“Grief can’t be shared. Everyone carries it alone; his own burden in his own way.” – Anne Morrow Lindbergh
I met with Jim Champion first thing in the morning on Monday. I provided him with some background regarding the RFP for the Cheque Processing machines and asked him to start drafting an RFP ASAP. He was a competent resource and he knew about the RFP process. I also briefed Jim about our meeting with ICL in Toronto and without telling any details, I told him enough so he understood that Ray was a strong IBM supporter.
Ray and I met with Gerry around 10:00 AM to brief him about our meeting with ICL in Toronto. Ray was anxious to start talking and I let him say his piece without agreeing or disagreeing with the statements that he was making. Once Ray was done, Gerry looked at me and said well? I said the meeting was very informative. Perhaps the best way to handle the situation is to issue an RFP to both companies. Their responses will provide us with enough information to make a decision. Gerry agreed with that approach. I also told Gerry that I already started the process by giving instructions to Jim Champion to start drafting a RFP. Gerry was impressed with that statement.
Ray asked me if Jim Champion was the right person to draft the RFP. I said to Ray thanks for your concern but Jim’s smarter than you think. I said probably he understands the cheque processing in our environment better than me . He has been working nights for a while, plus he had the acquisition of hardware in his previous job. Furthermore, he’s not afraid to go down to the Centre and ask questions if he doesn’t understand something. I said you may not appreciate it but I also have some experience in writing and evaluating RFPs for multimillion dollar projects. Ray said I am sorry, Mir. I didn’t mean to criticize I just was wondering.
Gerry was just watching us when Ray and I were having discussion about the RFP. I said to Ray that once the RFP’s drafted in the manner I like; I will make sure that I seek and incorporate your feedback before it goes to Gerry. Ray and Gerry appeared to be happy with the suggested process.
I said what I don’t know is – Once Gerry is happy with the RFP, what’s the step in the process? Can we send it out directly to the vendors? Or we have to go through some internal process to deal with the Government of Alberta?
Gerry said he didn’t know the process either. However, he said he would look into it right away and he would use his boss, Ross, if necessary to speed it up the process.
I said to Ray that he didn’t have to stick around for the next couple of things that I am going to discuss with Gerry. Ray said I have nothing else to do and if you don’t mind I would like to continue with this meeting. I said you’re welcome, Ray.
I said to Gerry that there are six things you need to look into right away:
- You need to convince the senior management that we need to change our current status with the Bank of Canada so that all the cheques drawn on our bank come directly from all the banks to us instead of going through our current agent – Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC);
- You know this better than me that we still need our representative on the National Clearing Committee to do the settlement with all other banks first thing in the morning in the Bank of Canada;
- As a rule, CIBC can continue that rule with lesser involvement than they have now under our old contract;
- However, what I am suggesting Gerry is that I would like very much to write another RFP to find another bank to represent us as CIBC has been one of the problems that we face every single night;
- You need to get somebody in the Finance Department in Edmonton to write the RFP as I know for sure that there are people still working there who were involved when our current agreement with CIBC was signed; and
- I don’t know if you know Gerry, that the representatives from all member banks on the National Committee meet to discuss the clearing problems/improvements. There are members of the Bank of Canada on this committee who look after those reported problems and keep the committee informed. I am asking you Gerry, to put me on that committee, as I already started talking to some bankers in Toronto.
Gerry said thanks, Mir. You lined up quite a few things for me and I will do my best to get it going. He thanked Ray and me for the meeting that we had in Toronto as it appeared that Malcom had already called Gerry on Friday to brief him.
I said I am sorry there’s another thing that I wanted to mention to you Gerry. I am planning to send Ben and somebody else to an ICL client site in Toronto so they check out how those machines are functioning and speak to the clients from a service point of view. In a way it may be premature, as the RFP’s not out yet, but I wanted to fast track things to save some time.
Gerry said it makes sense. By the way Malcom already mentioned to me that you asked him to make the necessary arrangements with one of their clients in Toronto and he’s in the process of doing that.
Gerry asked me how was Fredericton? I said it’s still there. Thanks God Lynda took care of almost everything and my family will be here in a couple of weeks.
Gerry said Jean’s in the process of finalizing the arrangements for your executive apartment right in downtown. Once she’s done, I would like you to move in even before your family arrives in Calgary. I can imagine you must be getting tired of living in a hotel.
It didn’t take me more than a couple of days to move in the executive apartment which was located right in downtown close to everything and I was sure that Lynda would love it.
I kept myself busy at the Centre and going through each process over and over again and I felt every time I did this I learned something new. I was helping Jim with the RFP almost every day and he was doing an excellent job.
In the meanwhile I started going to Edmonton to meet with the senior folks. When I was there I was invited to lunch with the executives including the president of ATB on Friday. Lunch every Friday with the executives was a tradition in ATB.
I also started communicating with the Bank of Canada from a national clearing point of view and I found them to be very helpful. Nevertheless, when I was in Edmonton, I came across one of the General Managers who was involved with CIBC. He said you’re the one who trying to change everything at ATB. He also said that ATB had a very good relationship with CIBC for decades. All of a sudden you become responsible for that area and you want to change everything overnight.
I did my best to try to explain to him that I was not the problem. The CIBC has not been meeting the required deadlines and that is costing ATB money as every single night we ended up with a float. He said how come nobody brought it to my attention before you joined us. I said I am sorry I don’t know the answer to that question because I wasn’t there but what all I am trying to do is to do my job. I said I am sorry if it upsets you but it needed to be done ASAP.
When I came back from Edmonton, I briefed Gerry about my conversation on the subject and basically he said to me – leave it with me.
At the same time, I felt a need to establish a more formal line of communication with Roy Haur, to ensure the interface with the computer centre. I met with Roy and suggested to meet every week just for a few minutes to review what had happened the previous week, and discuss any priorities for the following week. It was indeed a good move and Roy wholeheartedly supported that idea.
Realizing the fact that even though our car was shipped, it will not get there at least for a week or so, I rented a car and went to the airport to pick up Lynda and Adam. I don’t know if they were excited to come to Calgary or to see me but I was happy that they both were in a good mood. They brought with them quite a bit of luggage as there weren’t any restrictions for carrying only one bag by each person. They were also happy that I rented car as Lynda wanted to go to Banff on the weekend.
When we came to our executive apartment, Adam and Lynda both were impressed with the furnishing and the location of the apartment. I was sad in a way that Maxine had decided not to come along with them and I was reluctant to ask any questions about her as Lynda was very sensitive to that topic.
Next day in the evening Lynda had to attend the sorority meeting at the house of one of her sorority sister and she already had the address. She was looking forward to meeting her Sorority sisters. She was also looking eagerly to meeting Susan, Scott’s wife as she heard about how nice they were to me when they invited me out to their home and entertained me.
The next day was Friday and I decided to take a day off. I took both of them for a nice breakfast not too far from where we were living and after the breakfast, I took them to see the apartment that I had rented for us. Despite the fact that the apartment was very nice, I was still nervous as that was the first time Lynda had trusted me to rent an apartment. Propitiously, they liked the apartment and then I thought I should take them to show where the school was. I took them to the Anderson Mall which was nice and big.
Lynda had a nice Sorority meeting that evening and she was totally delighted to meet so many ladies and call them sisters.
I decided to take my family to Fairmont Banff Spring Restaurant for Sunday Brunch Buffet which was located only 66 Km from Calgary. It was very popular spot and it was served in the Vermillion Room in the beautiful hotel.
Located in the heart of Banff National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the world-famous Fairmont Banff Springs is a landmark in the picturesque alpine town of Banff, Alberta. Canada’s “Castle in the Rockies” has been providing legendary hospitality to guests since 1888. Unrivaled among Banff luxury hotels, a year-round mountain resort offers a 27-hole championship golf course during the summer, exceptional skiing in the winter, an award-winning spa, and several distinctive dining experiences.
After having a fabulous brunch, we drove around the town to check thing out:
- Watch Wildlife;
- Visited Cave and Basin National Historic Site; and
- Visited the Banff Park Museum.
The Stampede was starting on Friday and it was the tradition of ATB for the managers to dress up as cowboys and cowgirls and cook pancakes for breakfast for the staff on Friday morning. All grills were lined up on the sidewalk outside of our office and typically managers used to bring their family and lineup to watch the parade which was the initiation of the Stampede.
I brought Lynda and Adam to the office and they were camping on the sidewalk not far from where I was cooking pancakes for my staff. Adam was dressed up like a cowboy and Lynda was as a cowgirl.
When I started cooking everybody was telling me how to cook pancakes, as I had no clue about what I was doing which made everybody laugh. It was a kind of competition among managers to cook pancakes and it was a fun.
Once our staff already had enough, I invited Lynda and Adam to taste my pancakes. While Lynda was making faces tasting my pancake, Adam seemed to enjoy them.
The initiation of the Stampede starts with a parade on Friday. The parade serves as the official opening of the Stampede and begins shortly before 9 a.m. on the first Friday of the event. Each year features a different parade marshal, chosen to reflect the public’s interests at that time. Politicians, athletes, actors and other dignitaries have all served as marshals. The event features dozens of marching bands, over 150 floats and hundreds of horses with entrants from around the world, and combines western themes with modern ones. Cowboys, First Nations dancers and members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in their red serge were joined by clowns, bands, politicians and business leaders. The first Stampede parade, held in 1912, was attended by 75,000 people, greater than the city’s population at the time.
The marshal for the 1982 parade was none other than Wayne Gretzky.
The 1981–82 Edmonton Oilers season was the Oilers’ third season in the NHL. The Oilers dramatically improved on their previous two seasons, as they finished with a franchise record 48 wins and 111 points, winning the Smythe Division for the first time in team history. The Oilers set a National Hockey League (NHL) record with 417 goals, the first time in NHL history that a team finished with over 400 goals. Wayne Gretzky continued rewriting the record books, scoring an NHL record 92 goals, which included 50 goals in 39 games, also an NHL record. Gretzky’s 212 points was also a record, and it was the first time in NHL history that a player had over 200 points, as he won his third Hart Memorial Trophy and his second Art Ross Trophy.
Adam was totally excited to see Gretzky and he was waiting for the parade impatiently. Finally, when the parade started moving along, Adam noticed that Gretzky was sitting on the back of a slow moving van and people were approaching him to get autographs. Adam wanted to get an autograph, too but he didn’t find any paper so he grabbed his mother’s chequebook and ran after Gretzky. He managed to catch up with the van got Gretzky’s autograph on the cover page of the chequebook.
We went to see the Stampede with Jim Champion’s family – Donna and Andrew.
The Stampede Park was totally captivated visitors with sights, sounds, and scents. The experience was unparalleled for variety and excitement:
- Rodeo Events: Stampede features the World’s Largest Outdoor Rodeo. Top athletes and animals compete across six events: Barrel Racing, Tie-down Roping, Steer Wrestling, Saddle Bronc, Bull Riding, and Bareback;
- Rangeland Derby Chuck Wagon: The energy of a chuck wagon race was indeed the most excellent even of the whole show. It was the Wild West; and
- The Bell Grandstand Show: As the sun sets on the chucks, the Bell Grandstand Show lights up the stage. The show featured the talented Young Canadians, along with dancers, athletes, and musicians. A stunning fireworks show caps off the evening.
I also remember “Concerts” at the Calgary Stampede which included:
- Coca-Cola Stage: This was outdoor live music at its best with bands spanning genres from alt-rock to hip hop. The best part was that our park admission gave us entry to all the concerts;
- Nashville North – Country music fans rejoiced when seeing the list of performers;
- The Big Four Roadhouse: Great food, drinks, and live music were all under one roof at The Big Four Roadhouse; and
- Scotiabank Saddledome: The acts that performed at the Scotiabank Saddledome need no introduction.
Adam and Andrew really enjoyed:
- Games and Rides: There was never a dull moment on the Stampede midway. It was an irresistible mix of rides, games, and performances. Every carnival game you can imagine was on offer. There were rides for the adrenaline-junkie and for kids.
We all had a nice time.
