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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 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  Best Cultural And Regional Honorable Mention |
Brian Wilson & BBC Music Last night I posted a small tribute of sorts to Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys Legend who passed yesterday. Tonight I found this completely by accident, and just had to share with you all. This is his song, God Only Knows. Maybe you're wondering who some of these people are, because I recognized very few of them. To see the list in more detail, visit  |
Wait, this is a Father's Day present? My other half, my better half, whatever her title is, found a Belgian Waffle Maker on Ebay the other night, and felt we need one. She ordered it; it arrived yesterday. This morning she asked me if I'd make waffles for breakfast. I thought, "No big deal, I can make waffles." Except I didn't have a recipe for them, and only a foggy idea of how to make them. Still, I wasn't worried. As it turns out, there were several recipes in the documentation that came with it. It's one of those vertical waffle makers. You latch it shut, power it on by turning the control to the desired setting (I ended up selecting #4), and pour your batter in the top. The batter seems to boil as the waffle cooks. It can get a bit messy at times too. But I have to say, those waffles were very tasty. You guessed it too. I made the mess, I cleaned it up, I don't mind that one bit either! This afternoon was lunch at a food truck, 'On The Hook Fish n Chips'. The Fish n Chips were good, though the filets were not breaded with a true New England breading. Still, all-in-all, pretty good. During the short drive there, I mentioned the Waffle Maker, and how she ordered it, but I ended up making the waffles and cleaning the mess. That's when she said, "Well, it is a Father's Day Gift!" That was news to me. Again, I'm easy going, so I didn't mind. Tonight, dinner was again, yep, you guessed it. A Food Truck. Cousin's Maine Lobster. Excellent stuff there. We went to each Food Truck because we both love the Fish n Chips & Lobster. She loves to cook, and does a very good job in deciding what to make for the night. So it isn't that she didn't want to cook, it's just that 2 food trucks we love were in town the same day! My muse is still on vacation it seems, so this is about all you'll see me write., at least for now. The biggest problem is, it seems I've forgotten how to write, and hit someone emotionally. Only time will tell there. Y'all keep writing, keep loving those who love you, and take care of you. While you're at it, take care of yourselves! And Write! JD |
Work & Travel Memories I first thought that I'd create a list of my five favorite destinations, but in thinking about it, there's no way I can do that. Why? Because there are so many variables that had an effect on each trip. My trips were all 'Corporate' in nature, I had to use a Corporate Travel site in booking everything. That means I didn't really get to experience life as a local, nor as a tourist. It was something 'in-between'. So I will write about some of the special places/things I was able to experience while traveling. First & foremost, the people I met during my travels, particularly members of WDC. I managed to meet Annette   , Amay  , Jeff  , Kåre เลียม Enga   , Carol St.Ann 👓  , Yellow Rose  , Schnujo's Giving Away GPs  . QueenOwl ~ A New Day Dawns , Legerdemain  , 🌻 pwheeler ~ love joy peace  , Robert Waltz  , and 🌖 HuntersMoon  . (I sure hope I didn't leave anyone out!) Each meeting with them was special for one reason or another. As far as Non-WDC Members go, when you think that my class size averaged about 9-10 students, I would have met somewhere around 7000 people during those travels.When thinking about destinations alone, I've been very lucky. I'm so lucky, yet at the same time, I'm a little jealous of Kåre เลียม Enga & Schnujo's Giving Away GPs . Why? Because they traveled (or still travel) for pleasure, and were able to live as a local. I'm not so jealous of everywhere they have been though, because I've been to quite a few places myself. I lived in Hawaii for nine Years during my Navy Career, but have been lucky enough to get back there four times while working for Motorola. Other significant destinations were Algiers Algeria, Halifax Nova Scotia, Bismarck North Dakota, the Puget Sound area of Washington State, Melbourne Australia, Kuwait, Calgary Alberta, Most Major Metropolitan Areas in the States, St. John's Newfoundland, St. John New Brunswick, and so many more. I've been in every Canadian Province that borders the United States, and I've visited every state in our country. For someone who likes to travel, it was a great career. However, I did miss completing a goal of sorts. I thought it would be great to deliver a class of some type in all 50 states. I didn't quite make that, I delivered a class in 43 states. The missed states were Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Idaho, Mississippi, & Utah. I've been to those states, I just didn't deliver a class there. A bonus though (if you want to call it a bonus), is that I delivered a class on every continent except South America. Oh well, I'm sure I'll live.There is so much more I could recount here, but I'm afraid I'd bore you all to death, if I haven't done so already. Things change, life moves on, as we all have. Now, I have all those memories, as do you of your lives. If you leave a comment about this entry, tell me about your favorite memory! Til next time, love everyone, and write! |
Random Thoughts During our recent trip to Gulfport Mississippi via a stop in Tennessee and Alabama, I saw a lot of road signs that really made me wonder. Examples: 1 'Uneven Lanes': Uneven, Hmmmm, that means odd lanes. I didn't see any lanes that looked odd, nor did I see any lanes numbered, 'Lane 1, Lane 3, etc' If you have Uneven Lanes, that means you're going to have Even Lanes. I never saw any of them either. (indent}2. 'End Construction': These signs aren't working. Instead of Ending Construction, it's getting worse. I saw many areas with signs that said 'End Construction'. I wonder if there's an Epidemic going on? 3. In a restaurant I saw a sign that read, 'Sanitary Restrooms'. That made me wonder if there were 'Unsanitary Restrooms' around. 4. I saw a truck carrying liquid with a sign that read 'Not For Human Consumption'. I really wondered what that tank held! My mind sometimes goes out on a tangent on its own. That's how those odd stories or poems are created. You know, something like "The Land Of Ons"  , "What I Saw" , or maybe "Emoticon Love Poem" , or even "Emoticon Fun" . Then there are times where I challenge myself, or my wife challenges me to write a certain type of poem. Such as a Rhyming Loop Poem, "Atone" , or a Shape Poem, such as "Candle" , or one of my favorites, "Hourglass" . There's no telling what you can write if you just relax and ask a simple question. What If? "What If?" . As Theodore Geisl (Dr. Suess) said in a book title, "Oh, The Places You'll Go! (In your mind at least)Your mind is a wonderful thing. Use it, see what unusual poem or story you can write! |
Yesterday 6/3/25, And Retirement I had an appointment with our 'Pain Doctor' (His office is really called The Therapeutic Spine And Pain Center), I just call him the Pain Doctor. The appointment was at 1pm, and while we were a couple of minutes late, it didn't hold things up. Y'all know what doctor offices are like, but this day was a bit extreme. We sat in the office and were not called for at least 10 minutes. That's okay in my book. Once we were in the room, she took my vitals and said the doctor would be right with us. Thirty minutes later and still no sign of the doctor. I had already said that if he wasn't seeing me by 1:45, we would leave. Sure enough, 1:45 arrives, so we get up to leave. I opened the door, and who's there? You guessed it. Dr. Carmichael. To make this long story shorter, I will be referred to a Spinal Surgeon for evaluation. Now about retirement. Before I retired, I was not provided any guidance on what needed to be done, what benefits (other than the 401K and the like), things to check & do. I've slowly gotten about everything done. When I was hired, we filled out a lot of forms. One of them was designating a beneficiary of my pension, should I pass away. Of course my now ex-wife was my beneficiary for everything. I knew enough to change my 401K beneficiary, but there's a different website that manages my meager pension. I do mean meager. I spent just over 20 years in the Navy, and 24 years at Motorola Solutions. My military retirement is about 8 times more than the retirement I receive from Motorola! Shaking My Head (SMH) over that. It took 'jumping through hoops to get my pension beneficiary changed. I've been getting calls from Aptia365 for a few days now. Since they are part of Motorola's insurance plan, I was kind of annoyed, I only have Medicare and Tri-Care For Life now after all. A call came in today that I couldn't take, but I decided to call them back. It's a good thing I did. It turns out that Motorola provides a Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) Free Of Charge. It's not a lot, far less than $1000, but still.... I will receive an e-mail in the next 2-3 days about this, telling me how to set the account up. It's an Annual amount, and has no expiration. I have this benefit until I am no longer on God's Green Earth. I still feel a Checklist of sorts should be provided to anyone retiring, so a person can ensure they have completed all the items needed when retiring. I will be sending my former manager a note about things that should be completed by a pre-retiree when someone decides to retire. Hopefully that will help. |
Relaxing Sunday I haven't done a lot today, other than pull a few weeds around our Crabapple tree. I did make a mistake though in doing this. I didn't have an 'escape plan', I mean a plan to get up from my hands and knees. It took a bit, but I finally managed it of course. The problem was my arms were tired, I was on my hands & knees, and had trouble standing. I was scooting to the curb when I finally managed to stand. We've decided to grill brats tonight. We should be eating somewhere between 6 & 8 pm, if you're hungry, drop on by! A simple dinner really. Coleslaw, Brats, Wine or Mixed Drink of choice,whatever our minds choose. Maybe some pickles, and pickled Okra on the side. Depends on how hungry we are. I made a simple breakfast this morning too. Toasted Bagel with Fried egg and cheese. I put both buter and cream cheese on mine. Yummy! My mind is all over the place today. Right now, I feel a nap coming on. I apologize for the short entry, and lack of interesting material to read. I'll do better in my next entry. Love those who love and support you, and Write! Jim |
Finally, And Other Stuff A few things here that came to mind this morning. First and foremost. A few weeks ago I posted for Help! on the newsfeed "Note: Help! There's a song going thru my head and...". It's no wonder none of you could help me though, I had the lyrics so wrong it isn't funny. Everyone answered with "Running Just As Fast As We Can", by Tommy James & The Shondells. I knew that wasn't it, but based on the provided lyrics that were completely wrong, I'd have answered the same. What can I say? Today though, I went to the local Farmer's Market and heard a very nice acoustic rendition of the song. Did I stop and ask them the name of it? NO! I returned later (after we met a driver from Raw Rations to pick up frozen dog food), but they had already left. So I took a chance, and asked a couple of young men (who manned a stall), and hummed what I could remember of the song. Sadly, they were no help. A young lady standing behind me had heard my request, and said she was good with music, and would I hum what I knew. It's amazing the help you can get when you provide a little bit of a tune (believe me, my humming was not that good). She plugged her ears and kind of beat her feet while bobbing her head. She came up with the answer! The song I had in mind was one I featured on 12/29/24. Viva La Vida by Cold Play. Those haunting lyrics were these: I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringin' Roman Cavalry choirs are singin' Be my mirror, my sword and shield My missionaries in a foreign field For some reason, I can't explain Once you'd gone, there was never, never an honest word And that was when I ruled the world Are you surprised that you all answered with Tommy James & The Shondells, based on incorrect lyrics? Wow! Nuff said. While driving to the Farmer's Market, I saw five young ladies crossing the crosswalk. I stereotyped them, and need to see them in a public setting to observe their interaction. They were walking two by two by one. The front two were the group 'leaders', talking amongst themselves. The second two were doing the same. The fifth girl (all appeared to be College age) was alone, almost an outsider. So yeah, seeing them in a Pub perhaps, how they interact amongst themselves would help a lot. I spent too much, bought a hanging basket of flowers {Petunias) that need full sun (I learned that when Kathy saw them), some brats, Rhubard, Cronuts (A cross between a croissant and a donut), and jar of Jalapeno Jelly, and Dill Pickles. What fun. I mean that, I had a lot of fun at the Market. Plus, I'm pain free today because I took that Steroid last night, so it's taking care of my aches and pains, as well as guarding me from the Myeloma. It's amazing what 8mg of a small steroid can do. Keep Writing! Keep loving the important people in your life.... Jim |
| Well, this morning I had my semi-annual cleaning, along with assessing my mouth/teeth for a partial plate. The loss of my 53 year old crown in February was quite a loss. The only reason he pulled it was because the GOLD crown had come out. Why did it come out? The tooth itself was cracked, while chewing a jelly-bean, the filling and crown dropped out. I really wanted that filling to remain in my mouth, fate had other plans. He wanted to get the impression done today because I lose Dental Insurance at the end of this month. The office bills my insurance all at once, so this way it's billed while I still have insaurance. I have to say, it wasn't comfortable at all. I'd never had that done, it was new to me, and definitely uncomfortable. There was a short moment of gag reflex with that thing getting the impression of my upper teeth, but I lived through it. Now to see what portion of the bill will be. I know it's at least $450, we'll see what the insurance doesn't cover. |
Indianapolis 500 May 25, 2025 I watched the complete Indianapolis 500 today for only the second or third time. Why? I've had a fascination with Indy Cars for 61 years now. As a result, I've always liked Open-Wheel Racing (Indy Cars) more than Closed Wheel Racing (NASCAR). Allow me to explain. My father would listen to the Indy 500 every year. This was before it started being televised in 1965. Heck, we didn't even have a TV until 1966 (that's a guess here), we never owned a Color TV, those were too expensive, so Black & White it was. Back to my father for a minute. He would take a piece of paper and create a table consisting of the top 3 drivers every 25 miles. At the bottom of it, he would have a list of cars out of the race. But I need to backtrack a little bit. I guess I became an Indy Car fan while we lived in Milwaukee from 1960 to 1962. The Wisconsin State Fair held a 250 mile race at its One Mile Oval track, and somehow I became a fan of Open Wheel Racing. Also, I somehow (Don't ask, because I don't remember) became a fan of a driver whose name I heard, Eddie Sachs. He was my hero, my favorite driver. We moved to Albuquerque in September 1962. After the move to Albuquerque, it became almost a custom for my father and I to sit together and listen to the Indy 500. I always cheered for Eddie Sachs who drove at Indy from 1957 to 1964. Being 9 or 10 years old, I'd quickly get bored and run out to play with my brothers and friends. In 1964 though, Eddie Sachs was killed on lap 2 in a fiery crash coming out of turn 4. Another driver spun out of control and hit the inside wall with a fiery explosion, then slid across the track. Eddie was behind him and had no chance. His car hit the other car in the middle causing a second fireball, killing Eddie almost immediately. Since it was so early in the race, I was still listening as this occurred. I cried and cried over his death. I don't think I've cried like that over someone dying since. Not even the passing of my parents or my three siblings. While in the Navy, for one reason or another, I never had the chance to watch the whole race. While at Motorola, it seemed I was usually traveling, or just had too much going on to sit back and relax to watch it. Now I do, so it's almost a tradition here now. A couple of other notes about the Indianapolis Raceway. In 1997, I traveled to Indianapolis with a group from the Firestone Plant I worked at. It wasn't raceday, it wasn't even time-trials. The drivers were 'practicing', getting used to their cars and the track. But, we had infield access. We weren't allowed in the garage area, nor could we meet and talk to the drivers. Still, it was a special day for me. And in 2016, I was given an awesome Birthday present. A day at the Chicagoland Speedway where I was able to drive an older Indycar. My fastest lap was just below 150 mph! (The cars had a limiter that prevented them going more than 170 mph). I had never driven that fast before, nor have I since. It was a very special day, that's for sure. Other than the Indianapolis 500, I no longer follow other Indycar races. The reasons are varied and many really, too much to go into here. I do look at race results and watch highlights at times, but that's about it. Til next time, y'all Love those who Love You, and Write! Jim |
Lumbar, Thoracic, Sacral Spine MRI, including the Coccyx Wow, what a day. Before I tell you about my MRI adventure, I want to mention a minor separate issue. Wednesday I was cutting meat (Kidneys and Liver) for our dogs when I managed to poke my right thumb with the knife. I thought I had cut myself, but when I checked, I saw nothing. No blood, no cut, nothing at all, so I continued my work. Now, the thumb is red and swollen, very tender at the point where I poked myself. A quick trip to Convenient Care was done, I've been put on Antibiotics, which is what I thought would happen. No change today, we'll see how things are tomorrow. Before I tell you about the MRI's, I want to stress that I AM NOT complaining. I don't talk about this (various health matters) much, except with Kathy. She hears it all. I'm letting you all know in case I suddenly am not as active as I have been. Which as you might imagine after reading this entry, is not near as active as I'd love to be. Anywho, or anyway, however you want to say it, on with it. I don't mind sharing health news, it's not HIPAA if it's about me, and comes from me, is it? I've suffered from back pain for many years now, and today a 3-year old MRI result 'appeared'. Yeah, neither of us know where it came from or how it got to the top of my drawer unit, but there it was. I forgot I have Spinal Stenosis with degeneration in 3-4 discs in my lower back. The MRI's are a follow-up to MRI's conducted in 2022 (the test results found earlier today. Still shaking my had over their sudden appearance). The Spinal Stenosis and disc issue cause Peripheral Neurophthy. What those fancy words mean is, I can't stand for long, plus I have a bit of Vertigo when I do stand. I'm not dizzy per se, I have Vertigo. I know, some of you might say it's the same thing, but in my eyes it isn't. But, if I can't stand, I should sit, right? Yeah, tell my back that. I stand, my left hip and leg ache. I sit, my back aches. So I should lie down, right? Except I lay on my left side for the most part, and my left hip let's me know it doesn't like that. It's hard to find a comfortable way to lie in bed. The MRI's without Contrast were done first, of course. Why is it that when you're required to lie still that about every place on your face decides to itch? Yeah, it happened. Plus, since the MRI was of essentially my entire spine, it took over 40 minutes! The itch started about 8 minutes into the test. It became a case of mind over matter at that point. I won some, but there were times I was asked how I was doing, so I asked if I could scratch my nose. You know I did.  The MRI with Contrast was next, and didn't take near as long, nor were near as bad. After a little over an hour of lying still in one spot, we were finally done. Ahhh, peace and quiet, because the MRI machine is very noisy. Well, that's it, I'm done. Enjoy yourself, enjoy your life, and love those in your life that really matter! Most of all, WRITE! Love To You All, JimD |
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