Where In The World Is Sum1?

Working From Home

Locale: Bloomington, Illinois


         This MONTH finds me in Bloomington, Illinois, working from home.  After returning home from Winnipeg, my cough got drasatically worse, almost overnight.  A quick trip to Prompt Care on a Sunday morning (after a sleepless night of coughing while trying to sleep in the loveseat) took care of me pretty well.  A followup trip to my doctor resulted in being referred to a Cardiologist, and an ENT Specialist.

         I had not seen a Cardiologist since 2009, a year after having a very minor heart attack.  People always ask why I call it very minor.  There's a couple of reasons really.  First, I went to the ER on a Tuesday night (St. Patrick's Day, 2008), and was discharged Thursday afternoon.  Secondly, the enzyme (?) (I think it's an enzyme) that the heart makes when you have a heart attack barely went above the limit.  If I recall correctly, the limit for this particular 'thing' was 10, mine reached 14.  You have to remain in the hospital until it's below 10, mine was there by Wednesday night.  Another reason?  I did see my Cardiologist a couple of times shortly after the heart attack.  He put me through the usual stuff.  Stress tests, ultrasound of my heart, etc.  They stopped the Stress test when I reached a certain % of the calculated maximum heart rate (I was still going strong on the treadmill), and the Ultrasound that was done with chemicals injected revealed no damage to my heart muscle.  A follow up visit a year later resulted in him telling me to watch my diet, and return to see him only if I experienced any chest pain or problems.  Since it had been so long since being seen by a Cardiologist, it was time.  Another stress test two weeks ago, again passed with no issues at all.

         Both the Cardiologist and ENT Doctor were interested in my fainting during extreme coughing.  The ENT asked me to see him in two weeks, and when I went back, he saw the recent blood tests, and Stress Test results, and said I didn't have an ENT issue, and to see my doctor for any further treatment.  It's a relief to know that I'm not deathly sick.  At least not by their tests.  My doctor thinks I had (may still have if you ask me), an underlying upper respiratory infection, and the trip to Algeria wore me down physically.  I got little to no sleep on the return flight, and this minor infection took the chance to attack while I was exhausted.  Oh well...  like I've said, better now.

         With the COVID-19 Pandemic, work has changed.  We're all working from home, and some of us are working hard to change our curriculum so we can deliver part of our classes online, then have students come to Schaumburg to complete the hands-on activities.  Tuesday, my manager asked me if I could deliver a class online called, "Fleeetmapping".  (I'm not currently qualified to deliver this class.  It's delivered entirely by a contractor).  I sat through it last year, and remembered it well.  It didn't seem to be a hard class to pick up, but I also remembered that the Powerpoint Slides used in delivery were in horrible shape.  I'd have been embarrassed to deliver a class using those slides.  No wait, that's not correct.  There is NO WAY I'd ever deliver a class using slides that looked that bad.  Anyway, I now have three weeks to learn this course, and in the process, have been given permission to edit the course to my hearts content.  There are a couple of instructors who are really interested in this class, and they will help me.  I spent most of Wednesday thru Friday just cleaning up the formatting of the slides.  Next week, the three of us will meet in Adobe Connect to review the content, and make sure there are no errors.  In the process, I'll be learning the course, right?  The answer is Yes, I've reviewed it once already, now will come an in-depth review, with a check to make sure it's all error free.  Then I will go through the Excel Spreadsheet used in the class to make sure I understand that, and I'll be good, ready for the class.  I hope we can have that done by Friday.  That's my goal.

         Of course there's more.  There's always more, right?  Since we're editing our courses and such, I am scheduled to deliver the second of our Networking classes at the end of April.  Those course materials are being edited, and since we're adding a new switch (made by Aruba), and a new router (Juniper router) to our systems, I have to learn that part of it too.  Getting my new course completed early will allow me to concentrate on the Networking course materials.  So my at home time during this pandemic is really allowing me to get quite a bit done.  So what am I reading/writing?  Boring technical stuff.... 


Noteworthy Restaurants:


         Jim's Homemade Cooking.  Man, the food here can be great one day, just edible the next.  Some days it's something new, others, it tastes like leftovers.  Oh wait, that's what it is!  The menu is eclectic at best, but at least it's all food I enjoy.

In Closing

         I will spend the rest of March (all three days of it), and probably all of April at home.  For someone who is used to traveling a lot, it's like prison!  It's not bad at all, it's just different.  My next scheduled trip will be to Fort Lauderdale Florida, the first week of May.  Unless that becomes an online delivery also.  Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE!



Jim Dorrell