I left you last at Christmas last year and now it is Christmas again. Amazing how quickly that happens.  I will remind you once again that our website is http://members.shaw.ca/winkelmans The web site has far more than what can be put into a letter. Also, don’t forget to email Jay winkelmansj@shaw.ca , Cathy winkelmansc@shaw.ca , Bryn firefly_xxxx@hotmail.com and Brett gortrek_EOC@hotmail.com  .

            Christmas was very busy last year with work.  At that point I was involved with the on and off again of the Battle Group (BG) going to Afghanistan .  Initially the plan was to send the BG with the British but that changed over Christmas thus making things a bit busier.  We had also started planning for the G8 summit in Calgary .  We did however, manage to get to Gord’s and Maryanne’s place for a bit.

            We finally launched the BG overseas in Feb, which was a culmination of a great deal of effort and many long days and nights.  I was responsible to get them on the plane and off on there way from Edmonton .  This amounted to over 40 aircraft loads principally American C-5 Galaxies and a number of other variants such as 747s, C-17s, Antenovs, and our own Hercules and Airbus.

            Bryn at this point decided he would start doing better in school again.  In his first semester of grade12, after being an honour student for the past three years, he decided it was time to apply minimal effort to school and maximum effort to video games.  Perhaps he felt life was too easy therefore, he wanted to make life more difficult for himself.  I tried to explain to him that without a post secondary education or trade the odds of becoming the corporate CEO are virtually non-existent.  I talked to Ron and Gord about their 17-18 year olds (Cory and Dustin) and as it turns out, they were having similar problems.  I began to think, “Are all 17 year olds airheads?” while looking over at Brett.  Brett started to look nervous and wondering what he did.  I explained to him that he has done nothing yet and not to annoy me like your brother has when he is that age.  I then began to think, “Could we have been such idiots when we were 17?”  The visualization of my dad comes to mind as he reads this and that he is probably laughing so hard at this point that he can hardly breathe.  

            While on the topic, I will continue with Bryn.  One of the advantages of being the author of the letter is that, you can write it entirely from your own perspective.  Bryn graduated grade 12 in June with a much-improved second semester, and decided to go to work.  I agreed with this as it is better to get some work experience under his belt and gain a better idea of what he might want to do rather than spend a bunch of money failing out of university due to lack of commitment.  Bryn began to look for work but with little effort applied to the actual search.  Cathy, Brett and I were going to go to the lake early July with Gord and Maryanne however, plans changed when we had to stay home to guide our rudderless 18 year old.  Drill Sergeant Majors Mom and Dad ensured serious job-hunting took place complete with follow up and work chores around the house even if they continue into the evening.  This meant up at 0600 every morning including weekends.  Bryn soon realized a summer of lying around the house was not going to happen and he looked to get out of this situation quickly.  He decided to check out one of the placement agencies and took the first job they offered.  He is called to Canadian Linen for $8 an hour.

            This is a classic and one of the most entertaining experiences that a parent can ever hope for, especially when their son closes their ears and wants to “experience it”.  Canadian Linen is probably not a bad place to work depending on which department.  For the 18 year old with limited experience however, it is the assembly line.  His task was to hang dirty uniforms and coveralls all day.  The job was extremely repetitive, and his co-workers did not speak English. He lasted one day.  He did not care if he was paid or not he was not going back.  A completely new sense of urgency for job searching came to be.  Soon after, he got a job with a Plastics Plant in St Albert .  This was much more tolerable paying $9 an hour, everyone spoke the same language and it was not as repetitive.  Unfortunately, this job lasted for only two weeks before the company as a whole shut down to go on two weeks holidays.  During this period, he got a call from the Army reserve to work on the base for 6 weeks.  After the six weeks with the army, which he thoroughly enjoyed, Bryn, now the experienced job hunter, had been faxing his resume to various companies.  He was offered a job as a change person with the casino and in the vehicle wash bay at Riemer Transport. He took the latter as it was closer to home and better paying.  Bryn bought a car in Sep, which was another motivator for getting a job.  He is still a reservist with the army and may still join the regular force eventually.  He is also seriously looking at his future prospects and possible careers and may go to NAIT next fall.

            In April, I got sort of a break from work and I went to England on the NATO Movements Course for a few weeks.  The course was quite good complete with a number of tours.  We arrived in England on Friday, which gave us the weekend to tour London before going to the course.  Oddly enough, our quarters were the same place I stayed at when I was on the Bisley team, which is the Canadian Forces Rifle team 18 years ago.  There were a number of people from various countries on the course, which made it very interesting.  We had the weekend off during the middle of the course and Jeff Porter and I went to Stone Hedge and Salisbury to check out the sites.  We did not stay too long at Stone Hedge but Salisbury was very interesting.  The Salisbury Cathedral was definitely worth visiting.  The Cathedral a huge structure was built in 1200 AD in the basin of 5 rivers.  It was built there because the rivers provide protection but the footings are only 4 feet deep.  On entering the Cathedral, the pillars holding up the roof are all bowed from settling over the years.  The town itself is also quite interesting.  It has that old European look and you can feel the history while walking the streets.  During the course, we also visited the Victory.  Built in 1776 this ship is still on active service and is dwarfed in the harbour with the British Aircraft carriers nearby.  The Victory was the British Flag Ship during the battle of Trafalgar in 1805 against the French and Spanish.  Nelson the Admiral at the time won the battle but lost his life in the engagement.  On our final weekend, we went to visit Windsor Castle .  The castle is very impressive and a reminder of how small you really are.

            On returning from England , I got back to work on the planning for the G8.  Although it involved a lot of work, our efforts were very successful.  While in Calgary I managed to visit Dadye a few times.  I even went over once to play soccer with Chet and Christina when Dadye and Ron were not home.  I had called and Christina said her parents were out but asked if I wanted to play soccer with them.  I had a bit of time to spare so why not go over and kick the ball around with the kids.  I ended up being in Calgary for most of June. 

During the summer I started the application to begin a Masters degree in Business Administration. I have been accepted into the program and begin in January 03.  Its run like an executive program through Athabasca University and it will consume approximately 20 hours a week.  My goal is to complete it in three years, which corresponds to my 20-year point in the regular force.  I can then decide if I want to stay in the army or do something else.  Mikkie also moved this summer from Aldergrove to Kamloops .  Although I have yet to go to her new house, I did manage to get some neat pictures while flying over in the helicopter.  We do contingency planning in the event there is an earthquake in BC.  The organization I am in is responsible for moving the soldiers and supporting them.  Given that we happened to be flying by, I took a few pictures.  Which house is Mikkie’s?  You will have to ask her that question.

In Sept, I started my majors’ course.  The first part of the course was done through distance learning at home.  This actually was not too bad although they were full days of work.  I was in Kingston from Thanksgiving until 19 Dec. That is why you do not have a printed copy of the letter in your mailbox.  The course fortunately was not too strenuous other than Estimate Day; however, this is also relative.  I have worked in a headquarters for the past five years.  Those who have not had this experience would find it much more difficult.  Estimate Day was something else.  The Estimate had to be invented by the combat arms during the era of mass attrition because it is supposed to be a logical process of reasoning to deduce a plan for battle.  In reality, it is more of a painful way of explaining how you came up with such an idiotic idea and didn’t realize it because you were so involved in the process.  Tell me general, how did you come up with the plan for the battle of the Somme in which hundreds of thousands of lives were lost for no ground gained?  Well sir it is all here in my estimate.  When asking a group of Canadian officers what they would rather do an Estimate or have a Root Canal, there will quickly be a line up outside the dentist office.  Fortunately, we only had to weather one week of the Estimate.  During Estimate Day I put together 35 pages of battle plan to receive a C.  The top mark on the whole course was a B.  The important thing however, is that I passed and it is behind me.  Much of the course is studying the Operational Planning Process unlike the estimate it is a group think like brainstorming and permits everyone’s input and buy in.  This is far more effective.  The weekdays were full and most nights took us to at least ten o’clock but the weekends were free for the most part.  This is good for most people on the course because they live between Ottawa and Montreal so they can go home on the weekend.  Those of us from out west and New Brunswick of course are stuck and nick named loser platoon.  The only advantage of being in loser platoon was we had nicer rooms.  I did manage to get away on a couple of weekends. Karen and Garnet were only a couple of hours away so I was able to visit them a few times. I was at their house over Remembrance Day and Karen and I marched together in the local parade.

            Brett is doing well.  He is still into building his War Hammer models. The concept of these fantasy characters is gamers spend a great deal of effort in building and painting these models and then fight them.  It is a strategy game as well as model building.  There are also tournaments much like chess tournaments where they fight their armies and there are prises for the best and uniquely painted models. They are actually extremely detailed. Brett is also designing web pages to earn a little bit of extra cash. He can actually do very well in this area if he puts his mind to it.

In May, we went to the Annual Aquathon in Jasper. This is a SCUBA event that is a lot of fun. Brett and I competed in the river race. The race is 10 km down the Athabasca River .  This year Cathy bought us Coleman blow up armchairs and Brett and I attacked the river in our armchairs.  The best part had to be when we passed the Kayakers. The Kayakers had all there equipment on attempting to attack the rapids when the armchairs passed them. I said hello as I passed but all I got back was the wide mouth stare.  Brett thought the look they gave us was so amusing he almost fell out of his chair.  The next day we did underwater puzzles and golf.  Cathy ended up wining two nights free accommodation at a popular diving hotel in Nanaimo .

Cathy is doing well and she is still working for Government Telecommunications and Information Services which is a department of Public Works and Government Services Canada. She is the regional manager for her department, which means you get a very nice corner office in the Canada Place building in downtown Edmonton .  It is perhaps difficult to explain exactly what she does but some of the people who work for her are the ones who make the flashy web pages.  Cathy has also decided to pursue a master’s degree, naturally in information systems.  She is taking a few undergraduate courses to bridge into the program.  She just completed one course and receiving 98% on the final exam and an overall mark of 94%.  I can walk into the kid’s room without stepping on something or stubbing my toe 98% of the time but that is as close as I can get.       

In August, Cathy and I took a week off and went to the local Fringe Festival. The festival was a lot of fun and it was the first time we had ever been to it. We went entirely to comedy plays that were very entertaining.  The Fringe is definitely worth the visit. We also visited Dave and Connie at the lake during the August.  The long weekend in August turned cold which made going to the cabin at the lake even a better idea. The summer had been dry with no rain until August. At the golf course, you could hit a pitching wedge 200 yards, as the ground was as hard as pavement.  We had been thinking of going camping but as it turned out, we chose the best solution. It got cold enough that I lost some of my cucumbers in the garden.

            Enough writing and time to send, I hope everyone in your family has a Merry Christmas and all the best in the New Year.  Once again, check out my web page at http://members.shaw.ca/winkelmans and don’t forget to sign in my guest book.

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