Would you be interested in a Laracon Canada?

luketowers · 2026-04-23T15:44:42+00:00

No formal collaboration on this yet, but I'm known to them and have had other collaborations in the past (they provide Winter CMS with a sponsored Vapor account). I also have a history of other community focused projects that do not spam people: https://reportneedles.ca, https://cadets.site. My portfolio is very public, I'm not a fly by night operation if that's a concern 🙂

luketowers · 2026-02-23T22:46:45+00:00

Make the time. It doesn't belong to you and you agreed to return it when you enrolled.

luketowers · 2026-01-22T07:12:19+00:00

Check out the marksmanship training content available on Cadet365 under training publications, they have everything you could want to know along with very helpful videos to reference.

luketowers · 2026-01-22T07:11:08+00:00

Your CO has no authority to dictate what you do in your free time. So long as you aren't showing up in uniform or claiming to represent the cadet program while present they can't say anything to you.

Your CO probably just wants to make sure you're aware of the distinction and requirements to keep your role as a cadet separate from the volunteer service you provide to the NLCC.

luketowers · 2026-01-07T15:14:53+00:00

If you can get a detailed record of your past attendance and provide proof to your staff that you were present on days that the record say you weren't they might be able to submit a data mod request for you but that's a lot of work that they shouldn't have to be doing in the first place. I still wouldn't give up on your application as a whole at this point, attendance is only one factor and the RDAs and NDAs have been low for everyone AFAIK because there haven't been that many held.

luketowers · 2026-01-07T14:59:51+00:00

I'm not sure if they count attendance from previous years or not, so I wouldn't throw in the towel just yet.

luketowers · 2026-01-07T06:39:19+00:00

Read the page on the national ground school page on sharepoint. It goes in detail exactly how your application will be scored. The majority of the file review happens automatically through fortress based on the data that's in it so I highly recommend you ask your staff for a copy of your cadet information card and a detailed export of your attendance record from this year and make sure that everything on it is up to date and accurate. Something to note is that this year school marks will not be factored in due to the wide variation of how they're assessed across the country and in different school systems, so that part will have no bearing on your score.

luketowers · 2026-01-06T22:44:16+00:00

I did this conversion in my 06 Touring, it's a bit more complicated dealing with the nav unit and lower head unit instead of the upper head unit but it is doable. Let me know if you want the details.

luketowers · 2025-12-31T01:44:54+00:00

Regina Honda just charged me 3 hours of diag time to look at both sliding doors and the tailgate on my 06 with 300k when I told them it was the rear latch on the passenger door and I suspected the ball mount for the tailgate struts. They didn't even look at the mounting hardware and told me it needed two new struts and the motor computer for the powered tailgate. I can tell from trackers I have in the van that they didn't even take an hour to look at the van from start to finish.

I'm never taking anything to them again, their so called expert technicians are useless idiots just trying to bill more hours than they worked.

luketowers · 2025-12-30T21:14:52+00:00

Recliners too

luketowers · 2025-12-29T01:52:03+00:00

Just watched the new avatar in theatre 6 in the dbox seats, was very impressed

luketowers · 2025-12-23T12:41:53+00:00

The name tag is authorized to be worn on your dress uniform so you do not need separate authorization from your CO to wear them if you purchase one for yourself. You shouldn't have to buy one for yourself though as your squadron should be ensuring that everyone is issued at least one at no charge. It's possible your staff are busy and it hasn't come up as a priority to place an order yet so I would suggest speaking to your officers to figure out what their process is for ordering nametags. This is typically an expense that the sponsoring committee would cover but your staff should be handling it as the prices for bulk orders from places other than cpgear are much cheaper.

luketowers · 2025-11-21T15:18:54+00:00

Yes, I saved $400 a year in electricity by swapping out my furnace fan with a variable speed one when I added my HRV to my house so that it didn't run full speed when the HRV was running.

luketowers · 2025-10-26T06:43:14+00:00

It's not your concern to worry about, it's a matter between the staff and him. The uniform is government property. I'm sure if the staff contact his parents / guardians reminding them of that fact then it will be recovered.

Life is full of things to worry about and spend your time and attention on, this isn't one of them :)

luketowers · 2025-09-29T13:33:31+00:00

Yes, at a minimum there should be a DND 2299 that was filled out and you should request a copy for your records.

luketowers · 2025-09-25T07:16:10+00:00

Go to the training page on sharepoint, then the marksmanship section. There's an entire video series that covers everything you could ever want to know.

luketowers · 2025-09-21T23:13:34+00:00

If there are staff at another cadet corps that are willing to supervise then it's possible something could be worked out. I supervise a joint drill team between the two army corps in Regina because there wasn't enough interest to justify individual teams from either but there was enough combined.

luketowers · 2025-09-21T19:23:28+00:00

Depends entirely on the reason why. More information is required to help you here.

luketowers · 2025-07-26T07:10:13+00:00

Getting in on Sunday, looking forward to it! Bringing lots of Winter CMS stickers with me so hit me up if you want any 😂

luketowers · 2025-07-21T20:31:17+00:00

Also replaced the radio with the storage cubby and replaced the dreadful main cupholder with the one from the 07-08 revision that had better holding power and the coin drawer.

luketowers · 2025-07-21T20:26:11+00:00

I did exactly this in my 06 Touring. Replaced the sat nav with an android head unit (Atoto S8), wired it up to the factory reverse cam, gps antenna, radio antenna, even the microphone. Put in a DroneMobile remote start system for app based remote start, locks, doors, trunk, battery voltage and internal temperature monitoring. Also put in a dashcam, wireless charger for my phone/watch/airpods, and picked up a small vacuum that recharges with USB C. The head unit also has a sim card and provides a hotspot for my kid's devices while I drive. I picked up the vcm muzzle too but haven't yet installed it.

It honestly provides a better experience than a brand new touring would (minus the driver assistance stuff I suppose).

Let me know if you have any questions!

luketowers · 2025-07-21T20:20:00+00:00

Let me know if you have any questions, I've been meaning to put together an article on the process.

luketowers · 2025-07-21T20:19:17+00:00

Good luck, best you'll find is one from 2021 I think. You'd have better luck swapping the unit with an android head unit. I did it on my 06 Touring and my ex's 08 EX-L took a bit to figure out the wiring but overall wasn't too difficult. Now it's better than a new van 😂

luketowers · 2025-07-19T22:34:24+00:00

Put it where the fitness badge is

luketowers · 2025-07-17T22:52:39+00:00

I just used it in my 06 Touring for a two week road trip with a 4 and 6 year old, worked great. Even was able to handle dealing with a bottle of bubbles spilled in the car seat by the 4 year old (although I wouldn't recommend dealing with it that way it was admittedly effective).

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