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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 |
| Locale: Bloomington, Illinois Week of: December 7, 2020 This week finds me at home once again teaching in my basement. It's something I've gotten used to, and learned to enjoy a bit. This class was one I haven't taught since April 2019, but I needed a refresher. Why? Because next week I will be in Seattle and Helena Montana doing the supervising the hands-on activities of this course. Plus, I have to deliver this again in person in Flagler County Florida in three weeks, so this really helped refresh my memory on it. As in every class I deliver, I learned something new, which is always good. Despite the pandemic, this has been a very busy year for me. A normal 'fully loaded' schedule for us is 110-115 days of delivery. Why so little? That's actually about six months of classroom time, and the other six months is meant to be spent learning/qualifying new courses, upgrading course materials (there's always room for improvement!), and in some ways, relaxing. Well, it wasn't until this week that I realized exactly how busy I've been delivering classes in 2020. In March & April, we lost seven weeks of delivery due to the Pandemic. Since then, other than taking PTO in October, and having the US Holiday weeks 'off' from teaching, I've only had one week of non-delivery. What this means, is that out of a possible 32 weeks we've delivered classes since late April, I've delivered classes in 28 of them! Remember that 110-115 days per year being a full schedule? This year, I will deliver 152 days of classes. That's when I realized exactly how busy I've been. But that's good if you ask me.  In Closing I will spend next week in those two places mentioned above, then at least 1-2 nights in Schaumburg to cross-train on a new course. After that, I have two weeks on holiday before hitting it again the first of the year. Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE! |
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