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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/Soumaa, Algeria, & Home For A Week This week finds me in still in Algiers Algeria with the Algeria Directorate General for National Security (DGSN). It was that Basic Class on RF Theory and Operation that i delivered last week to a different group. I had a good time in Algeria, I found the people there to be generous and nice to know. The day before class ended, Zohir (my driver) stopped on the way to the hotel and got us some 'Zalabia'. El Zalabia, or Zalabia in the Algerian dialect is a popular sweet in Northern and Eastern African countries. Some historians reported that it is originally a Turkish dessert and that the Algerians learned to cook it during the Ottoman Empire rule; that is why it is also very popular in Turkey, Tunisia, Syria, and Lebanon. Every Algerian agrees that one of the most significant symbols of Ramadan is Zlabia. It is heavily available during Ramadan. The city of Boufariq (40 Km western of Algiers) has a reputation as the best city in Algeria for cooking this type of sweets. https://www.aboutalgeria.com/2017/12/el-zalabia.html Pictures of different preparations of Zalabia are here. https://www.google.com/search?q=Algerian+zalabia&sxsrf=ACYBGNTnpebVz--SKXsUGJoE0... As mentioned, Zalabia is an incredibly sweet bread type pastry. At first, I thought it was coated in honey, but I quickly realized it was a simple-syrup type of coating. It's taste was a little bit, and I do mean a little bit, like a Greek Baklava, minus the nuts and such, and a thicker bread. I couldn't eat it that night after dinner as I intended, so shared it with the students after class was done. It didn't last long. The flight home was long, made more so by my sinus's acting up just as I was trying to get some sleep. But I finally arrived, and enjoyed a decent dinner at a local restaurant. before getting home. Friday night was okay overall, but about noon on Saturday I started feeling off. Saturday night was a night of coughing all night long. I know I've posted this in my notebook, but I saw the doctor Sunday morning, and his diagnosis was flu. I asked about CoronaVirus of course, but was told there was no need to test those who'd been overseas without entering China. This past week has been long with a few ups and downs, but I'm finally feeling like myself. I'll take it easy today and tonight before I really feel like I'm past this flu. I will say I haven't been this sick in over 30 years! In Closing I will spend the weekend home before flying to California Monday. 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'. 
