Sunday, November 28, 2010

Connecticut - The Last Minute Job and Thanksgiving

I'm in a motel room in Connecticut tonight trying to figure out exactly what I am doing tomorrow. At first I was told to be here a week or two from now... so I had a friend who was going to visit me that I haven't seen in about five years now; he's been living in Norway.

I was very excited that he was going to travel to see me and spend a week with me including his birthday. Two days before he got to the house I received an email from work... I had to be in Connecticut for a job. I had to leave the house about 4:30AM to make my flight... and my friend George wasn't going to get in to San Antonio until about 9:30PM the night before. That meant that I would drive an hour, get him, get back home, pack my stuff, then leave in just four or five hours to be at work. I was pretty bummed out about that.

Well... I picked him up and took him to a late dinner, showed him the new house where I live, then after a few hours (we all stayed up all night) I got on a taxi and headed to the airport. Normally I get a good taxi... this time the guy was nice enough, but he was a large man and he smelled like sweat and Old Spice... not a very good combination. I rode with the window partially down, and it only marginally helped.

I got the the airport earlier than expected... almost 2 hours before I was due to catch the plane... but as fate turned out... that was a good thing. The line for security went completely beyond the normal area, down the hall, doubled on it's self, went past the ticket counters to the far wall, doubled again, and came about 3/4 of the way back. I got my boarding pass, turned left, and the line was right there. (Normally it is about 200 feet away.)

Just as I reached the gate they started to announce the boarding procedure, so I took a chance, got something hot to eat... and made it in okay. As it turned out, they needed someone to take the emergency seat... which is more leg room for me... so I swapped gladly. I never felt the flight take off... the next thing I knew they were collecting the drink cups and getting ready to land.

When I landed in Cincinnati, I headed right for Starbucks to see if they had one of the series mugs... and they did. I picked one up for Eve, then jogged to the plane in time to get my seat. I fell in and out of sleep most of the flight, never even took my iPOD out of the case. (Wouldn't matter if I did... I forgot my earpiece.)

I went to get my rental car but apparently took the wrong one... so a trip around the lot later... I was in another (quite less sexy) car... and heading out to the hotel. When I got to the location about an hour or so later... I found out it is actually a Motel... like something built around 1950 or so... clean... but not what I'm used to... no hot tub, no pool, no exercise area, and no business center to scan my documents. The internet has been pretty zippy... so that's a plus... and there was a pharmacy a block away, so I got my supplies.

Now I'm waiting on another team member to arrive about 9:30PM or so... then we will sort out tomorrow. I need cables and tools... so with luck my teammates will have them for me when they arrive... otherwise it's going to be an interesting day tomorrow.

UPDATE

The tools never did get here... but I was able to borrow enough to get through the first couple of days.

And this just in... the Thanksgiving video.




Thanks for stopping by,
Jerry

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Grand Kids

I was in Houston taking classes this last week... as fate would have it, it was also Colby's birthday... and since I don't get to see them as often as I like... we made a party for the three kids. (Colby, Josh, and Nickolas)

Terryann put up a photobucket album that came out nicely. Click Here to see it.

I also made a short YouTube video for you...



Saturday, November 13, 2010

Radio Testing in New York / New Jersey

It's been a bush couple of months for me lately. I have been testing new radio systems in New York and in New Jersey. I thought I would give you an inside view into what drive testing is like... just a typical day for us in the field.

Let's start with the testing in Long Island, New York.





Then we will jump over to New Jersey where I worked with the police in Bergen County to verify another new system. I worked with a great bunch of guys there... nicest people you could ask for.





My daughter Rebecca posted a video of her work... she is an actress and model... I couldn't find a way to embed the facebook video, but here are the links:

REBECCA VIDEO 1

REBECCA VIDEO 2

Enjoy,
Jerry