XC Door handles

XC coupe door handles - similar to those on the XB, but occasionally painted black.

And chromed in others.

The importance of giving ourselves reflection time every day

Reflection is considered an essential practice for those who seek self-knowledge and self-mastery. Why? Basically, reflection brings awareness of how our minds work. Over time, we become watchers, able to detach from the thoughts and emotions that play out in our minds.

With this detachment, we gain the freedom to choose whether or not to act on our thoughts and emotions. We learn to distinguish between objective reality and our mental and emotional dramas.

"Only in quiet waters things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world." Hans Margolius

What...

Q. What do you call a polar bear with ear muffs?
A. Anything you want, he can’t hear you!

XB door handles

XB coupe door handle style.

Note that the handle is enclosed in its own ‘chromed’ metal housing, and that the handle is finely ribbed.

Enthusiasm

As Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, “Nothing great is ever achieved without enthusiasm.”

New car

“I don’t want a car,” said the farmer to the persistent salesman. “I need a new cow.”
“But you can’t ride a cow along the streets.”
“True. But I can’t milk a new car, can I?”

Door handles part 2

The XA door handle.

XB sedan door handle style.

Let's get organised

Job titles

In an age when everyone seems to be playing the name game of glorifying job titles, the man in charge of the meat department at a grocery store in Wisconsin deserves a round of applause. On his weekly time card he describes his position as
"Meat Head".

Door handles

Another subtle difference between XA, XBs and XCs were the door handles.
The XA door handles were separate from the housing in that the housing was a stamped recess in the door skin, whereas on the XB and XC, the housing was an integral part of the handle assembly which fitted into a rectangular hole in the door. XC handles were similar, but in some models either the housing, or the whole assembly was painted black.
Also, the XB and XC handles themselves were ribbed.

XA sedan door handle style.

XA hardtop door handle style.

The Middle Wife

By an Anonymous 2nd grade teacher

I've been teaching now for about fifteen years. I have two kids myself, but the best birth story I know is the one I saw in my own second-grade classroom.

When I was a kid, I loved show-and-tell. So I always have a few sessions with my students. It helps them get over shyness and usually, show- and-tell is pretty tame. Kids bring in pet turtles, model airplanes, pictures of fish they catch, stuff like that. And I never, ever place any boundaries or limitations on them. If they want to lug it in to school and talk about it, they're welcome.

Well, one day this little girl, Erica, a very bright, very outgoing kid, takes her turn and waddles up to the front of the class with a pillow stuffed under her sweater. She holds up a snapshot of an infant.

"This is Luke, my baby brother, and I'm going to tell you about his birthday. First, Mom and Dad made him as a symbol of their love, and then Dad put a seed in my Mum's stomach, and Luke grew in there. He ate for nine months through an umbrella cord." [She's standing there with her hands on the pillow, and I'm trying not to laugh and wishing I had my camcorder with me. The kids are watching her in amazement.]

"Then, about two Saturdays ago, my Mum starts saying and going, 'Oh, oh, oh, oh!' " [Erica puts a hand behind her back and groans.] "She walked around the house for, like an hour, 'Oh, oh, oh!'

[Now this kid is doing a hysterical duck walk and groaning.] "My Dad called the middle wife. She delivers babies, but she doesn't have a sign on the car like the Domino's man. They got my Mum to lie down in bed like this."

[Then Erica lies down with her back against the wall.] "And then, pop! My Mum had this bag of water she kept in there in case he got thirsty, and it just blew up and spilled all over the bed, like psshhheew!"

[This kid has her legs spread and with her little hands are miming water flowing away. It was too much!] "Then the middle wife starts saying 'push, push,' and 'breathe, breathe.' They started counting, but never even got past ten. Then, all of a sudden, out comes my brother. He was covered in yucky stuff, they all said it was from Mum's play-centre!, so there must be a lot of stuff inside there."

[Then Erica stood up, took a big theatrical bow and returned to her seat. I'm sure I applauded the loudest. Ever since then, if it's show-and-tell day, I bring my camcorder, just in case another Erica comes along.

Speeding

A Policeman stops a speeding car and tells the woman driver; "When I saw you driving down the road, I thought to myself, “sixty-five at least.”

The woman replied: "I don’t think that is quite fair. I think this hat makes me look older."

P5 LTD

It is immediately apparent that although the basic form of the car is based on the XA/XB Falcon and the ZF/ZG Fairlane, Ford made efforts to move the LTD upmarket, both in scale and style. The car featured a distinctive grille with head lamps hidden behind vacumn operated doors. Tail lamps appeared full width at the rear, but design regulations prevented them from being sequential in operation, and the wheel trims, while proving to be vulnerable, added to the impression of style. Being released in August, 1973, some months before the XB GT Falcon, the LTD also has the distinction of introducing four wheel disk brakes onto the local Australian market.
While officially titled the P5, the first LTD has also become known as the FA. The FA was manufactured between August, 1973 and September, 1976. 7003 were produced.

Are You A Creative Or A Reactive Thinker?

By Nido R. Qubein

The other day I was talking to a CEO about the educational and development needs of his corporation, and he remarked, "You know, Nido, leadership isn't what it used to be. I used to think I knew what to look for in leaders. Now I'm not so sure."

He continued: "When I first went into business, a strong leader could say 'Follow me,' and people would follow. Now when you say that, your employees want to know where you're going, what you expect to find when you get there, and what's in it for them if they follow you."

His comments were very perceptive. Today's business climate requires a different type of leader, because we're dealing with a different type of work place and a different breed of followers. The old-style leadership was well-suited to yesterday's mechanical-type of organization in which employees were regarded as cogs in a machine and only management did the thinking.

When only managers were allowed to think, you needed leaders who could give orders with authority and employees who were willing to follow without question. But smart executives nowadays realize that you can't remain competitive while running a mechanical organization. You must have a thinking organization, which means that people at every level must be able to think and must be free to think.

As cooperation becomes the norm from the senior management team to the self-managed teams on the work floor, we need to take a careful look at the types of leadership necessary to mobilize this new-style work force. Here are the characteristics I see in successful leaders of thinking organizations:

They help people decide for themselves what to do; they don't tell people what to do.
They lead in the creation of corporate visions. They align their personal visions with the corporate vision and help others in the company to do the same. They expect excellence in those around them, and they make those expectations known. The people on their teams usually live up to these expectations.

They invite people to speak up, and they listen and respond to those who do. They welcome good news and bad news from their associates, knowing that they can't lead wisely unless they are fully informed. Today's leaders can't be guardians of the status quo. They must foster a climate in which the search for higher quality and better methods becomes a way of life. This calls for creative thinkers. Obviously, if you want your organization to think creatively at every level, you need creative- thinking leaders at every level.

Such leaders don't bark orders. They use positive reinforcement to influence people toward the behaviours they desire. They don't isolate themselves from the people they lead. They mingle with them, ask about their problems and concerns, and look for ways to help them. They promote a sense of "family." They don't pretend to have all the answers. They ask for information and advice before making decisions. They don't try to do it all themselves. They make full use of the talents of those around them.

They don't lord it over others. They treat employees, clients, customers and associates with respect. They are not condescending toward any of the corporate stakeholders, but regard them all as members of the team. They encourage a constant search for improvement and a constant quest for excellence. They provide the educational and developmental programs needed to achieve these goals.

Some people think leaders are born, not made. It's an old idea. It gave rise to the traditional leaders -- tribal chieftains and later kings and emperors who passed their authority on to their descendants. This gave rise to the theory that good leaders had to have certain inborn traits, such as physical strength, high intelligence, commanding voices, and aggressive personalities.

Later theories dealt with what leaders do instead of what they are. People led others, it was believed, by performing leadership functions such as organizing, controlling, staffing, and coordinating. Then, in the early part of this century, it was discovered that workers, left to themselves, will develop their own informal group processes, guided by their own informal but powerful customs and traditions.

What's more, when workers were allowed to follow these informal procedures, they became more productive than when they followed the rules and regulations laid down by appointed bosses. This has led to the modern concept of leadership: a process by which management creates an environment in which people voluntarily align their efforts toward common objectives.

The good news is that one doesn't have to be born with certain "traits" to exercise this type of leadership. Leadership skills can be taught to your staff, your associates and your employees, and they can be employed by people of a wide variety of temperaments. My staff and I at Creative Services teach those skills every day, and have been teaching them for two decades. They work.

So when my friend observed that "leadership isn't what it used to be," I responded, "Yes, and thank goodness for that." American competitiveness demands leadership that can come only from creative thinking at all levels of the organization. A team educated in this new style of leadership pays handsome dividends in the competitive global marketplace.

Making work interesting

Way to keep healthy level of insanity in the workplace
1. Page yourself over the intercom. (Don't disguise your voice.)
2. Find out where your boss shops and buy exactly the same outfits.Always wear them one day after your boss does. (This is especially effective if your boss is a different gender than you are.)3. While sitting at your desk, soak your fingers in "Palmolive."
4. Put up mosquito netting around your cubicle.
5. Every time someone asks you to do something, ask them if they want fries with that.
6. Put your garbage can on your desk. Label it "IN."
7. Determine how many cups of coffee are "too many."
8. Put decaf in the coffeemaker for 3 weeks. Once everyone has gotten over their caffeine addictions, switch to espresso.
9. In the memo field of all your checks, write "for sexual favors."
10. If you have a glass eye, tap on it occasionally with your pen while talking to others.
11. When driving colleagues around insist on keeping your car windshield wipers running in all weather conditions "to keep 'em tuned up."
12. Reply to everything someone says with "that's what YOU think?"
13. While making presentations, occasionally bob your head like a Parakeet.
14. Sit in the parking lot at lunchtime pointing a hair dryer at passing cars to see if they slow down.
15. Ask your co-workers mysterious questions and then scribble their answers in a notebook. Mutter something about "psychological profiles".

LTD Part 1

The LTD was launched as Ford’s new flagship model, replacing versions of the imported U.S. Galaxie. It marked a bold initiative by Ford, determined to capture the local top of the range market and become the de facto limousine of choice for government and business. As such, they were happy to alter the basic structure of Falcon/Fairlane and obsorb the cost in the pursuit of the market, and the LTD represented a stretching of the chassis, acquiring more length most noticeably in the rear doors and roof. Interior appointments were of the finest that could be fitted, and so well-equipped were the cars that the options list was almost negligible.
While it is common currency to assume that the LTD name was derived, as for the U.S. equivalent, from the term Limited, in fact it stands for Lincoln Type Design and was a measure of Ford Australia’s aspirations for the car.
Once again, a two letter code was used to differentiate the models.

Opportunity

“Every wall is a door." --Ralph Waldo Emerson, poet and philosopher

Life on the other side

A man was sick and tired of going to work every daywhile his wife stayed at home. He wanted her to see what he went through each day, so he prayed :-"Dear Lord, I go to work every day and put in 8 hours of hard work, while my wife merely stays at home. I want her to know what I go through, so please create atrade in our bodies".

God, in His infinite wisdom,granted the man's wish.

The next morning, sure enough, the man awoke as awoman. He arose, cooked breakfast for his mate,awakened the kids, set out their school clothes, fedthem breakfast, packed their lunches, drove them toschool, came home ..... picked up the dry cleaning,took it to the cleaners and stopped at the bank todraw money to pay the electricity and telephone bills.

He drove to the electricity company and the phonecompany and paid the bills, went grocery shopping,came home and put away the groceries. He cleaned thecat's litter box and bathed the dog. By then it wasalready 1:00 pm, so he hurried to make the beds, dothe laundry, vacuum, dust, and sweep and mop thekitchen floor.

He rushed to the school to pick up the kids and gotinto an argument with them on the way home which hehad to sort out in a gentle 'motherly' fashion. He setout cookies and milk and got the kids organised to dotheir homework, then set up the ironing board and wasable to watch a bit of TV while he did the ironing.

By then it was 4:30 pm, so he began peeling potatoes andwashed greens for salads. He prepared the chops and fresh vegetables and got everything ready in time foran early dinner.After supper, he cleaned the kitchen, ran the dishwasher, folded laundry, bathed the kids, and put them to bed.

At 9:00 pm he was exhausted and althoughhis chores weren't finished for the day, he went tobed where he was expected to make love, which hemanaged to get through without complaining.

The next morning he awoke and immediately knelt by the bed andsaid :-"Lord, I don't know what I was thinking. I was sowrong to envy my wife's being able to stay home allday. Please, O please, let us trade back!"

The Lord,in his infinite wisdom, replied, "My son, I feel youhave learned your lesson and I will be happy to change things back to the way they were. You'll just have towait 9 months though, because you got pregnant last night!!!"

XY Falcon

The XY marked the apogee of the second generation Falcons, superior in performance to its competitors, better built, fitted with a range of locally designed six cylinder engines, and in GT form, producing the ultimate and fastest Falcon of them all. Popular with police forces, rental companies and the public at large, the XY featured a new plastic grille split in the centre and revised tail lamps. Improvements were made to the seating, safety equipment and steps were taken to provide a smoother, quieter ride. The available 351ci (5.7litre) engine, while similar in capacity to that fitted to the previous model, was a completely new engine design, more modern and efficient, and when locally produced, would power the Falcon through the next decade.

The XY was manufactured between October, 1970 and March, 1972. 100,474 were produced.

Views on assessment

Assessment for Learning
Assessment for learning turns day-to-day assessment into a teaching and learning process that enhances (instead of merely monitoring) student learning. Extensive research conducted around the world shows that by consistently applying the principles of assessment for learning, we can produce impressive gains in student achievement, especially for struggling learners (Black & Wiliam, 1998).
Assessment for learning begins when teachers share achievement targets with students, presenting those expectations in student-friendly language accompanied by examples of exemplary student work. Then, frequent self-assessments provide students (and teachers) with continual access to descriptive feedback in amounts they can manage effectively without being overwhelmed. Thus, students can chart their trajectory toward the transparent achievement targets their teachers have established.
The students' role is to strive to understand what success looks like, to use feedback from each assessment to discover where they are now in relation to where they want to be, and to determine how to do better the next time. As students become increasingly proficient, they learn to generate their own descriptive feedback and set goals for what comes next on their journey.
Teachers and students are partners in the assessment for learning process. For example, teachers might have students study samples of work that vary in quality and collaborate in creating their own student-friendly version of a performance assessment scoring rubric. Or students might create practice versions of multiple-choice tests that parallel the content of an upcoming final exam, which they can then use to analyze their own strengths and weaknesses and to focus their final preparation for that exam. Students can accumulate evidence of their learning in growth portfolios. They can also become partners with teachers in communicating about their own learning successes by leading their parent/teacher conferences.
Assessment for learning provides both students and teachers with understandable information in a form they can use immediately to improve performance. In this context, students become both self-assessors and consumers of assessment information. As they experience and understand their own improvement over time, learners begin to sense that success is within reach if they keep trying. This process can put them on a winning streak and keep them there.
When we use assessment for learning, assessment becomes far more than merely a one-time event stuck onto the end of an instructional unit. It becomes a series of interlaced experiences that enhance the learning process by keeping students confident and focused on their progress, even in the face of occasional setbacks.
The goal of assessment for learning is not to eliminate failure, but rather to keep failure from becoming chronic and thus inevitable in the mind of the learner. Duke University basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski has pointed out that the key to winning is to avoid losing twice in a row (Kanter, 2004, p. 251). He meant that if you lose once and fix it, you can remain confident. Losing twice, though, can raise questions, crack that confidence, and make recovery more difficult. So when learners suffer a failure, we must get them back to success as quickly as possible to restore their confidence in their capabilities. This is the emotional dynamic of assessment for learning.
Scenario 1: Set Students Up for Success
Here is an example of the use of assessment for learning that builds student confidence from the start. Notice who develops and uses the assessment.
A high school English teacher assigns students to read three novels by the same author and develop a thesis statement about a common theme, consistent character development, or social commentary in the novels. They must then defend that thesis in a term paper with references. To set students up for success, the teacher begins by providing them with a sample of an outstanding paper to read and analyze. The next day, the class discusses what made the sample outstanding.
As their next assignment, the teacher gives students a sample paper of poor quality. Again, they analyze and evaluate its features in some detail. Comparing the two papers, students list essential differences. The class then uses this analysis to collaboratively decide on the keys to a high-quality paper.
After identifying and defining those keys, the students share in the process of transforming them into a rubric—a set of rating scales depicting a continuum of quality for each key. The teacher provides examples of student work to illustrate each level on the quality continuum.
Only after these specific understandings are in place do students draft their papers. Then they exchange drafts, analyzing and evaluating one another's work and providing descriptive feedback on how to improve it, always using the language of the rubric. If students want descriptive feedback from their teacher on any particular dimension of quality, they can request and will receive it. The paper is finished when the student says it is finished. In the end, not every paper is outstanding, but most are of high quality, and each student is confident of that fact before submitting his or her work for final evaluation and grading (Stiggins, in press; Scenario 1 adapted by permission).
Scenario 2: Help Students Turn Failure into Success
Here is an illustration of assessment for learning in mathematics used to help a struggling elementary student find the path to recovery from a chronic sense of failure. Notice how the teacher highlights the meaning of success and turns the responsibility over to the student. In addition, notice how the learner has already begun to internalize the keys to her own success.
Gail is a 5th grader who gets her math test back with “60 percent” marked at the top. She knows this means another F. So her losing streak continues, she thinks. She's ready to give up on ever connecting with math.
But then her teacher distributes another paper—a worksheet the students will use to learn from their performance on the math test. What's up with this? The worksheet has several columns. Column one lists the 20 test items by number. Column two lists what math proficiency each item tested. The teacher calls the class's attention to the next two columns: Right and Wrong. She asks the students to fill in those columns with checks for each item to indicate their performance on the test. Gail checks 12 right and 8 wrong.
The teacher then asks the students to evaluate as honestly as they can why they got each incorrect item wrong and to check column five if they made a simple mistake and column six if they really don't understand what went wrong. Gail discovers that four of her eight incorrect answers were caused by careless mistakes that she knows how to fix. But four were math problems she really doesn't understand how to solve.
Next, the teacher goes through the list of math concepts covered item by item, enabling Gail and her classmates to determine exactly what concepts they don't understand. Gail discovers that all four of her wrong answers that reflect a true lack of understanding arise from the same gap in her problem-solving ability: subtracting 3-digit numbers with regrouping. If she had just avoided those careless mistakes and had also overcome this one gap in understanding, she might have received 100 percent. Imagine that! If she could just do the test over . . .
She can. Because Gail's teacher has mapped out precisely what each item on the test measures, the teacher and students can work in partnership to group the students according to the math concepts they haven't yet mastered. The teacher then provides differentiated instruction to the groups focused on their conceptual misunderstandings. Together the class also plans strategies that everyone can use to avoid simple mistakes. When that work is complete, the teacher gives students a second form of the same math test. When Gail gets the test back with a grade of 100 percent, she jumps from her seat with arms held high. Her winning streak begins (Stiggins, Arter, Chappuis, & Chappuis, 2004; Scenario 2 adapted by permission).
Redefining Our Assessment Future
We know how to deliver professional development that will give practitioners the tools and technologies they need to use assessment effectively in the service of student success. (Stiggins et al., 2004; Stiggins & Chappuis, 2006). Thus far, however, the immense potential of assessment for learning has gone largely untapped because we have failed to deliver the proper tools into the hands of teachers and school leaders. If we are to fulfill our mission of leaving no child behind, we must adjust our vision of excellence in assessment in at least two important ways that will help us balance assessment of and assessment for learning.
First, we must expand the criteria by which we evaluate the quality of our assessments at all levels and in all contexts. Traditionally, we have judged quality in terms of the attributes of the resulting scores; these scores must lead to valid and reliable inferences about student achievement. As a result, schools have lavished attention on characteristics of the instruments that produce such scores. In the future, however, we must recognize that assessment is about far more than the test score's dependability—it also must be about the score's effect on the learner. Even the most valid and reliable assessment cannot be regarded as high quality if it causes a student to give up.
We must begin to evaluate our assessments in terms of both the quality of the evidence they yield and the effect they have on future learning. High-quality assessments encourage further learning; low-quality assessments hinder learning. Understanding the emotional dynamics of the assessment experience from the student's perspective is crucial to the effective use of assessments to improve schools.
Second, we must abandon the limiting belief that adults represent the most important assessment consumers or data-based decision makers in schools. Students' thoughts and actions regarding assessment results are at least as important as those of adults. The students' emotional reaction to results will determine what they do in response. Whether their score is high or low, students respond productively when they say, “I understand. I know what to do next. I can handle this. I choose to keep trying.” From here on, the result will be more learning. The counterproductive response is, “I don't know what this means. I have no idea what to do next. I'm probably too dumb to learn this anyway. I give up.” Here, the learning stops.
In standards-driven schools, only one of these responses works, especially for students who have yet to meet standards. Assessment for learning is about eliciting that productive response to assessment results from students every time. It can produce winning streaks for all students.

Work rules

SICK DAYS:We will no longer accept a doctor statement as proof of sickness. If you are able to go to the doctor, you are able to come to work.

SURGERY:Operations are now banned. As long as you are an employee here, you need all your organs. You should not consider removing anything. We hired you intact. To have something removed constitutes a breach of employment.

PERSONAL DAYS:Each employee will receive 104 personal days a year. They are called Saturday and Sunday.

VACATION DAYS:All employees will take their vacation at the same time every year. The vacation days are as follows: Jan. 1, July 4 & Dec. 25

BEREAVEMENT LEAVE:This is no excuse for missing work. There is nothing you can do for dead friends, relatives or coworkers. Every effort should be made to have non-employees attend to the arrangements. In rare cases where employee involvement is necessary, the funeral should be scheduled in the late afternoon. We will be glad to allow you to work through your lunch hour and subsequently leave one hour early, provided your share of the work is done enough.

OUT FROM YOUR OWN DEATH:This will be accepted as an excuse. However, we require at least two weeks notice, as it is your duty to train your own replacement.

RESTROOM USE:Entirely too much time is being spent in the restroom. In the future, we will follow the practice of going in alphabetical order. For instance, all employees whose names begin with 'A' will go from 8:00 to 8:20, employees whose names begin with 'B' will go from 8:20 to 8:40 and so on. If you're unable to go at your allotted time, it will be necessary to wait until the next day when your turn comes again. In extreme emergencies employees may swap their time with a coworker. Both employees' supervisors in writing must approve this exchange. In addition, there is now a strict 3-minute time limit in the stalls. At the end of three minutes, an alarm will sound, the toilet paper roll will retract, and the stall door will open.

LUNCH BREAK:Skinny people get an hour for lunch as they need to eat more so that they can look healthy, normal size people get 30 minutes for lunch to get a balanced meal to maintain the average figure. Fat people get 5 minutes for lunch because that's all the time needed to drink a Slim Fast and take a diet pill. Sondra gets none.

DRESS CODE:It is advised that you come to work dressed according to your salary, if we see you wearing $350 Prada sneakers and carrying a $600 Gucci bag we assume you are doing well financially and therefore you do not need a raise. Thank you for your loyalty to our company.

We are here to provide a positive employment experience. Therefore, all questions comments, concerns, complaints, frustrations, irritations, aggravations, insinuations, allegations, accusations, contemplations, consternations or input should be directed elsewhere. Have a nice week. -- Management

XW Falcon

The XW represented the first real attempt to more definitely differentiate the Australian Falcon from the styling of its U.S. equivalent. The basic structure remained the same, but the Australian car replaced the traditional round tail lamps once and for all with modern, horizontally split lenses, and introduced a heavier grille, with wrap around indicators and side lights, producing a distinctive and now unique design. Mechanical changes were also made, the most important and impressive being the fitting of the 351ci (5.7litre) V8 engine in various versions, a full 49ci larger than the biggest engine fitted to the U.S. version. The Australian Falcon had finally come of age.

The XW was manufactured between July, 1969 and October, 1970. 99,953 were produced.

The SEVEN traits of a Workaholic

Nearly a third of people see themselves as workaholics and they are more likely than others to be dissatisfied with their work-life balance, says a Statistic Canada study released last month. The study, "Time escapes me: Workaholics and time perception," found that nearly one-third, or 31 per cent of the respondents aged 19 to 64, identify themselves as workaholics.

The 7 traits of a workaholic:

Unsatisfying work/life balance.
Working more hours than average.
Working more doesn't give sense of accomplishment.
Feeling stressed.
Stuck in a routine.
Inability to finish 'to-do list.'
Exaggerated sense of work's role in life.

Pardon?

Two old friends met by chance on the street. After chatting for some time one said to the other, "I'm terribly sorry, but I've forgotten your name. You'll need to tell me".
The other stared at him thoughtfully for a long time, then replied, "How soon do you need to know?"

XT Falcon

The XT Falcon was a mild restyle of the previous model, with a barely altered grille, but distinctive new tail lamps, circular lamps still, but cut by large rectangular indicator lenses. The V8 engine increased in size to the 302ci (4.9litre) version and there were minor mechanical revisions as Ford placed its Falcon squarely up against it competitors in the marketplace. They were greatly assisted in this with the XTs success in the London-Sydney Marathon rally, where its three entered cars took third, sixth and eighth places, capturing the Team Prize in the process.

The XT was manufactured between April, 1968 and July, 1969. 74,394 were produced.

Artists

A thief in Paris planned to steal some paintings from the Louvre. After carefully planning, he got past security, stole the paintings and made it safely to his van. However, he was captured only two blocks away when his van ran out of gas. When asked how he could mastermind such a crime and then make such an obvious error, he replied, "Monsieur, that's the reason I stole the paintings. I had no Monet to buy Degas to make the Van Gogh." (And you thought I didn't have De Gaulle to post this!)

I do

At an Italian wedding ceremony, the priest asked the bride, “Do you take Franco Giuseppe-Antonio to be your husband?”
The bride looking very confused said, “Father, there is a mistake. I am only marrying Frank.”

XR Falcon

Whereas the previous four ranges of Falcon tended to follow styling trends set by their full size US parent cars, and were marketed with reference to the ‘Thunderbird’, it was decided with the new XR range, which again followed a US design, to capitalise on the phenomenal success of the Mustang. The styling of the car was inspired by the Mustang, copying the coke bottle style line, and the long bonnet and short boot cue, but retaining the traditional round tail lamps. The result was a car that was modern and handsome and while the two door hardtop model disappeared, this was more than compensated for by the arrival, for the first time in the Australian Falcon, of the 289ci (4.7litre) V8 and some serious horsepower.

The XR was manufactured between September, 1966 and April, 1968. 87270 were produced.

"We become powerful in the face of our fears when we have a sense that we make a difference in this world. Affirmations of purpose communicate the truth that we are all meaningful participants in this Universe and that we are worthy of giving and receiving love. Some affirmations of purpose are:- I know that I count and I act as though I do.- I spread warmth and love everywhere I go.- I am a healing force in the Universe." - Susan Jeffers

Q: What did Mark do when he missed Bus number 6?
A: He took Bus number 3 twice!!!

Option 86

While talking about vents, it is worth while noting Option 86, which was available on XA and XB four door Falcons. While looking at pictures of the XR to XY Falcons which were designed and styled for the sixties, you can see that they had front quarter windows. When the Australian designed and 1972 released XA Falcon arrived, Ford were keen to promote their new through flow ventilation system which would render the need for quarter windows redundant. However, somewhere along the line they must have had doubts because they offered Option 86, which was the fitting of front side glass with quarter windows. This was not a option that was much specified by buyers, and, there has been debate as to actually why it was offered. Was it for the benefit of smokers, or was it for cars sold in areas of Australia where very hot weather was the norm ? It would be interesting to find out

Here are a couple of pictures of XBs with the quarter windows. Ironically, both are XB GTs, and both are painted code F - Frosted Lime - which was in itself a rare colour choice for the GT.

"There are two kinds of light -- the glow that illuminates and the glare that obscures."--James Thurber, humorist and cartoonist

There was an inn keeper who urgently needed to expand his parking lot due to his business's growing needs. However, the lot next to his, which he had purchased, was covered with tree saplings and the city had an ordinance against bulldozing trees. The inn keeper was a powerful man on the city council and was friends with all of its members. He brought up an amendment to the council to allow him to bulldoze the saplings so he could pave it for his new lot. Was he successful?No, the "infant tree's" always beat the "Inn's urgency".

BA Scoop

With the release of the BA GT in 2003, Ford had decided that there was no more need for anniversary celebration models of the GT, and instead, the GT came back as a regular production model. Sadly, it was scoop less, but featured a prominent bonnet bulge, all the better to cover the sophisticated overhead cam V8 beneath.



However, with Ford U.S.A. having released a Mach 1 version of its outgoing Mustang which featured a very retro looking shaker for 2003 and 2004, and with Ford fans hoping for an HO version of the BA GT, would be amateur designers have produced several different sketches to gently show Ford Australia that they want the BA GTHO to bring back the shaker.

Five Coaching Dos & Don’ts

Do
 Use coaching with competent staff to help draw out their potential;
 Be truly present for the person being coached, removing mental and physical distractions;
 Listen deeply to gain a true understanding of the challenge at hand and show the coachee you are listening;
 Ask intelligent questions to enhance a person’s view of both the reality before them and the options they have;
 Finish the coaching conversation with a commitment to action.
Don’t
 Use coaching with incompetent staff who lack the will or skill to improve their performance;
 Be thinking of other things when listening;
 Just pretend to listen, interrupt, only hear what reinforces your preconceptions or jump to premature conclusions;
 Give advice, offer solutions or use questioning to lead the coachee to your preferred solution;
 Leave the person unclear about the next steps they will take

Cheers!

Q: Did you hear about the cannibals that attended the wedding?
A: They toasted the bride and groom.

XD Globes

Bathurst Globes fitted to XD ESP’s have a prominent lip to the edge of the rim. This has been called the ‘safety rim’. Take a look at the following picture.



Note that the XD style Globes have push through centre caps which are not held on by any screws (even though these are on an XB).

Coaching Teachers To Be Leaders by Evelyn Cortez-Ford
What Is Teacher Leadership?
Teacher leadership is gaining widespread interest from educators who want to engage teachers in the work of school reform. It is a promising concept for principals who are eager to create communities of leaders in their schools. The idea of tapping teachers' knowledge, experience, and skills to reach school and district goals is so logical that one wonders why it took so long for this concept to gain a foothold.
DEFINING TEACHER LEADERSHIP
Teacher leadership in practice often leaves educators puzzled because it's an ambiguous concept with shifting boundaries and unclear rules. It is context specific and it looks different at every school and in every district. Therefore, a principal and teachers must create a shared understanding of teacher leadership for their school. Defining teacher leadership gives it more value, makes it more real, and accelerates progress toward developing a community of leaders.
UNPACKING PERSONAL ASSUMPTIONS OF TEACHER LEADERSHIP
Educators are puzzled by the meaning of teacher leadership. You can verify this truth by asking colleagues to define it. Undoubtedly, their responses will yield vastly different answers.
Creating a shared understanding of teacher leadership begins with the process of "unpacking" personal assumptions. Because people behave in ways that support their assumptions, it is important to surface their individual understandings of leadership. School leaders can start that process by posing the question What is teacher leadership? You might
· make a list of ideas that indicate what teacher leadership is. For example, Teacher leadership is collaboration.
· consider and write a list of what teacher leadership is not. For example, Teacher leadership is not a decision-making process or Teacher leadership is not a matter of simply delegating tasks.
Be as specific as possible as you create your lists.
CREATING A SHARED UNDERSTANDING OF TEACHER LEADERSHIP
After the process of unpacking personal assumptions is complete, you are set to begin the process of creating a shared understanding of teacher leadership. You can do that by creating two big lists -- one that indicates your teachers' ideas of what teacher leadership is and the other that presents what teacher leadership isn't. Make sure the lists are visible, and then reflect on the following questions:
How are our assumptions similar?How are our assumptions different?
Next, explore definitions of teacher leadership from current literature. You might share some of the following definitions of teacher leadership in order to help you and your teachers add to your ideas of what teacher leadership is and isn't.
According to the literature…teacher leadership is "influencing and engaging colleagues toward improved practice." (Wasley, 1992, p. 21)"concerned with teachers helping teachers so that teachers can, in turn, better help students. Teacher leadership is helping teachers work together to establish and achieve the goals and objectives of the school." (Pellicer & Anderson, 1995, p. 22)"an ethical stance that is based on views of both a better world and the power of teaching to shape meaning systems. It manifests in actions that involve the wider community in the long term. It reaches its potential in contexts where system and school structures are facilitative and supportive." (Crowther, 1997, p. 15)
"actions by teachers outside their own classrooms that involve an explicit or implicit responsibility to provide professional development to their colleagues, to influence their communities' or districts' policies, or to act as adjunct district staff to support changes in classroom practices among teachers." (Miller et al., 2000, p. 4)
In order to continue to add to your lists, reflect on the following questions:
· What ideas do you accept as teacher leadership?
· What ideas do you reject?
· What is still missing from the list?
CONTINUE ONGOING CONVERSATIONS ABOUT TEACHER LEADERSHIP
The process above is just the beginning of creating a shared understanding of teacher leadership. To find common ground with teacher leadership takes time, ongoing conversations, and trial and error.

A young guy walks into a post office and sees a middle–aged, balding man standing at the counter methodically placing “Love” stamps on bright pink envelopes with hearts all over them. He then takes out a perfume bottle and sprays scent all over them.His curiosity getting the best of him, the guy goes up to the man and asks him what he is doing. The man says, “I’m sending out a thousand Valentine cards signed, “Guess who?”“But why?” Asked the young guy.“I’m a divorce lawyer,” the bald man replied.

EL Scoop

With the 1997 EL GT, Ford once again used the occasion of an anniversary of the introduction of the GT in 1967 to release a celebration model. Powered by the same 200kw version of the 302ci V8 and once more limited to three colours, the limited production - 250 built - EL featured yet another functional and aggressive scoop.

Class divide hits learning by age of three
Disadvantaged children lagging a full year behind before they start school John Carvel, social affairs editor Monday June 11, 2007 The Guardian , London
By the age of three, children from disadvantaged families are already lagging a full year behind their middle-class contemporaries in social and educational development, pioneering research by a London university reveals today. A "generation Blair" project, tracking the progress of 15,500 boys and girls born between 2000 and 2002, found a divided nation in which a child's start in life was still determined by the class, education, marital status and ethnic background of the parents. The results are likely to disappoint ministers committed to improving the life chances of disadvantaged children, notably through the Sure Start programme to develop potential in pre-school years.
But the research could not establish how much more stark the divisions might have been without Sure Start's introduction in 1998. In a series of vocabulary tests, the three-year-old sons and daughters of graduate parents were found to be 10 months ahead of those from families with few educational qualifications; they were 12 months ahead in their understanding of colours, letters, numbers, sizes and shapes.
Researchers from the Centre for Longitudinal Studies at the Institute of Education in the University of London found girls were three months ahead of boys on both measures. Less predictably, Scottish children were three months ahead of the UK average in language development and two months ahead in "school readiness". Mothers in Scotland were more likely than those in the three other countries to have jobs and set clear rules governing the child's behaviour. Similarly, Scottish fathers were more likely to read to their children, perhaps assisting early years development.
The programme - called the millennium cohort study - began tracking the children soon after they were born, recording the circumstances of pregnancy and birth, parental background and progress in the early months of life. Professor Heather Joshi, director of the programme, said previous research had showed that children from deprived homes were less educationally advanced at five and seven years old. The millennium study was the first using a big national sample to measure the attainment gap at three.
The results will be used in the government's evaluation of the Sure Start programme to establish whether it is helping working class children narrow the gap. Prof Joshi said: "Children from poorer homes are less likely to have working mothers and so they do not get so much out-of-home childcare." She could not tell how much wider the attainment gap might have been without Sure Start. She added: "These children are on a marathon. They should not be written off if they come through their early years and are not ahead in the race. The families into which they were born did not provide a level starting point. They are not leaping out of their diverse backgrounds unmarked by their early experiences."
The survey found Bangladeshi children were about a year behind their white contemporaries in "school readiness" tests. Pakistani children did slightly better. A quarter of black children from African and Caribbean backgrounds were delayed in their development, compared with 4% of white children. These results may have been linked to family income. Two-thirds of the Bangladeshi and Pakistani three-year-olds were from families living below the poverty line, compared with 42% of black children and less than 25% of white and Indian children. Across all ethnic minority communities, 72% of children with single mothers were growing up in poverty. The study set the poverty threshold at 60% of national average family income.
A Department for Education spokesman said last night: "Closing attainment gaps between different groups of children is a massive priority for us. We are working hard to provide support such as catch-up lessons, one-to-one tuition and wraparound support for children and families - for example the Sure Start programme."

A doctor taking care of his last appointment of the day gives this man a thorough exam and finds him in optimal health. As the man is going out the door, he had a heart attack and died. The doctor looks at the man and tells the nurse, “help me turn him around to it looks like he was just coming in.”

EB Scoop

1992 saw the 25th anniversary of the first Falcon GT and Ford were keen to celebrate the fact and re-introduce their most famous of models. Making full use of their involvement with Tickford Vehicle Engineering, Ford produced approximately 300 examples of the EB GT. Limited in colour choice and fitted with a 200kw 302ci V8, the EB GT also gave Ford a great opportunity to resurrect the scoop.

This is a specially formulated diet designed to help people cope with the stress that builds during the day.

BREAKFAST
1 Grapefruit
1 slice whole-wheat toast
1 cup skim milk
LUNCH
1 small portion lean, steamed chicken with a cup of spinach
1 cup herbal tea
1 Tim Tam
AFTERNOON TEA
The rest of the Tim Tams from the packet
1 tub of Gino Ginelli ice cream with chocolate topping
DINNER
4 bottles of wine (red or white)
2 loaves garlic bread
1 family size Supreme pizza
3 snickers bars
LATE NIGHT SNACK
1 whole Woolworth's cheesecake (eaten directly from the freezer)
REMEMBER : "stressed" spelled backwards is "desserts"

Here's some advice for you: A famous doctor once proclaimed the way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you have started.

So I looked around my house to see things I started and hadn't finished; and, before leaving the house this morning, I finished off a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of Chardonay, a bole of Baileys, a butle of Kahuha, a pockage of Tim Toms , tha mainder of bot Prozic and Valum scriptins, the res of the Chesescke, some saltins an a bax a cholates. Yu haf no idr who gud I fel.

A cocky state Highways employee stopped at a farm and talked with an old farmer. He told the farmer, "I need to inspect your farm for a possible new road."
The old farmer said, "OK, but don't go in that field."
The Highways employee said, "I have the authority of the State Government to go where I want. See this card? I am allowed to go wherever I wish on farm land."
So the old farmer went about his farm chores.
Later, he heard loud screams and saw the State Highways employee running for the fence and close behind was the farmer's prize bull. The bull was madder than a nest full of hornets and the bull was gaining on the employee at every step!!The old farmer called out, "Show him your card!!"

The XB also employed twin bonnet scoops. As has been mentioned elsewhere, the XB bonnet and its scoops very closely followed the style of the 1971 to 1973 U.S. Ford Mustang, except that the scoops themselves are not interchangable with the American ones.

With the re-styling of the front end of the XB with respect to the XA, the front wings on the XB lost the fake brake cooling scoops. However, Ford were very proud of the fact that the XB GTs had four wheel disk brakes, so introduced fake brake cooling scoops on the rear wings on their cars.

Heart

"To know how to choose a path with heart is to learn how to follow intuitive feeling. Logic can tell you superficially where a path might lead to, but it cannot judge whether your heart will be in it." - Jean Shinoda Bolen

Two words

It was the first day of school after summer vacation. The kids had all arrived in the high school sophomore English class, and were chatting away, making new friends. THEN…In walked a very stern looking English teacher and a hush fell over the room as the kids scurried to their seats. The stern teacher silently panned his gaze across all the kids. After about a minute or so, he spoke... "From the outset, I want you all to know that there are two words that are absolutely unacceptable in this classroom.You cannot use them as you recite, or in any of your papers, tests, or homework. Using these words even once, will get you a failing grade for that quarter. The first one is "gross"and the other one is "cool". Are there any questions?"
After a few moments of silence, this gawky teen at the back of the room raises his hand and the teacher calls upon him.
In a pubescent croaking voice, the kid asks, "So, what are they?"

XA scoops

Ford again offered chromed twist and turn bonnet lockdowns on the XA - and on the XB - but did not use the protecting ring.

Ford also fitted fake vents, again in black on the front wings of the cars, behind the indicator lenses and in front of the wheel openings.

These may have been to give the impression of brake cooling scoops. It is worthwhile noting that the scoop grill mouldings are different from left to right.

Class Divide: Single-Sex Schoolrooms Take Off

Some Wary Of Growing Trend, But Advocates' Fervour Is Catching The Bushnel, Hartford: By JIM FARRELL,

Jermaine Boykin's feelings were clear when asked why he likes being in a class of only boys.

"Because girls can be mad annoying," said the fifth-grader at Beecher School in New Haven.

Jermaine said it with a smile, but educators who are increasingly embracing single-sex classrooms can relate to his perspective, just as they can to that of girls frustrated by the sometimes bombastic behaviour of boys. "It creates an environment where learning is more focused," said Kathy Russell, the principal at Beecher, which is finishing its first year with separate boys and girls classes in fourth and fifth grade. Spurred in part by a recent clarification of federal discrimination regulations, the numbers of single-sex classes and schools are increasing rapidly.

Ten years ago, only four public schools in the country were offering single-sex programs, according to the National Association for Single-Sex Public Education, which is based in Maryland. This year, at least 262 schools are offering single-sex programs, and the number is expected to surpass 300 next fall. The state Department of Education does not keep track of schools that offer single-sex classes, spokesman Tom Murphy said, but he noted that such schools are rare.

However, New London is planning a pilot program of single-sex classes for sixth-graders next year. Hartford is considering creating all-boys or all-girls academies as part of a plan to shake up its schools. And Manchester officials recently discussed trying single-sex classes. Russell said she decided to split classes by gender this year largely because of the number of discipline problems the students, especially the boys, had last year. "It was just a stabilizing tactic, but it's really worked for us," Russell said.
She said classes are more orderly than a year ago and said the boys and girls "seem to appreciate each other more and have developed a healthy spirit of competition." Changes in achievement are hard to quantify, Russell said, but she added "my fourth-grade girls are soaring academically."

Pros And Cons Advocates for single-sex education cite a variety of advantages, including the notion that separating boys from girls actually breaks down gender stereotypes. Leonard Sax, the director of NASSPE, said educators in single-sex classes can teach in ways that respect fundamental differences between boys and girls. For example, Sax said research shows that the language areas of a girl's brain generally develop before the areas used for spatial relations. A curriculum that ignores that difference can lead girls to believe they are not good at math. Likewise, he said, the hard-wiring of boys' brains lead them to be less comfortable talking about their emotions. Since the 1970s, educators have been trained to ignore gender differences, Sax said, and in doing so they have unwittingly worsened stereotypes.

He said studies show that girls are less likely to study subjects such as physics and computer science, and boys have not done as well with foreign languages and subjects such as history and music. "Kids learn differently," he said, adding that giving parents the chance to put their children into single-sex environments is "really a matter of social justice."

Carp

Two men out fishing for carp. One fellow stands up and as he does, his wallet falls out of his pocket and slowly sinks in the lake. As he tries to retrieve it, two huge carp show up and start fighting over possession of the wallet. The fellow turns to his comrade and states "First time I've seen carp to carp walleting!"

XA scoops contniued

Option 55 was the option for the blacked out bonnet. In early listings for the XA, the bonnet was black and ordering Option 55 deleted the black paint. After May, 1972, the default was for a body painted bonnet, and ordering Option 55 gave you a blacked out bonnet.

Message to your body

"The message we give our bodies - one of irritation or acceptance - is the message to which our bodies will answer" - Deb Shapiro, Your Body Speaks Your Mind

My son's a chicken

"Doctor,I have a son who thinks he's a chicken," said the man.
"Why don't you bring him in for treatment?" asked the doctor.
"We need the eggs," replied the man.

XA scoops

It could be argued that by the time the XA arrived the muscle car was entering decline (but that's a WHOLE other story), but Ford were not about to give up on scoops on their GTs. In fact, they added more. On the bonnet were twin NACA style ducts, sunk into the metal and therefore efficiently suspect, and not connected to anything underneath either.



The ducts were painted black whether surrounded by semi flat black paint as on this car with the standard blacked out bonnet, or more highly visible on the body paint coloured bonnet cars with the delete option. However, it is interesting to note that this function was reversed during the XA’s life.

6 myths about work

By Penelope Trunk, June 10, 2007

Each generation revolutionizes something. Today's younger generation is revolutionizing work. The goals people have, their values and opportunities have all changed drastically in the last 10 years. The new workplace demands new rules for success, yet people continue to get outdated advice based on persistent workplace myths.

These myths about today's workplace are adapted from my new book, Brazen Careerist:

The New Rules for Success.

#1. Job hopping ruins your resume. Job hopping is one of the best ways to sustain passion and personal growth in your career. It also helps you build a network quickly and allows you to build your skill set faster than if you worked in the same job year after year. The learning curve is always highest at the beginning. And here's some good news for hoppers: Most people will have eight jobs between ages 18 and 32. This means most young workers are job hopping. So hiring managers have no choice but to hire job hoppers. Ride this wave and try a lot of jobs out yourself.

#2. Getting a promotion is good for you. Promotions aren't created with you in mind -- they're created with the company in mind. The company creates a ladder and tells you to climb it. But you need to pick the steps that are right for you. You deserve a customized career, so be wary of all promotions. Most people who are good at their nonmanagement jobs won't excel as leaders. It takes a very specific personality type to be better as a leader than as the worker who's actually doing the work. The irony is that people who are conscientious about getting their work done are promoted into leadership positions that don't value conscientiousness so much as being open to new ideas. Also, the average salary increase is 4 percent. Is that going to change your life in any meaningful way? Definitely not. This is why the idea of getting a promotion is so last century. Instead, negotiate for training, mentoring, or flex time. These are all things that will really improve your life and your career.

#3. You'll be happier if you have a job you like. The correlation between your happiness and your job is overrated. The most important factors, by far, are your optimism levels and your personal relationships. If you are a pessimist, a great job can't overcome that. (Think of the jerks at the top.) And if you have great friends and family, you can probably be happy even if you hate your job (imagine a garbage collector who's in love). So a job could make you unhappy, if it's a terrible job. But when it comes to really being happy, you need solid personal relationships and a job that doesn't interfere with you enjoying them.

#4. The glass ceiling still exists. The glass ceiling is gone, not because women crashed through, but because people are not looking up anymore. Life above the glass ceiling is 100-hour weeks, working for someone else, and no time for friends and family. Life above the glass ceiling is essentially about bribery. The company pays a lot of money in exchange for the employee giving up most of their time. Young people today think their time is worth too much to agree to something like that. And it's not only women who are saying no to the ladder: Men are as well. People want to customize success for themselves, not climb someone else's rungs. So if no one is climbing to the top, the glass ceiling isn't keeping anyone down.

#5. Going to grad school open doors. Grad school generally makes you less employable, not more. For example, people who get a graduate degree in the humanities would have had a better chance of surviving the Titanic than getting a tenured teaching job. And unless you are going to a top business school at the beginning of your career, you should not stop working to get the degree. Go to night school because you will not make up for the loss of income with the extra credential. Law school is one of the only graduate degrees that makes you more employable. Unfortunately it makes you more employable in a profession where people are more unhappy. Law school rewards perfectionism, and perfectionism is a risk factor for depression. Lawyers have little control over their work and hours, because they are at the beck and call of clients, and many are constantly working with clients who have problems lawyers cannot solve. These two traits in a job -- lack of control over workload and compromised ability to reach stated goals -- are the two biggest causes for burnout in jobs.

#6. Work hard and good things will come. You'll actually be rewarded only if you're likable. People get hired for their qualifications, but they get promoted because people like working with them. So spend your days trying to figure out what people need and what people want, and how you can help them. Empathy makes you likable. The people who don't want to have to deal with kindness will complain. But for most of us, it's a big relief to know that the workplace of the new millennium demands more kindness and respect than ever before. This is a workplace that rewards being nice rather than being a genius. The people who will complain about this situation will feel that the niceness isn't genuine. The people who are genuinely nice will not complain.

A man walks into a barber shop and asks, “How much for a hair cut?”
The barber said, "$12.50."
The man asks, “And how much for a shave?”
The barber said, "$1.50."
The man then says, "SHAVE IT ALL."

XY scoops - the final part

The XY used recessed, chromed and two eared push and twist lockdowns, and surrounded them with a protective black ring.

Value and live every moment like you have never done so before

"... the only time you ever have in which to learn anything or see anything or feel anything, or express any feeling or emotion, or respond to an event, or grow, or heal, is this moment, because this is the only moment any of us ever gets. You’re only here now; you’re only alive in this moment." - Jon Kabat-Zinn

Many people regularly squander their time. They live under the assumption that they'll live forever. As a result, they don't value the present as a precious opportunity that will never come again.

Others continually race against time, trying to cram too many activities into each hour, and suffering stress in the process.

In our view, we are more effective and most happy when we balance being and doing. We continually ask ourselves what’s most important to get done. And we’re learning to BE -- fully present -- when we do. We also regularly give ourselves permission to relax.

Make today really matter. It's all you'll ever have.

"Very few of us know how much we can put into life if we use it properly, wisely, and economically. Let us economize our time -- lifetimes ebb away before we wake up, and that is why we do not realize the value of the immortal time God has given us."

I don't agree

A student burst into his professor’s office and says; "Professor Stigler, I don't believe I deserve this F you've given me."
To which Stigler replied, "I agree, but unfortunately it is the lowest grade the University will allow me to award."

XY GT shaker

Yesterday I mentioned that the engine used the snorkel intake until the throttle was opened. This was the case with the ‘normal’ XY GT.

With the GTHO Phase3’s, things were slightly different.



Ford removed the snorkel and fitted a blanking panel, and let the 780cfm Holley carburettor take its air continuously through the Shaker.

As an aside, note the sticker on the front of the rocker cover reading ‘CK608A1’. This has some significance as it shows that the engine is a U.S. imported Cleveland engine as fitted to XW and XYs. The ‘K608’ signifies that is is a 4V engine - an M-code in U.S. VIN parlance - and ‘A1’ signifies that is is, A - First design level, and 1 - First revision. The ‘C’ prefix is unusual and doesn’t show up anywhere in Ford U.S. literature but is generally accepted to mean export.

To further digress, ‘CK617’ was the engine code for imported Clevelands fitted to XA and XB GTs. Very early on, all XAs, automatic and manual had imported ‘CK617’ engines, but the automatic cars quickly converted to Australian built 2V-style engines. Manual cars through XA were fitted with U.S. 4V engines, and some early manual XB GTs had ‘CK617’ engines also, before all XB GTs used Australian built 2V-style engines.

Bike safety

Always wear a helmet when riding near a cliff so that your head is protected as you plummet hundreds of metres to the rocks below.

Abu al-Zarqawi died, George Washington met him at the Pearly Gates. He slapped him across the face and yelled, "How dare you try to destroy the nation I helped conceive!"

Patrick Henry approached, punched him in the nose and shouted, "You wanted to end our liberties but you failed!"

James Madison followed, kicked him in the groin and said, "This is why I allowed our government to provide for the common defense!"

Thomas Jefferson was next, beat al-Zarqawi with a long cane and snarled "It was Evil men like you who inspired me to write the Declaration of Independence."

The beatings and thrashings continued as George Mason, James Monroe and 66 other early Americans unleashed their anger on the terrorist Leader.

As al-Zarqawi lay bleeding and in pain, an Angel appeared. Al-Zarqawi wept and said, "This is not what you promised me."

The Angel replied, "I told you there would be 72 Virginians waiting for you in Heaven. What did you think I said?"

XY scoop - The Shaker

The XY GT was, is and always will be known and recognised by it’s nickname, the Shaker. Borrowed from the 1969 and 1970 Mustangs, and 1970 and 1971 Torinos from Ford U.S.A. the XY shaker was mounted on top of the engine air cleaner. Under normal driving, the engine still used the usual snorkel inlet to the air cleaner under the bonnet, but exposed to full throttle, and operated by vacuum, the shaker suddenly opened up and sucked in as much cool air through its open mouth as it could. Visually, it poked through the open hole in the bonnet. And why was it known as the Shaker ? Because, at idle, it "shaked" (sorry), moving about with the quivering engine beneath the flat expanse of the bonnet.







The shaker attached to the air cleaner.



Note the ‘belled’ end to the air cleaner nozzle and the water drain tube leading down from the shaker on the right.

Quotable quotes

"Life is not life unless you make mistakes." - Joan Collins, British actress and author

They beat me

At a divorce court a family of bears is waiting for the judge to grant custody of little bear.
The judge asks the baby bear, “Do you want to live with papa bear?”
The baby bear replied, "No he beats me."
The judge asked, "So do you want to live with mommy bear!"
The baby bear said, "No she beats me too."
The judge asked, "Then whom do you want to live with?"
The baby bear says, "The Chicago bears, they don't beat anyone!"

XW bonnets

The XW bonnet has pin style bonnet lockdowns.



The underside of the XW scoop, showing the open slot, and its relationship with the brake master cylinder and servo.

One Last Assignment: Give Your Teachers an A+

By John Kelly. The Washington Post, Thursday, June 14, 2007; Page B03
If you can read this, thank a teacher.
If you can calculate a 15 percent tip, thank a teacher.
If you can find B flat on a clarinet, thank a teacher.
If you know how an oxbow lake forms or what photosynthesis is or what the green light in "The Great Gatsby" symbolizes, thank a teacher.
If you can speak intelligently about the causes of the Civil War or understand the passé composé or figure out the molarity of a sodium chloride solution, thank a teacher.

Thank a teacher, because you weren't born knowing this stuff. You were once a blank slate -- a tabula rasa -- and a teacher filled you in.
Thank a teacher if you know what tabula rasa means. Or in medias res. Or deus ex machina.

We don't really thank teachers enough, do we? And yet I can't think of people more vital to our future. You might be sitting in the Pentagon right now, directing some aspect of the global war on terrorism. You might be in an operating room, performing liposuction. You might be dribbling a basketball in the NBA finals. You might be doing something really, really important, but I have news for you: What you're doing isn't as important -- as sacred, as noble -- as teaching a child.

Or as hard. Can you imagine standing in front of 25 or 30 kids all day, every day? And not just standing in front of them, but teaching them, moulding their malleable little brains. You'd have to pay me to do that. (But evidently not too much. Shouldn't teachers earn as much as, say, newspaper columnists?)

Granted, you've had some bad teachers. You've had teachers who were barely a chapter ahead of you in the textbook. You've had teachers who failed to recognize your innate wonderfulness. There are people who aren't cut out to be teachers, just as there are people who shouldn't be architects or ballet dancers. But you've had some good teachers, too. If you're lucky, you've had one or two great ones, teachers who were enthusiastic about their calling, who inspired you, who made you understand.

It must be tough to be a teacher these days. First, there are the parents who don't impose any discipline whatsoever on their kids and expect schools to make up for the neglect that children suffer at home. Then there are the anxious, over-involved parents, the ones who say, "My child is gifted and talented" out of one corner of their mouths then ask out of the other: "Why are you giving him so much homework?"

Singing creatures

A man enters his local bar holding a frog and and iguana. He sets them down on the bar and says to the bartender, "I bet you $1000 that my frog here can sing any song you can think of."
"Ok," says the bartender. "How 'bout 'Blue Moon'?"
The man whispers something to the frog, and the frog starts singing blue moon.
"That's amazing," says the bartender as he slaps down $1000.
"I'll bet ya another $1000 that my iguana here can do that to."
"Ok, I can believe a frog, but not an iguana. You're on. Have him sing the Star Spangled Banner."
The man whispers something to the iguana and it sings the Star Spangled Banner. As the bartender hands over another $1000, a businessman comes up and says, "I just saw that and I was amazed. I want to buy your iguana for $100,000."
The man said ok, and he exchanged the iguana for the money and the businessman left. The bartender said "What are you nuts?! You could have made millions with that iguana!"
The man said "Oh, the iguana can't sing. The frog's a ventriloquist."

XW scoop

The XW scoop is a strange affair as it was functional, but not quite for the purpose one would expect.





The scoop was offset to sit in front of the driver, not to feed air to the engine, but to feed air via a metal duct to cool the brake master cylinder. A rather unique but debatable attempt to acknowledge and cure the problem of brake fade.