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 Being Retired now, I thought that it was time for a new name to this Blog |
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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 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  Best Cultural And Regional Honorable Mention |
Driving My New (Used) Van Home I will start by saying it's been quite an adventure getting this van. I had planned on withdrawing the money from my bank on Tuesday, flying on Wednesday. But I learned that even though I deposited the money on Saturday (I didn't get home Friday in time to deposit the check until then), Saturday is not a business day, even though the bank was open. That meant I couldn't withdraw the money until Wednesday, My flight was scheduled to leave at 7 am, as a result, I couldn't withdraw it before leaving. I ended up changing my flight to Thursday and driving home yesterday. After making those changes and informing the dealership that I'd arrive Thursday, things still weren't that smooth. Getting to Atlanta was easy, at least that went smoothly. Being picked up by the Sales Manager's wife was a little bumpy; try meeting someone for the first time, neither of you know what the other looks like. Plus, my wife gave her my phone number, but there was a typo in it! What else could go wrong? Well, how about me sending her 4-5 texts (I verified the number when we met), but she never got them! We finally met, and once we did, things went smoothly. At the dealership, I went thru an Orientation. That consisted of seeing and connecting everything this camper has to offer. The Electrical connection to it, the fresh water supply connection, how to drain the Black Water & Gray water tanks. You know, minor (major) things like that. Now, how much will I remember?  Once that was done, it was time for the all important paperwork signing. That took a little bit of time, then it was my time to get into my New (used)van and head to the hotel. Hotel? C'mon Jim, you have a camper van now, won't you sleep in it? Having flown that morning, I hadn't packed a sheet for the bed, nor pillow and light cover. Hotel it was, I had thought ahead and had a reservation at a Marriot Fairfield Inn & Suites next to the Dealership. I never sleep well before travel, even though I'd had 4 months of relaxing retirement, nothing had changed there. After driving to the dealership, I was pretty tired (actually exhausted), so a nap was needed. Two hours later I was hungry, time for dinner. But wait, I'd seen a 'Service Engine' notification when I arrived at the hotel, when I left for dinner the Check Engine light was on. That meant I wouldn't be leaving until at least 10, maybe 11 am. I had to wait until Camping World opened. That was a new chapter in van maintenance for me. I learned that Camping World will support me in all things related to the camper itself. Anything related to the Motor or transmission would be something that Dodge would handle. At about 9:45, I was the nearby Dodge Dealership. Coincidence? In this case, possibly. Of course I didn't have an appointment and explained to the Service Coordinator (I'm not sure of this man's exact title) my predicament. Yet they had me on the road right about 2 hours later. The drive home was uneventful. I got to know the an decently well. I saw that in making turns to park somewhere, I am at an angle most times, and cutting it a little tight at the back end. I didn't roll over any bumpers or curbs, still ... It has a 6 cylinder gas engine, I spent maybe $85 on gas getting home, about the same as my other van. Basically I used a tank and a half. In getting it filled the first two times, it was just below 1/2 tank. Obviously I didn't need gas, this old man needed a 'Nature Break.' I just combined the stop. I drove from Woodstock, Georgia which is a little north of Atlanta, essentially a suburb, to the north side of Murfreesboro Tennessee before stopping. From there to Paducah Kentucky before stopping again. My last stop was in Illinois for KFC (there aren't any in this area at all, and she loves her fried chicken. I decided to top off there because it was low enough. I paid $2.53/gallon in Tennessee, $2.68/gallon in Kentucky, and $3.06 in Illinois. I was getting right about 20 gpm while cruising at 70-72 mph. I think that's pretty good! I arrived home right about 10:20, and knew I didn't have time to complete the 5 daily tasks, so I set my priorities to complete my daily post in "Smile! (Groan?) You Know You Love These!"  , with "Holy Cow! & Aleksandar Mileusnic" . I tried to post in "Question of the Day!" , I posted it right at 11 pm my time, it wasn't posted in time for yesterday. Oh well. The van is here, it needs a couple of very minor fixes. A piece of hard plastic on the drivers side (it shields the undercarriage essentially) needs to be refastened, two of the rivets have worn thru the plastic. Of course I need to register it and move the title to Illinois. What I find really odd though, is it doesn't have a Bluetooth equipped radio, nor a back up camera. At about 20 feet in length, I think a backup camera is a necessity! I'm the second owner of this. It looks like the original owners went as cheap as they could in buying this van. For me, those two things will be completed first. |
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