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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 |
| Locale: Virginia Beach, Virginia Week of: October 5, 2020 For the first time in longer than I care to think about, I took some paid time off (PTO), and actually went on a vacation! It wasn't much because the timing wasn't all that great, but it was excellent nonetheless. Let me explain. First, timing. We had appointments the first week of my PTO, and couldn't leave on Monday. The people we were going to visit couldn't take any time off from work, so being there the weekend seemed the best strategy. And with COVID-19, we didn't really want to be out and about all that much. Last year, long before there were any thoughts of COVID-19, we were asked to submit our PTO requests for 2020. You will probably 'freak out' over this, I get 5 weeks of PTO every year, but rarely use them. Sadly too, it's either use them, or lose them. They will not pay us for time we could have had off, but didn't take. So yep, every year I've lost those 5 weeks of free time off. Why would I be willing to do that? Well, isn't vacation all about going someplace new and relaxing? Yeah, I know, my field classes are not vacations, but I still see places I'd probably never see (Thailand anyone?), and I do get some relaxation time in often enough. We chose Virginia Beach for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, we had planned on going to my hometown (Albuquerquew, NM) to see the Balloon Fiesta, which I've never seen. How is that possible? Well, that all started after I joined the Navy, so yeah, I've never seen it. As with most things this year, the fiesta was cancelled due to COVID-19. I was scheduled to take a week of PTO in August and September, but had nothing to do really, so gave those up, and ended up teaching instead. But why Virginia Beach? Again, there's a small story as to why. In a previous posting, I related how I taught a class in Washington DC to the White House Communications Agency. What I didn't talk about in that posting, was that after class was done on Thursday, I drove to Virginia Beach and picked up an Akita puppy we were purchasing from it's breeder. I've never been a 'big dog person', but have come to really love Akita's. We have an older female that we got from this same breeder. We didn't buy her though, she was a rescue, and was given to us by the breeder. LONG story there about that. Anyway, the sister of our current Akita had a litter in April, and we were set to buy the best male in the litter. Those of you who may be into dog shows and training know the correct terminology for this little guy, but to me, he's the best male. And he's a handful too. He's great, but a handful. So when we couldn't see the balloon fiesta, I thought we'd go east and let the breeder see her puppy after he'd been gone three months. Everything about the trip was uneventful, even if we did travel with three dogs. While there, we went on a 2 hour cruise to see the Navy vessels in port. Didn't I have enough of that while in the Navy? In one word.... NO. It was a good time. We also visited the first landing area, saw the Cape Henry lighthouse, and visited the Chesapeake Bay Distillery so I could get a bottle of their Rum. In the process, we stopped at Duck Donuts and picked up a half dozen for us, and the people we'd visit. But, we needed to stop for breakfast, and since we had the puppy with us (didn't trust him being left in the hotel room with the other two dogs), we left him in the car. Remember those donuts? Well, I hid them as best I could under the back seat of the van. The seats had been folded down, and there was a small space under there that the donuts fit in quite well. But, there was a little bit of the box showing. After breakfast, we visited the lighthouse, and that's when I discovered that our Duck Donuts would not be eaten by us. The puppy had dug the box out, and ate them all!! We're lucky he didn't get sick from that,,, but looking back now, I have to laugh a little about it. Seeing the puppy (Buddy), and his great aunt (Pumpkin) meet their breeder again was precious. I wish I'd had my camera out to record the video. Their happiness at seeing them is something only those who have experienced this can understand. Noteworthy Restaurants: Wicker's Crab Pot https://www.wickerscrabpot.com/menus/ I really wanted fresh seafood while there, especially a place where you can order a crab pot. I've had this in the past, and they bring out a pot of Fish, Crab, Shrimp, Corn-On-The-Cob, Potatoes, etc, and dump it on the table. Well, this place didn't dump it on the table, but still, it was excellent. In Closing I am spending the rest of the second week here at home relaxing. I worked a little, but very little. I did enough to be ready for the grind through the end of the year. Starting next week, I will teach every week, with only Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years off. Oh wait, over the Christmas holidays I may travel to Schaumburg to be cross trained on a new course. We'll see how the man who will cross train me feels before committing to that. Why am I hesitating on that committment? Starting in January, my schedule becomes unreal. Right now, I am scheduled to teach every week through the Memorial Day weekend! That is unheard of, and my schedule will change at least a dozen times between now and then, but it does not look like I'll have much free time at all the first half of next year. Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE!  Jim Dorrell |
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I then went to Taiwan for two weeks; but, although that was nice, it wasn't 'home'. 
