Saturday
2nd April 2005Today was not a good day. The temperature rose to 37°C outside, and so we had all the windows closed and the curtains drawn. Thomas was miserable and complaining all day, and only calmed when he had his dose of antibiotics for his throat. Both Ann and I had headaches and were stressed about the house.
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After yesterday's heat, the temperature today was considerably lower at 22°C. It also rained early in the morning, which took all the dust out of the air and coated it all over our cars. Over the last few days, the hot wind has whipped up a lot of the dry soil into the air, reducing visibility to a few metres in some places, and now the rain has brought it all down.
Thomas is learning all the time. We did a bit of packing today and we were storing all the filled boxes into the spare bedroom, and when Thomas saw me carrying a heavy box, he ran over to the door of the spare bedroom and started reaching for the door handle. Ann says that whenever she has the laundry basket in her hands, that Thomas runs to the laundry door.
The Pope's death has been all over the news today, but it's also been the first item on the news for the last few days. It seems a pity that you only get a summary of all the good things that someone has done in their life, when they are dead. I never really knew the impact that John-Paul II had on the world.
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A frustrating day at work today dealing with suppliers and
confusions between departments, but everything came out good in the end.
It's the same view that we are having about the house purchase - it will all
end up good at the end. So far we are having to put down a 25% deposit and jump
through hoops with paperwork.
Today at the Astronomy course we had a guest speaker - John Dobson. For people who know nothing about astronomy he may not be a recognisable figure, but consider John Dobson as the equivalent of seeing a talk by Galileo. John Dobson created the Dobsonian telescope, which is a way of mounting the telescope in a way that allows it to be larger. He also popularises astronomy, and encourages people to look "down" into the night sky so that you get a feeling of how "deep" the sky is, instead of looking "up".
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Thomas was in daycare today. He is still suffering from "separation anxiety"! It upsets Ann to leave him but the childcare workers assure her that he does settle down quite quickly and is back to his happy self. Ann was contacted today in relation to a job she applied for at a solicitors office in Adelaide - she has an interview next Tuesday which sounds very promising. The employers have already checked Ann's references, which shows that they are serious and have considered Ann's applicability instead of just interviewing all candidates. It will be typical that Ann will get a job just when we are meant to be moving!
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The days are getting shorter now but we are still enjoying warm weather. Thomas had a great time at the Kindergym today, clambering over all the childrens toys and climbing frames. After the class, the children are involved in a 20 cent raffle. It is really cute to watch Thomas get involved and walk over to the instructor of the class and put his 20 cent piece into the raffle box. She then gives him a ticket and he looks so pleased with himself when he hands the ticket to his mummy! As soon as Ann hands Thomas the coin, he gives a happy smile and goes straight to the raffle box - he learns so quickly.
The news today is mostly about the two main stories - the people queuing to see the Pope being visible from space, and Charles and Camilla (the horse and groom - sorry, Bride and Groom) and The Sun getting into Windsor castle. There have also been stories about Multiplex crane operators being under threat of being shot.
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Yesterday it had come to light that a mistake had been made
by the trainee at work. It was a small slip, but it was quite a useful event
to occur, as it pointed out a tiny gap in the procedure where we quality check work before it is deployed.
The trainee was quite concerned about having made the mistake, and some of the
other guys in the office were winding up the trainee and telling him that there
would have to be a scapegoat and that he would be sacked. Luckily he knew that
he was being wound up, but this made me think about the dynamic of a group of
men.
In any group of men (or boys), there is always an effort to
become the leader of the pack. This is often understood by people within the
group, and the men will either attempt to get to the top of the pile, or accept
that they are not going to be the leader.
W hat is often ignored is that in this dynamic, there will always be someone
at the bottom of the pile. The men in the group will use the person at the bottom
of the pile as the scapegoat, the target of jokes, or the designated driver.
The thing is that most of the other men in the group will likely believe that
the jokes are harmless and secretly be glad that they are not in that position
within the group.
The problem is that if there is a guy that is at the bottom of the group who
simply accepts that it is his position to be the target of jokes, to
be paid out, and to be forever seen as the bottom of the pile, then he will
never be anything else - no matter what group he is in.
For some groups of men or boys, the focus of the heirarchy in the group is on
who is at the bottom, rather than who is at the top. In this sort of group,
there is more digging and joke playing than collaboration or teamwork.
The advice that I gave to the trainee is that he should understand that there
is always a bottom to every pile, but he should ensure that he is not always
there, not to consider himself as the perpetual target.
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