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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: Bloomington, Illinois Week of: May 30, 2022 Back in the Before Time, the department would have everyone meet in Schaumburg for Cross-Training/Meetings. It was always a good week because despite being co-workers, there were several instructors I rarely saw. Seeing them in person, chatting, exchanging information and knowledge was always a good time. Plus, Friday afternoon we'd have a picnic/bbq, an afternoon of fun and games. Then the Pandemic hit, and everything shifted to the online enviornment. We didn't travel anywhere of course; in fact we spent 6-7 weeks just editing course materials to be used in an online enviornment. Of course our week of meeting & cross-training was moved to the online environment also. This meant that the department didn't fly in those who live & work remotely. Counting myself, there are 7 or 8 people who would have flown in (I would drive up to Schaumburg of course, no need for me to fly that short distance). With airfares the way they are right now, plus meals, cars, and hotels, that would be about $2000 person. As a result, any chance we have to meet during a 'vacation week' such as Memorial Day, Labor Day and such, is long gone. Instead, we end up meeting online. In my opinion, the days of getting the group together are gone forever. The savings alone dictate that. Never mind that we thrive on seeing each other, can learn so much more in person it seems, or the mental benefit we get just from being together. That's what happened this week of course. I was given the chance to share my knowledge of Fleetmapping with the group; in fact, while every other meeting was about an hour in length, I was scheduled for 4 hours. No, that wasn't because I'm so great at this, that time was necessary, but it still wasn't enough. Everything went fine, except not one person felt they can deliver Fleetmapping without sitting in the class first. The people saying this are very experienced at their jobs, very knowledgeable about their subject matter. To say I was disappointed to hear that from them would be an understatement. I always figure that if I can do it, so can they. They would have an advantage over me too. An advantage in having decent course materials to work with (I had to re-write the course, and edited it several times), as well as having a resource to ask questions of (Me!). I had no one I could turn to with questions really, since this class had always been delivered by Contractor Instructors. Oh well. It's a course I enjoy, I'll jjust continue delivering it. Overall it was a good week, I guess I just long for the 'good old days' when we'd meet in person. You can't have it all, and change is inevitable. In Closing I was home this week fo course, and will travel again the first week of June. I will be back in Fort Lauderdale for 2 weeks delivering Networking classes. The weekend I have free, I plan on getting a rental car and visiting an old friend in Clearwater/St. Petersburg. He lost his wife in October and does not get out much. There's no telling when or if I'll see him again, so a visit there is almost mandatory.. 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'. 
