What Is Jim Up To Today?

by Jim

Rated: 13+ · Book · Travel · #1779685

What the heck am I doing today? Shenanigans, General Tomfoolery or What? You never know

Talk about perks, my career had one of the best I can think of! I traveled in the course of business, delivering classes for my employer. I was a Senior Training Specialist for Motorola Solutions, and taught classes on a wide variety of subjects centered around 2-way radio communications. I knew that when the time arrived that I would retire, and I have. I've always said that if you can't stand the heat in the kitchen, get out! I can't handle the heat anymore. I was qualified to deliver approximately 32 different classes, but about half of those were 'Legacy' classes, and were not in demand anymore. My students were technicians, those who maintained, programmed, calibrated, and repaired 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 traveled, sometimes frequently, 3-4 weeks in a row.... where have I been?

Some of the places I've been (I can't list them all here, the list would be too long) are pretty interesting.

1. Hawaii - Four times, Oahu, Maui (twice), and the Big Island, Plus I lived on Oahu from 74-83.
2. Bangkok Thailand, twice
3. Frankfurt Germany, twice
4. Algiers, Algeria
5. Melbourne Australia
6. Bismarck North Dakota, Summer & Winter
7. California, especially the Los Angeles area, Too many times to count
8. Washington DC, Too many times to count
9. Seattle three or four times
10. Texas, all over the state
11. Florida, all over the state
12. New Mexico, HOME! Several times

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Best Cultural And Regional Honorable Mention

Comments ·

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

TJ: one day closer to camping

about 11 hours ago
In response to "The World As It Is"

I quote, "All is fair in love and war".

Iran has been staging a terrorist war since 1979, when it took hostages from the American Embassy. It was a big part of my enlistment and service. Numerous presidents from both sides have tried to find peace, but to no avail. I am not pro-war, but I also don't like the idea of terrorists destroying not only our way of life, but the world's. Something had to be done before Iran developed nuclear weapons and held the world hostage.

Jim

about 12 hours ago
In response to "The World As It Is"

☘️ Richard ☘️

You present valid points. I did not realize that the Dena was unarmed (is that a true statement?), nor did I know that we participated in the Milan 2026 Joint Exercise. But if you read about it, our participation consisted of a lone P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft, which took part in anti-submarine warfare drills and other exercises. The sad thing is, we (humans) never communicate well. We're terrible at it. Combine that with a Military mindset and it will get even worse. It's impossible to say if the Submarine knew the Dena was unarmed

I looked up the Dena's status when she was sunk. Yes, according to Iranian officials, the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena was unarmed and in a non-combat configuration when it was targeted and sunk by a United States submarine in early March 2026. To me, the statement by Iranian officials that it was unarmed and in a non-combat configuration when sunk is suspect. Could it have offloaded it's weapons before the exercise, and reloaded afterward, before heading for home. It's all conjecture on our part, most likely we will never know the true answer. I will say that didn't Iranian Officials also say they weren't enriching Uranium to weapons grade? Maybe not these same officials, but I would be willing to bet that they work for the same people.

While Iran maintained the ship was defenseless, some legal experts and US officials have indicated that under the laws of naval warfare, warships can be considered valid targets if their home nation is engaged in an active, albeit undeclared, conflict. Legal experts and US Officials.... Hmmmmmmm. Suspicious if you ask me. Once again though, playing Devil's advocate, when did Legality have anything to do with warfare? Yes, we've not declared war. But we are at war. Ask anyone who's been affected by this conflict.

1 Like

☘️ Richard ☘️

about 12 hours ago
In response to "The World As It Is"

Jim Strangely, the fact that the sub in question didn't render aid doesn't bother me as much as the fact that we knew the Dena to be unarmed, and therefore at the time defenseless. Up until the Laconia incident in World War 2, German U-boats often stopped to render aid, but since they were still considered targets during that activity, the practice was halted. Clearly, the attacking sub would have been a target itself.

I do hope the sub "called it in" at least after the attack, as it safely exited the area.

Here's my problem with the view that we considered the Dena a viable target, despite knowing the vessel was unarmed. We also participated in the exercise. What would our response be had one of our unarmed vessels been attacked? I also think that we would have had no problem eliminating the Dena threats in her home waters after she was rearmed and truly presented an honest threat.

Jim