To the reader. I came across this graduation advice from the Michael Joesphson WEB site of character counts. I added some of my own thoughts and sent it to my grandson who is graduating from high school. I thought it would be a nice departure from my leadership articles. (more…)

With home interest rates at historic lows and home values continuing to decline are you dreaming of buying a home but unsure of the first steps to take?

Getting your credit score in line (see March 2009’s “How to Build a Killer Credit Score”) is key; however, debt-to-income ratio ( DTI ) is considered one of the most important qualification requirements when getting a home loan approved. Simply put, DTI is a calculation of your monthly debt obligations compared to your adjusted gross income. (more…)

Gordon Graham here – and once again, thank you for taking the time to visit my little corner of this website – and for all your work in fire service operations. I met many of you at the CFED event in Palm Springs last month and I was so impressed with how you are keeping America safe.

The title of this piece was designed to catch your attention – but for those of us over fifty, it may be a thought you have had yourself. I picked it up from my Dad a long time ago and it became a joke between us – never pass up a restroom. And every now and then, I will violate that rule – most recently in an airport when I just wanted to get in my car and go home – and about half way home I was wishing I would not have violated that “rule.” (more…)

CLOSING THE INTERVIEW

In the last several articles, we considered closing the interview by (1) making no statement and just leaving the interview room as soon as possible, (2) looking at covering any missed points (in the interview) and making no statement, and (3) considering an option that is based on the principle of “you have nothing to lose and everything to gain,” IF, your final response is able to adhere to an extremely specific criteria. That criteria is spelled SHORT and RELEVANT! (more…)