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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 This MONTH finds me in Bloomington, Illinois, working from home. After returning home from Winnipeg, my cough got drasatically worse, almost overnight. A quick trip to Prompt Care on a Sunday morning (after a sleepless night of coughing while trying to sleep in the loveseat) took care of me pretty well. A followup trip to my doctor resulted in being referred to a Cardiologist, and an ENT Specialist. I had not seen a Cardiologist since 2009, a year after having a very minor heart attack. People always ask why I call it very minor. There's a couple of reasons really. First, I went to the ER on a Tuesday night (St. Patrick's Day, 2008), and was discharged Thursday afternoon. Secondly, the enzyme (?) (I think it's an enzyme) that the heart makes when you have a heart attack barely went above the limit. If I recall correctly, the limit for this particular 'thing' was 10, mine reached 14. You have to remain in the hospital until it's below 10, mine was there by Wednesday night. Another reason? I did see my Cardiologist a couple of times shortly after the heart attack. He put me through the usual stuff. Stress tests, ultrasound of my heart, etc. They stopped the Stress test when I reached a certain % of the calculated maximum heart rate (I was still going strong on the treadmill), and the Ultrasound that was done with chemicals injected revealed no damage to my heart muscle. A follow up visit a year later resulted in him telling me to watch my diet, and return to see him only if I experienced any chest pain or problems. Since it had been so long since being seen by a Cardiologist, it was time. Another stress test two weeks ago, again passed with no issues at all. Both the Cardiologist and ENT Doctor were interested in my fainting during extreme coughing. The ENT asked me to see him in two weeks, and when I went back, he saw the recent blood tests, and Stress Test results, and said I didn't have an ENT issue, and to see my doctor for any further treatment. It's a relief to know that I'm not deathly sick. At least not by their tests. My doctor thinks I had (may still have if you ask me), an underlying upper respiratory infection, and the trip to Algeria wore me down physically. I got little to no sleep on the return flight, and this minor infection took the chance to attack while I was exhausted. Oh well... like I've said, better now. With the COVID-19 Pandemic, work has changed. We're all working from home, and some of us are working hard to change our curriculum so we can deliver part of our classes online, then have students come to Schaumburg to complete the hands-on activities. Tuesday, my manager asked me if I could deliver a class online called, "Fleeetmapping". (I'm not currently qualified to deliver this class. It's delivered entirely by a contractor). I sat through it last year, and remembered it well. It didn't seem to be a hard class to pick up, but I also remembered that the Powerpoint Slides used in delivery were in horrible shape. I'd have been embarrassed to deliver a class using those slides. No wait, that's not correct. There is NO WAY I'd ever deliver a class using slides that looked that bad. Anyway, I now have three weeks to learn this course, and in the process, have been given permission to edit the course to my hearts content. There are a couple of instructors who are really interested in this class, and they will help me. I spent most of Wednesday thru Friday just cleaning up the formatting of the slides. Next week, the three of us will meet in Adobe Connect to review the content, and make sure there are no errors. In the process, I'll be learning the course, right? The answer is Yes, I've reviewed it once already, now will come an in-depth review, with a check to make sure it's all error free. Then I will go through the Excel Spreadsheet used in the class to make sure I understand that, and I'll be good, ready for the class. I hope we can have that done by Friday. That's my goal. Of course there's more. There's always more, right? Since we're editing our courses and such, I am scheduled to deliver the second of our Networking classes at the end of April. Those course materials are being edited, and since we're adding a new switch (made by Aruba), and a new router (Juniper router) to our systems, I have to learn that part of it too. Getting my new course completed early will allow me to concentrate on the Networking course materials. So my at home time during this pandemic is really allowing me to get quite a bit done. So what am I reading/writing? Boring technical stuff....  Noteworthy Restaurants: Jim's Homemade Cooking. Man, the food here can be great one day, just edible the next. Some days it's something new, others, it tastes like leftovers. Oh wait, that's what it is! The menu is eclectic at best, but at least it's all food I enjoy. In Closing I will spend the rest of March (all three days of it), and probably all of April at home. For someone who is used to traveling a lot, it's like prison! It's not bad at all, it's just different. My next scheduled trip will be to Fort Lauderdale Florida, the first week of May. Unless that becomes an online delivery also. Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE!  Jim Dorrell |
| Locale: Winnipeg, Manitoba This week finds me in Winnipeg, Manitoba for a class with the Government of Manitoba. It was a little bit of a challenge for a couple of reasons. First, the students had very little background in Networking. Y'know, the kind of networking that allows computers to communicate with each other, not networking to gain followers or find someone to follow. Secondly, my health had continued to deteriorate. Don't get me wrong, I was okay really, but my cough was getting out of hand at times. My initial impression of Winnipeg is one of COLD! There was this white stuff on the ground, well it had been white at one time.      I think the lowest temperature I saw while there was about -5 degrees Fahrenheit. A bit colder than I'm used to, even living here in Central Illinois. But, as a result of being in Winnipeg, I've now been in every southern province in Canada!While I was there, an e-mail was sent from Corporate Travel about travel to China, Japan, and other areas hit hard by the CoronaVirus. Travel had to be approved by a Corporate VP before we are allowed to travel. The VP approved it, but left it up to us as to whether we wanted to travel or not. It really hurt me to inform my manager that I didn't feel I should go. I wasn't so concerned about the virus, I figure I can get it here, or there. My biggest fear was that someone would hear me coughing, and I'd end up in quarantine. Then came Saturday, and all doubts about going to Japan were erased. I passed out 3 times in less than 2 hours, one time while sitting on the toilet (No, I hadn't gone yet, so no mess) (TMI, I know), but broke the toilet seat doing so! This convinced me I needed to see a doctor then, and not wait until my scheduled appointment Monday. While he was listening to my lungs, I had to breathe deep. This caused me to cough, and it built quickly. Next thing I knew, my legs were being held in the air while he lowered me gently to the now reclining examination bench. He asked me "Are you okay?" I said I was, but apparently that was the 4th or 5th time he'd asked that question. The odd thing? While I was out, I was dreaming. Noteworthy Restaurants: Sushi Cushi http://sushicushi.ca/menu/ I went there with the Project Manager and the System Manager for the Government of Manitoba Radio System. We ordered enough food for 5 or 6 people, not three! But, it was excellent, all of it. Yummmmm In Closing I will spend the next three weeks at home. My manager has said no travel, no work, no teaching during this time, I'm to relax and get healthier. I have done a couple of things for work, they have to be done before my next classes! But I am resting and napping all I can. 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'. 