Principalship II

by Gayle Rhoads, February 1998
Keep your mind open to innovative ideas.
Don't take yourself too seriously. No one else does.
Lives are seldom ruined by one mistake. Humanity is resilient.
The loudest voice seldom represents the community.
Wisdom generally resides in understatement.
Don't be advised by only one person--unless, perhaps, that person is your superior.
Employ the best people you can find. Then let them do their work.
Eat and sleep regularly. An irregular life leads to irregular behaviour.
Finish what you start, but don't start too much.
Take mini vacations. An hour away changes the perspective.
Know the value of 24 hours. Many problems dissipate with time. Few worsen.
Listen to your Registrar. He/she knows things you don't know.
Don't impose your personal culture/values on others.
People don't always say what they mean. Look for the hidden agenda.
Don't leave the work to maintenance/subordinates. Lead the way in doing the dirty work.
Don't talk or act down to students. Respect their time and opinion. Don't assume a role of superiority.
Respect and guard classroom time. After all, that is what school is about.
Listen to the teachers. They know things you don't know or have forgotten.
The immature tend to take things too far. Don't lose your good sense or your good name by entering into the "spirit of the moment".
Don't think that what worked at the last place of employment will necessarily work here. You are not there. You are here.
Don't talk about your last school. This is your school now. Show ownership.
You don't always have to be right. Don't fight for your way. You won't always be right.
Detailed observation does not mean you see the big picture.
Adapt your posture and position to the situation.
Don't defend every hill.
Whenever possible have a witness.
Whenever possible work with the door open. Be sure your door has a window.
Evolution is preferable to revolution.
Society is complex. Simple answers to people problems usually don't work.
What we did "last year", and what we did "when I was in school", are not valid criteria today.
Be calm of spirit. If you do not exude calmness, do something else.
Enthusiasm and energy are important, but calmness is essential.
Listen and learn your first year. Make changes slowly and incrementally. Take your people with you.
Accept your new staff. They will become as good or better than you. Remember your past staff having been.
Kindness and goodness are more effective than brilliance.
Surround yourself with winners. Don't run with losers.
Don't accept too much responsibility. Some problems belong to others.
School behaviour reflects home behaviour. Parents understand more than you do. Don't let them deny it.
You wouldn't worry so much about what people think of you if you only knew how little they do.
"Planned ignoring" is a great tool. Some students need to be allowed to stop their own unacceptable behaviour.
If you do not (or a colleague does not) witness an event, handle all parties alike--or ignore it.
Trust your students. Accept their excuses or reasons. Then check it out. They cannot claim they were not trusted. If the excuse/ reason was not valid, then act.

Jump!

This guy goes up to a bar located at the top of the Empire State Building in New York. It looks like a nice place, and he takes a seat at the bar.

"This is a nice place. I've never been here before," he says to the guy next to him.
"Oh, really?" the other replies. "It is a nice place. It's also a very special bar."
"Why is that?" the first guy asks. "Well, do you see that painting on the far wall? That's an original Van Gogh, and this stool I'm sitting on was on the Titanic."
"Gee, that's amazing!" says the first guy.
"Not only that, but you see that window over there, fourth from the right? Well, the wind does strange things outside that window. If you jump out you'll fall about 50 feet before the wind catches you and you're pushed back up."
"No way! That's impossible," the guy scoffs.
"Not at all. Take a look," the other man replies, and with that he walks over to the window and opens it. He climbs over the sill and falls out. He drops 10... 20... 30... 40...50 feet, comes to a stop, and whoosh -- he comes right back up and sails back through the window. "See? It's fun. You should try it," he says.
"Try it? I don't even believe I saw it!" the first man shouts.
"It's easy. Watch, I'll do it again." And with that, he falls out the window again. He drops 10... 20... 30... 40... 50 feet, comes to a stop, and whoosh -- he comes right back up and sails back through the window. "Give it a try. It's a blast," he says.
"Well, what the heck, I'll give it a try," the first man says, and proceeds to fall out the window. He falls 10... 20... 30... 40... 50...60...70...80...90... 100 feet and splat -- he ends up as road pizza on the sidewalk.
After watching this, the second guy casually closes the window, heads back to the bar and orders a drink. The bartender arrives with the drink and says, "You know, Superman, you're a real jerk when you're drunk."

Globe facts

Ford only ever offered the Bathurst Globes from the factory or through dealers as 7 x 15 inch wheels, throughout its life as a Ford offered product.

Bathurst Globes were offered for fitment to several cars. The first giveaway batch that went on to XY’s. The second batch were offered as an option - Option 54 - for fitting to XB’s. They were fitted as standard fitment to all of the 400 XC Cobra’s. And they were fitted as standard on XD ESP’s.

Bathurst Globes fitted to XY’s can be identified by the small centre hub hole of 2.5 inch diameter. This small hole is covered with a smaller, in comparison with all the later Globes, chromed centre cap with a spun alloy centre held fixed to the wheel with five screws very similar, if not the same as, the Sports Road Wheel described above.

Words and thoughts

"Oh the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are -- chaff and grain together -- certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with the breath of kindness blow the rest away.…” Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Change your course!

Through the pitch-black night, the captain sees a light dead ahead on a collision course with his ship. He sends a signal: “Change your course 10 degree east.”
The light signals back: “Change yours, 10 degrees west.”
Angry, the captain sends: “I’m a navy captain! Change your course, sir!”
“I’m a seaman, second class,” comes the reply. “Change your course, sir.”
Now the captain is furious. “I’m a battleship! I’m not changing course!”
There is one last reply. “I’m a lighthouse. Your call.”

Globes

As time passed, and inspired by their introduction to the Australian motoring public by their appearance at and association with the 1972 Bathurst race, and Allan Moffat’s XY GTHO Phase3 Falcon, they have become, almost universally, ‘Bathurst Globes’ and the Daytona association has been largely forgotten.

The future

"The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is." - C. S. Lewis, Irish author

Music troubles

A musical director was having a lot of trouble with one drummer. He talked and talked and talked with the drummer, but his performance simply didn't improve.
Finally, before the whole orchestra, he said, "When a musician just can't handle his instrument and doesn't improve when given help, they take away the instrument, and give him two sticks, and make him a drummer."
A stage whisper was heard from the percussion section: "And if he can't handle even that, they take away one of his sticks and make him a conductor."

More Globes

The actual wheel, as manufactured by Globe products, was originally known by its model name, Daytona. Why ? Well, a look at the wheels fitted to Ferrari’s Daytona car shows from where the design was ‘inspired’.

Ferrari Daytona front wheel.



Ferrari Daytona rear wheel.

Collective consciousness

The world we are experiencing today is the result of our collective consciousness, and if we want a new world, each of us must start taking responsibility for helping create it." -- Rosemary Fillmore Rhea
Below are 7 levels of consciousness that clearly outline a path for our evolving consciousness:
- tribal and mass consciousness - one obeys the group and lives by trial and error
- individual consciousness - one develops a stronger sense of self and ego
- seeker’s consciousness - one asks questions and seeks independence
- intuitive consciousness - one develops the heart and is becoming spiritually aware
- group consciousness - one serves a higher good filling the needs of others
- soul consciousness - one experiences spiritual service.

Shhhhhh

A Sunday school teacher asked her little children, as they were on the way to church service, "And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?" One bright little girl replied, "Because people are sleeping."

Globes continued

Among Australian Ford fans, this wheel is probably the most admired, sought after and possibly misunderstood wheel of all. Hopefully, we can unravel some of the mystery.

The Bathurst Globe wheel was originally designed and produced by Globe Products of South Australia who were contracted to produce 200 sets to fit to the XA GTHO Phase4 Falcon, which was to be the basis for Ford’s continuing onslaught in the touring car wars in Australia in 1972. However, when the ‘supercar’ hysteria broke out, and the Phase4 was cancelled, Ford were left with the 200 sets. They were also left with no where else to go in their racing program but back to using the XY based Phase3 as their race car. This, of course, resulted in the appearance that Ford, while selling XA’s from their showrooms, were racing ‘last year’s car’. In an attempt to keep the Phase3 competitive, Ford gave away the 200 sets of wheels to Phase3 owners, so that they could be homologated for use in late 1972 in XY GTHO Phase3 race cars. There were good reasons for this desire to use the Bathurst Globes. They were 7 x 15 inch wheels, one inch wider and one inch taller than the steel wheels used in the Phase3’s previous racing season. They were stronger than the steel wheels, they contributed to far better cooling of the car’s brakes, and they allowed access to a much wider range of racing tyre in 15 inch diameter, while also allowing road users to access lower profile - 60 series - street rubber.

There’s a Hole In Their Thinking

(Sung to the tune of There’s a Hole in the Bucket)
You know the student who has excuse after excuse for the homework that’s missing. “I did it. I really did. I just left it at home.” And the student who’s brought in homework that’s clearly been chewed: “You’ll never believe this, but my dog actually did eat it.” It does happen, of course, but more often than not, you’re simply listening to a student’s creative powers of excuse-making.

There’s a hole in your thinking, dear student, dear student,
A hole in your thinking, dear student, a hole.
Well, I don’t get your meaning, dear teacher, dear teacher.
I don’t get your meaning, dear teacher, I don’t.
Well, I gave you some homework, dear student, dear student.
It’s well overdue now, dear student, it is.
But my grandmother’s ailing, dear teacher, dear teacher.
My grandmother’s ailing, dear teacher, she is.
Did you bring me a note from your mother, dear student?
A note from your mother, dear student, would do.
Well, my mother’s away with my ailing grandmother.
My mother‘s too busy to write you right now.
Well, your father could write me that letter, dear student.
Your father could write me, dear student, he could.
But my father is travelling in China, dear teacher.
My father is travelling in China, he is.
Well, you have ‘til tomorrow to bring the assignment.
You have ‘til tomorrow to do it, you do.
Well, tomorrow is here and I did it, dear teacher.
I did the assignment, but left it at home.
Well, you have ‘til the end of the day still to bring it.
You have ‘til the end of the day, then no more.
Well, this time I brought it, dear teacher, dear teacher.
I brought it and put it inside your mailbox.
Well, I looked in my mailbox and I could not find it.
I looked in my mailbox and it was not there.
I’ll check in my backpack, dear teacher, dear teacher.
I’ll just be a minute; oh, look here it is.
But it’s all crumpled up and I barely can read it.
It’s all crumpled up with no sign of your name.
Well, I’ll sign my name on it, dear teacher, dear teacher.
I’ll sign my name; now can we say that it’s done?
Well, I checked your work over, dear student, dear student.
There’s only one problem and here’s what it is.
But I answered the questions, dear teacher, dear teacher.
I answered the questions; I answered them all.
Yes, you answered completely, dear student, dear student,
But all of your answers are just like your friend’s!
Well, I don’t know how that could have possibly happened.
We must think alike ‘cause we’re very good friends.
There’s a hole in your thinking, dear student, dear student;
A hole in your thinking, dear student, a hole.

Stats

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.

The Bathurst Globe

Undiscovered Country

by Forrest Stone

Neil Armstrong went up to the moon one fine day
And Byrd flew right over the Pole
James Cook was the guy who turned scurvy away
For De Anza, L.A. was the goal
Eric the Red went to Greenland, it's said
Flinders found Tasmania an isle
Gagarin was first to fly space overhead
And Hillary topped Everest with a smile
The alphabet could be explored, right through it
To Zhang Quian, who went to the Steppes
But none with more courage than the poor substitute
Who into a new classroom schleps
The substitute teacher – explorer for sure!
As courageous as Clark or Da Gama
For the natives encountered on that cote d' azure
Will soon have you crying for Mama

The poet and the scientist

A poet and a scientist were traveling together on a plane. The scientist was bored and said to the poet, "Hey, you, do you want to play a game? I'll ask you a question, and if you get it wrong, you give me $5. Then, you ask me a question, and if I can't answer it, I'll give you $5."
The poet thought about this for a moment, but he decided against it, seeing that the scientist was obviously a very bright man. He politely turned down the scientist's offer.
The scientist, who was really bored, tried again. "Look, I'll ask you a question, and if you can't answer it, you give me $5. Then you ask me a question, and if I can't answer it, I'll give you $50."
The poet agreed. "Okay," the scientist said, "what is the exact distance between the Earth and the Moon?"
The poet, obviously not knowing the answer, didn't stop to think about the scientist's question. He took a $5 bill out of his pocket and handed it to the scientist.
The scientist happily accepted the bill and promptly said, "Okay, now it's your turn."
The poet thought about this for a few minutes, then asked, "All right, what goes up a mountain on three legs, but comes down on four?"
The bright glow quickly vanished from the scientist's face. He thought about this for a long time, taking out his notepad and making numerous calculations. He finally gave up on his notepad and took out his laptop, using his Multimedia Encyclopedia. As the plane was landing the scientist gave up. He reluctantly handed the poet a $50 bill.
The poet accepted it graciously, getting ready to stand up. "Wait!" the scientist shouted, "you can't do this to me! What's the answer?"
The poet looked at the scientist and calmly put a $5 bill into his hand.

Sports road wheels continued

The Sports Road wheel were Option 52 on the option sheet, and were either a factory ordered option, or could be installed by the dealer. They had alloy centres and steel rims and were heavier than the steel wheels they were an option to replace.

The Sports Road wheel had the same chromed centre cap with a spun alloy centre and five screw fixing method as the Bathurst Globe alloy wheels. Originally, the fixing screws were Phillips headed.

The wheel nuts are not the same as those used for the Bathurst Globe wheel. The Sports wheel nut has a flat top - as opposed to the slightly pointed top to the Globe wheel nut - and, more importantly, they do not have a washer, but instead have a taper which fits into the rim without a washer. This is the same wheel nut that was used later on the XC GXL Falcon’s mag wheels.

The Sports Road wheel was made in Australia by R.O.H. and is not the same as the wheel fitted to the U.S. 1969/70 Shelby Mustang which was all alloy with more prominent, wider spokes. It continued to be offered as an option through the XB Falcon even though Ford swapped from a small centre hub hole of 2.5 inches, to a larger hub centre hole of 2.75inches. The later version had a ‘step down’ to cater for the larger hub.

The Sports Road wheel has its date of manufacture and part number stamped on the inside edge of the rim. The tyre has to be removed to see this. It was not just an option fitted to GT’s, but could fitted right across the model range, including utes and panel vans.

Thoughts Become Things... They Really Do!

By Josh Hinds

As I'm writing this I'm looking at my vision board (if you're not familiar with what that is, don't fret, I'll touch on it more below).

On it are several things (goals) I want to see manifest in my life. At the top it reads very simply... 'Vision Board -- with the saying, "Thoughts Become things". By the way, I'm fully aware that some folks would read that and make the assumption that just because a person thinks they want something, and give thought to it, that it is simply not enough to necessarily achieve it. To which I would concede, that's partially true.

Now here's the rub... Assuming that's true, that the thoughts and ideas we focus on most become real and tend to show up in our lives it's worth pointing out that the old saying doesn't discriminate. Listen up, because it's that important. Here's what I am saying... if you're focused in on negative things, you're going to see negative results and events creep into your life. Just the same as if you were focused in on positive things or events.

Unfortunately, the reality is that it works both ways.

So assuming you'll concede that our dominant thoughts (either positive or negative) tend to become our reality -- doesn't it make sense to think (and take action on) the things you want to see in your life, rather than those you don't? Remember, either way you're going to get something... so it might as well be of your choosing don't you agree? :-)

Now before you think I've broken my promise from above to cover vision boards, here's a quick overview, it's by no means exhaustive, but I think it's worth mentioning in case you're not familiar with them. First, there are any number of ways to make your vision
board as elaborate as you'd like. I won't attempt to say you have to include all the bells and whistles on yours for it to be effective. It's a personal preference.

Personally, I'd have to admit that the one I'm currently looking at of mine is pretty blah -- but it isn't the design or layout that's powerful, it's the thoughts/things that are on it. It's a piece of cut out cardboard where I have included some written goals and pictures which represent the things I'd like to see transpire in my life.

Again, it's not particularly attractive, but that's not really the point. What is important is that when I focus on those things on my vision board, my mind can more easily go to work doing the things which will drive me towards taking the necessary actions which are needed if I want to see those things become a reality.
Vision boards work, because they help to keep us plugged into those things which we want to achieve. But like anything, you can't just keep your vision board hidden away where you never see it. Think of it like a billboard, but instead of advertising (which are things others want you to notice) you're putting thoughts about your goals and dreams -- those things which are important to you into your mind on an ongoing basis.

Computers vs cars

At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated "If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving twenty-five dollar cars that got 1000 mi/gal."
Recently General Motors addressed this comment by releasing the statement: "Yes, but would you want your car to crash twice a day?"
Not only that, but....
Every time they repainted the lines on the road you would have to buy a new car.
Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason, and you would just accept this, restart and drive on.
Occasionally, executing a maneuver would cause your car to stop and fail and you would have to re-install the engine. For some strange reason, you would accept this too.
You could only have one person in the car at a time, unless you bought "Car95" or "CarNT". But, then you would have to buy more seats.
Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast, twice as easy to drive, but would only run on five percent of the roads.
The Macintosh car owners would get expensive Microsoft upgrades to their cars, which would make their cars run much slower.
The oil, gas and alternator warning lights would be replaced by a single "general car default" warning light.
New seats would force everyone to have the same size butt.
The airbag system would say "are you sure?" before going off.
If you were involved in a crash, you would have no idea what happened.