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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: Algiers, Algeria Well, I survived the week, not that I ever doubted I'd have any problems with this class delivery. I've delivered this class for almost 19 years, I better know the material well, don't you think? My biggest issue was a personal one, mainly my sinuses. I've been suffering from what I (and my doctor) think are Winter Allergies. I was curious as to how they would react in a completely new environment here. I thought it would be a much drier climate, but it's not. I have no real medications with me, other than my daily dose of Zyrtec, and Halls cough drops. Those triple soothing action ones really help me at times. But I've been just as congested here, breaking out into coughing fits at times. Other times, sneezing, and a good amount of Post Nasal Drip. Not a pretty sight if you ask me. Add to that the language barrier, and it's a wonder they learned anything, if you ask me. Language barrier? Yes, they speak French and Arabic, I speak only English. Luckily, a couple of them spoke decent English, and most of them understand it, can read it somewhat, they just can't speak English. I've spent my weekend (Friday and Saturday here) working on the course materials I'll teach from when I return in April. They are scheduled for a class that has a set content. But the radio sites that that course covers are not part of their system. Rather than give them a generic class and have unhappy students, I'm modifying the course materials to fit the situation. It's going well, I don't see a problem getting it done, but I really don't have a lot of time to do it either. Speaking of time, I have less today than I had yesterday. A class was added to my schedule at the end of this month, but someone has their wires crossed. Let me explain. I received an e-mail last night about doing a class for the Royal Bermuda Defense Forces, and got all excited about going to Bermuda! Then I saw that it would be what's called a 'Special Resident Class', and I would be teaching it in Schaumburg. The problem is, my schedule shows me doing the same class, but in Manitoba, Canada! I'm not sure which would be a better place to be, Manitoba, or Schaumburg. If I do go to Canada, I need a couple of things from others to arrange my VISA to Canada.... One of two things happened here. My scheduler scheduled me for a class in Canada, and at the same time, a Training Coordinator Scheduled me (not officially, since she doesn't maintain the schedule) in Schaumburg. I'll have an answer sometime Monday, I'm pretty sure of that. In Closing Well, I'll be here in Algeria next week, and fly home Friday. Next week I'll work from home, mainly getting those course materials completed well enough, and resolving this Canada/Bermuda class issue. Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE! |
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I then went to Taiwan for two weeks; but, although that was nice, it wasn't 'home'. 
