Happy Birthday to Me!

Seeing it's my birthday, I've decided to give myself a present - a rod.

No, not really. Well, it would be cool. This is a rod on eBay at the moment that caught my eye, so I've used the pic as a virtual present.

Anyway, may everyone have a great day.

Cheers

Spot of culture

The original text placed here was found objectionable, so it has been removed.

I hope the photo is at least found to be in some way positive.

Cheers

New puppy!

Meet Bella, our new Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. The most relaxed, confident, fiesty and complete pup I've ever owned.

Literacy skills not a static commodity, they can decline

Shannon Proudfoot, CanWest News Service

Most Canadians, but especially those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, experience "significant" literacy loss as adults, a Statistics Canada report shows.

The decline in skills begins at age 25, peaks around 40 and then tapers off around 55 years old. For example, adults aged 40 scored an average of 288 on a standardized literacy test in 1994, but in a second survey nine years later, that had dropped to 275 -- a loss of reading ability equal to half a year of schooling.

Over their lifetime, the average Canadian will lose about one grade's worth of literacy skills, the report estimates. "Literacy is not a static commodity that is acquired in youth and maintained throughout life," it concludes. More education mitigates the decline, with university graduates scoring about 30 points higher than high school grads. People who didn't complete secondary school scored nearly 50 points lower than those who did, while employed Canadians scored 12 points higher than those not in the labour force.

The reading people do at work helps, but not nearly as much as reading a variety of materials for pleasure at home. The data came from a series of international literacy surveys conducted in 1994 and 2003, with StatsCan gathering the Canadian component. This report focused on native-born Canadians, though other surveys show immigrants have significantly more literacy difficulties.

Two in five Canadians age 16 to 65 (42 per cent) have inadequate reading skills to cope in our knowledge-based society, according to previous StatsCan data. When adults over 66 years of age are included, that proportion rises to 55 per cent. Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick and Nunavut scored significantly below the national average, while the Yukon, British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan are above.

Canada is "in the middle of the pack" in international literacy terms, says Margaret Eaton, president of the ABC Canada Literacy Foundation, behind countries such as Norway and Bermuda, but ahead of Switzerland, the U.S. and Italy.
She notes that people think of literacy as simply the ability to read words, but it's about a broader ability to read a document and understand its complexity, vocabulary and significance. "In a global economy, Canada needs to be able to compete and its workforce needs to be able to compete at a high level," Eaton says. "Literacy can become a trade advantage."

On an individual level, there's a connection between literacy skills and standard of living, community involvement, health and workplace safety, she says. Studies show people with poor reading skills are more prone to accidents and illness. Gloomy statistics about literacy can easily be taken out of context, says Fran Zimmerman, a literacy worker at the St. Christopher House adult literacy program in Toronto.
"People sort of panic and think this means Canada is doing terribly and we're all undereducated," she says. "People overreact to these numbers, but to us in literacy programs, we don't see that happening."

Yes, my husband

A widower who never paid any attention to his wife while she was alive now found himself missing her desperately. He went to a psychic to see if he could contact his late wife. The psychic went into a trance. A strange breeze wafted through the darkened room, and suddenly, the man heard the unmistakable voice of his dearly departed wife.
"Honey!" he cried. "Is that you?"
"Yes, my husband."
"Are you happy?"
"Yes, my husband."
"Happier than you were with me?"
"Yes, my husband."
"Then Heaven must be an amazing place!"
"I'm not in Heaven, dear."

Merry Christmas, everyone!

May the day bring you lots of hugs
Merriment and good cheer
May the prawns only be outnumbered
By the icy cold beer.

Cheers

Horn cars 5

Administratium (Ad)

(Apologies for posting a few in advance - I'll be a bit busy over the next few days.)

Investigators at a major research institute have discovered the heaviest element known to science. This startling new discovery has been tentatively named Administratium (Ad).

The new element has no protons or electrons, thus having an atomic number of 0. It does, however, have 1 neutron, 125 assistant neutrons, 75 vice neutrons, and 111 assistant vice neutrons, for an atomic mass of 312. These 312 particles are held together by a force called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons. Since it has no electrons, Administratium is inert.

However, it can be detected as it impedes every reaction with which it came into contact.

According to the discoverers, a minute amount of Administratium causes one reaction to take over four days to complete when it would normally take less than a second. Administratium has a normal half-life of approximately three years; it does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons, viceneutrons, and assistant vice neutrons exchange places. In fact, an Administratium sample's mass will actually increase over time, since with each reorganization some of the morons inevitably become neutrons, forming new isotopes.

This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to speculate that Administratium is formed whenever morons reach a certain concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as the "Critical Morass".

Christmas run - thanks

The day was bright and shiny,
The cars stretched on for miles,
The only thing larger than the turnout,
Were the owner’s smiles.
A Christmas run was to be undertaken,
Cruising to the beach and pub,
Putting miles on the cars,
Sharing beers and grub.
When but a third of the way through,
A rear tyre of mine let go,
It exploded with impressive force,
With no warning don’t you know?
My Club mates saw that I was pissed,
They dove in without pause,
Offering assistance, nuts and a spare wheel,
All donated to the cause.
For my rear tyres are quite large,
I only carry one spare,
I needed two of similar size,
To get me home from there.
But my spare was looking sad,
I’d not seen it for some time,
It looked a bit old and sadly weathered,
A long way from sublime.
One member saw the markings,
And before our eyes,
Polished them off on the spot,
I couldn’t contain my surprise!
I don’t really remember morning tea,
My mind was not quite there,
Worried about the trip ahead,
And if it would add to my despair.
About 20 kilometres later,
I could hear my spare letting go,
I pulled over and was loaned another spare,
My frustration to exponentially grow.
My Club mates were there again,
Pitching in and helping out,
Making the transition go much faster,
They know what they’re about.
About 10 kilometres later,
The tyres I decided to check,
Pulling into the next service station,
What the blooming heck?
One of the other spares was deflating,
So I added a little air,
The valve stem started whistling,
And I tore out my hair.
So, I changed the wheel yet again,
Limped home with a mate behind,
Making sure we got home OK,
A nicer bloke you’ll not find.
We changed cars to the family Ford,
Not the same as the old XW,
But at least it’s not possessed by EVIL,
And its tyres are new.
So, the morals of this tragic tale?
When travelling from here to there,
Ensure that you are well prepared,
And carry a reliable spare.
(Or two, in my case.)
But the most telling fact of all,
Only Club people understand,
Is that when you’re at your lowest,
Someone will always lend a hand.
Many thanks go to my Club mates,
You’re really a great group,
People who’re there when you’re at your best,
Or when you’re in the soup.

Many thanks to everyone who helped out last weekend – you’re a great group of people. From the helping to change wheels, to the loaning of wheels, to the support – thanks.

I have since gotten two new tyres. Apparently, the 255/60/HR15 size is quite rare now. After 5 calls to tyre places in town, only Bob Jane could find any – there’s only 11 left in Oz now. So, I have two new Yokohamas, at $281 each, thankyou. Eventually, I’ll need to make the decision to stick with them and import them through a company, or change to other wheels and tyres. I’ll procrastinate on that, though.

Have a great break, everyone – you deserve the best.

Cheers
G

Penmanship takes a back seat in many elementary schools

By Eileen Putman, ASSOCIATED PRESS , July 11, 2007

WASHINGTON – John Hancock wouldn't recognize the handwriting taught in many schools today. And his loopy slanted script might as well be a foreign language to 21st century students.
Time and technology have largely done away with traditional penmanship, leaving schools with a challenge that mirrors today's fast pace: how to teach a cursive style that's faster to write than older, ornate methods and easily readable.
The reality in many schools is that handwriting instruction has slid far down the list of education priorities. Many teachers have all they can do to ready students for standardized tests and requirements for core courses like math, science and reading.
“The printing and cursive are taking more of a back seat,” said Barbara Willer, deputy executive director of the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Why teach cursive at all when computers and keyboards are so prevalent? For one thing, younger children may not have the skills to fully learn keyboarding, and not all classrooms have computers. Handwriting is how young students express themselves and develop as learners, said Steve Graham, special education professor at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College in Nashville, Tenn. Unfortunately, some who have trouble with writing mechanics have problems with other language arts skills.

Horn cars ad

Perils of invention

The two inventors of the bungee rope went to Spain to test their invention. They built a 50-foot tower and, once completed, one of the guys stood on the edge of the platform and dove into the air with the rope tied to his feet. The other guy, standing up on the platform, waited until his friend returned up so that he could grab him. The first time his friend sprung up, he tried to grab him but missed and noticed that his head was swollen. The next time, he missed again and again there was a bruise on his head and face. This time, with much concern, he dove forward to get his partner, pulled him in and asked, "What happened? Is the cord too long?" His partner replied with his face all bloody, "What is piñata?"

"Sweet Irony"

Be Grateful for Unanswered Prayers – by Jim Rohrbach

"Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers," sings country music legend Garth Brooks, who continues, "I guess the Lord knows what he's doin' after all."

And that's one of the great lessons of life... to take a leap of faith and experience what I call "sweet irony" -- how things that we fervently hope and pray for sometimes don't happen, yet we go on to find a tremendous "silver lining surprise" in what seemed to be a dark cloud of failure.

I don't know about you, but I have several personal "sweet irony" stories. I gladly share these with my coaching clients who may be struggling with difficult situations. A few of my "greatest hits" (which felt like body blows at the time):

* An apparent failure with my first coaching business endeavour in 1982. I developed a prototype coaching program over 20 years ago which became my first venture into entrepreneurship. After only six months and a little bit of debt, I came to the conclusion it wouldn't work and told myself, "Coaching is a bad idea -- I'll NEVER try that again ..." (What is it I do for a living today?)

At the time I had an easel pad with all of my coaching instructions written on its pages -- I recall throwing it in the dumpster in a fit of despair. Several years later a social worker friend of mine asked me what happened to my coaching material -- I told him I had tossed it out. He asked me if I could recreate it, so I sat down and typed out the outline, then mailed it to him, keeping a copy for "posterity."

This outline turned into the basis of the two coaching books I've authored and use to this day with my clients. The truth was, I simply didn't know enough about running a business back in 1982... after learning more in subsequent years, I've developed a thriving coaching practice.

* A romantic relationship setback with a woman who I thought would be my partner for life -- heck, we even got a dog together! After having a brief pity party for my broken heart, I began to make new dog-owner friends in my neighbourhood. One such couple invited me to their wedding reception where I met a woman who is now my wife of 8 years.

The first relationship "went to the dogs" because I failed to realize I was trying to rescue someone who didn't want to help herself. (That's never happened to any of YOU, I reckon... has it?) I needed to learn how to take great care of myself to attract a great partner, so that "dog-gone" involvement was just the wake-up call I needed.

In each case I was emotionally devastated by these events, which left me confused, scared and, worst of all, humbled by doubts about my capability to attain success with these greatly hoped and prayed for dreams. Yet in hindsight each of these temporary defeats (although at the time they sure seemed permanent) led me to something EVEN BETTER in my life ... now I look back and laugh! At these moments the words of Napoleon Hill in Think and Grow Rich can be a measure of comfort: "Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit." Sage words to follow for you to experience your own "sweet irony."

Horn cars 4

Bill

While Bill waited at the airport to board his plane, he noticed a computer scale that would give your weight and a fortune. He dropped a quarter in the slot, and the computer screen displayed: “You weigh 195 pounds, you are married and you’re on your way to San Diego.” Bill stood there dumbfounded.
Another man put in a quarter and the computer read: “You weigh 184 pounds, you’re divorced, and you’re on your way to Chicago.” Bill said to the man, “Are you divorced and on our way to Chicago?” “Yes.” Replied the man.
Bill was amazed. Then he rushed to the men’s room, changed his clothes and put on dark
glasses. He went to the machine again. The computer read: “You still weigh 195 pounds, you’re still married, and you just missed your plane to San Diego.

School gap blamed for nation's stupidity

Anna Patty Education Editor, Sydney Morning Herald

AUSTRALIA is on its way to becoming "the stupid country" through neglect of public education and a widening gap between its best- and worst-performing school students, an influential principal has warned. Chris Bonnor, who until last year represented 466 principals as the head of the NSW Secondary Principals' Council, makes his argument in a book to be released later this month.

Mr Bonnor, principal of Asquith Boys and Davidson high schools through the 1990s and until 2005, was last year made a member of the Order of Australia for services to education. His book, The Stupid Country: How Australia is Dismantling Public Education, co-written with the public school advocate Jane Caro, says populist education policies are diverting attention from government neglect of schools, particularly in disadvantaged areas.

Mr Bonnor says the Federal Government's focus on issues such as performance pay for teachers indirectly blames schools and teachers for problems in student performance. Attacks on the curriculum have been ideologically driven and have shifted attention from the growing inequity in resources between high-fee private schools and low-fee independent and public schools.

Social inequity and class differences are becoming entrenched in the growing divide between private and public schools. Rather than tackling educational problems linked to economic disadvantage, Bonnor and Caro say, the Government suggests there must be something wrong with schools, creating "an easy and populist agenda for politicians". "What passes for educational policy degenerates into competing plans for more testing, accountability, standards and anything else that addresses community anxiety, real or otherwise. "It all sits easily with calls for more police, longer jail terms … [and diverts attention from] problems that can't be boiled down into simple policies or blamed on teachers."

The Government and bureaucracy often point to "lighthouse schools that register substantial achievement against the odds, as some form of proof that the solution lies entirely within schools and that the broader context doesn't matter". Australia's top students perform well compared with those from other developed countries, but the poorest students are behind their equivalents in similar countries. Mr Bonnor said this gap was set to worsen because of the growing inequity between economically disadvantaged and well-resourced schools. The Federal Government will increase its funding to private schools by 30 per cent over the next five years to $7.5 billion and by 10 per cent to $3.4 billion for public schools.

The Federal Minister for Education, Julie Bishop, said policies such as performance pay, greater principal autonomy and national consistency in curriculum were aimed at improving academic standards "so that students across the nation have access to a high-quality education from a high-quality teacher in a high-quality environment".

Horn cars

It's a gas

The young woman sat in her stalled car, waiting for help. Finally two men walked up to her. “I’m out of gas,” she purred. ‘Could you push me to the gas station?”
The men readily put their muscles to the car and rolled it several blocks. After a while, one looked up, exhausted, to see that they had just passed a filling station.
“How come you didn’t turn in?” he yelled.
“I never go there,” the girl shouted back. “They don’t have full service.’

TIPS FOR CREATING OPPORTUNITIES

Following are some more tips for school leaders who are intent on creating opportunities for teachers to take on leadership roles.

Build on what already exists. Identify ways teachers are leading and improve what already exists. Perhaps you already have a school leadership team. Recognize that structure as one that permits teacher leadership. Next, identify what's working on the team and what you'd like to improve. Perhaps the team works well together but the lines of communication from the team to the rest of the staff could be improved. Engage teachers in finding solutions to concerns. Doing that will help create momentum and a sense of efficacy for teacher leaders.

Start slowly and proceed with caution. While collaborative structures must be in place for teacher leadership to happen, it does not have to happen all at once. When making a decision about what structures need to be in place, use student achievement and perception data to provide valuable insight. Then go slowly by taking time to learn from your experiences, monitor progress, and modify what isn't working.
Embed structures for leadership development. Create structures that help teachers develop as leaders. Such structures include coaching, mentoring, action research, and study groups. Reflecting on leadership experiences is a powerful way to enhance leadership performance.

Include all teachers. Formal teacher leadership positions can be effective, but providing a means for all teachers to participate in leadership activities is crucial. When only certain teachers in positions that take them away from the classroom can lead, the hierarchical structure is reinforced. Involving teachers in conversations about collaboration, time, and selection of teachers on teams creates informal leadership.

Collaborate with teachers. Leadership is not something principals do to teachers. Instead, leadership is a collaborative activity that teachers and principals engage in together. Create structures that allow for teachers and principals to collaborate on instructional issues. Teachers and principals must forge new working relationships that may mean collaborating as equals for the first time.
The hierarchal structure of schools makes teacher leadership a challenging prospect. The classic structure of leadership seems at odds with distributing leadership to the masses. Fortunately, it isn't an all or nothing arrangement. Principals can lead and so can teachers. It's just a matter or creating structures and eliminating obstacles.

Horn cars 3

More skunks

Two young skunks named -In-and-Out go out to play.
after a while Out got bored so he went in.
Mummy skunk said that tea was ready and sent Out, out to tell In to come in.
very quickly Out came in with In.
That was quick said mummy skunk how did you find In so fast?
Oh said Out that was easy. “IN STINKED.”

What Structures Need To Be in Place To Make Teacher Leadership Thrive?

Once principals decide to embed teacher leadership processes in their schools they often wonder how that is possible, given the hierarchical structure of schools. The historical structure of schools perpetuates a tradition in which principals lead and teachers teach. That traditional structure seems so commonplace that the idea of teacher leadership seems out of place.
It is difficult to imagine that teacher leadership can thrive given the hierarchical structure of schools -- but teacher leadership can thrive in schools, and principals are instrumental in creating conditions that make it happen.

CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR TEACHER LEADERSHIP
Creating opportunities for teacher leadership is the first order of business. It is not enough for principals to simply state their desire for teacher leadership. They must create structures that allow teacher leadership to develop. Teacher leadership opportunities exist within structures that make teaching public, collaboration common practice, and relationships professional and collegial. Examples of such structures include examining student work, participating on teams, and communicating about issues of teaching and learning in formal and informal ways.

ELIMINATING BARRIERS TO TEACHER LEADERSHIP
The hierarchical structure of schools creates barriers to teacher leadership because it reflects values, beliefs, and attitudes found and accepted in traditional methods of leadership. The view that principals should lead seems to make sense when considering obstacles to teacher leadership such as time, lack of formal authority, and competing demands of classroom and school.
• When will teachers find time to lead?
• How can teachers lead without formal authority?
• Is the priority of teacher leadership classroom or school improvement responsibilities?
Principals can address those concerns and create structures and processes that eliminate barriers. For example, principals can create common times for teachers work together.

Horn cars 2

Who?

If quitters never win,
and winners never quit,
who made up the saying?
Quit while you're ahead!

Learn From All: Share Your Dream with Few

by Bob Burg

According to a close friend of mine, she keeps sharing her dream (in this case we are defining a dream as an ultimate business success goal) with people who call her "silly" and otherwise put her down for having that dream.

I asked her, "why put yourself through that?"

Roy Disney was notorious as the person who always told his brother, Walt why something "couldn't" be done. Of course, Walt typically did it anyway, and quite often his projects succeeded, but he respected his brother's wisdom enough to take counsel in what he said. That's fine. I also have a "Negative Nellie" - type person I seek out to run ideas past because I know that, if he tells me it's a winner; it probably is. But, if he tells me it's a loser; even if I don't agree with him and decide to go ahead anyway, I'll usually learn a couple good points in which I need to re-think my plans. That's different from what my friend is doing.

You see, if you're sharing your dream with those you feel close to and being flat-out insulted or put-down because of this, you're not doing yourself (or your dream) a service, but instead doing something most likely very counterproductive to achieving your goals.

However, it might be a good idea to consider the source. If that person has a track record of accomplishment, it certainly would be worthwhile for her to seriously weigh that advice. And, remember what Jim Cathcart says, "....a realist is simply a pessimist who doesn't want to admit it. I've never heard a 'realist' take an optimistic posture on any topic. I like Jim's take. And, I think it's important - not only that we seek out people who, at best, support our dreams and, at worst, critique with "consideration and thoughtfulness" (meaning they are truly considering their suggestions and are filled with thought) - that we do the same when someone runs an idea past us.

This doesn't mean we should tell someone that we think their idea is terrific if we think it's a "turkey." What it does mean is that, if we don't feel it's going to be the next big success, we consider it carefully, and explain why. And, it goes without saying, that we do so with "consideration and thoughtfulness" (in this case, meaning we consider their feelings and filled with thought on how we phrase our critique).

Remember, most people are not interested in your dream. And, half of those who are interested, are only interested because it gives them a chance to say something negative about it; thus making themselves feel temporarily better.

So, choose wisely those with whom you share your dream.
Learn from everyone, but share your dream with few.

Horn cars

McLeod Ford of Rockdale, NSW was one of the most successful Ford dealers in Australia, and he supported John Goss in his racing endeavours. But he also sold to the public dealer modified Falcons and called the package, the Horn car.

Holy fish and chips!

A monastery decided to start a fish and chips store. When the store opened, a client comes in, and asks one of the clerics: are you the fish fryer? Oh, no, the cleric answers, I'm the chip monk!

Dogs

"A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself." --Josh Billings, humorist and writer

Spoilers

By way of comparison, here is a genuine Phase3 fitted with the factory spoiler. Note that the feet are different, and the means of adjusting the angle of the spoiler.

Note that when the spoiler was used on Phase3 race cars at Bathurst, and also on later XB hardtops at Bathurst, the wing was cranked over to almost turn from being an aerofoil parallel to the ground to a genuine spoiler as we would think of one these days. It is worth noting that in the U.S. 1970 TransAm racing series, the Boss302 Mustangs used the same aerofoil cranked over to replicate a spoiler.

Paper cowboy

Did you hear about the cowboy who wore paper pants, a paper shirt, paper boots, and wore a paper hat?

The Sheriff arrested him for rustling.

Job selection strategy

1. Put 400 bricks in a closed room.
2. Put your new employees in the room and close the door.
3. Leave them alone and come back after 6 hours.
4. Then analyse the situation.

•If they are counting the bricks, put them in Accounts Dept
•If they are recounting them, put them in Auditing.
•If they have messed up the whole place with the bricks, put then in Engineering.
•If they are arranging the bricks in some strange order, put them in Planning.
•If they are throwing the bricks at each other, put them in Operations.
•If they are sleeping, put them in Security.
•If they have broken the bricks into pieces, put them in IT.
•If they are sitting idle, put them in Human Resources.
•If they say they have tried different combinations, they are looking for more, yet not a brick has been moved, put them in Sales.
•If they have already left for the day, put them in Marketing.
•If they are staring out of the window, put them in Strategic Planning.
•If they are talking to each other and not a single brick has been moved, congratulate them and put them in Management.

Spoilers

XBs had a "subtle" (comparatively) spoiler.