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 |  I travel the country on business, sometimes the world. Come see where I've been. |
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Talk about perks, my job has one of the best ones I can think of! I travel in the course of business, delivering classes for my employer. I am a Senior Training Specialist for Motorola Solutions, and teach classes on a wide variety of subjects centered around 2 way radio communications. I'm qualified to deliver approximately 30 different classes, but about half of those are 'Legacy' classes, and are not in demand anymore. My students are technicians, those who maintain, program, calibrate, and repair 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 get to travel, sometimes frequently, 3-4 weeks in a row.... where am I this week? This probably won't have daily entries, but I will make entries when I get to go somewhere, and keep an updated list of coming trips. My schedule changes faster than the weather, so don't be too surprised to see me list an upcoming class, only to remark later on that it is cancelled, or delayed. Delays are fine of course, but a later date might mean that someone else gets to go instead of me,,, Well, here we go with this, let's see where it takes us.  Best Cultural And Regional Honorable Mention |
| Locale: Bloomington, Illinois Well, for the 11th week in a row, I'm home, and will be at least one more week if not more. Work has picked back up for us, we've been busy creating small 5-7 minute videos for students to review prior to a class, and editing our courseware so it can be used in an online delivery. I will be teaching class again this week, and will have now taught three weeks in a row. As summer approaches, we'll get busier, so we've been told. I can believe it, because despite not teaching for half of April, I am scheduled for 36 days of delivery in the second quarter. For a full twelve week quarter, 25 days is considered to be a full schedule. Obviously I'm very lucky, and blessed to have this job I love. And despite all the things we're doing, senior leadership still has to take some hard lines on things. As a result of this virus, our annual incentive bonus is gone for next year (but I still have a job), they have e-mailed long term employees with a Voluntary Separation Program (VSP), and yes, I received that e-mail. But I won't be taking their offer, even if it is a little generous. There is a possibility that in the future we'll have layoffs. While I think I'm relatively safe, you never know. So you might ask why I'm not taking their VSP offer? Because I don't want to retire, plain and simple. We'll see what the future holds, but I still have this job! I often wonder what I'd be doing, or where I'd be, if I had remained at the Firestone Tire Plant during that tire recall of 2000. I don't think I'd be near as happy, that's for sure. Right now, my schedule has me going to Delaware in two weeks, New Mexico (Home!) in three weeks, teaching from home the following two weeks, and the week of July 4th free of delivery. After that, I will be in Washington DC, then teach from home, Washington DC again, then either teach from home, or teach in Chicago. It all depends on what management decides by that time. August finds me in California, with two weeks in Chicago working on a small system to get it set for a delivery the third week (Lagos Nigeria US Embassy technicians). Obviously most of this is 'up-in-the-air' and not firm. I think the Delaware class is really up-in-the-air, and maybe that California class, since that's been delayed 4-5 times already, starting early last year. In Closing I am home for the next week at least. We'll see what happens with that Delaware class. Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE!  Jim Dorrell |
| Locale: Central Illinois Last week found me home of course, enjoying life in a small 900 Sq. Ft House. Gee, reminds me of life on a submarine. Except I can go out some, feel the weather, and enjoy life. I delivered my first Fleetmapping class as an online class, after spending three weeks working on improving/modifying the course materials. The class went well, with nice feedback received from the students. I've delivered classes online since 2002, but for the most part, mostly one class. This class is a lot different, I really enjoyed delivering it. Of course I didn't tell the students it was my first time delivering it, that would not have been good. I was pleased with my delivery, the comments from the students made it all the better. Right now, I'll be home all of May, and go to Tokyo the first week of June. But, Japan has travel restrictions in place, you cannot travel there if you've been in the US in the last 14 days. My answer is that my boss should send me somewhere for 2 weeks, then send me to Japan! Like that's going to happen.  It would be nice to think that this will all go back to how it was sometime in May, but I think it will take a lot longer to get there, IF we ever get there. The world has changed, people have changed, some are acutely aware of how easy a virus can spread. Guess they never watched 'The Stand', did they?  That's about it for now. Stay home, stay safe and healthy. Write all you can, love your loved ones, you never know when they may be called off God's Green Earth. Til next time, be good to yourself, and once again, write! Jim Dorrell |
| Locale: Bloomington, Illnois Well, it's been six weeks since I arrived home from Winnipeg. It's been a bit of an amazing journey too. I guess I could get used to working from home, and I should because we'll be doing more of it. No, travel won't stop entirely, but those who are used to working in Schaumburg need to get more used to it than I do. I don't think we'll ever get back to the way it was before Pandemic. Right now, I will remain at home through May31st. Then, at least as of right now, I will fly to Tokyo for a class, and life will be a bit more normal for me. Most of my current classes are tentative, meaning the customer hasn't committed to the dates, but right now I am scheduled to be in: 1. Week of 6/1 - Tokyo, (already mentioned) 2. Week of 6/15: Kentucky State Police, most likely will be in Frankfort. 3. Week of 7/6: White House Communications Agency 4. Week of 7/20: US Senate Sergeant At Arms 5. Week of 8/17: Western Area Power Administration - Folsom, California I have other classes currently scheduled for Schaumburg that will most likely become online classes. Only time will tell. In Closing I am home through April and May right now, giving me three months at home. I have not been home that long for over 18 years now. Guess I should get used to it. One thing's for sure. I'm staying busy! Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE! Jim Dorrell |
| Locale: Bloomington, Illinois This MONTH finds me in Bloomington, Illinois, working from home. After returning home from Winnipeg, my cough got drasatically worse, almost overnight. A quick trip to Prompt Care on a Sunday morning (after a sleepless night of coughing while trying to sleep in the loveseat) took care of me pretty well. A followup trip to my doctor resulted in being referred to a Cardiologist, and an ENT Specialist. I had not seen a Cardiologist since 2009, a year after having a very minor heart attack. People always ask why I call it very minor. There's a couple of reasons really. First, I went to the ER on a Tuesday night (St. Patrick's Day, 2008), and was discharged Thursday afternoon. Secondly, the enzyme (?) (I think it's an enzyme) that the heart makes when you have a heart attack barely went above the limit. If I recall correctly, the limit for this particular 'thing' was 10, mine reached 14. You have to remain in the hospital until it's below 10, mine was there by Wednesday night. Another reason? I did see my Cardiologist a couple of times shortly after the heart attack. He put me through the usual stuff. Stress tests, ultrasound of my heart, etc. They stopped the Stress test when I reached a certain % of the calculated maximum heart rate (I was still going strong on the treadmill), and the Ultrasound that was done with chemicals injected revealed no damage to my heart muscle. A follow up visit a year later resulted in him telling me to watch my diet, and return to see him only if I experienced any chest pain or problems. Since it had been so long since being seen by a Cardiologist, it was time. Another stress test two weeks ago, again passed with no issues at all. Both the Cardiologist and ENT Doctor were interested in my fainting during extreme coughing. The ENT asked me to see him in two weeks, and when I went back, he saw the recent blood tests, and Stress Test results, and said I didn't have an ENT issue, and to see my doctor for any further treatment. It's a relief to know that I'm not deathly sick. At least not by their tests. My doctor thinks I had (may still have if you ask me), an underlying upper respiratory infection, and the trip to Algeria wore me down physically. I got little to no sleep on the return flight, and this minor infection took the chance to attack while I was exhausted. Oh well... like I've said, better now. With the COVID-19 Pandemic, work has changed. We're all working from home, and some of us are working hard to change our curriculum so we can deliver part of our classes online, then have students come to Schaumburg to complete the hands-on activities. Tuesday, my manager asked me if I could deliver a class online called, "Fleeetmapping". (I'm not currently qualified to deliver this class. It's delivered entirely by a contractor). I sat through it last year, and remembered it well. It didn't seem to be a hard class to pick up, but I also remembered that the Powerpoint Slides used in delivery were in horrible shape. I'd have been embarrassed to deliver a class using those slides. No wait, that's not correct. There is NO WAY I'd ever deliver a class using slides that looked that bad. Anyway, I now have three weeks to learn this course, and in the process, have been given permission to edit the course to my hearts content. There are a couple of instructors who are really interested in this class, and they will help me. I spent most of Wednesday thru Friday just cleaning up the formatting of the slides. Next week, the three of us will meet in Adobe Connect to review the content, and make sure there are no errors. In the process, I'll be learning the course, right? The answer is Yes, I've reviewed it once already, now will come an in-depth review, with a check to make sure it's all error free. Then I will go through the Excel Spreadsheet used in the class to make sure I understand that, and I'll be good, ready for the class. I hope we can have that done by Friday. That's my goal. Of course there's more. There's always more, right? Since we're editing our courses and such, I am scheduled to deliver the second of our Networking classes at the end of April. Those course materials are being edited, and since we're adding a new switch (made by Aruba), and a new router (Juniper router) to our systems, I have to learn that part of it too. Getting my new course completed early will allow me to concentrate on the Networking course materials. So my at home time during this pandemic is really allowing me to get quite a bit done. So what am I reading/writing? Boring technical stuff.... Noteworthy Restaurants: Jim's Homemade Cooking. Man, the food here can be great one day, just edible the next. Some days it's something new, others, it tastes like leftovers. Oh wait, that's what it is! The menu is eclectic at best, but at least it's all food I enjoy. In Closing I will spend the rest of March (all three days of it), and probably all of April at home. For someone who is used to traveling a lot, it's like prison! It's not bad at all, it's just different. My next scheduled trip will be to Fort Lauderdale Florida, the first week of May. Unless that becomes an online delivery also. Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE! Jim Dorrell |
| Locale: Winnipeg, Manitoba This week finds me in Winnipeg, Manitoba for a class with the Government of Manitoba. It was a little bit of a challenge for a couple of reasons. First, the students had very little background in Networking. Y'know, the kind of networking that allows computers to communicate with each other, not networking to gain followers or find someone to follow. Secondly, my health had continued to deteriorate. Don't get me wrong, I was okay really, but my cough was getting out of hand at times. My initial impression of Winnipeg is one of COLD! There was this white stuff on the ground, well it had been white at one time.      I think the lowest temperature I saw while there was about -5 degrees Fahrenheit. A bit colder than I'm used to, even living here in Central Illinois. But, as a result of being in Winnipeg, I've now been in every southern province in Canada!While I was there, an e-mail was sent from Corporate Travel about travel to China, Japan, and other areas hit hard by the CoronaVirus. Travel had to be approved by a Corporate VP before we are allowed to travel. The VP approved it, but left it up to us as to whether we wanted to travel or not. It really hurt me to inform my manager that I didn't feel I should go. I wasn't so concerned about the virus, I figure I can get it here, or there. My biggest fear was that someone would hear me coughing, and I'd end up in quarantine. Then came Saturday, and all doubts about going to Japan were erased. I passed out 3 times in less than 2 hours, one time while sitting on the toilet (No, I hadn't gone yet, so no mess) (TMI, I know), but broke the toilet seat doing so! This convinced me I needed to see a doctor then, and not wait until my scheduled appointment Monday. While he was listening to my lungs, I had to breathe deep. This caused me to cough, and it built quickly. Next thing I knew, my legs were being held in the air while he lowered me gently to the now reclining examination bench. He asked me "Are you okay?" I said I was, but apparently that was the 4th or 5th time he'd asked that question. The odd thing? While I was out, I was dreaming. Noteworthy Restaurants: Sushi Cushi http://sushicushi.ca/menu/ I went there with the Project Manager and the System Manager for the Government of Manitoba Radio System. We ordered enough food for 5 or 6 people, not three! But, it was excellent, all of it. Yummmmm In Closing I will spend the next three weeks at home. My manager has said no travel, no work, no teaching during this time, I'm to relax and get healthier. I have done a couple of things for work, they have to be done before my next classes! But I am resting and napping all I can. Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE! Jim Dorrell |
| Locale: Sacramento, CAlifornia This week found me in Sacramento, California for a short class with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. It was a class on radio programming, and only two days in length, so a short trip really. Having the flu the previous week didn't do me any favors either. I wasn't 100%, but at the same time, I wasn't sick either. Just not fully recovered. And I felt it while teaching too. Radio Programming might sound odd to some, it sounded very odd to me when I started learning about it. After all, how hard can it be to program a 'simple hand-held' radio? Well, when there are about 4000 fields a technician can edit, you get an idea of how hard it might be. Fortunately, they will seldom find themselves doing that, at most they might edit a hundred or so fields. Still, I constantly hear about problems encountered in setting up a system initially. Programming a radio isn't hard, but understanding how changing fields will affect its ability to operate in a system is. Not only does it have to be programmed correctly for it to operate, but it must be properly configured in the system also. Yep, there's a separate software used to configure it to operate in a system. That's not a class I teach, but I know quite a bit about it. So yep, it's complex, time consuming (at first), and aggravating at times. Overall, everything went well, every question was answered for them, in fact, we ran out of time! For this trip, I flew in and out of San Francisco because trying to fly from Central Illinois to Sacramento didn't allow decent connections, nor allow me to get home easily. An added benefit of this, is that I drove up the west side of San Francisco Bay, then across the north end to get to I80. Why that route? Because it took me past Mare Island, where I attended Naval Nuclear Power School in 1973. Sadly, that building has been torn down; there's not evidence that it was ever there really. This photo is from 2012 when I was in Sacramento for a class with the State of California.  I think I should tell you a little about this 'school'. It was 6 months in length, and the toughest school I've ever attended. We had six hours of classes a day, each class lasting just one hour. We also had an hour of study hall, and an hour for lunch. There was a homework assignment for each class every day, and there were no 'I didn't get it done' excuses'. It was done, or you failed. Each Friday, there was a test in each class, graded on a 4.0 scale. Multiple choice questions were never used, every question was an essay question. If you scored less than 2.5 on any one of the tests, you were assigned night study the following week. It went from 5-9 pm Monday thru Friday, and 7-11 am Saturday. Some students were in night study from the 2nd week thru the 26th week! That was not for me, I had things I wanted to do, like play pool or Ping Pong. Remember, this is 1973, no computers. In fact, we weren't allowed to use calculators, since they were about $400 for a small one. Instead, we were issued slide rules to do math/chemistry/physics problems with. Here's a list of course we took those six months, but only attended six courses at a time. Mathematics - Basic Math through an introduction to Calculus and Trigonometry in 12 weeks. Heat Transfer & Fluid Flow - Eight weeks long, a somewhat basic course really. Physics - From Kinetic Energy, Potential Energy, etc, through an Introduction to Nuclear Physics in 12 weeks Electrical power theory and generating equipment -Eight weeks long, a basic electrical course that reinforced learning from a previous command. Nuclear Power Plant Components - It was really Nuclear Reactor Construction Chemistry - Eight weeks long, was really all about Water Chemistry as it pertains to a Steam Plant Reactor principles - How does a Nuclear Reactor work? What makes it generate heat, how does nuclear fission work? Radiation Protection - How do we keep ourselves safe from receiving too much radiation while operating the plant? You can see that Math and Physics had the greatest impact on me. My overall grade in each was 3.26 for Math, 3.35 for Physics. There's other classes, I can't locate a reference to the ones I attended while there. But the pace was insane, you had to learn quick, or fail and drop out. That was never an option in my eyes. Anyway, TOUGH school, just ask anyone who attended it. In Closing I will spend the weekend at home (2 days, yeah!), then off to Winnipeg next week. Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE! Jim Dorrell |
| Locale: Algiers/Soumaa, Algeria, & Home For A Week This week finds me in still in Algiers Algeria with the Algeria Directorate General for National Security (DGSN). It was that Basic Class on RF Theory and Operation that i delivered last week to a different group. I had a good time in Algeria, I found the people there to be generous and nice to know. The day before class ended, Zohir (my driver) stopped on the way to the hotel and got us some 'Zalabia'. El Zalabia, or Zalabia in the Algerian dialect is a popular sweet in Northern and Eastern African countries. Some historians reported that it is originally a Turkish dessert and that the Algerians learned to cook it during the Ottoman Empire rule; that is why it is also very popular in Turkey, Tunisia, Syria, and Lebanon. Every Algerian agrees that one of the most significant symbols of Ramadan is Zlabia. It is heavily available during Ramadan. The city of Boufariq (40 Km western of Algiers) has a reputation as the best city in Algeria for cooking this type of sweets. https://www.aboutalgeria.com/2017/12/el-zalabia.html Pictures of different preparations of Zalabia are here. https://www.google.com/search?q=Algerian+zalabia&sxsrf=ACYBGNTnpebVz--SKXsUGJoE0... As mentioned, Zalabia is an incredibly sweet bread type pastry. At first, I thought it was coated in honey, but I quickly realized it was a simple-syrup type of coating. It's taste was a little bit, and I do mean a little bit, like a Greek Baklava, minus the nuts and such, and a thicker bread. I couldn't eat it that night after dinner as I intended, so shared it with the students after class was done. It didn't last long. The flight home was long, made more so by my sinus's acting up just as I was trying to get some sleep. But I finally arrived, and enjoyed a decent dinner at a local restaurant. before getting home. Friday night was okay overall, but about noon on Saturday I started feeling off. Saturday night was a night of coughing all night long. I know I've posted this in my notebook, but I saw the doctor Sunday morning, and his diagnosis was flu. I asked about CoronaVirus of course, but was told there was no need to test those who'd been overseas without entering China. This past week has been long with a few ups and downs, but I'm finally feeling like myself. I'll take it easy today and tonight before I really feel like I'm past this flu. I will say I haven't been this sick in over 30 years! In Closing I will spend the weekend home before flying to California Monday. Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE! Jim Dorrell |
| Locale: Algiers, Algeria Well, I survived the week, not that I ever doubted I'd have any problems with this class delivery. I've delivered this class for almost 19 years, I better know the material well, don't you think? My biggest issue was a personal one, mainly my sinuses. I've been suffering from what I (and my doctor) think are Winter Allergies. I was curious as to how they would react in a completely new environment here. I thought it would be a much drier climate, but it's not. I have no real medications with me, other than my daily dose of Zyrtec, and Halls cough drops. Those triple soothing action ones really help me at times. But I've been just as congested here, breaking out into coughing fits at times. Other times, sneezing, and a good amount of Post Nasal Drip. Not a pretty sight if you ask me. Add to that the language barrier, and it's a wonder they learned anything, if you ask me. Language barrier? Yes, they speak French and Arabic, I speak only English. Luckily, a couple of them spoke decent English, and most of them understand it, can read it somewhat, they just can't speak English. I've spent my weekend (Friday and Saturday here) working on the course materials I'll teach from when I return in April. They are scheduled for a class that has a set content. But the radio sites that that course covers are not part of their system. Rather than give them a generic class and have unhappy students, I'm modifying the course materials to fit the situation. It's going well, I don't see a problem getting it done, but I really don't have a lot of time to do it either. Speaking of time, I have less today than I had yesterday. A class was added to my schedule at the end of this month, but someone has their wires crossed. Let me explain. I received an e-mail last night about doing a class for the Royal Bermuda Defense Forces, and got all excited about going to Bermuda! Then I saw that it would be what's called a 'Special Resident Class', and I would be teaching it in Schaumburg. The problem is, my schedule shows me doing the same class, but in Manitoba, Canada! I'm not sure which would be a better place to be, Manitoba, or Schaumburg. If I do go to Canada, I need a couple of things from others to arrange my VISA to Canada.... One of two things happened here. My scheduler scheduled me for a class in Canada, and at the same time, a Training Coordinator Scheduled me (not officially, since she doesn't maintain the schedule) in Schaumburg. I'll have an answer sometime Monday, I'm pretty sure of that. In Closing Well, I'll be here in Algeria next week, and fly home Friday. Next week I'll work from home, mainly getting those course materials completed well enough, and resolving this Canada/Bermuda class issue. Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE! |
| Locale: Algiers, Algeria This week finds me in Algiers, Algeria for a couple of classes with the Direction Générale de la Sûreté Nationale (DGSN). Of course, their native tongue isn't English, it's mainly French, with a bit of Arabic thrown in. All of my students speak a bit of English, some more than others, and those that speak it better than most help in translating difficult points to understand. Other than slowing the delivery of the class a little, all has gone well, and I'm still on schedule in my delivery. I'm staying at the Sheraton Des Pins Resort, just west of Algiers. As I mentioned in my previous post, a driver takes me to and from work daily. That's a good thing, I've seen how they drive here, and have no desire to do that. Not that they are bad drivers, they just drive so differently than we do in the States. Add to it that I hate being tailgated (compared to us, it's like tailgating is on Steroids). The class is in Soumaa, Blida, Algeria, about an hours drive south of here. It's not really far, the time is more due to traffic than distance. I have to confess that the image I had in my mind of Algeria, was one of desert mostly. I was surprised to see mountains to the south, pretty close to the training site. But south of the mountains, you will find the desert, so I'm told. I won't be traveling over the mountains for a couple of reason, mainly that it's more dangerous there than here for foreigners who are Caucasian. Photo's From Visit:  Panoramic Shot Of Mediterranean Sea From Hotel Beach Noteworthy Restaurants: Pan Asian, Le Tassili (Algerian Cuisine, and very good), La Trattoria (Italian), La Brasserie (it seems to change almost nightly), all here in the hotel. I can't find a website, can't find their menus, but the food is very good. I haven't decided on my favorites yet, I usually just change restaurants each day so far. Let's just say I haven't been disappointed yet. In Closing I will spend the weekend (Friday and Saturday is the weekend here) here in Algeria. I might get out if either the driver or another Motorolan (the Project Manager) take me. Otherwise I'll be relaxing in the hotel all weekend. Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE! Jim Dorrell |
| Locale: Algiers, Algeria I will be here in Algeria the next two weeks to deliver a basic RF Theory class to their radio techs. This entry will enlighten you about the 'hazards' of every day travel. My flights were fine, a little bumpy crossing the Atlantic, even on a 747. I managed to get a seat in the upper level, so it was very quiet, and only about half full! I have to give kudos to people like Kåre Enga in Montana  who travel on their own, often sitting 'in-the-back-of-the-bus' so to speak to get where they long to be. I'll admit to being a bit spoiled, but in thinking about what Kåre Enga in Montana does and sees, I often wonder who's seeing more. Actually, I know who's seeing more, and it's not me. I arrived in Algiers about noon after having traveled all night to Frankfurt, then down to here after a two hour layover. That part was fine, everything went smoothly. The Algiers airport is new, but was fairly empty when we arrived. My driver (yes, my company has a man they've hired to drive the instructors to and from work, and airport) met me outside baggage claim and we headed to the hotel. I know I haven't seen much of Algeria yet, but initial impressions are that it reminded me a lot of being in Kuwait in 2004. We arrived at the hotel, and I checked in. Or should I say, I attempted to check in. Two things happened about the same time. First, I realized that my PNC bank card was missing! This is my card, not the company card. I'd deposited a small amount yesterday before leaving, and had NEVER REMOVED IT FROM THE ATM SLOT!  A quick call home, and checking with the bank fixed it. Some kind, angelic soul had found it in the ATM and turned it in. Fortunately, I'd used an ATM at the bank, so that made it easier too. The cards is being mailed to my house.(This part I'm summarizing more than anything) The second thing that happened on checking in, is that my Corporate card was declined! Without going in to a lot of unnecessary details, let's just say we have a limit on our cards, and there wasn't enough room on mine to allow me to check in for two weeks. It's fixed now of course, but it took a few phone calls, a couple of e-mails, and some amount of stress to get it done. My own fault for not making sure everything was fine before leaving. After checking in, I toured the grounds some, grabbed a bite to eat at one of the numerous restaurants that are part of this complex, and crashed for a few hours. Need more sleep, so going back to bed in a bit. In Closing Like I said, I'm here for two weeks, and will post again about things I see or experience. Til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE! Jim Dorrell |
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I then went to Taiwan for two weeks; but, although that was nice, it wasn't 'home'. 