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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 |
A Day In The Chicago Area A day in almost any large city is a day too much if you ask me. I've gotten very used to life in a smaller town, and love it. But, we had to get up to the Great Lakes Naval Station to pick up a prescription for Kathy. True, we could have gone to a Pharmacy here for it, but she would have to pay $300 or more for it. It's free through Tricare, so the drive is definitely worth it. We had a long discussion about which Van to drive there. The older Transit Connect gets better gas mileage than the CamperVan does, that was the argument she used. I said we had bought the CamperVan for longer road trips like this. Any guesses as to which one we drove? Yep, the Transit Connect. Then again, you knew that before I gave the secret away. It was a decent drive, not stressful for me at all. But heck, it was almost 8 hours total. Only 6 hours drive time, but with stops for nature breaks for us and the dogs, stopping for lunch and gas, 8 hours it was. And yes, we were sore and tired after it. I know we would have been much better off in the CamperVan. Then again, the Transit Connect has all those things that the Camper doesn't have. You know, things like GPS, Satellite Radio, Backup Camera. Of those three things, I used the backup cam. We didn't listen to the radio, didn't need GPS for a drive like this. In my eyes, no benefit was gained driving it and not the CamperVan. On a completely separate note, I head to Albuquerque for the Balloon Fiesta Tuesday. I'm taking Amtrak, she insisted I take the train, and insisted I get a Roomette also. I will travel from here to Chicago, then board the Southwest Chief heading to Albuquerque. I'll have the Roomette from Chicago to Albuquerque, and from there to Kansas City on the return trip. I am looking forward to both the trip, as well as seeing home again. It's gonna be a fun time, I'mbsure of that! I'll be sure to snap a lot a photo's too! |
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