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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: Charlottesville, Virginia, Hampton, Virginia Week of: August 30, 2021 Today was just a great day overall. Expensive, but great. I picked up Robert Waltz  a little after 8 and we headed for the Newport News/Hampton area of Virginia. It was a great drive, uneventful, and fun. We got there around 10:45 or so, and visiting my daughter first. She lives in Hampton with her husband & two children. Its been far too long since I've visited them. We sat and talked for a bit, but their son Jonathan was anxious to get going. They were taking him to the Gray Wolf Lodge today for a day of fun and such. I don't blame him for being anxious. She knew I was coming, but had made these plans long ago. Since Bob and I had things to get done too, I told her there was no way she was changing her plans.We left about 12:45, yep, a short visit. Very good visit, quality time, I even watched Jonathan play with his VR Spiderman game in his room. This was significant to me, because Jonathan is borderline Autistic. We had a good time in his room, but it wasn't long enough. As I mentioned, all too soon Bob and I had to leave. Our next stop was at the Mini-Mart near the base to get a bottle of Moscato from Italy. In this case, I got a bottle of Mango Moscato. Next of course was the Ironclad Distillery. But, it was lunch time and we were both hungry. We ended up going to a small place nearby and had a bite. Back at the Distillery, I found that they had set three bottles of the Rickover Bourbon aside for me to pickup. We sampled a couple (including their Bourbon Syrup, Yummy!), I even added a bottle of Bourbon Syrup to my stuff. Bob sampled more than I did since I was driving. I'm a lightweight with alcohol, so didn't want to push things. If I lived in this area though, I'd be in trouble, their stuff is that good. Then we had the drive back to Charlottesville, but we had to make a stop for dinner at a Vietnamese place that Bob likes. Yeah, it too was good.. very good. After that, the drive. Not long, Bob and I talked all day long it seems. It wasn't like meeting someone for the first time (okay, second time, we did have dinner together with 🌕 HuntersMoon  and his wife in December 2019), but it was not like two men who barely know each other, it was like old friends meeting after not seeing each other for quite a while. Maybe due to a lockdown caused by a Global Pandemic? So yes, a very good day, tiring, but good.In Closing That's about it for now, 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'. 
