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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 am a Senior Training Specialist for Motorola Solutions, and teach classes on a wide variety of subjects centered around 2 way radio communications (for eight more weeks). I knew that when the time arrived that I would retire. That time is now. 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 are not in demand anymore. My students were/are 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? This probably won't have daily entries, but I will make entries to update you about my life before and during my employment with Motorola Solutions. I also intend to update you all about what I'm doing in retirement. Well, here we go with this new adventure, let's see where it takes us.  Best Cultural And Regional Honorable Mention |
Some Of My Pet Peeves If some of these make you angry, I'm sorry. I have yet to have anyone apologize to me for some of these Pet Peeves. I realize I'm getting old, I thought I'd share a few things that really get my goat. Here goes. 1. On the highway, people who wait until the last minute to merge into your lane. There's no room though, my bumper almost touches the bumper of the vehicle in front of me. 2. Saying "Thank You" to someone, their response is either "Of Course!", or maybe "No Problerm". My take on this.... I am thanking you for doing something polite, a reply of "No Problem" means that what you did politely was not a problem. Hmmmmmm. Responding with "Of Course" tells me this. Of course you say thank you, you old man. Like I said, I'm getting old, or am old. 3. Someone in traffic passes you and pulls in right in front of you. There you sit at the stoplight with them in front. What did they gain by doing that? Not one thing, other than being one car length ahead of you. OR they'll pull in front of you on a highway, then slow tro a slower speed than you have been cruising at all this time. It does make me wonder. 4. This next one might make some of you mad, but here goes. A person who identifies themself as "He/him" (She/Her), and tells you they are non-binary. I beg to differ. If we both dropped our pants, we'd see one of two things. Male genitalia, or Female genitalia. I have to wonder about this 'Non-Binary' idea and where it came from. Frankly I don't care what you think you are, be who you want to be. There's no need to post it in every written message from you, You will never find me saying, "I'm a man, an old man. I identify as a human male." 5. People who think they are right all the time, but when you check on what was said or written, you find they are completely wrong. One of my best friends at Motorola would tell us how smart they were. I have found that those who are very smart (Intelligent, High IQ, whatever), don't talk about it, or brag to others about their intelligence. Those that do have high IQ's or are very intelligent don't talk about it. Believe it or not, that's all I can think of right now. There are more, many more. My mind is just blank right now. I'm sure some of you have your own Pet Peeves. Share them with me if you like. If you prefer to stay Anonymous, send them to me in an email. I promise I will not share them with any one else. |
Schaumburg, Illinois Week of 4/14/25 This was my last time delivering a class for Motorola. Everyone felt I should feel 'something', the only thing I felt was relief, coupled with a sense of accomplishment. The class this past week was that basic RF class, the one designed for non-technicians. I will say that it really needs to be updated and re-written. I've pushed for this to be done for years. That statement/thought was always pushed aside by management. I would love to be involved in that rewrite, but it will take months to complete. Plus, that has to come from the Content Developers, not from an instructor, so it's not going to happen. The class itself went well, at least in my opinion. I didn't have the usual training aids though. A co-worker was delivering this class in California, and since they paid to have the training aids there, I didn't have them with me. Once class was done Friday, there were a few touching moments. About half the students stopped to shake my hand, wishing me luck in retirement. The kicker though, was having the support guys, the ones who fix our system when something breaks, stop by and tell me I'll be missed. I know I will be missed, I teach some courses that no one else does, or wants to. Now, they'll have to learn those courses, won't they? One of our Adjunct (Contractor Instructor) also stopped in. That was especially nice because I wouldn't call him a friend. Co-worker would be best, even that stretches it some if you ask me. In the end though, I drove home to Bloomington and will send this week and next getting things wrapped up by May 2nd. The boss is even throwing a farewell luncheon that day, and has invited everyone who is local to attend. We'll see how many instructors show up, few are in town next week. That's it for now. Until my next entry, write all you can, and love everyone, especially those special people who fill your life!   Jim Dorrell |
| On my first boat (USS Theodore Roosevelt), one of the R12's (Yes, R12, they were never converted to newer cooling (R114?) systems while I was on board (Aug 74-Oct 78). There was a vertical pipe in front of it, about 8 inches from the cover. You get the picture. We needed all 5 R12's operating, else NavCenter overheated (>65F, maybe 70F) I think. It was a burned out main contactor, so we pulled the whole assembly while it was tagged out. We had to, you couldn't pull the main contactor with it installed. Everything was replaced satisfactory, but we had to do a rotation check on the main pump, so the cover was left off. Rotation check was good. I was ordered to put the cover back on, while it was still energized! I was warned not to allow the cover top portion to fall into the controller, since the 440VAC contacts at the top supplying power to it were exposed, and to keep my arms clear of those contacts. (I didn't get shocked at least) Yep, it was a very old assembly. Shades of OSHA! What would they have said? You can guess what happened next. The thing is, I have no idea how I teleported about 10 ft. back from the controller. I was told a Fireball flew out out the switchgear in ERUL (Engfine Room Upper Level) across the narrow passageway and over the floor of Maneuvering where it dissipated against the equipment there. Needless to say, it was briefly tagged out to get that cover installed. |
| Submarine Reactor Startup I wrote an entry in my other blog, "Memories. Ahhh Yes, Memories of My Life"  , about starting the Submarine's Reactor. With this blog no longer about trips I take, I thought that I'd expound on that a little tonight.First, a little about our duty sections. There weren't that many men in a duty section. Maybe 10-11? I don't recall really. Most were under 30 years of age, new Nukes would be 19-21 or so. But, Electricians (EM's) and Electronics Technicians (ET's) stood watches as a Shutdown Reactor Operator (SRO), and Shutdown Electrical Operator (SEO). One EM had to be qualified as Battery Charging Electrician (BCE), one ET had to be qualified as a Reactor Operator (RO) during underway periods. After completing my qualifications, I ended up being the EM and BCE, as well as an SRO. One of the ET's was also SRO qualified, as well as RO underway. Why was this necessary? Let me explain. Each duty section needed an RO so a Precritical Checkoff could be done before the Reactor was started. He would also perform the Daily Shutdown Checkoff. Each duty section also needed a BCE so the weekly Battery Charge could be done. Yep, we charged the battery weekly, even when in port. Since there were generally six ET's/EM's in a watchstation (IF we were lucky), you would think that 'Heck, y,all were in 3 section watches, even if we were on Port & Starboard duty sections'. Port & Starboard. One day on duty, one day off. If it was a watchstation, then 6 hours on watch, 6 hours off (6-Noon, Noon-6, 6-Midnight, Midnight-6). So yeah, think again. The crew turnover is not really high, but it was enough that generally there would be at least one or two people qualifying for one watchstation or another. I spent more time on Port & Starboard Duty Sections and Port & Starboard watches than I care to think about. Are you getting the idea that we didn't have a lot of chances to rest? Yep, but somehow we kept things going. Eventually it came time to head to sea. The Duty Section had a lot to do in order to make the Engineroom, and Reactor ready to go. The Machinists Mates (maybe 5 in a Duty Section) had valve lineups to do on both the Reactor Plant, and the Secondary Plant, as well as drain the Steam Generators (if needed) to the Operational Level. These tasks took a lot longer than you might think. The ET's had a Pre-Critical Checkoff to do. Us EM's? Not a lot, other than support Watches. One thing that was done sometime during the refit period was Control Rod Checks. These took hours, I do mean hours, to do. You might find one man on watch (the Senior ET), while the SRO qualified EM was off. If there were 2 EM's qualified SRO, we were lucky. The SRO Qualified ET would be relieved by an SRO qualified EM so he could perform the Rod Checks. Yep, a junior ET would be present also, so he could learn how to perform this. The Rod checks are different from a Pre-Critical Checkoff in that each Control Rod was pulled to the top of the core, one at a time. Therefore, an Engineering Officer Of The Watch (EOOW) was in Maneuvering. Normally he was the Engineering Duty Officer (EDO), now he was the EOOW. The Pre-Critical Checkoff was done by 2 ET's, that was a requirement. So us EM's were on watch. I forgot what all was done during a Pre-Crit, but it took a good 4-5 hours to do. As Nuclear Trained Personnel, we took tasks like this very seriously, even if we goofed off a lot at other times. So, once the Pre-Crit was complete, valve lineups were done, the EDO would inform the Engineer of this, he would get permission to commence a Reactor Startup. The duty Section now manned underway watchstations. Another thing done though, was the Estimated Critical Position (ECP). We had to know when to expect the Reactor to become Critical. If it became Critical too soon, something was wrong, most likely in the calculations. (Yes, the EDO and Engineer would review the calculations before the startup was commenced.) Conversely, if the Reactor became Critical too late, something was wrong. You get the picture. A Reactor startup was then commenced. It would take almost an hour just to reach Criticality, depending on how long we had been shutdown, as well as if we were in what was called Hot Standby, or Cold Wet Layup. Eventually, the Reactor would be Critical, and then the 'fun' part starts. Heating the Primary Plant (if needed) as well as the Secondary Plant. This would typically take another hour or two. Once the plants were warmed properly, the Main Engines would be warmed by the Throttleman, and the Ships Service Turbine Generators would be warmed and started. Now the Electricians had their moment, the removal of Shore Power. This sound simple enough, you just unplug the boat from the pier It's a bit harder than it sounds though. Imagine trying to lift a cable that weighs 60 lbs/foot! Yeah, they were heavy. There were 3 of them each one capable of carrying 400 amps. If we were lucky a crane was available and could lift the cables for us. If not, we manhandled those cables. Around the time we were warming the plant up, the Forward (Non-Nuclear) crew would come aboard and about that time, we'd be ready to go to sea. Oh such fun it was! Are you concerned at all that the greater majority of men & women operating a Submarine Reator were (are) less than 25 years of age? Not only operating, but performing maintenance, and generally keeping the plant going. Even the senior most Enlisted man was less than 40. The Officers (EOOW's & EDO) were not much older, maybe 23-25 years old. Yes, if I could do it all over again, I would. Most definitely I would. Until next time, Be good, treasure those you love, and Write! Jim Dorrell |
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