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Thu, Jul 31, 2025

6:11am EDT

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What Is Sum1 Up To Today?

by Sum1

Rated: 13+ · Book · Travel · #1779685

Being Retired now, I thought that it was time for a new name to this Blog

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 toio long) are pretty interesting.

1. Hawaii - Four times, Oahu, Maui (twice), and the Big Island
2. BangkokThailand, twice
3. Frankfurt Germany, twice
4. Algiers, Algeria
5. Melbourne Australia
6. Bismarck North Dakota, Summer & Winter
7. Los Angeles, 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

A signature for exclusive use for members with Honorable Mentions in the 2019 Quill Awards

Best Cultural And Regional Honorable Mention

Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

S 🤦

about 13 hours ago
In response to "Our Dog's Diet"

My mum spends every second Sunday making a mixture of three meats (as she calls it) and veg which she then freezes, and the dog gets one large lump of this every morning and "dog jerky" (dried meats designed, allegedly, for dogs) to chew on at night. Her dog is quite healthy. That natural diet, not processed one, is one that works.

S 🤦

about 13 hours ago
In response to "Our Dog's Diet"

JACE

about 17 hours ago
In response to "Our Dog's Diet"

Personally, I think eating healthy is far too hard for my meager mind to comprehend. I'm a product of my environment, and my environment has trained me to eat what tastes good to me. That's beef, and BEEF. Perhaps a little chicken. Not fish.

When I read Baby Scad Chunks, my first thought before going further was, "What the heck is that?" Of course, you answered rather quickly, which raised more questions: "What the heck are "jacks, amberjacks, and pompanos?" If fish is the answer, no need to go further--they will never be in my diet.

Your wife makes complete sense with the bones bit, though I'd always been told chicken/bird bones are a no go ... like you.

JACE

a day ago
In response to "Things I Feel We Should Do"

Sum1 - You have a Garden of the Gods in Illinois? We went to Garden of the Gods in Colorado a few years back. I didn't know there was another. Might be interesting to check out Illinois' site.

Maybe the key is: where does your wife really want to go? I suppose asking that question might backfire.

Sum1

a day ago
In response to "Things I Feel We Should Do"

JACE

I know what you mean about only traveling 5-600 miles a day. I remember traveling alone this one time, and drove from O'Hare (missed my flight) to Syracuse NY in one day. I stopped only for gas, bathroom breaks, and combined lunch/dinner with those stops. I ended up getting to Syracuse a little after midnight, and was up at 5:30 the next morning for class. No way I could do that now.

Yeah, there are other places I'd love to go, all 'day' trips from here, but I think we'd spend the night there. Garden Of The Gods, here in Illinois. Hannibal Missouri and surrounding area. The fictional birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk in Iowa. I've seen it, but I'd love to see that town again. The covered bridges in Indiana, and so many more!

I just need to get her more motivated to get out of the house is all.

JACE

a day ago
In response to "Things I Feel We Should Do"

Ahh, the travel planning of retirement. Jeanette has 49 places to visit ... in Missouri alone. Day trips she calls them. She bought a 2008 Mazda Miata hard-top convertible about four years ago in anticipation of my retirement, expecting to visit these places every other week or so. Most are one-to-three-hour drives with time for sight-seeing and food along the way.

Only thing is I'm the driver, and I don't fit easily in the driver's seat--too long, I am. Plus, it's not really a smooth ride. But we have completed about 15 drives closer to home, and they have been fun. Longer drives are much more comfortable in my Corolla.

Speaking of longer drives--in my younger days I was all about getting to where we were going with minimal stops. Now it's a pit stop every two hours, and no day is longer than 5-600 miles. Dang, this gettin' old is a bummer.

Your New Mexico trip sounds awesome. Looking forward to seeing pics. And safe travels to you both on other trips.

Sum1

a day ago
In response to "Things I Feel We Should Do"

Thanks Dale

. That's about what I wanted to do. Drive a couple of hours and take a break. We need to stop about every 2-3 hours now to stretch our legs and limber up, probably closer to every 3 hours, we're not young now, haven't been for a long time, but time, & age, is catching up with us. I think I'd like to make it to Little Rock (from Bloomington Illinois) and use the city as our stopping point, as well as a point to go out from. That would be about a 7.5 hour drive for us, add in stops, and we might not get there in one day. I think we'll just not plan a place to be at days end, we'll just get there.

1 Like

Sum1

Jul 28, 2025 at 11:46am
In response to "Things I've Done That Most Will Never Do"

Thank you JACE

, Legerdemain

, Kåre เลียม Enga

, Soldier_Mike

, 🌖 HuntersMoon

, Jay O'Toole

, and Robert Waltz

for your comments. The point I was making in this entry is that all of us have done something unique in our lives. There was no way I could be the only one who has led an interesting life!

A couple of things. There's no way I'd have flown a helicopter in Vietnam. Yeah, I'm a Vietnam ERA Veteran, my hat is off to all you Vietnam Veterans. As well as Korean War and WWII Veterans. My service was peaceful and safe at least.

Watching Kileaua erupt from about a mile away was fine with me, I don't need to be any closer. Heck, I felt the waves of heat from that distance! Though I admit that there is a draw to get closer.

I've never been that high on a radio tower Soldier_Mike

, nor have I spent a night in a Hostel. I think I might like to experience that one time Kåre เลียม Enga

, though I doubt that will happen.

Riding in a Drifter might be nice, but I don't think riding in a Dragster is for me. I'm more of an Indy Car fan than a NASCAR fan. So though I would enjoy seeing a race, I'd rather see an Indy Car race.

You know I'm jealous as all get out about your band experience Jay O'Toole

. Our Band didn't have a Band President, and our Sousaphone Players were both All-State (Band) Members.

And JACE

, you can keep your C-4, I'd rather operate a Nuclear Reactor.

3 Like

JACE

Jul 28, 2025 at 11:12am
In response to "Things I've Done That Most Will Never Do"

As a young 2nd Lieutenant (with less than a year's experience) in a Combat Engineer Battalion in Germany, I was once assigned duty as a range officer-in-charge (OIC) for a demolition range. I had an E-7 assigned as my NCOIC, who apparently and unfortunately knew less about demolition than I did.

A squad was told to dig a hole two feet deep, insert an electric blasting cap into one block of C-4 (approximately one and a quarter pound block), bury the block, and run an electric wire to a detonator in a bunker approximately 300 feet away. My NCO affirmed the squad satisfactorily placed the charge. The squad leader hooked up the leads to the trigger and after yelling "Fire in the hole," squeezed the trigger.

Only a minor explosion resulted--not the larger one we expected. Essentially, the blasting cap had not been properly tied off. Even I knew after inserting the blasting cap into the block, the electric wire had to be wrapped several times around the block to ensure the cap was seated securely and could not be removed. Apparently, my NCO didn't. The result was pieces of C-4 all over a 10-yard radius of the hole that failed to detonate.

I had to shut down the range, go down to the blast site with a team, and police all the pieces of C-4. You wouldn't believe the paperwork required for this event.

And I learned a valuable and scary lesson--don't assume a combat engineer NCO with 14 years experience knows what he's doing.

2 Like

Sum1

Jul 26, 2025 at 10:55am
In response to "I'm A Great-Grandfather?"

Thank you all for the comments. My Great Grand-Children live in Decatur, about 50 miles south of me. All but one lives with their Grandmother. I don't see them often though. Not seeing them much is probably due to my daughter contacting me only when she needs Financial help. At least she keeps those requests minimal in size. I know it's a two-way street when it comes to staying in touch, but when it's for one reason only, it makes it that much harder.

Enzo, the newborn is TINY. At least to me. He was full term, and weighed just shy of 6 lbs. Our children were much heavier The lightest one was 8 lbs, 8 oz, the heaviest one was 9 lbs 7 oz! These heavy weights from a woman who weighed 120 lbs sopping wet. I'd love to see them all more often, but along with being a slightly dysfunctional family, we're pretty spread apart. A couple of my children are in Decatur, one in Tuscola Illinois, one in Virginia, one in Alabama. It makes it hard to get together with those distances. But we live, love, and thrive (at least to some extent).

July 29, 2025 at 11:29am

#1094319

Things I Feel We Should Do

Y'know, a big complaint I heard a bit when I was still working, is that I was gone all the time. I was never home for certain activities. Now I am, and we're still not doing them, nor going anywhere. Here's what I'd love to do, IF we can just plan on doing it. She's fine if we have a plan. No plan? Then it's okay to sleep in, something I've never done much of. I do sleep until 6 now.

So, things I'd like to do, or places to go.

1. Crater Of Diamonds State Park, Arkansas. https://www.arkansasstateparks.com/parks/crater-diamonds-state-park I think this would be a fun outing for us. I'd plan on at least 3, if not 4 days for it. Why so many days? It's almost a 10 hour drive to get there from my house. So a day to get there, a day to go home. We might stay in Little Rock (a 2 hour drive from there, so that would cut down our drive time to/from home. We'll see.

2. Go tubing on the Current River in Missouri.

There are a lot of things I'd love to get out and do, but I want her with me! Right now, it looks like I'll be going to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta alone.

There are valid reasons why, it doesn't stop me from wanting Kathy to experience it with me. There is one nice thing about this though. I will most likely take Amtrak there. It will be nice to see home again. Yeah, home. I'/ve lived in Illinois 30 years now, but New Mexico is still home, and always will be.

I'm not complaining, we have the rest of our lives to do things huh. We're hampered by physical limitations on both of us, and for me, a lack of energy. I guess we need to up our game, huh.

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