More changeovers

But, of course, this is not the end of the story, because after the XB came the XC, and as well as changing much mechanically and giving the Falcon a facelift, the XC also had a completely new dash.

Shells

I live in Florida in an area that is famous for its shells. Many tourists wake up at 5:00 in the morning to find the best shells. Living here, we have learned where to find the best shells and how to look for them. A lot of tourists spend time walking up and down the shore on the same beach and they don't tend to find very interesting stuff. And I figure, since I live here, there's no real point in looking for shells for myself since I already have a big collection. So, whenever I find really nice shells (and sand dollars- those are not easy to find but are in high demand), I go out at night and scatter them along the beach for some lucky tourist to find.

Once I saw a family find a really pretty sand dollar I had left and they were so excited! It made their vacation. Plus, they were from Europe and they had travelled a long way for their vacation. I was so glad that someone deserving got my little gift! I'll continue to leave more shells along the beach whenever I can!

Hearing test

Seems an elderly gentleman had serious hearing problems for a number of years.
He went to the doctor and the doctor was able to have him fitted for a set of hearing aids that allowed the gentleman to hear 100%. The elderly gentleman went back in a month to the doctor and the doctor said, "Your hearing is perfect. Your family must be really pleased you can hear again."
To which the gentleman said, "Oh, I haven't told my family yet. I just sit around and listen to the conversations. I've changed my will five times!"

Dash it

Well, the dash changeovers lesson was relatively straight forward.

Except.



This a dash from an XA GT RPO83 car.

The RPO83 was a special model produced by Ford as a means of homologating parts so that they could be used in the ATCC race cars. Originally, there was supposed to have been a Phase4 version of the XA model that Ford would have sold to the public and used as the basis for its race cars, but the Phase4 was cancelled, and the RPO - Regular Production Option - 83 was offered instead, almost as quiet method of slipping some of the ‘race’ car parts out of the factory door.

What interests us is that the RPOs were all produced at the end of the XA model run. Production was started in May but was then delayed by ten weeks of strikes so the vast majority of RPO83’s were built in August, 1973, the month before XB production was due to start. As a result, while the early - May - cars had the standard \ / \ / XA auxilliary gauge dash, quite a few of the later - August - ones came with the strange combination shown above, \ / / / with the fuel and temperature gauges from the XB model.

Knowledge

~ To imagine is everything, to know is nothing at all. – Anatole France, The Crime of Sylvester Beranard, 1881.

Generation

Our generation never got a break. When we were young they taught us to respect our elders. Now that we are older, they tell us to listen to the youth of the country.

Model changeovers continued

Here is a further view of the XB.

Apply what you know

"Knowledge of any kind ... brings about a change in awareness from where it is possible to create new realities." -- Deepak Chopra

As we evolve, we handle knowledge in different ways. We tend to move through these stages:
- We are unaware.
- We become aware of facts, data, information.
- We comprehend meaning from the facts.
- We can personally apply the information in our lives.
- We have wisdom - enlightened, we can lovingly apply our knowledge to world affairs.
- We live in truth.
How have you personally experienced a shifting of applying knowledge from one level to the next?

"More important than finding the teacher is finding and following the truth of the teaching...." Sogyal Rinpoche

Deduction

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson went on a camping trip. After a good meal and a bottle of wine, they lay down for the night, and went to sleep.
Some hours later, Holmes awoke and nudged his faithful friend.
"Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see."
Watson replied, "I see millions and millions of stars."
"What does that tell you?" Holmes asked.
Watson pondered for a minute. "Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets.
Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, I can see that God is all-powerful and that we are small and insignificant.
Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow.
What does it tell you?"
Holmes was silent for a minute, then spoke.
"Watson, you idiot. Somebody has stolen our tent!"

Dash changeovers

This is the XB. Notice that the gauges have been changed so the at rest position of the needles in the auxillary gauges is more logical, and exhibits a pattern that resembles, / / / /

Green schools

The Independent. London: Ministers aim to turn every secondary school 'green' By Richard Garner, Education Editor , Published: 16 April 2007
Every new secondary school will be "green" under a radical initiative being planned by the Government. The Education Secretary, Alan Johnson, has won £100m from Chancellor Gordon Brown's comprehensive spending review to ensure all new secondary schools are designed to be carbon neutral or at the very least substantially reduce carbon emissions.
Ministers are planning to refurbish or rebuild every secondary in the country by the end of the next decade. The programme will start with £110m to ensure that 200 new schools that are to be built over the next three years are designed to reduce carbon emissions. School designs that include such features as wind turbines, solar panels, insulated windows and low-emission light bulbs will account for £72m. In addition, £10m will be spent on twinning the schools with schools abroad to learn how to tackle issues such as rainforest preservation and planting new forests.
In the initial stage, it is estimated that the new measures will reduce carbon emissions by 140,000 tonnes. However, if it is successful, it will be extended to the rest of the Government's Building Schools for the Future scheme - under which every secondary will be refurbished or rebuilt over the next decade. Mr Johnson has estimated at least 2,000 of the 2,950 schools will become "environmentally friendly" within the next decade. Officials say, though, it is far easier to reduce carbon emissions in new or rebuilt schools than those that are refurbished.
The initiative will build on the achievements of St Francis of Assisi Academy in Liverpool which became the first specialist "green" school when it opened last year. The school gets electricity from solar panels. All seven Year 7 classes for pupils aged 11 and 12, also have a garden attached, which are cultivated with £1,000 a year each from the school budget. Mr Johnson said the initial extra cash would set "even higher standards for new and refurbished schools to reduce their carbon emissions - in some cases up to carbon neutrality".
"If we succeed, this could result in 2,000 carbon neutral secondary schools enabling us to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by eight million tonnes over the next decade," he added. "Our schools can be built to last into the next century but they should be constructed to enable the planet to survive for the centuries beyond."
The measures will be coupled with support for encouraging pupils to walk or cycle to school. Mr Johnson's initiative follows a decision earlier in the year to order a review of the geography curriculum to ensure issues like climate change and global warming are give more prominence in lessons. He said: "Climate change threatens the very future of our planet. With rising temperatures, melting ice caps and frequent reminders about our carbon footprints, we should all be thinking about what we can do individually to preserve the planet for future generations. In many ways, children inspire environmental debate."

Overworked

For a couple years I 've been blaming it on lack of sleep and too much pressure from my job, but now I found out the real reason: I'm tired because I'm overworked. The population of this country is 237 million. 104 million are retired. That leaves 133 million to do the work. There are 85 million in school, which leaves 48 million to do the work. Of this there are 29 million employed by the federal government, leaving 19 million to do the work. 2.8 million are in the Armed Forces, which leaves 16.2 million to do the work. Take from the total the 14,800,000 people who work for State and City Governments and that leaves 1.4 million to do the work. At any given time there are 188,000 people in hospitals, leaving 1,212,000 to do the work. Now, there are 1,211,998 people in prisons. That leaves just two people to do the work. You and me. And you're sitting at your computer reading jokes.

From yesterday - dash changeovers

There are some, but they don’t show up too well, so here are some close ups.



This is the ‘sports’ instrumentation on an XA. Notice that the gauges are at rest, and as such, the needles in the auxillary gauges assume a pattern that resembles \ / \ /



And another close up of an XA GT dash from another car.

Imagingation

Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution. – Albert Einstein

Chicken

So there's this man with a parrot. And his parrot swears like a sailor, I mean he's a pistol. He can swear for five minutes straight without repeating himself.
The trouble is that the guy who owns the parrot is a quiet, conservative type, and this bird's foul mouth is driving him crazy.
One day, it gets to be too much, so the guy grabs the bird by the throat, shakes him really hard, and yells, "QUIT IT!" But this just makes the bird mad and he swears more than ever.
Then the guy gets mad and says, "That's it. I'll get you." and locks the bird in a kitchen cabinet.
This really aggravates the bird and he claws and scratches, and when the guy finally lets him out, the bird cuts loose with a stream of invective that would make a veteran sailor blush.
At that point, the guy is so mad that he throws the bird into the freezer.
For the first few seconds, there is a terrible din. The bird kicks and claws and thrashes. Then it suddenly goes very quiet.
At first the guy just waits, but then he starts to think that the bird may be hurt. After a couple of minutes of silence, he's so worried that he opens up the freezer door.
The bird calmly climbs onto the man's outstretched arm and says, "Awfully sorry about the trouble I gave you. I'll do my best to improve my vocabulary from now on."
The man is astounded. He can't understand the transformation that has come over the parrot.
Then the parrot says, "By the way, what did the chicken do?"

Dashes and ‘GT’ Instrumentation

This is the dash from an XA GT.



And this is a dash from an XB GT. Any differences ?

These Are a Few Things a Teacher Should Read

by Forrest Stone
(to the tune of "These are a Few of My Favourite Things")

Rousseau and Skinner and old Montessori
Jonathan Kozol sure writes a sad story
Steiner and Adler might make your eyes bleed
But these are a few things a teacher should read
Erickson, Froebel, and Constructivism
Hirsch versus Bloom was a really good schism
John Dewey’s classic, “My Ped’gogic Creed”
These are a few things a teacher should read

When the peace breaks, when the kid screams
When you’re turning puce
You look back at these theoretical tracts
And suddenly they’re … no use!

It's all in the punctuation

An English professor wrote the words, "Woman without her man is nothing" on the blackboard and directed his students to punctuate it correctly.
The men wrote: "Woman, without her man, is nothing."
The women wrote: "Woman: Without her, man is nothing."

Model changeovers 2

This is a fine example of an XB GS coupe which was built very late in the XB’s production run, and what do we find




Yes, it has XC style rear wings. The conclusion is that Ford, or whoever was contracted to supply the stampings, must have started production of the XC style wings and the supply of XA/XB style wings became exhausted too early so they used the new style wings that had been delivered to the factory.

The first documented XB hardtop with XC rear marker lights I have knowledge of is a July, 1975 GT, and the next is an October, 1975 John Goss Special. July, 1975 is very early, considering XC’s were introduced in July, 1976.

Bright ideas for this week

1. Have Staff room Beautification Days: These are fun. It's a time when your team can create a place they want to spend time in – this may include plants, posters and cushions etc. Furniture gets moved, walls painted, artwork renewed and areas are often created for relaxation and work. If you do this on a non teaching day - come dressed in casual attire and play music as you work. This day is always a great team builder.

2. Staff meetings running too long? Have Stand Up Meetings: Meetings are a necessity of the job .... To shorten meetings have all participants stand ... I guarantee the meeting will be the quickest, most efficient you have ever had!

3. Celebrate All the Little Wins: Celebrate everyday the work your teachers are doing every day. Even if its by simply acknowledging it. The work of a teacher is one of the most important jobs. Value it. Celebrate it.

4.Give to Receive: One way staff can keep their morale up was to send little positive, cheerful notes to each other. As teachers you give to students all day but what about team members. The fastest way to get a smile, is to give one. Random acts of kindness - just doing the little things to make people feel special, should not only be reserved for Christmas, Birthdays and Special Occasions. Make everyday special.