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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 |
Back Surgery 10/29/25 Well, I had 'minor' back surgery yesterday (is any surgery ever minor?). I say minor because to me, that's what it was. Someone else in this house didn't think so. Even though I felt it was minor surgery, I did send an email to my oldest explaining what was going on, and that Kathy would contact her regardless, but she would definitely contact her if something went wrong. Thankfully, nothing went wrong. Now why did I need Back Surgery in the first place? For months now, I've been limping at times. There were a few occasions where I rolled the Trash Cans to the curb, and wondered how I'd get back in the house. Yeah, I still did that regardless of how bad I felt. That's a small task I don't want my spouse to do. And, there were about 3 occasions where I was forced to use an electric cart at a local store because walking was just too painful. Why was I limping? That's an easy answer. A pinched nerve. What got me, is that I could sit for a minute, get up and walk around normally. That usually didn't last long though. Ten minutes if I was lucky. Then it was back to limping everywhere. Luckily my Oncologist had a complete MRI of my spine done last month. He thought feared that my back pain might be caused by the Multiple Myeloma I have. (It wasn't). The Neuro-Surgeon used that MRI to decide what I needed. It turns out that the nerve that exited at the L5/S1 Vertebrae was pinched. His plan was to access that nerve opening and make the hole it exited through slightly larger. So, surgery it was. I checked in at the Hospital Surgical Ward at 8 am. I was wheeled back for surgery about 10:20 or so. By 10:30, I was out and don't remember anything. I was discharged at 4 pm! In and out in one day. I will say that other than a minor back ache, I've had no problems. The incision is held closed with Surgical Glue, I was prescribed Tylenol 3, I took two of them last night to help me sleep, I don't anticipate needing to take more. There are things I can't do, things I can do. Medicines I can resume taking, as well as some I can't. I am pretty much back to my old ornery self now. I haven't had any leg pain, nor have I limped, since being discharged. I will walk more now, my discharge/recovery document says to take 3-4 walks a day, and I will. Now to see if I can get her to walk with me. That's a completely different story though. |
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I'd order it now, but I don't want to chance having it delivered while we're gone, so I'll wait. I did bookmark the page so I can get to it easily. Cross your fingers everyone!