Perfection 06.30.17

                Although some people do not want to refer to themselves as being perfect, I don’t mind. Now as you may know I am somewhat less than perfect, but some of the things I do and or write about, are actually perfect! I have taken a photo in the back yard of the Ford Homestead. The grand kids were swimming and I was standing there as the life guard when I observed perfection.            

                We were in the shade but the sun was cutting through the trees and there were spots of sun light hitting me and the ground. As I moved to get out of the sun light and back into the shade I noticed the sun shining on some small flowers. I reached for the somewhat smart phone and took the following photo. This photo is as close as possible to being perfect as anything can be.

                It is as if I had planned the photo and provided the light, but this is nature in its best!

If you do not click on this photo to enjoy the beauty, the perfection of something so simple, then you are the one who is missing out on a wonderful life experience!

Beauty is all around us, look and you shall see!

Don Ford

Three types 06.29.17

            In today’s sermon, lesson, disclosure or any term you want to use, I will present my view of how prayers are answered. In today sermon, I am focused on healings after prayer, but answers to any prayer may be considered in this discourse. 

I feel, it is necessary to present this information in order to help some believers understand, that praying for something, “does not mean it will always happen in a flash”. In truth, the flash answer to prayer (Miracle) is rather rare.             

            As I see it there are three methods used to answer ones prayer, all of which have been provided by your God. These methods, as I know them are, Miracle, Normal and Understanding. Some of these titles may seem odd to you, so I will attempt to explain. 

            “Miracle”, one prays and one immediately receives. This doesn’t happen often, and when it does, many are skeptical and do not believe. 

            “Normal”, The normal healing process is built into the human body by God. Praying for a healing indicates one has faith, and faith indicates a positive attitude which in itself makes most situations better. The positive attitude or God, (however you want to look at it) turns on the bodies healing process and the healing comes over a period of time.  

            “Understanding”, is the least considered method of answers to prayer. One prays for something to happen such as a healing or help with a situation. The answer to their prayer comes when their Deity gives them an understanding that they should seek help from a person who is knowledgeable in this type situation, such as a lawyer, contractor, human resources, a doctor or possibly a friend. With that understanding, this person then takes action, (taking action is helping yourself, rather than expecting God to do your work) by getting help with their situation. The help they receive is the answer to their prayer.

 

Questions or comments?

 

Don Ford

Water leak 06.28.17

                The following are some photos of the recent repair project to the Ford’s water system. There was a leak, and it was under the drive way. It was decided to put a new water line from the meter box to the house. Photos to follow.

They made a trench along the driveway, around the end and to the house.

Water connected, they left the trench open all night. I cleaned the drive way so I could bring our vehicles back in for the night. I also picked up the larger rocks that were dug up, so they would not be reintroduced into the trench and new water line.

They returned the next day and filled in the trench.

                As we see, the trench has been covered and the drive cleaned off. All I need to do now is to back the Ford’s Chevy back onto the drive. Don’t ask what all this cost, just send your donations to the Ford Homestead Foundation in amounts of $100 or more, thanks. 

                Now we need to get the ice maker repaired, yep the top ice maker stopped working and that is the one that my first wife uses!

                Next we have to take Tres to the vet, which will probably cost more than the water line repair. Oh, we are taking our cat Molly to the vet also.

When you donate to The Ford Foundation,

Please indicate where you want the funds to be used,

Water line repair, Vet for dog, vet for cat!

Don Ford

Ghosts are they real 06.27.17

                Have you ever seen a better title? The correct answer is NO! It’s my blog, and if I think it’s the best title ever then, “it is”!

                Today is Sunday, and this will be posted at a later date. Why do I provide you with pertinent information, because I want you to understand the setting of this writing? My wife has been feeling bad today, she says she may have a kidney infection, so I have tried to let her rest and not bother her. Yes I have checked with her about every 30 minutes to see if she needs anything. Having the water turned off don’t help, as she and I use the rest rooms. Yes I turn the water on so we can flush the commodes.

                I have been sitting outside playing some solitaire and I have had some peanuts along with an adult beverage. As I sat there it occurred to me that it is cooler inside than outside and I also thought about ghosts for some unknown reason.

                I have two real ghost stories. First off, let me assure you, there are ghosts, but the two that I have experienced would not harm anyone.

                The most recent experience was when I was staying at my sister’s home in Missouri, a couple weeks ago. I did not tell her of the experience, as she has told me of hearing noises in her home many times. I had gone to bed and was in the bed for a couple minutes when I saw something float across the ceiling. It was more or less lines, kind of like an outline of something. My eyes were partially open when the siting took place. When I opened my eyes wide open there was nothing there.  I thought that was odd, but I pushed the specter out of my mind, as just being tired.

                I rolled over making myself comfortable. As I lay there I felt something walk up the bed along my back. Now this was just like when our cat Molly gets on the bed behind me at home. She will walk up the bed and when she gets to my shoulder she will use her paw, and touch my shoulder so I will roll over and pet her. I actually rolled over to see if there was something on the bed with me, there was not! 

                There was another time when I was about 13 maybe 14 years old. We lived on south Ellis Street in Missouri. My brother and I slept upstairs, I had the front bed room and he had the larger back bed room. I had been in bed for a while when I heard Jack open the door at the bottom of the stairs. The door closed and I could hear him sneaking up the stairs. I knew he was going to try to scare me, so I slipped out of bed and eased over to the door. I stood there with a big grin on my face, knowing I was going to scare him! The stairs squeaked when he stepped on each step as he got closer to the top of the stairs.

                The time was right, I jumped out and hollered, “Surprise”, very loud! There was no one there. I heard something step on each step as it came up the stairs, but then there was no one there. I wasn’t dreaming, I was awake!

                Ghosts are real! You don’t have to agree, but I am right!          

May all your ghosts be friendly!

Don Ford

It rained 06.26.17

                Saturday morning the rain came through Hewitt and there was some close sounding thunder (lightning) early that morn. All total we received, per the Ford Homestead’s rain gage, one and one eighth inch of precipitation but that is not the entire water story. We have a water line leaking near the drive way which was discovered Friday afternoon. We are in hopes that it is not under the drive way.

                Friday afternoon I call the plumber who was busy, he said they might be able to get to us on Saturday. I then proceeded to dig where the leak was coming out of the ground. I would dig dirt out and it would appear dry until I went to the meter and turned the water on. It would bubble up from the bottom of the hole I was digging. Each time I dug down deeper the leak was always at the bottom of the hole. I dug about 3 feet down and did not find the pipe. The pipe is about a foot deep at the meter box and about 18 inches deep where it goes into the house.

                We left the water off all night except we turned it on to take showers before bed.                

                Saturday the plumber called and said they would be here on Monday. He would send someone over to dig down to the pipe, and then the plumber would come over and fix it. If you want to donate to the pipe repair fund, you may do so on line!

                As my spouse of 48 years and I sat in the TV room Friday night and talked, yes it is unusual that we talk, but we did, I noted that even though I was unhappy about the leak, and that we would have to pay a bunch of money for the repair, “if that is the worst thing that happens, then things aren’t too bad”!

                We will have a heck of a water bill as we have filled that darn pool and now this leak!

 

                This weekend any time we wanted to use water as in, flush a toilet, wash your hands or just get a drink we had to turn the water on at the meter. Yes we had bottled water for drinking but that is not as convenient as going to the faucet.

                The plumbers are here and they have decided to run a new water line. That way they don’t have to break up the driveway. How much will this cost, who knows.

                We should be thankful for what we have. Having the water turned on and off several time each day and not being able to turn a faucet on without first turning the water on at the meter is a pain in the back side! Think about people who do not have running water, inside plumbing, or any safe water at all.  We live in a much blessed country!

 

Leak not, or ye shall pay!

 

Don Ford

In Common 06.22.17

                As I understand it, the days will be getting shorter, as summer is on its way out! That doesn’t mean it is going to get cooler, it’s not! Look it up if you don’t believe me!

                Let’s get to the subject at hand, but first let me say, there will be some photos at the end of this short but well written article.

                What do they have in common?

                Shoes, rocks, weeds, flowers, socks, bowls, sticks, chairs, feet, dresses, and hands, are just a small list of items one can expect to see in our new tenants mouth. Tres has two modes, one is sleeping and one is playing. Sleeping is so nice and relaxing but it doesn’t last long enough. When he is awake he is biting on and chewing on everything.

                At one point I heard an odd sounding noise, I turned the TV down as I thought there was something gnawing on wood inside the wall behind my chair. I was wrong on all accounts. Tres was gnawing on something but it wasn’t wood and it wasn’t in the wall. There is a lamp next to my chair, it has a metal base that has three metal legs. Please don’t get ahead of me, let me tell the story, when you jump ahead and decide for yourself as to what I am going to say, it just makes me feel not needed!

                Back to my story; Tres was chewing on the metal leg of the lamp. I am glad they are just puppy teeth as he will likely wear them out in a month or so.

                The following photos are for your enjoyment, there may be short comments on some of the photos.

I have cleaned the Ford’s Gold wing in preparation to sell it.

Tres wanted to help clean the bike.

Flowers for your enjoyment. Click on the photo to see the beauty.

 

Yes that is the photographer’s finger on the lower left. One should try to be more professional!

May your day be filled with sweet smelling flowers!

Don Ford

Another video from the Ford's Drone   06.21.17

Breakfast, Lunch or a snake? 06.21.17

                I hate to always be talking about being on a fixed income, you know, “Being retired and needy”! Those of us who are retired and do not have a part time job, or in some way have other income other than just the little social security check, find it difficult to make ends meet.

                Now that I have said that, what is the meaning of that old statement, “Make ends meet”? How and why would anyone want to make ends meet? What ends?

                If you have a line of say 200 people, who are waiting to get into an event, and you bring those from the end of the line (those who arrive last) around so those who are at the head of the line (those who arrive first) would meet, one of two things would happen.

                One: when one end of a line meets with the other end of the line, you have what is known in the scientific world as, “A circle”. Those of us in the scientific community know, “A circle has no beginning and no end”! Those 200 people who were in line and are now in a circle, would be there forever as there is no end and no beginning to the circle. 

                Two: when the last to arrive in line, were brought to meet with those who arrived first, “making the ends meet”, there would be one big fight!

                Now you can see, either way, we do not want to ever make the ends meet! Why would you get me started talking about this? It has nothing to do with Breakfast or Lunch!

                Food sounds good, as I sit here entering this into the computer. My grandson just came in and wanted a peppermint stick. I found him and me both a peppermint stick, nice.  Now I am not as hungry.         

          

      The above photo is taken from my drone, it is not too high off the ground at this point. I also have posted video from the drone on my blog. I could view the video from my computer but not from my phone.

                I have taken another photo which I will post below. This photo was taken while I was walking this morning. Had I have found this item earlier, I could have had it for breakfast or lunch. It had been there too long so no lunch for me today.

                Road kill is ok if you find it shortly after the kill. I guess we will go hungry again today.  I know someone will want to know what kind it is, I believe it is a, “Rattle head copper moccasin”, some people call them Rat snakes. Yes you may click to enlarge.

                The Rattle head copper moccasin is one of the best tasting snakes around. Now they are very boney but the meat is all white meat. I like them deep fried but they can be baked. Some jalapeno peppers filled with cheese go good with snake meat. If this reptile had not been squashed he would have made me an excellent meal! 

Enjoy your lunch, while knowing I will have none!

Don Ford

Flight 06.20.17

This is a video of a short flight in front of the Ford's Homestead

Thank You

Don Ford

Have they returned? 06.20.17

                We have needed rain for a couple weeks. It is raining now, and the Ford’s Homestead along with all the plants are saying, “Thank Goodness”! I should say that the wonderful rain is not the subject of this soon to be well written article. What could this article be about? I will attempt to enlighten the inquisitive among you.

                As I am starting this posting on a rainy Monday morning, I would like to comment on a subject that has nothing to do with the title of this post. This morning, earlier than my normal time to bounce out of bed, I decided to get up as I was not sleeping and I thought the new family member might need to relieve himself. I removed the screen from the door, and Tres came out of the room and headed for the back door. I find this unusual as he has only been here 2 days. We went to the door and he went outside, where he relieved himself.

                We returned to the house and he was now awake. That means, he wanted to play, and his way of playing is chewing on anything including my feet. We played for a while as my cup of coffee was getting cold. After a while, we went out the front door to retrieve the so called newspaper. A neighbor was retrieving his paper and came over to meet, “The Tres”. Tres barked at him as he approached, a seven week old attack dog, WOW!

                Tres settled down after proper introductions and allowed the neighbor to pet him. While we were talking, Tres relieved himself doing a number 2, in front of a neighbor. Embarrassing!

                The title of this article is, “Have they returned”, and it is in reference to the fact we are being watched by Aliens. As with most of my postings, I try to provide information that is relevant in today’s world, and I also try to provide visual evidence.

                Yesterday, as I sat in the Ford’s old rocking chair I had the feeling that I was again being secretly watched. Where was the alien this time? In the past they have been hiding in various locations. I just happened to look up when I saw the observer. He was fairly obvious and when he saw me looking back he begin to try to vanish. I was able to get a photo.  Click to enlarge.

                A normal person can see the two eyes and where the mouth was, as this alien tries to evaporate in an effort to avoid detection.              Got him!               If you can’t see him even after you click to enlarge, you may not be a believer!

Believe not, and you will not be believed!

Don Ford

Surprise or not 06.19.17

                As the amazing title indicates, this fantastic article may be, “surprising, or not!”

                I plan to have a couple photos and they should tell the entire story, but as usual, for that one reader, I will elaborate. In the first photo we are harkening back a few days (6/12/2017) to my article, “Skinny dipping”. In the photo below we see the hero of this story in the Grand kid’s swimming pool. His dutiful spouse of 48 years is the photographer. As you can see she is well accomplished in composing a photo for this Blog Posting. I am sure you will want to click on the photo in an effort to reveal more of this subject.

                We see in the back ground pink and yellow floaters, which were used later. Our hero is smiling at the camera and you the viewing public can make of the photo as you see fit. I think the main question would be, what the photographer was wearing at the time of the photo.

                Now we will change the subject. “Who said thank goodness?”

                The Ford Homestead has a new tenant, his name may be, “Tres”, which is Spanish for three. He is the third German Shepheard to have occupied the Ford Homestead. The first was Texas, then Tejas, and since we did not have a third name for the Great State, we have kind of settled on Tres.

                As with many new family members, the present members were concerned that the new member might be noisy and messy. So far so good. He has not yet relieved himself on any surface in the Homestead as we frequently take him outside for some grass time (not the type you smoke).

                He has a tendency to follow his humans anywhere they go.

                We were concerned that another member of the Ford Homestead, “Charlie”, might not accept the new fellow. We were wrong. So far you would think the Tres was a little brother to Charlie. Tres has followed Charlie around in the yard just like little brothers do.

                Molly on the other hand is a different story. She has been staying out of sight and has not yet said hello to the new fellow. Molly was a kitten when she came to us and she would attack Tejas relentlessly. He was a full grown shepherd and he put up with her childish ways.

                We have a neighbor who was a drug enforcement officer and he came over to see Tres. He picked Tres up and was petting him. We thought we were going to have to fight him for Tres. This same person a few years ago, stopped in front of our house and opened his door and Tejas got in the car with him. He took Tejas home but later brought him back.

                We have noticed that our new family member, enjoys chewing on everything. In the above photo he has a toy in his mouth. Yes I know the photo isn’t very good, I will try to do better in the future.

                This new member of the Ford Homestead was originally slated to stay in the office area his first night. We later decided to have him stay in the bathroom. We put a screen across the door so he could not get out and we placed a couple articles of our clothing on the floor with a pair of shoes. To our surprise, he did not make any sounds all night, and he did not deposit any foreign matter on the floor. He did his business Sunday morning like a good resident, outside near the back of the yard!

                We do have one concern and that is, Tres is continually under foot. We have to watch were we walk as he is often in the way. 

                Before we get the question, he is not a Father’s day gift. He is just a new member of the family!

We welcome Tres, the third, at the Ford Homestead!

Don Ford

FYI, the hero had his swimming suit on, that was an extra pair of shorts hanging on the pool!

Dog gone it 06.17.17

                This is a rare Saturday posting from me to anyone who cares. This is not a political comment and I am not chastising anyone for driving distracted. It is however a commentary on my late afternoon Friday sitting in the old Ford’s rocker.

                My neighbor had come over and we were discussing recent world events, or, we may have been BSing about anything we could think of. As we sat their enjoying the cool evening breeze, which is also known as early summer’s mid-90s, hot and sweaty weather. I noticed the “Dog Lady” (her name is Gail) walking down the street in our direction.

                I could see she had two dogs on leads, actually it was one dog and one puppy, and I also knew she was coming to our driveway. Gail occasionally comes to our house with a dog in hopes we will want to adopt it. Today was not different. I will attach a couple photos, one of the puppy and one of both mom and her pup. Our cats were not happy with these visitors. Click the photo to enlarge.

                               

                We had a nice visit but we did not keep either. They were good looking and well behaved.

                That is what a Friday at the Ford Homestead is like.

May you have pretty and polite visitors all weekend!

Don Ford

               

Weather or not 06.15.17

                Good morning, I hope you had a great night’s sleep, I did! As usual, after springing from my bed and sprinting to the kitchen where I made a cup of coffee, I quickly moved to the old recliner and turned on the irritating TV. For a senior citizen, having a TV is kind of like having another person in the room with you. I am sure you understand, it is like when your spouse is in their chair and you are in your chair, neither of you are speaking but you know there is someone there if you wanted to talk.

                Anyway, I observe TV for about an hour before I head for the bathroom to get cleaned up and dressed for the day. During that hour I see the same so called breaking news at least twice. And changing the channels does not help, they have the same so called news on all channels.

                Over the years I have given up listening to the so called news and weather people, but I do critically examine each of them. I have a tendency to be critical of their clothing but more than that, I enjoy examining their faces. I have noticed that all so called news and weather people on the higher paid programs have almost perfect facial features. That does not apply to those who have been there for 20 or more years.

                What do I mean by almost perfect facial features, I am glad you ask? They have no blemishes that one can see due to the makeup, their eyes are properly spaced and even (one is not lower or smaller than the other) their nose is nicely shaped and you should not normally be able to see inside their nose when they are talking. Their ears are not too large and one is not higher than the other. Their hair is always perfect.

                The men are always dressed professionally and look very good on screen. Most of the females are dressed in a manner to draw attention from both male and female viewers. The female viewers are thinking, if I would lose a couple pounds I could look that good in that short dress and the men are looking at the same short dress thinking, well you know what they are thinking. I have noticed, many of these female reporters try to show most of their legs, up to their behind when sitting. Do they get paid extra for that?

                I am tired of thinking about that subject, let’s go to another subject along the same line. Let’s say you are in a discussion (aka debate) with someone and you would like it to end. This usually works whether the other person is upset or not. When you get an opening, look at and comment on something about the person’s face. I recall an incident many years ago, this person (Dawson) and I were both hourly employees, he was, “madder than a mashed cat”, and he was letting me have it. For some reason I wasn’t participating, (I wasn’t upset). Trust me, he was in my face, he stopped talking and I said, “I hadn’t noticed this before but I can see your contacts”. My comment caused him to stop with his dissertation. He said, “I can’t believe you, you haven’t listen to anything I said”, he turned and walked away.

               

Observe, comment on your observations,

Stating the facts is not being critical, or is it?

 

Don Ford 

Segregation 06.13.17

                Segregation, the answer or problem?

            Please understand, when I refer to segregation I am considering it in relation to ideology, not based on a person’s race or their origin. Personally, I believe that people who have similar ideologies, regardless of race or origin can live in the same areas even though they may not have exactly the same beliefs. As I see it, whichever country one lives in, that person should comply with and agree with the laws of that land.

            I am not a historian (darn it) but it seems to me that throughout history, people of one ideology, will sooner or later, try to, or take over another group, with a different ideology.

 

            Ideology as defined by me is, “a belief shared by a group”. It could be a religious belief, it could be a political belief.

 

            People of any particular ideology, believe they are right, and all others are wrong. Some have this belief but do not make a big deal of it. Consider different religions here in the US. They believe in the same God but their services and practices are different. They live together in the same communities knowing they are right and others are wrong but they accept the others as uninformed.  

            Ideology that a person has been taught from childhood almost never leaves that person. A person may change their “stated ideology”, but in fact what they were taught as a child will always be the truth as they see it, stated or not.

            Groups with extremely different ideologies most often do not attempt to accept the other’s beliefs, although they do at times allow for integration into their nations. As long as they accept the laws of that nation they may live without major concerns.

            Unfortunately, at some point one belief may attempt to, or in fact take over the other.

 

            Stand up for what you believe, participate, debate, do not take a back seat!  

 

Is segregation the answer or the problem, you decide! 

 

Don Ford 

           

Skinny dipping 06.12.17

                Let’s start with a different subject. I find it interesting that no one noticed that I was not blogging last week. Would you believe I was in the hospital for an operation? Would you even care that I was in the hospital for an operation, probably not!

                Well, I was not in the hospital! I was out of town on a trip to my former home state. Yes I went back to Missouri, driving up on Monday, 11.5 hours, staying three days and returning on Friday a 12 hour drive back. The weather was perfect during my visit and I enjoyed my time there. I was taken to Lamberts in Sikeston on Thursday evening, the home of the throwed roll.

                Enough about me and my holiday, let’s get to the title subject. Skinny dipping does not mean dipping a vegetable in a diet sauce, it means swimming nude. Why would I bring that subject up, because it is the title of this soon to be well written article. One might ask if I, the author to this wonderful article have ever participated in the activity of skinny dipping. We were all young at one time and I will let my response stop there.

 

                Above is a photo of the back yard. We see the grand kid’s fort and a brown spot where no grass grows. That spot is where the kid’s pool was located the last couple years.

                My present spouse decided to get a larger pool this year for the grand kids and I, as usual stated my objection to said pool. I do not like putting it up, filling it with water and taking care of it all summer. At the end of summer I then take it down and get rid of it. 

                In the following photo we will see the recently constructed pool even though it is not filled with water. I must give thanks to David and Alex as they helped in the construction of said pool. We were able to get the pool erected in just a few hours and it will take longer to fill it with water than it did to put it together.

                The main concern with this pool is, “one cannot sit in a lawn chair and watch the swimmer inside the pool. The wall of the pool is too high.

 

                Will skinny dipping be allowed in this pool? The answer is that no kids will be allowed to skinny dip in this pool. What about adults? That is yet to be determined.

                It should be noted, one of the Ford’s security cameras is directed at the pool, fotoe from security cam # 6, below. My first wife does not like me to make up words like fotoe, and use them around the grandkids, but she does not proof read these articles before I post them. 

 

                Being retired and on a fixed income, one may not be able to purchase a swimming suit. Also, one would not want to where street clothing into a swimming pool, although I do remember as a youth climbing an 8 foot chain link fence, and jumping into the Cape Girardeau public swimming pool with my clothes on. I did take my billfold out of my pocket and hand it to the young lady who was with me before trespassing on public property. Young people don’t always think before they act!

               

Remember the olden days, some memories may make you happy!

Don Ford

Interviewing 06.05.17

 

Interviewing        06.05.17

                When interviewing, one wants to get as much information about the applicant as possible. There are certain things that an interviewer is not legally allow to ask the interviewee, but the interviewer would like to know. I was good at getting this information, legally!

                The following is my suggested method of interviewing. Follow my suggestions and you may be rewarded with valuable information.

                The applicant completes an application. Review the application in detail. If there is any area of information that is left blank, assume the applicant has something to hide, reject the applicant. 

                I suggest 3 interviews of each applicant. The first and second interviewers should be department managers that the interviewee would or might work in.

                The first interviewer will have certain questions that he / she must ask. During this interview, the interviewer will evaluate the person’s responses and body language. Each interviewer has the ability to reject the applicant.  

                The second interviewer will also have certain questions, different from the first, which he / she must ask.

                The first two interviews are more or less formal and very business-like. We gather all the necessary information and review the entire application. The applicant will likely be on guard, attempting to present an appropriate appearance and responses.

                The final interviewer will attempt to put the interviewee at ease. You walk into the room with the notes and application, introduce yourself and with a smile ask how they are doing. Sit down, square up to the table, sit up straight, leaning forward a little, begin to review the notes and application. This is a professional no nonsense image.

                After a minute or so, put the papers down and say, everything looks good. You then scoot your chair back from the table a little, turn so you are not directly facing the applicant, lean back in the chair presenting a very relaxed image. You then smile and say something like, “I see they have asked you all the necessary questions”, then with a smile ask, “What questions do you have for me”? Answer any questions.

                Still leaning back and appearing to be relaxed ask them, “Tell me about yourself.” Allow the person to talk, if they stop, you should sit there quietly looking at them. It is amazing what people will tell you if they feel like they are just talking, and most people can’t stand to sit there in silence so they will likely continue talking.                           This process is not perfect but it works most of the time.

                Note, when interviewing professionals, persons who have likely read and learned about body language, they will often be able to send you a false impression of how interested they are in what you have to say. You should learn about body language! Body language works at home as well as in business.

 

 

                In situations where there is only one interviewer, you should basically follow the same process.

                First, have your must know questions written down. Assuming the applicant is already in the room, you walk into the room with the notes and application, introduce yourself and with a smile, ask how they are doing. Sit down, square up to the table, sit up straight, leaning forward a little, begin the interview. Stay focused, and have good but not constant eye contact. Evaluate the answers being given, and observe the body language presented during each question. In this part of the interview you are a professional, present a no nonsense image.

                Second, after asking and recording (writing down) the responses to your questions, make a statement to the effect, “everything looks good, or now that we have that completed”. You then scoot your chair back from the table a little, turn so you are not directly facing the applicant, lean back in the chair presenting a very casual image. You then smile and say something like, “What questions do you have for me”?           Answer any questions.

                Still leaning back and appearing to be relaxed, ask the applicant, “Tell me about yourself.” Allow the person to talk, if they stop, you should sit there quietly looking at them. As stated previously, it is amazing what people will tell you if they feel like they are just talking, and most people can’t stand to sit there in silence so they will likely continue talking.                            

               

 

                How does this apply in personal life? If you are talking with a child, other family member or friend, you will find that presenting the appearance of not being upset, not being tensed up and being relaxed, the other person will be more likely to open up to you. Again, when your mouth is shut, others will be more likely to talk.

                                When two or more are gathered, someone will be talking, is it you?               

 

Don Ford