-7. 8 or 9 was different than anytthing below that because your Service Record was reviewed by a board. Emphasis was on external community involvment which earned you points. I had none, so I wasn't really surprised to not be promoted. I decided to retire, and did on 1/31/93. Now, my post Navy career. I worked at a Firestone Tire Plant for 6 years. First as a Maintenance Electrician/Mechanic, later as a Supervisor, mainly the Maintenance Training Supervisor. It was my plant that was involved in the tire recall of 2000. As a result of that, I posted my resume on Monster.com, where it was found by a head-hunter for Motorola. The rest is history. I am proud to say that Motorola asked me to interview for the job, in essence, I didn't apply. The interview must have gone well, and I was hired, I knew 2 things about radios. I knew what the acronyms AM and FM mean, nothing else. 24 years later, I will retire from Motorola. May 2nd, 2024 will be my last day of employment there. I will say that the man who hired me asked me a serious question. He said something like, "Jim, your students will have upwards of 20+ years of experience working on and maintaining radios and their systems. Are you sure you can teach them these classes?" I don't recall my exact answer of course, and I know I probably sounded conceited, but I said something like, "Well, I qualified to operate, perform maintenance and stand watch on a Nuclear Power Plant, I'm sure I can handle radio subjects." Like I said, the rest is history. The day I retire from Motorola, it will be 50 years and one week since earning my dolphins, still #1 on list of accomplishments. In the meantime, I still have classes to deliver, I refuse to adopt a 'short timers' attitude and waltz into the sunset. There's still a lot to be done. 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} Dec 2: Seattle Dec 9: Work From Home 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 |
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is better than suspended upside down in the 'void'. 
