Why are you doing that?

"What we see depends mainly on what we look for." -- Sir John Lubbock

Throughout the day, continually ask yourself about your underlying motivation. Why are you doing what you are doing? Your intention and motives are fundamental to the results you will receive. Set high intentions and your life will blossom.

"The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Explanation of Microsoft computer messages

It says: "Press Any Key"
It means: "Press any key you like but I'm not moving."

It says: "Press A Key"
(This one's a programmers joke. Nothing happens unless you press the "A" key.)

It says: "Fatal Error. Please contact technical support quoting error
no. 1A4-2546512430E" It means: "... where you will be kept on hold for 10 minutes, only to be told that it's a hardware problem."

It says: "Installing program to C:\...."
It means: "... And I'll also be writing a few files into c:\windows and c:\windows\system where you'll NEVER find them."

It says: "Please insert disk 11"
It means: "Because I know darn well there are only 10 disks."

It says: "Not enough memory"
It means: "I don't CARE if you've got 64MB of RAM, I want to use the bit below 640K."

It says: "Cannot read from drive D:...."
It means: "... However, if you put the CD in correct side up..."

It says: "Please Wait...."
It means: "... Indefinitely."

It says: "Directory does not exist...."
It means: ".... any more. Whoops."

It says: "The application caused an error. Choose Ignore or Close."
It means: ".... Makes no difference to me, you're still not getting your work back."

New vs old 1

Success

"Success means fulfilling your own dreams, singing your own song, dancing your own dance, creating from your heart and enjoying the journey, trusting that whatever happens, it will be OK. Creating your own adventure!" -- Elana Lindquist

Ford Performance Vehicles GT & GT-P Part 8

The Verdict: Overall: 4.5/5

After driving the XR6 Turbo, which is the first BA Falcon I've driven, I didn't think it could get much better, but Ford Performance Vehicles proved me well and truly wrong with the tuned GT and GT-P.

First is the value: Both these cars represent better value than their 300kW HSV equivalents, and the new BA Falcon's depreciation rate is improving compared to that of the outgoing AU.

Second is performance: Both these FPV sports sedans go, stop and turn with such ease and composure, you began to forget your in large car - both cars have a feel that belies their abundance of bulk. The drive is always involving and it's hard not to smile when punting these cars around.

Third is the look: They are tough, yet slightly understated and could well become the thinking man's hooligan car, with the brawn to backup such subtle beauty.
At the end of the day, there's a lot to like about these two FPV V8s and the only major gripe will be when it comes time to refuel and the lack of ground clearance. The manual is more efficient when driven softly, but this shortcoming can be overlooked in the face of everything else, and for a 5.4-litre V8, it doesn't too badly.

In terms of bang for your buck however, these two have outdone themselves, and the Pursuit Ute at less than $55,000 is an absolute bargain. Ford Performance Vehicles has unleashed a pair of muscle cars that, for its first effort, are wickedly potent in every respect. HSV, it's your move.

"Respect the bulge."

Too drunk

An obnoxious drunk stumbles into the front door of a bar and orders a drink, the bartender says, "No way buddy you're too drunk."
A few minutes later the drunk comes in through the bathrooms, again he slurs, "give me a drink", bartender says "No man I told you last time you're too drunk"
Five minutes later the guy comes in through the back door and orders a drink, again the bartender says, "You're too drunk"
The drunk scratches his head and says "Damn I must be... the last two places said the same thing."

Ford Performance Vehicles GT & GT-P Part 7

Extras

Starting with the sub-$60k GT, the entire family gets 'leccy windows, heaps of leg, head and shoulder room, not to mention a single-CD stereo with steering wheel controls.

The stereo is same item fitted to the XR6 Turbo and is good, but not a patch on the GT-P's premium setup, with woofer, amp and more speakers and 6-CD in-dash stacker.
Both FPV sedans get cruise control [with steering-wheel mounted controls], a trip computer, air-con, drilled alloy pedals and the hallowed GT (or GT-P) crest on the seats, floor mats and door sills.

The single in-dash CD player of the more cost-effective GT is adequate, but the stereo distorts at higher volumes. Both cars get 60:40 split fold rear seats, so you can throw long and unwieldly stuff in the boot, and the steering wheel adjusts by tilt and reach, which is good.

There's also suede covering the central storage box/front arm rest in both models, power steering, traction control, ABS, EBD, plus drivers, front passengers and front side (thorax) airbags.

The GT-P get's everything the GT has, plus it gets a fancy central control unit that displays what is often a confusing amount of telemetry, such as outside temperature, distance to empty, average fuel consumption and so forth.

Our test GT-P had all the bells and whistles, with a good GPS-based sat nav system and the premium audio option. We also had a rather sketchy blowout on the Great Ocean Road, but this was the result of a well-hidden and fairly deep pot hole, which easily scarred the low-profile tyres. Ergo, the full-sized spare was a godsend.

Ford Performance Vehicles GT & GT-P Part 6

Engine

The Boss 290 engine is special for a number of reasons. To start with, it's the only quad-cam small block V8 engine in Australia for under $100 large. Secondly, it's arguably the most powerful Australian-built V8 on offer. It may be trailing the expensive Callaway-tuned 300kW 5.7-litre mill of the HSV GTS models by 10kW, but it spits out more torque - 10Nm more.

The quad camshafts really do make this mill worth it's weight in gold, which would be a lot, 'coz this engine's massive! But even with an 80-odd kilogram increase over the Falcon's Turbo six, it still moves with lightning pace.

While peak torque of 520Nm doesn't arrive until 4500rpm, the engine is very flexible, offering a large glut of usable torque from as low as 2000rpm. But in addition to the copious amounts of torque, the Boss likes to rev, and all the way until the 5800rpm redline the engine will be baying for more, pouring on speed at an exponential rate.

Peak power of 290kW arrives @ 5500rpm and at this engine speed the clearly audible roar is profoundly moving. With a legit stainless steel exhaust sytem with extractors, this V8 warbles, rumbles and then barks ferociously at anyone who tries to dominate. Try being the operative word here.

The engine has 4-valves per cylinder [32 in total], chain-driven quad overhead camshafts, variable valve timing, a cast-iron block, aluminium alloy head and a 'premium fuel only' 10.5:1 compression ratio.

While the manual gearbox makes better use of the available torque, the auto slusher is still a very nice piece of kit, able to hit almost 90km/h in first and about 140 in second. The sport shift mode works very well with the larger engine [when compared to the turbo six] and puts the power down nice and fluently.
Known internally as the M97-019, the auto 'box is built by BTR and uses improved internals when compared to the standard Falcon automatic. A new low-stall torque converter is also fitted and when throttling off in the upper reaches of the rev range, there's a very V8 Supercar-esque transmission whine that adds to the experience.



The five-speed manual gearbox, supplied by Tremec and codenamed the TR3650, was used on the TS50 AUIII model - it's ability to cope with massive torque one of the reasons behind its implementation.

The shifter itself is a classy Momo stick, and it shifts between gates quite nicely, though the 1st-2nd upchange and 3rd-2nd downchange would sometimes get snagged slightly. There's a little bit of notchiness involved, but generally speaking it's a joy to use.

The feedback from the variable-valve timing capable engine via the gearstick is quite intense, and is a constant reminder of the rampant power on tap.

The clutch is nicely weighted [I was expecting it to be heavier] and engaging gears was seldom a problem, nor even a chore, thanks to a large 280mm clutch plate.
You get a slippery diff as part of the package and beyond the performance aspect of this brilliant engine, the sensory characteristics will put a smile on your face every time you bury the foot.

Ford's bad-boy Boss 290 mill is a real winner. It's got an abundance of power and torque right across the rev range, it's tractable and responsive, it sounds spectacular and it's highly refined, giving it more appeal than other low-tech V8s on the market.

Search

The boss of a big company needed to call one of his employees about an urgent problem with one of the main computers. He dialed the employee's home phone number and was greeted with a child's whispered, "Hello?"
Feeling put out at the inconvenience of having to talk to a youngster the boss asked, "Is your Daddy home?"
"Yes," whispered the small voice.
"May I talk with him?" the man asked.
To the surprise of the boss, the small voice whispered, "No."
Wanting to talk with an adult, the boss asked, "Is your Mommy there?"
"Yes", came the answer.
"May I talk with her?"
Again the small voice whispered, "No".
Knowing that it was not likely that a young child would be left home alone, the boss decided he would just leave a message with the person who should be there watching over the child.
"Is there anyone there besides you?" the boss asked the child.
"Yes" whispered the child, "A policeman."
Wondering what a cop would be doing at his employee's home, the boss asked, "May I speak with the policeman?"
"No, he's busy," whispered the child.
"Busy doing what?" asked the boss.
Talking to Daddy and Mommy and the fireman," came the whispered answer.
Growing concerned and even worried as he heard what sounded like a helicopter through the ear piece on the phone the boss asked, "What is that noise?"
"A hello-copper," answered the whispering voice.
"What is going on there?" asked the boss, now alarmed.
In an awed whispering voice the child answered, "The search team just landed the hello-copper."
Alarmed, concerned and more than just a little frustrated, the boss asked, "Why are they there?"
Still whispering, the young voice replied along with a muffled giggle, "They're looking for me."

Ford Performance Vehicles GT & GT-P Part 5

Comfort and Handling

Around town, the automatic transmission wins out. While both transmission types will happily meander in and out of dense traffic and navigate around obstacles at low speeds (the low-end torque is useful here), the auto is just easier.
While it's not a hassle with the manual, it's more responsive nature means you'll have to be light on the throttle and quick with the shifts.
Parallel, reverse and general parking duties can be daunting with the low ride height of the car and wide assortment of bodykit extras, but the turning circle of 11 metres kerb-to-kerb is pretty good for a car of this magnitude and helps reduce the anguish.

If commuter traffic is a regular part of your driving regime, the automatic gearbox again gets the nod, with its ability to quickly drop gears for overtaking and lane changes. The manual won't protest in heavy traffic, but your left foot will after repeated applications of the fairly well-weighted clutch.

The driving position in both the FPV GT-P is good, but I found that the GT is better suited to hard driving. While the latter doesn't have the GT-P's taller seats, for me the GT offered a more supportive driving position. That said, there's very little difference between the two, and both have multi-direction electrically adjustable drivers seats.



The automatic GT-P we drove also had the adjustable foot pedals. While I personally found the factory setting to be fine, the level of adjustment is impressive, and will be a godsend for those who prefer to driver with the seat pushed back or have short limbs.

Take the time to drive these beasts out of town and their mild-mannered personas fly out the window as the lusty V8 siren song takes over your senses.

The new 5.4-litre V8 engine is a work of art. Sure, it looks good, with numbered FPV build plates, 'Boss 290' badging on the engine cover and the biggest cylinder heads this side of a maritime mill, but it's the crisp sound and physical response of the powerplant that is most pleasing.

While the GT was quicker, due to the manual transmission, the GT-P was no slouch and the sports shift tip-tronic mode works brilliantly with the V8; it's ability to hold gears even at the rev limiter is commendable, giving you more control when firing out of corners.

Approaching corners at speed in the GT and GT-P feels a lot better and safer than you would think for such a huge car, and Ford has really done well getting such a reassuring 'feel' to the way the car sits on the road.

Tickle the brakes (or feather them lightly if you've opted for the rip-snorting Brembo package), set up your line and revel in the way the car grips: The FPV's track wonderfully through even the tightest of corners, and the chassis dynamics are so good that small corrections mid-corner won't upset them.

Once you've reached the apex of the corner and can clearly see your exit, it's time to get back on the loud pedal, and both cars respond predictably, with a hint of oversteer if you push a little hard as the the rear hoops step out, only to be persuaded back to the land of adhesion thanks to the non-intrusive (for Australian cars) traction control.

The FPVs can hold a much higher corner speed than I anticipated their attitude on the road is very confidence inspiring.

While there are limits to the vehicle's grip, you'll have the push the über-sticky Dunlop SPs extremely hard to do so. To be honest, I was surprised at how focussed and planted the car felt around corners - the word 'racecar' springs to mind here.
The FPV engineers have done stellar job tweaking the suspension, with both front and rear ends getting stiffer spring rates, retuned dampers and improved anti-roll bars. There is mild bodyroll during high-gee cornering, but the lardy cars keep most of the weight transfer under control, and you'd be surprised at how quickly and effortlessly these big brutes change direction at speed.



Turn the traction control off and you'll have to have your wits about you, because the way the cars put their power down is frightening. The auto is very much the softer sibling and will suit drivers who like to go fast, but who don't like getting all crossed up with over-ambitious throttle prodding.

With traction control turned off in the five-speed manual however, second gear fishtails are common, such is the sheer grunt available under your right foot. But even when things go a little pear shaped, the brilliant chassis dynamics will talk you through the whole thing in slow motion, allowing you to calmly re-correct and slot back into line.

In manual form, the GT will go from 0-100km/h in about 5.8 seconds in good conditions and though we didn't get to test it on the quarter mile, word on street suggests a sub 14 second pass. We timed the 80-120km/h roll in just under 4.0 seconds in the auto, which indicates how powerful and flexible the powerplant is when cruising.

Deceleration was gob-smacking (literally) in the GT-P, equipped with dinner-plate sized disc brakes of Italian origin. Up front, the GT-P makes use of 355mm cross-drilled, pillar vented discs, clamped with Brembo four-pot calipers that bite harder than a pit-bull at dinner time.

At the rear are 330mm ventilated, cross-drilled discs again shod with four piston calipers, and to top it all off, you get stainless steel brake lines, and the now-obligatory EBD and ABS systems.

The GT gets the 'standard' brake package, though the discs are too big to fit in anything less than a 17-inch wheel.

They're not as fade-free and instantly arresting as the stoppers on the GT-P, but they still do a good job: Up front are 325mm grooved discs with twin piston calipers, while at the rear a large single piston caliper works on 303mm discs, supploed by PBR.

As far as vehicle handling goes, the way the two FPV sedans behave is at odds with their sheer size and weight - they are serious drivers cars with serious potential.
If you want the ultimate V8 sports tourer, you'd be hard pressed to find an Australian car that performs as well as this - and at this price.

Ford Performance Vehicles GT & GT-P Part 4

Interior

Stepping into the red GT-P, I was instantly confronted with what those three letters mean. The 'GT' stands for Grand Tourer - she sure is roomy and comfy - and it is also a throwback to another Ford hey-day when the iconic GT name first entered the Australian domain in 1967 with the XR Falcon GT.

And the 'P' stands for posh. Or premium, as stepping into the cockpit is an experience unto itself. The leather bucket seats have lovely side bolsters to keep you secure during high-gee cornering and the headrests are much bigger (and better) than those found in the GT.

Then there's the satellite navigation, dual zone climate control, auto headlights, classy multi-function display, six-stacker CD stereo with seven speakers, a 150W amplifier and tasty rear-mount subwoofer just for good measure. While many of these, such as the sat-nav and sub-woofer are cost options, they make driving the GT-P that much more of joy - a complete package if you will - and so come highly recommended.
Is this GT-P worth an extra 10,000 clams over the GT model though? It all really depends on what means most to you as a driver. Both offer almost identical drives, but if you don't mind spending the extra cash, the premium options are more than worth it.

There's leather everywhere in both models, with a smattering of suede on seats and in the door inserts, faux carbon fibre (it's the thought that counts), electric everything including fuel filler opener, and who could forget that very special starter button.

Some hate it, but for mine, it's the dogs bollocks. It reminded me - every time I started the car - that yes, this is something special. It adds a twinge of excitement before you drive off and is far more pleasing than just turning a key.




The GT gets slightly different seats to the GT-P: Not quite as plush, but I found them better suited to enthusiastic driving.
It also misses out on the 100W stereo, sat-nav, fancy information display centre and climate control, but this by no means relegates its to cheap and nasty -- it is still a very nice place to spend your driving hours.

Interior space, like all other Falcons, is commendable, and the idea of having such a highly-strung sportscar with enough room to cart around the entire family and lug a great big trailer is a bloody good one.

While the car's are primarily designed to hard and fast, created to eat up corners like a hungry goldfish slurping down pond scum, they offer remarkably good slow speed control, and your passengers in the back will be more than happy with the plush rear bench.

In the rear, there's also a fold-down armrest, which houses two cupholders.
The steering wheels in both FPV sedans are identical, and have been crafted with solid ergonometrics. They're quite curvy and contoured but are lovely to use, with lots of leather, which is also covering the handbrake lever and auto shifter. The manual stick is a good-looking polished steel Momo job.

The dials are tastefully finished with FPV decals, light up blue at night and have a 270km/h limit. Like the dials in the XR6 Turbo, you can quickly glance at them and be fully informed as to what the car and the engine are doing.



Like the XR6 Turbo, again, there's no redline marker on the bold tachometer and the manual models don't have a gearing guide, which is a little odd.

All things considered, and the GT has a very comfortable cabin with great front bucket seats and easy to use controls. The GT-P takes things to another level, with more creature comforts than you can shake a stick at, and is a fitting vehicle to sit atop Ford's reinvigorated locally made line-up.

TIPS TO ENHANCE READINESS TO SHARE LEADERSHIP

The indicators that determine readiness to share leadership may appear to be a tall order, but a lot of principals will see that they are not far from the mark. To jumpstart progress toward creating a community of leaders, consider the following tips:
Identify strength areas. Capitalize on what is going well and make it better by leading with focus and intention. Begin conversations about teacher leadership with staff to help identify what is working. Identify areas for improvement. Select one indicator that needs work, and create a plan to develop that area. The first order of business might be to read up on the topic to become aware of important issues. Next, consider hiring a leadership coach to support further personal growth and leadership development. Use data to determine organizational needs. What do the data show about student learning at your school? What collaborative structures can be put in place to improve student learning? Is a School Leadership Team needed to work on school improvement issues? Will a study group help to further learning in the area of reading?
Embedding teacher leadership structures and processes in a school is no easy task. Principals are right to be thoughtful as they make the decision to move forward in sharing leadership. Possessing certain values, commitments, and understandings can be an indication that principals are ready to share leadership.

Ford Performance Vehicles GT & GT-P Part 3

Exterior

There are three instantly eye-catching aspects to the GT-P: The alloy wheels, the bonnet bulge and the high-rise rear wing. Together they form the crux of what most will see when you hammer past in the FPV motors, followed by a big Blue Oval badge, but other notable extras include the sculpted side skirts, low front and rear aprons (bumpers) and snazzy fog lights.

As a whole, the GT-P looks tough, and while the GT has a more revered nameplate, the wheels really killed it for me. The five-spoke alloys of the GT are a little lacking in lustre when compared to the seven spoke mags of the GT-P, which suit the vehicles tough demeanour a lot better.



Both cars are unique, however. They command attention wherever they go, particularly when you've got plates that read "FPV-GT". I've never seen so many people looking at a car, but it is an iconic Aussie muscle car after all, and this proves better than I could put into words that Ford has delivered a tough, but oh-so-sweet-to-look-at vehicle to rival HSV's tricked-up troupe of V8s.

Almost all exterior aspects of the FPV sedans have been touched up over the XR8 Falcon, with which they share the intimidating bonnet 'bulge'. One admirer we met in Apollo Bay along the Great Ocean Road mentioned that the lump was more pleasing to him than any scoop or mesh insert from an Evo or a WRX, parting with the words: "Respect the bulge".

The front end has a much larger (lower) air-dam, complete with a mesh covering with FPV insignia. Flanking this are two deeply recessed fog lights, with classy bezels not seen in other XR models.

The side skirts give the car a more ground-hugging profile and help give the wheels a more integrated look, and come complete with faux brake coolers, while the GT/GT-P badging on the sides and the rear is appreciably big and bold.

The bodywork is big, bold, but not overly flashy

The rear wing is large, but not as impractical as you might think.
The wing itself is actually quite thin - yet sturdy - so your rearward vision doesn't suffer too much. There's also grey inserts in the both the front spoiler (lower bumper) and the rear bumper, which helps break up the prime colours and adds a modern touch.

As a whole, both cars look sensational and during a drive from Melbourne to Warrnambool, every time we stopped for a break or for some fuel, people would ask how it goes. "It goes off like a frog in a sock," I'd tell them.
But even when motionless, the cars look determined and aggressive and damn - they're big and imposing too.

The big, flat, low front end is race-car cool, and the rear wing isn't just for drying clothes, and while there is plenty of eye candy on offer, neither car has been overdone to the point of gaudiness.

Pull over

A man was pulled over for speeding down the highway; the officer came to the driver’s window and said, "Sir, may I see your driver’s license and registration?"

The man said, "Well officer I don't have a license, it was taken away for a DUI."

The officer, in surprise, said," What, do you have a registration for the vehicle?"

So the man replied, "No sir, the car is not mine I stole it, but I am pretty sure I say a registration card in the glove box when I put the gun in it."

The officer stepped back, "There is a gun in the glove box?!?"

The man sighed and said, "Yes sir, I used to kill the woman who owns the car before I stuffed her in the trunk."

The officer steps toward the back of the car and says," Sir do not move, I am calling for backup."

The officer calls for backup and about ten minutes another highway patrolman arrives. He walks up to the window slowly and asks the man for his driver’s license and registration.

The man said," Yes officer here it right here."

It all checked out so the officer said," Is there a gun in the glove box sir?"

The man laughs and says," No officer why would there be a gun in the glove box."

He opened the glove box and showed him that there was no gun. The second officer asked him to open the trunk because he had reason to believe that there was a body in it. The man agrees and opens the trunk, no dead body. The second officer says, "Sir I do not understand, the officer that pulled you over said that you did not have a license, the car was stolen, there was a gun in the glove box, and a dead body in the trunk."

The man looks the officer in the eyes and says, "Yeah and I'll bet he said I was speeding too."

Ford Performance Vehicles GT & GT-P Part 2

Drive





2003 FPV GT-P
Ford Performance Vehicles, or FPV, has unleashed what is a seriously focussed sportscar of historic proportions.
One of the things I had trouble with accepting after getting to grips with the way the car drives, was just how good FPV's premium muscle car is.
I'll be honest - I was expecting a fast car, but not with the levels of refinement found within.

HSV has been tuning humble Commodores for nigh-on 30 years, then in comes this upstart FPV group, and in its first year has unleashed a fire-breathing, giant-killing, take-no-prisoners, wob-wobbing V8 that pulls 0-100km/h sprints in under 6.0 seconds -- yet still has four cup holders, enough room for the entire family and wads of bootspace. E-gads!



And while price doesn't often come into play when we're on test, you'd be hard pressed to get this sort of quad-cam V8 performance for such a bargain price.
$70,000 may sound like a lot for the GT-P, and $60,000 for the GT ain't piecemeal either, but when the 300kW HSV GTS coupe and sedan fetch almost six figures, it's hard not to be impressed by the value on offer.

In fact, there are no other quad-cam V8s in the world offered at this price (at the time of writing). Jaguar's got quad camshafts in a number of its sporty models, but it's also got that ultra-premium 'image' thing going on, which means you'll be paying more than double the cost of one of these local lads, and getting perhaps two-thirds of the 5.4-litre capacity.

From the get go, it's evident that FPV has done it's homework. Despite a killer kerb weight of roughly 1.8 tonnes, the suspension setup is perfect - these cars can really be thrown around.



While the GT-P is a well sorted performance car that turns heads quicker than Danni Minogue wearing a pair of freshly dry-cleaned hot-pants, it's also a practical vehicle, one that loses few of the basic Falcon's sensible features.

But let's face it - most drivers will be handing over between 60 and 70,000 bones for one thing: the Boss 290 engine. And rightly so, because after hammering the GT-P all over the shop, it's evident that Ford is on to something here: It's a little scary to think what's going to be on offer from the FPV laboratory in the next few years if this is their first effort...

From the moment you press the glowing ignition button [a la V8 Supercars], you'll be instantly aware that this isn't your average Falcon. Cruise down the driveway - carefully mind, so as not to scrape the front spoiler - turn onto the road and ever-so-gently flex your right foot.

Power delivery is nice and linear with really good control via the electronic throttle, but it starts off feeling somewhat limp in the automatic: Blame that on a combination of the torque converter and the car's heavy weight.
At about 2000rpm the small black V8 mill starts to hit its stride and emits a lovely warble, and turns downright angry by 3500rpm, providing serious push and a much crisper note.

Heaven on Earth? It could be... but one thing's for sure - if God were an Aussie bloke, he'd drive one.

By the time you hit peak torque @ 4500rpm, you'll be grinning from ear to ear as the engine is now sucking in copious amounts of air, though the induction noise that is always present is now drowned out by a rising crescendo of eight fat cylinders pumping in perfect harmony, as the engine speed approaches it's 5800rpm redline.
If you decide to frequent such lofty revolutions, you'll be pleasantly, but firmly pressed into the lavish leather bucket seats, and turning the stereo down to listen the engine's amazing resonance is a must.

Two-hundred and ninety kilowatts at the fly-wheel is the number, and in real-world terms it feels about right in the auto, and the manual feels like a real 300kW+ weapon. We drove the GT-P in automatic guise for a week and then hopped in the lower-spec GT (with the same 290 Boss engine) sporting a manual shift for another five days and, it has to be said, both are flippin' brilliant.

The bonnet bulge looks sensational

We'll look at the different gearboxes and the storming engine in more detail on page two in the engine section, but it's safe to say that whichever one you choose, you'll be stoked.

Both drivelines offer noticable differences, and will suit certain types of drivers better -- granted, picking the GT stripe colours or wondering whether you need personalised plates are both considerable decisions, but the toughest part will be deciding which category you fit into: Manual or Auto.

On the road, the two FPV sports sedans respond to driver input with gusto, perhaps too much at times. The traction control comes in very handy in both auto and manual models, allowing you push the performance vehicles without too much fear of retribution from Dr. Physics.

Both the GT-P and GT track remarkably well round corners, feeling much lighter than their almost-1800kg dry weight would otherwise suggest. Body roll is kept to a bare minimum thanks to a more than competant suspension setup and the 18-inch Dunlop SP Sport 9000 tyres are incredible, gifting the FPVs with a level of grip that belies their hulking size.

The steering feel is good, and communication between front wheels and the drivers hands is reassuring. The overall feel of the suspension rig is very good.
The springs are quite tight which is a necessity in such a sportscar, and you will feel larger bumps and lumps at times, but the rebound and compression damping levels are such that they help soak up many bitumen blemishes, and even with the massive 18-inch wheels and thier miserly 40mm of sidewall, the big cars do a good job in tight urban driving and swift country cruising alike.

Ford Performance Vehicles GT & GT-P Part 1

Over the next few days I'll be bringing you an extended review of the Ford Falcon GT-P. I have a motive.

The work belongs to Feann Torr

Ford is back with a vengeance. It doesn't matter where your loyalties lie - the facts speak for themselves.

Just a few years ago, Ford Australia wasn't exactly wowing Joe Public with its volume selling family car, the AU Falcon, and it's V8 Supercar entrants were being punished by an impeccable Mark Skaife and the well-drilled Holden Racing Team.
2003, however, has ushered in a new era for the Ford operation in Australia.
Sales of Ford's new BA Falcon are up, it's new AWD wagon is almost ready, the Blue Oval has just launched it's flagship sportscar brand [FPV] in direct answer to HSV's dominance of the performance car market, and Ford is now consistently winning races in Australia's premier racing category, the V8 Supercars.

This is an intriguing situation and begs the question: What was the catalyst for such a turnaround? In my humble opinion, the new BA Falcon. Plain and simple. It's an Australian car with a level of refinement and technology that belies it's humble origins and the benefits of the new car can be seen just as clearly on the racetrack as on the road.

Perhaps the superceded and much-maligned AU Falcon's styling was too radical and that was its downfall a few years back, or maybe the VX Commodore was just a better vehicle?

Whatever the case, the Falcon is back, and herein we'll take a look at the big chiefs - the flagship Falcons in the new 2003 BA range if you will - the GT-P and GT.

Make: Ford Performance Vehicles
Model: GT/GT-P
Price: $59,850/$69,850 (as tested)
Transmission: 4-speed auto, w/sports shift & 5-speed manual
Engine: 5.4-litre, Vee Eight-cylinder, 32-valves, quad camshafts, variable valve timing
Fuel Consumption: City cycle - N/A, Highway cycle - N/A
Seats: 5
Safety: Driver and front passenger SRS airbag, two side front (thorax) airbags, ABS, Traction control, EBD

How do you show you care?

"Love is not only something you feel. It is something you do." -- David Wilkerson

In her book, ‘No Less Than Greatness,’ Mary Manin Morrissey speaks of a research study that explored how family members communicate with each other. Apparently, the most frequently spoken words between husbands, wives, sisters and brothers were "What’s on?" and "Move."

She goes on to say, "We all desire great relationships but often settle for just getting by. Many of us have stopped questioning the fact that we may know fictitious TV families more intimately than we do our own."

The most powerful force in our lives is our ability to love. Indeed, it’s the most basic essence of who we are. How do you experience and express your love for the people in your life?

The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the other.... The whole purpose of life is to live by love." -- Thomas Merton

Cleaning the pool

Our pool was in need of some attention,
It had not been tested in a while,
And although it was cleaned daily,
It would need chemicals by the pile.
So, I grabbed a water sample,
And wandered out the door,
With the intention of visiting,
Our local pool supply store.
The person behind the counter,
Started the complex test,
This place has a well earned reputation,
Of being one of the very best.
She did the test with concentration,
Provided me with a sheet,
Loaded the car up with chemicals,
And I was on the street.
Focus hydrochloric acid was first,
Chlorine shock upon its heels,
Four bags of salt soon followed,
We’ll see how this water feels.
Calcium hardness treatment followed,
Chlorine stabiliser followed soon,
Phosphate remover was the final step,
My head began to swoon.
My skin felt like rubber,
My eyes ran like streams,
My hair came out in clumps,
You must wear protection it seems.
I am now bald and textured,
My skin rippled, I’m a fool,
I have, through my desperate haste,
Become a sort of ghoul.

Cheers

Three kinds of people

One man said to the other, "You know, there are really only three kinds of people in the world: those who can count, and those who can't.

FPV GT-P

The Ford FPV GT, released in March 2003 has given Ford a flagship sports vehicle to replace the Ford Tickford Engineering range of performance vehicles that were discontinued in December 2002. In the last quarter of 2002, Ford announced the creation of Ford Performance Vehicles, a collaboration of Ford, Tickford Engineering and Prodrive [Tickfords parent company].

The change was designed to reinforce Ford Australia's commitment to producing world class high performance vehicles.

The BA model Falcon represented an investment by Ford of over $500 million. The new range of models offered comprehensive styling, powertrain, suspension, interior and safety related improvements over the AU series. This put Ford into a better position to tackle its chief rival Holden, in the battle for market supremacy.

Prices start at $59,850 for the FPV GT sedan and top $69,850 for the FPV GT-P. The Ford option book has been opened, with the GT-P having a vast array of standard features. Power sunroof, parking distance control, satellite navigation and a premium sound system are the only options that are available.

The styling of the Falcon is a big improvement over the superseded AU series; however the most signigificent upgrades have taken place beneath the skin of the Falcon.

The new 5.4 litre engine [replacing the stroked 5.6 litre engine in the previous Tickford TE model] delivers significantly more power and torque, giving an improvement in performance that filters down through the whole Falcon range. The engine in the GT-P we tested, (designated the Boss 290), delivers 290 kW, 30 kW more than the BA Falcon XR8, and 40 kW more than the previous TE50. Engine torque has increased to 520Nm, 20 Nm more than the BA series XR8.

These impressive power figures are achieved by a series of detailed changes to the engine internals. The compression ratio has been raised to 10.5:1, high compression pistons, re- engineered conrods and revised camshafts with a higher valve lift have been fitted to achieve 290 kW. This power output increase over the XR8 was reached without the need to increase the engine capacity, which was done by increasing the engine stroke to 5.6 litres in the superseded Tickford performance models.

The braking system needs to be able to cope with the large reserves of power and torque. This is not a problem for the GT-P as it has a premium Brembo brake package fitted as standard equipment, with 355mm front rotors, 330mm rear and 4 piston brake calipers on all four wheels providing the necessary level of braking to match the high performance the GT-P has.

The Ford GT-P is easily recognised and distinguished from the XR6 and XR8 range. The fitment of a more aggressive looking body kit, with a larger rear wing, front grille and spoiler brings the external appearance of the vehicle as close to the Ford V8 Super Car race cars as is possible, for a road registered vehicle.

The striking exterior appearance can be further enhanced by the addition of a FPV stripe package [an option on the FPV GT] that has a customer take-up rate of around 40 per cent across the FPV range.
Sitting behind the wheel, it is immediately apparent you are seated in a special vehicle, not just another highly optioned Falcon. The leather trimmed sports bucket seats offer great support without being too firm.

A thick rimmed leather steering wheel, which is notched at the correct hand position, adds to the sporty feel. The large power bulge in the bonnet reinforces the sports pedigree. The GT-P has a novel engine starting procedure. Inserting the key into the ignition and turning to engine crank will not illicit a response. A start button, located to the left side of the instrument cluster is pressed to fire up the engine. Once started, the Quad cam V8 provides a strong aural sensation, completing the performance package feel.

Interior space is the same as found in the Falcon range, generous head, leg and shoulder room is provided.

Around town the GT-P was docile and coped well with stop start driving and peak hour traffic, without displaying the peaky characteristics and crankiness that some high performance vehicles have displayed in the past. Accelerate hard and you will be rewarded with an electrifying ride. The chassis dynamics emphasise the sporting pedigree without sacrificing ride comfort. The 245/45 series tyres fitted to 18 inch rims were commendably quiet, and gave excellent grip on a variety of surfaces. On twisting secondary roads the GT-P felt confident and even when pushed, the GT-P has large reserves of balance and composure left in the chassis. One criticism is that at lower speeds the steering felt as though it was over assisted and did not convey any degree of feel. At higher speeds this sensation was not as apparent.

On the open road, the GT-P felt surprisingly sophisticated, more in the manner of a grand tourer, rather than an out and out sports sedan.

Summary
The Boss engine has given the GT-P class leading performance that more than matches its rivals. It's not just the engine however that sets this vehicle appart, but the whole package of superb brakes, excellent chassis dynamics, and the list of standard features that makes the GT-P an excellent package.

Test vehicle supplied by Ford Motor Company of Australia.

By NRMA Motoring, March 2004.

Cover the Material—Or Teach Students to Think?

Marion Brady Educational Leadership : February 2008 | Volume 65 | Number 5
Teaching Students to Think Pages 64-67
To move beyond rote memorization and use a full range of thinking skills, students need to tackle issues straight out of the complex world in which they live.

So here's today's project, kids. Get in small groups and put together flowcharts tracing the possible long-range consequences of a new state energy conservation law that says you can't use any kind of motorized vehicle to travel less than one mile."
"What about emergencies?"
"Hmmm. Let's say that if you were caught using a motorized vehicle on a short trip and you weren't bleeding and headed to the hospital, you'd be fined $200."
"How about electric scooters or skateboards?"
"They're motorized. It takes energy to charge their batteries. So, no."
"Is being late for work, school, or a doctor's appointment an emergency?"
"Nope. You'll just need to start sooner. Any more questions? OK, then get on with it. As usual, when you think you've done all you can do, we'll combine your work to get as complete a picture of this kind of policy-driven social change as we can."
This is a reasonable and intellectually stimulating educational activity. It deals with a matter of fundamental importance in everyday life—the dynamics of social change. Working on it doesn't require a specialized vocabulary, mastery of new ideas, or even the ability to read.

Generating similar questions isn't difficult: What if consumption of fresh water were limited to two gallons per person per day? What if everyone, no exceptions, had to serve one year of public service after high school? What if a reliable pocket-size voice stress analyzer indicating when someone isn't telling the truth cost just $10? What if global warming raised the average temperature in the area in which you live by 4°F?

These kinds of questions make students think. Why, then, aren't such questions routinely asked in school? Why is such an important aim—to help students think more clearly and productively—so hard to put into operation?

The short answer is that for many people, the main purpose of educating isn't to improve students' thinking skills but to "cover the material" in math, science, language arts, social studies, and other school subjects. Covering the material is, of course, important. To function, societies need various kinds of glue to hold their components together. One of those glues is a language of allusion, a body of information that members share that enables them to communicate complicated ideas in few words. The expressions soccer moms, Jeffersonian democracy, and green technology are familiar examples. When a system of mass education sends students on their way with meaning attached to thousands of ideas like those, efficient, society-sustaining dialogue is possible.

A second reason that covering the material is important stems from the obvious fact that the older generation has answers to some important questions about how the world works. Passing this information on saves the young from having to figure out those answers for themselves, sometimes at great expense and with considerable pain. It's useful to know, for example, that in the past, surplus wealth invested in building railroads between trading centres yielded a higher return than did wealth invested in building weapons, or that rapid social change has often triggered religious fundamentalism.

Covering the material makes good sense, then, in terms of contributing to social stability and transmitting useful, important insights. The problem lies in assuming that these are the main purposes of education. In earlier times, when the rate of social, technological, and environmental change from one generation to the next was all but imperceptible, covering the material was a higher priority. Answers to important questions—such as when to plant, what to do for a sick horse, which berries were safe to eat and which ones would kill you—made clear the desirability of listening to the elders.

We need to accept that what we've been doing isn't the whole story—not even the main story—of educating. For centuries, the central question directed at the young has been, How much do you remember? The proper questions for this era are, What's going on here? Why? Where is it likely to take us and what should we be doing?

The Focus on Recall

About 50 years ago, Benjamin Bloom produced a useful tool for thinking and talking about what's happening and not happening inside students' heads. Working with others, he devised the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives—a summary of specific thought processes arranged in order of increasing complexity. These include such skills as recalling, comparing, classifying, inferring, hypothesizing, generalizing, relating, synthesizing, valuing, and predicting.

Having words for different thinking skills makes it easy to get a fix on the kinds of thought processes that students are using. Recall seems to play as important a role in instruction as ever. For example, we can reasonably assume that students are being asked merely to recall something they read or heard for a test when teachers closely monitor them during that test to make certain they're not looking at one another's work or using crib notes, cell phones, or other technology. If the assessment required students to use higher-order thinking skills, then teachers wouldn't need to monitor students so carefully to discourage cheating. Student responses would be distinctive rather than uniform, easily associated with individual learners.

Conventional textbooks are all but useless for teaching higher-order thinking skills because they represent the final conclusions of other people's thought processes. The opportunities for complex thinking have been squeezed out of them. It's like giving students completed crossword puzzles to study and then, a little later, giving them those very same puzzles but with empty blanks to fill in. Years of practice make some kids good at storing information in short-term memory, but in this era of almost instantaneous access to a universe of information, that's an appalling waste of good brains.

What's true of textbooks is true of lectures, reference sections of libraries, the Internet, and other tools for passing along information from those who supposedly know to those who supposedly don't. They're massive collections of conclusions and somebody else's inferences, hypotheses, generalizations, syntheses, and value judgments handed to students with some rationalization like, "You'll need to know this next year" or "This will be on the test."

Skeptics who don't think this is a problem would do well to borrow the textbooks in a typical adolescent's backpack and count the ideas their glossaries insist are important. One set of popular 8th grade textbooks covering just four subjects—math, science, language arts, and social studies—notes almost 1,500 important topics. That's for one year, or about 170 actual instructional days in those schools that haven't switched to nonstop reading and math test-preparation drills and even fewer days for those schools that have. It's akin to trying to drink from a fire hose.

The Trouble with Tests

Then, of course, there are those tails currently wagging the education dog—so-called standards and the high-stakes tests keyed to them. Of all the obstacles to improving student thinking, these are surely the most damaging. Teachers and administrators may feel forced to administer them, but doing so means ignoring higher-order thinking skills. The reason is simple. Nobody has yet invented a test-scoring computer program that can evaluate the quality of complex thought processes and spit out meaningful numbers. Do two "good" hypotheses generated by a student equal four "fair" hypotheses or seven "poor" ones generated by another student? How much is one spectacularly original and useful hypothesis, generalization, or value judgment worth? There's no getting around it. The more sophisticated the thought process, the less it lends itself to meaningful mechanical or electronic evaluation.
Machine-scored tests can, of course, ask students to choose a particular hypothesis, generalization, value judgment, or other higher-order thought process from a list of options. But guessing what an anonymous writer of a test item had in mind isn't higher-order thinking.

Some educators may say, "Teaching students to think is important, but they can't think without raw materials in the form of facts, so I'm getting them ready to think." Others may insist that many of their students are incapable of "getting beyond the basics." However, most kids show up for kindergarten already making routine use of higher-order thought processes. They don't need to be taught to think; they need to learn how to examine, elaborate, and refine their ways of thinking and put this thinking to deliberate use converting information into knowledge and knowledge into wisdom.

The Appeal of the Real

In his 1916 presidential address to the Mathematical Association of England, Alfred North Whitehead noted, "The secondhandedness of the learned world is the secret of its mediocrity." We should print these words on banners and hang them on classroom walls as a reminder that students learn to think—by thinking.
Traditional instruction is more concerned with the study of opinions about the real world than with the study of the real world itself. Internalizing others' views requires just one thinking skill—recall. Trying to make sense of one's own day-to-day experience requires the use of every known thinking skill.

This notion has made relatively little headway in U.S. classrooms because, for many educators, the line between first-hand and secondhand knowledge is often fuzzy or nonexistent. Many believe that the important thing is for students to be knowledgeable. Where that knowledge comes from—whether someone hands it to the students or they figure it out on their own—seems to be of little consequence.

Education leaders can take a crucial step toward getting students to use higher-order thinking skills by drawing a sharp line between firsthand and secondhand knowledge. The best way to do this is to focus attention directly on some part of the real world. Every student's first priority is to make sense of right here and now, so most often the best choice of subject matter will be the school itself and its immediate environment. This living, breathing, dynamic slice of reality is big enough to include all major elements of reality, small enough for students to get their heads around, complex enough to challenge every ability level, and accessible enough to enable continuous direct study.

For example, at the middle or high school level, teachers can pose myriad school-focused questions related to every field of study: What kinds of energy power the school? How are these energy sources created and measured? At what cost to taxpayers? At what cost to the environment? What kind of waste does the school produce? Where does it go and how is it processed? What could be done to decrease the school's carbon footprint?

There are hundreds of possible questions related to technology, psychology, sociology, or history. What are the major determinants of status among students? Who are leaders and why? What patterns of behaviour—such as lunchtime seating, cliques, and extracurricular activities—accompany perceptions of status? What's the officially stated purpose of the school? What's the evidence that this purpose is or isn't taken seriously? What kind of statistical information would be useful in understanding the student population? Going back in time, who or what occupied the site before the school was built?

Questions like these require quantitative measures, engaging students with math. Studying the natural and human-made environment demands the rigors of the biological and physical sciences. Schools are also complex social systems, rich in possibilities for research in the social sciences. In fact, any concept in the general education core curriculum can manifest itself in some meaningful way within the boundaries of the school or neighbourhood. Its concreteness will make it memorable and a logical step to study of the larger world.

Real and Rigorous

A focus on real-world issues can alter the entire culture of a school or school system. It enables students and teachers to experience the "meatiness" of the direct study of reality. It's unfailingly relevant. It shows respect for students, who become more than mere candidates for the next higher grade. It levels the playing field by not privileging those with superior symbol manipulation skills. It disregards the arbitrary, artificial boundaries of the academic disciplines. It's easily applicable to the wider world. And it shifts the emphasis from cover-the-material memory work to a full range of thinking skills.

That's it!

''I’m getting a divorce,'' said Jack to his mate, Bill. ‘The wife hasn’t spoken with me for six months.''
Bill thought for a moment and then replied,’ Just make sure you know what you’re doing, Jack. Wives like that are hard to find''

South African XW Fairmont

What the Finns Know Shouldn’t Surprise Us (But Does)

Education Week Published in Print: February 20, 2008 By Patrick F. Bassett

While reindeer jerky and lingonberries have yet to become an international sensation, the education system in Finland has managed to gain worldwide attention over the past few years. Test results from the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, have revealed that Finnish students routinely outperform those of other countries. And a recent report by the international consulting firm McKinsey & Co. highlights the country’s extraordinary successes. So, what does Finland know that shouldn’t surprise us (but does)? The three key elements for its success, laid out in the McKinsey report and reinforced by my own experiences on a recent trip to Finland, can be stated as the following: (1) Get the best teachers; (2) Get the best out of teachers; and (3) Intervene when pupils start to lag behind.

It’s no great surprise to anyone who works in education that high-quality teachers lead to successful students. According to the Finnish Ministry of Education, all teachers there must have master’s degrees, and only 10 percent of undergraduates, the cream of the crop, are accepted into the teacher-training program. It turns out that, as is true with this country’s Teach For America (which routinely attracts five times more applicants than it accepts), restricted access to a program increases its attraction. In Finland, it’s not the money, but the status and prestige of teaching that attracts the best and brightest to the profession.

We can’t shift cultural perceptions about the prestige of teaching overnight, but we can begin to make strides in this process, an action that will help improve education for everyone. First, we could develop more programs to get the most talented students to pursue teaching as a career, and help them succeed once there. Second, education schools could become more selective in their admissions and more focused on the task of instilling deep subject knowledge in their graduates. Third, all districts and schools could recruit on the campuses of colleges and universities with highly selective undergraduate admissions standards. Fairer compensation would help improve the prestige of teaching, too. As our more highly paid veteran teachers retire, we have an unprecedented opportunity to increase starting salaries so that teaching is as lucrative a career choice as other professional jobs.

A second place where American education falls short, in both its public and private segments, is in “professionalizing the profession.” While there is much talk about and some progress in creating “professional learning communities” of teachers, and also some promise in creating digital communities, as a country we fall far short of the commitments of our competitors in the world marketplace. In Finland (and Japan, too), groups of teachers visit each others’ classrooms and plan lessons together in a system that includes “rounds” similar to those in the medical profession. Finnish teachers get one afternoon off each week for professional development (substitute teachers included).

Some independent schools here have also recognized the value of this approach. At one school, each teacher must visit a colleague’s classroom three times a year and report on the experience by writing a response to the question “How was my teaching informed by this visit?” The responses become part of a database that all teachers read. At another school, teachers develop videotaped portfolios of their teaching. Combined with journal entries, lesson plans, and samples of student work, such aids allow the teachers to confer with mentors to identify successful techniques that can be shared with other teachers and to identify areas for potential improvement. All U.S. schools could benefit immensely from creating true professional learning communities focused on peer learning, peer observations, and collaborative lesson-planning. If teacher evaluations were linked to engagement in these communities, there would be a huge jump in the professionalism of teaching.

A third factor contributing to success of the Finnish system is its early and powerful intervention when a student begins to fall behind. Frequent diagnostic testing (“formative testing”) at early stages reveals students who need extra help, and the Finns provide it intensively. At one presentation I attended while in Finland, a spokesperson from the education ministry said that education spending there is weighted toward the middle school years: Finland spends about the same as its counterparts in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in the lower primary grades (grades 1-5), and a lot less in the upper secondary years (primarily because of larger classes in grades 10-12). But it spends a lot more in the middle years (grades 6-9).

Why don’t schools follow the model of businesses and tap into the global marketplace of ideas that have worked elsewhere?

In the United States and many other countries, this is the time when kids begin to fail and drop out. How sensible is the Finnish model to increase resources at that point to keep kids from the disaster of failing at school. In Finland, there are no dead-end streets on the education highway. In helping students at risk of failure, U.S. schools must move from a medical model (learning disabilities) to a diversity model (learning differences) and reorient themselves to identify, value, and use a student’s strengths as “workarounds” and palliatives to weaknesses. One independent boarding school for girls already takes this approach with its students, some of whom have been diagnosed with learning differences that put them at risk. The school helps students come up with strategies to address challenges, but it also works to identify each girl’s strengths so that she can maximize her potential.

This concentration on strengths, while still addressing challenges, seems to be a good approach for the American education system. One criticism of the McKinsey report is that it focuses on the elements that have been successful in certain contexts, but does not take into consideration the circumstances under which those same efforts have failed. But doesn’t flexibility make sense? With every new administration in Washington, and every hot new trend in education, we hear arguments for full-scale renovation of the system. One-size-fits-all rarely works in individual schools, however, let alone for the entire country. Why don’t schools follow the model of businesses and tap into the global marketplace of ideas that have worked elsewhere? Lingonberries and reindeer jerky may never take the world by storm, but the Finns can certainly teach us a thing or two about education.

Reading

The wife saw her husband frustrated reading the Marriage Certificate from top to bottom, flip it over, and then read it again...
She asked:" Honey, what are you looking for?"
He answered:" Nothing dear, I’m just looking for the expiration date for this paper..."

Fairlane Story

While much of the text and all of the photographs are similar to the Australian brochure, what is interesting is that in South Africa, the six cylinder engine was not offered at all, the 302ci engine ‘lost’ 10hp and the big 351 was not, as in the Australian ZC, the four barrel, 290hp GT version, but the tow barrel 250hp version.

Jason also sent us this scan of the South African XW Fairmont brochure. It is worth comparison with the Australian brochure because there only ever was a Fairmont model in South Africa, but they use dressed up photos of the standard models in the Australian brochure to represent Fairmonts. The art of the airbrush.

Q and A

TEACHER: John, why are you doing your math multiplication on the floor?
JOHN: You told me to do it without using tables.
__________________________________________
TEACHER: Glenn, how do you spell "crocodile?"
GLENN: K-R-O-K-O-D- I-A-L"
TEACHER: No, that's wrong.
GLENN: Maybe it is wrong, but you asked me how *I* spell it!
__________________________________________
TEACHER: Donald, what is the chemical formula for water?
DONALD: H I J K L M N O.
TEACHER: What are you talking about?
DONALD: Yesterday you said it's H to O.
__________________________________________
TEACHER: George Washington not only chopped down his father's cherry tree, but also admitted it. Now, Louie, do you know why his father didn't punish him?
LOUIS: Because George still had the ax in his hand.
__________________________________________
TEACHER: Clyde, your composition on "My Dog" is exactly the same as your brother's. Did you copy his?
CLYDE: No, it's the same dog.
__________________________________________
TEACHER: Harold, what do you call a person who keeps on talking when people are no longer interested?
HAROLD: A teacher.

Get better

His pediatrician asked six-year-old Johnny, who watched a good many TV, adds, just to make conversation. Johnny, if you found a couple of dollars and had to spend them, what would you buy?”
“A box of Tampax,” he replied without hesitation.
“Tampax?” said the doctor. “What would you do with that?”
“Well,” said Johnny, “I do not know exactly, but it’s sure worth two dollars.
With tampax, it says on TV, you can go swimming, go horseback riding, and also go skating, any time you want to.”

Fairlane Story

The South African ZC

Ford South Africa sold the Australian ZC Fairlane in their own country, and had their own catalogue.

DISORDER IN THE COURT

ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?

WITNESS: Gucci sweats and Reeboks.
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?

WITNESS: Yes.

ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory?

WITNESS: I forget.

ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot?
_____________________________________

ATTORNEY: What was the first thing your husband said to you that morning?

WITNESS: He said, "Where am I, Cathy?"

ATTORNEY: And why did that upset you?

WITNESS: My name is Susan!
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: Do you know if your daughter has ever been involved in voodoo?

WITNESS: We both do.

ATTORNEY: Voodoo?

WITNESS: We do.

ATTORNEY: You do?

WITNESS: Yes, voodoo.

Help!

A man is in bed with his wife when there is a rat-a-tat-tat on the door.
He rolls over and looks at his clock, and it's half past three in the morning. "I'm not getting out of bed at this time," he thinks, and rolls over. Then, a louder knock follows.
"Aren't you going to answer that?" says his wife.
So he drags himself out of bed and goes downstairs. He opens the door and there is man standing at the door. It didn't take the homeowner long to realize the man was drunk.
"Hi there," slurs the stranger. "Can you give me a push??"
"No, get lost. It's half past three. I was in bed," says the man and slams the door. He goes back up to bed and tells his wife what happened and she says, "Dave, that wasn't very nice of you.
Remember that night we broke down in the pouring rain on the way to pick the kids up from the baby sitter and you had to knock on that man's house to get us started again? What would have happened if he'd told us to get lost??"
"But the guy was drunk," says the husband.
"It doesn't matter," says the wife. "He needs our help and it would be the right thing to help him." So the husband gets out of bed again, gets dressed and goes downstairs.
He opens the door, and not being able to see the stranger anywhere he shouts, "Hey, do you still want a push??"
And he hears a voice cry out, "Yeah, please."
So, still being unable to see the stranger he shouts, "Where are you?"
And the stranger replies, "I'm over here, on your swing."

Fairlane Story

As the XC model Falcon was another facelift of the preceeding XB, Ford decided to do something more radical with the corresponding ZH Fairlane, and in doing so, somewhat returned it to its ‘big car’ American roots by giving a restyle that seemed to bulk it out to something unrecognisable as a Falcon. It remains a handsome and rugged looking car to this day.

Next season on Survivor

Have you heard about the next planned "Survivor" Show?

Three businessmen and three businesswomen will be dropped in a primary school classroom for 1 school year. Each businessperson will be provided with a copy of his/her school's curriculum and a class of 25 students.
Each class will have a minimum of five learning-disabled children, three with A.D.D., one gifted child, two who speak limited English. Three students will be labelled with severe behaviour problems.

Each business person must complete lesson plans at least 3 days in advance, with annotations for curriculum objectives and modify, organise or create their materials accordingly. They will be required to teach students, handle misconduct, implement technology, document attendance, write referrals, correct homework, compute grades, complete report cards, document benchmarks, communicate with parents, arrange parent/teacher interviews.
They must also stand in their doorway between class changes to monitor students.

In addition, they will complete fire drills, attend swimming carnivals, sport carnivals and be available to participate in after school activities.
They must attend workshops, staff meetings and attend curriculum development meetings. They must also tutor students who are behind and strive to get their 2 non-English speaking children proficient enough to pass a basic literacy test. If they are sick or having a bad day they must not let it show.

Each day they must incorporate reading, writing, maths, science and social studies into the program. They must maintain discipline and provide an educationally stimulating environment to motivate students at all times. If all students do not wish to co-operate, work or learn, the teacher will be held responsible.

The business people will only have access to the public golf course on the weekends, but with their new salary, they may not be able to afford it.
There will be no access to customers who want to take them out to lunch, and lunch will be limited to thirty minutes, which is not counted as part of their work day. The business people will be permitted to use the toilet as long as another survival candidate can supervise their class.

If the copier is operable, they may make copies of necessary materials before, or after school. However, they cannot surpass their monthly limit of copies. The business people must continually advance their education, at their expense, and on their own time.

The winner of this Season of Survivor will be allowed to return to their job!

Checking up

Friendship between women: A woman doesn’t come home one night. The next day she tells her husband that she had slept over at a girlfriend's house.
The husband calls his wife's 10 best friends. None of them know anything about it.

Friendship between men: A man doesn’t come home one night. The next day he tells his wife that he had slept over at a friend’s house. The wife calls her husband's 10 best men friends. Eight of them confirm that he had slept over, and two claim that he was still there.

Fairlane Story

The ZH

Leading Off the Edge of the Map

by Pete Hall

History shines a light on event-makers. For some, it’s a spotlight, illuminating the great and wondrous innovations produced by a person of action. For others, it’s the single dangling 100-watt bulb of a damp interrogation room, demanding explanation for unwarranted deeds. Either way, event-makers make history -- and, in the end, we’re all just history, aren’t we? By the way, who invented the electric light bulb? That’s correct: Thomas Edison.* And who didn’t invent the light bulb? Correct again: Every other unnamed person on the face of the earth. Who do you remember? Who does history favour, then? Thrice correct: The event-maker.

UNCHARTED WATERS

At the risk of inundating you with Cliff Clavinesque facts, wasn’t it Ferdinand Magellan** who first circumnavigated the globe in 1519-1521? This Portuguese explorer had devised a plan, refused to accept “no" as an answer, and leapt forward to carry it out -- he was an event-maker.

To relate this to the principalship, sometimes the best course of action is one that no one has ever taken before. Our students’ new and varied needs scream out for a divergent approach. Sometimes it’s okay to shun the status quo -- verily, there are times that it’s preferable to ignore what everyone else is doing, in the name of growth and progress. As school principals, often where we lead is off the edge of the map. Captain Barbossa*** (from Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean) may warn us, “Here there be monsters," but our quest for excellence must know no bounds. We must be willing to excuse ourselves from the masses and serve as pioneers, breaking ground and cutting waves -- this is where breakthroughs lie, this is where obstacles are overcome, this is where questions are answered, and this is where excellence awaits.

MAKE IT HAPPEN

In recent years, we’ve learned so much about the way children learn, about the way brains process information, and about instructional pedagogy that we’d be remiss to ignore it. Unfortunately, the status quo is often a decade or two (or ten) behind. Are we truly providing what our students deserve if we turn a blind eye to the best, most recent, and most promising information? How long can we stifle our inner excellence? New results require new action. New action demands new learning. New learning insists upon new thought. So go ahead -- think off the map, weigh your options, and create a plan. (A plan, mind you, is not the same as shooting from the hip; a plan indicates a certain level of forethought and understanding.) Make it happen. History rewards the event-makers among us.

As for the Heifetz connection: Jascha, a violin virtuoso who wowed audiences for over 60 years, sought perfection at every turn. Ronald A. could have studied Jascha for lessons in leadership: Part of what compelled Jascha’s incessant desire for perfection was his self-admitted “horror of mediocrity."

Office help

A young executive was leaving the office late one evening when he found the CEO standing in front of a shredder with a piece of paper in his hand.
"Listen," said the CEO, "this is a very sensitive and important document here, and my secretary has gone for the night. Can you make this thing work for me?"
"Certainly," said the young executive. He turned the machine on, inserted the paper, and pressed the start button.
"Excellent, excellent!" said the CEO, as his paper disappeared inside the machine. "I just need one copy..."

Fairlane Story

Notice the redesign of the tail-lights with a noticable cross hatch pattern to echo the new front grille.

Coaching Teachers To Be Leaders

How Do I Know I'm Ready to Share Leadership? by Evelyn Cortez-Ford

It is not unusual for principals to be concerned about sharing leadership with teachers. Principals know that the implications of a "community of leaders" are broad and deep, and the effects are particularly evident for teachers and principals. Few teachers and principals have formally been prepared to share leadership. In fact, teacher leadership requires a personal transformation that may give one pause and make him or her question: How do I know I'm ready to share leadership? That question can only be considered with a deep understanding of the concept of teacher leadership.
TENETS OF TEACHER LEADERSHIP
A universal definition of teacher leadership is non-existent because teachers lead within the unique context of their schools. However, teacher leadership has certain tenets that give it structure and purpose. Following are some basic principles of teacher leadership.
• Leadership is an organizational trait that belongs to everyone. Leadership is not embodied in one or two individuals who hold formal positions.
• Teacher leadership is a context-specific process that is defined by all members of the school.
• Teacher leadership processes are collaborative and democratic.
• Teacher leadership is enacted in the service of student learning and school improvement efforts.
• Leaders meaningfully connect teaching, learning, and leading.
• Leaders are interdependent.
When carefully examined, the tenets of teacher leadership suggest a variety of personal and organizational changes ranging from changes in relationships, structures, and processes to changes in personal responsibility and professional development. The changes can be daunting. To get a handle on those changes, and to determine readiness to share leadership, you might want to refer to the informal assessment below.
INDICATORS OF READINESS TO SHARE LEADERSHIP
Below is an informal, personal assessment that can provide insight into one's readiness to embed teacher leadership in a school. The indicators address personal considerations for the principal including values, commitments, and knowledge.
The principal is prepared to share the leadership values of…
• collective achievement.
• individual and collective responsibility.
• collaboration.
• democratic, inclusive processes for working.
• personal and professional growth for all.
• recognizing and celebrating the strengths and talents of teachers.
The principal is committed to…
• establishing structures that allow for collaboration (for example, School Leadership Teams).
• removing barriers that impede teachers from leading (for example, a lack of time to lead).
• establishing informal and formal communication links for information sharing.
• establishing job-embedded professional development structures (for example, study groups, action research projects, and coaching).
• establishing shared decision-making processes.
• developing equal, collaborative relationships with teachers.
• collecting data on the effectiveness of leadership performance.
The principal is knowledgeable about…
• teacher leadership theory and practice.
• adult learning theory.
• leadership development.
• collaborative processes.
• emotional intelligence.

Three words

A woman was sitting at a bar enjoying an after-work cocktail with her girlfriends when an exceptionally tall, handsome, extremely sexy young man entered. He was so striking that the woman could not take her eyes away from him.

The young man noticed her overly attentive stare & walked directly toward her. Before she could offer her apologies for being so rude for staring, the young man said to her, 'I'll do anything, absolutely anything, that you want me to do, no matter how kinky, for $100, on one condition.'

Flabbergasted, the woman asked what the condition was. The young man replied, 'You have to tell me what you want me to do in just three words.'
The woman considered his proposition for a moment, withdrew from her purse and slowly counted out five $20 bills, which she pressed into the young man's hand along with her address. She looked deeply into his eyes & slowly, meaningfully said, "Clean my house."

Fairlane Story

Continuing the two series cycle trend, Ford tweaked the front and rear of the ZG Fairlane. They were also well aware of the negative comments that they were receiving regarding the lack of distinction of the Fairlane from the Falcon, and solved this by subtely giving the front of the ZG more presence with the use of the new grille, but also as a benefit of the handsome and different restyle they gave the front of the XB Falcon. The XB and the ZG now looked quite dis-similar.

Capacity

Our grand business in life is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand." -- Thomas Carlyle

We each play a role in the bigger game of life. In this bigger picture, life plays with energy and matter to expand, create, express and evolve. It explores new possibilities, realizes them and then reaches for even more. Life continually transforms what is into something brand new. We choose how actively we take part in this cosmic dance. We can become mere spectators to life if we get stuck in old ideas that have lost their energy for us. How much passion do you feel for your goals? Are you still being creative in how you work with them?

"Embrace fully your capacity to create, to think in unlimited ways, and to pursue everything that you have been wanting. Be flexible, open and willing to let the new come to you. "This can be the most joyous, prosperous, and creative time of your life." -- Sanaya Roman and Duane Packer

Last words

Three buddies die in a car crash, and they find themselves at the pearly gates.

They are all asked, "When you are in your casket and friends and
family are mourning upon you, what would you like to hear them say
about you?

The first guy says, "I would like to hear them say that I was the
greates doctor of my time, and a great family man."

The second guy says, "I would like to hear that I was a wonderful
husband and school teacher who made a huge difference in our
children of tomorrow."

The last guy replies,
"I would like to hear them say... LOOK!!! HE'S MOVING!!!!!"

Fairlane Story

The ZG Fairlane brochure cover

Relaxation

Is relaxation possible only when we’re not working? No. With awareness and practice, we can be relaxed no matter what we are doing. In fact, when we work in a relaxed state, our productivity increases as our effort decreases.

For true relaxation, we need to connect with our bodies -- to consciously and intentionally become aware of tension and release it.

Geography

I traveled almost all over the world
- Wow, you must know geography well.
- Oh yes I spent 2 months there..!

Fairlane Story

You can see in the above that Ford continued with the policy of stretching the ZF by adding length to the wheelbase between the rear door and the wheelwell.