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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: Philadelphia, Pa This week finds me in Denver, Colorado for the third of four classes with the Federal Protective Service. It's the same class I've delivered in Suitland, Md and Battle Creek, Michigan, and Denver, Colorado. This was a fun class to deliver because of the interaction with the students, and because I've finally come to know quite a bit about the system. You might wonder how I could 'not know their system' very well, and still deliver this class, right? Well, the class only covers a small portion of the system, so I don't need to know everything about it to deliver this class. This system though, is very complex. It's one of the most complex I've dealt with in my 18+ years at Motorola! No matter how much you study or exchange e-mails with the customer, there's no way you can really know a customer's system when you walk in the door. I'm lucky, I've been able to deliver this class in all four of their major locations, and that has helped. We've discussed basic (and advanced) RF Theory and Operation, system management, maintenance and troubleshooting, configuration and programming, and IP Networking. It's been a great series of classes. You can't come to Philadelphia without seeing a few historic sights. This is my fifth time in this area, so I've seen a lot of it, but today I was drawn back to the Liberty Bell. This piece of American History means a lot to me, mainly because of my personal beliefs, and serving our country for 20+ years on Navy Submarines. Some of you gave me feedback on a notebook post about a new Trinket, and I thank each of you who took the time to respond. It's always nice to get feedback from others.   I don't normally smile that broadly for photo's, you can blame the man who snapped it for that. As he was snapping, he said, "Let's be sure to get the crack in the photo. Not YOUR crack." Made me laugh a bit as you can tell. Noteworthy Restaurants: Newportville Inn http://newportvilleinn.net/# I originally found this wonderful small restaurant in June of 2012. Since then, every time in the Philadelphia area, I visit it. I'm not an expert on German food, but I really enjoy 'good food', and this place is excellent! Historic/Interesting Places Visited: The Liberty Bell https://www.nps.gov/inde/learn/historyculture/stories-libertybell.htm This is MUST SEE historical site to visit on a trip to the 'City of Brotherly Love'. The history of this city, the aura that surrounds the grounds is enough to inspire anyone. In Closing I will spend the weekend and next week at home before traveling again the week of Halloween. Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE!  Jim Dorrell |
| Locale: Philadelphia, Pa This week finds me in Denver, Colorado for the third of four classes with the Federal Protective Service. It's the same class I've delivered in Suitland, Md and Battle Creek, Michigan, and Denver, Colorado. This was a fun class to deliver because of the interaction with the students, and because I've finally come to know quite a bit about the system. You might wonder how I could 'not know their system' very well, and still deliver this class, right? Well, the class only covers a small portion of the system, so I don't need to know everything about it to deliver this class. This system though, is very complex. It's one of the most complex I've dealt with in my 18+ years at Motorola! No matter how much you study or exchange e-mails with the customer, there's no way you can really know a customer's system when you walk in the door. I'm lucky, I've been able to deliver this class in all four of their major locations, and that has helped. We've discussed basic (and advanced) RF Theory and Operation, system management, maintenance and troubleshooting, configuration and programming, and IP Networking. It's been a great series of classes. You can't come to Philadelphia without seeing a few historic sights. This is my fifth time in this area, so I've seen a lot of it, but today I was drawn back to the Liberty Bell. This piece of American History means a lot to me, mainly because of my personal beliefs, and serving our country for 20+ years on Navy Submarines. Some of you gave me feedback on a notebook post about a new Trinket, and I thank each of you who took the time to respond. It's always nice to get feedback from others. I don't normally smile that broadly for photo's, you can blame the man who snapped it for that. As he was snapping, he said, "Let's be sure to get the crack in the photo. Not YOUR crack." Made me laugh a bit as you can tell. Noteworthy Restaurants: Newportville Inn http://newportvilleinn.net/# I originally found this wonderful small restaurant in June of 2012. Since then, every time in the Philadelphia area, I visit it. I'm not an expert on German food, but I really enjoy 'good food', and this place is excellent! Historic/Interesting Places Visited: The Liberty Bell https://www.nps.gov/inde/learn/historyculture/stories-libertybell.htm This is MUST SEE historical site to visit on a trip to the 'City of Brotherly Love'. The history of this city, the aura that surrounds the grounds is enough to inspire anyone. In Closing I will spend the weekend and next week at home before traveling again the week of Halloween. Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE! Jim Dorrell |
| Locale: Denver, Colorado This week finds me in Denver, Colorado for the third of four classes with the Federal Protective Service. It's the same class I've delivered in Suitland, Md and Battle Creek, Michigan. This was a fun class to deliver because of the interaction with the students. Well, this trip started out with a bang. NOT! Yes it did... What I mean is, I flew to Denver on Tuesday morning, and would be flying home on Friday. Except that when I checked in for the first flight, I realized that my flight home was Thursday, not Friday! Oooops! So, after a call to American Express, and paying the flight change fee, and a fare increase fee (scheduling the flight home with less than 7-14 days notice), I was scheduled to fly home Friday. The hard part was calling my manager and telling him I'd spent $500 (OUCH!) that I shouldn't have had to spend. A drop in the bucket for my employer, but we are supposed to limit our spending of course. This was a first for me, but man, did I ever beat myself mentally for such a stupid mistake. In teaching a technical subject, the one area most every technician wants to learn is hands-on activities. You can't learn to maintain a radio system worth several hundred million dollars without knowing how to troubleshoot, maintain, calibrate/program everything in it. This class had a bit of hands-on activities, but we were limited by equipment accessibility. The story on why access was so limited is too long to relate here, but just know that the 'central location' where the entire system is monitored is in Orlando, and there we were in Denver. We did have a bit of gear on hand, but it was not near enough. Things went well, but it could have been much better if you ask me. Often in our classes, we get asked questions by a student that has nothing to do with the class. Basically, they wonder why 'we' (or they really, since it is their system) didn't do it this way or that way. One question I was asked this week, was "Why don't you use layer 3 switches in the system, instead of a layer 2 switch, and a layer 3 router?" This is a system design question really, and I told him that. Others in the class know him well, and asked him not to ask such questions, but I said go ahead, because I love a good discussion session.  We discussed many things during class, many of them being system type questions, others just being 'old fashioned' RF knowledge questions. Just a three day class, and all these questions and answers! In the end, the one who asked the layer 3 switch question told me he'd learned not to challenge my knowledge of this system. He made me smile, but I told him not to stop, to always challenge me (us), because we probably don't know everything, and what he knows, and can bring to the table will help everyone learn more. I'm not always right, nor do I want or need to be. What I want most of all, is for the correct knowledge to be passed on.Noteworthy Restaurants: Smokin Fins http://finsconcepts.com/smokin-fins-menu/ Their Lobster Stuffed Fried Avocado is something you really have to try.... I'd been here while in Loveland Colorado last year, and the Stuffed Avocado brought me back again. I wasn't disappointed. In Closing I will spend the weekend in the weekend at home before flying to my next destination on Tuesday. 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'. 