Enjoying a casual evening at home, Tip of the week Maybe. (Financial)

Enjoying a casual evening at home, reclining in my favorite easy chair reading, while the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage was chatting on the telephone. I seldom pay attention to phone conversations. After all, I only get one side of the conversation, which may be misleading at the very best. I've been caught in that trap before with some pretty dire consequences. I am not going to get caught again, if I can help it.

Then an odd phrase caught my attention: "plastic surgery." My ears perked up and I heard my wife say, "I certainly agree with that article and I'm going to do some plastic surgery myself."

Well, you can imagine what thoughts were racing through my head. When she hung up the telephone, I queried her about it.

In my book, plastic surgery is a big step.

"You do support me in this plastic surgery plan, don't you?"

There are times to disagree with your spouse, but as a husband for over 45 years, I have never discovered that time. Forcing a smile, I nodded in the affirmative and told her she had my full support in whatever she decided.

I had to admit that the "time" had finally come to our humble abode. Who am I to fight it? I go by this motto, "He who smiles and agrees with his spouse lives to smile another day."

I plan to smile until the day I die.

I never really thought about plastic surgery, but perhaps my wife was right. Perhaps she could use a little face-lift. For me to get a face-lift, the surgeon would need a huge construction crane. Then comes the awkward part, what do they do with my face after it was lifted?

Women, more than men, are a little sensitive about their appearance. For a man, "appearance" means he showed up. A woman has an altogether different approach to the term "appearance."

Some women look in the mirror and see where some improvements could be made. For example, they see bags under their eyes that could not get through the airport carry-on luggage size requirement.

Then there is the problem with their nose, which could stand a little tweaking. For all practical purposes, one of those double chins has to go. Moreover, what woman couldn't use a tummy tuck and other snippings of the flesh?

Believe me; I never would have brought it up, but if that makes my wife happy, then whatever it costs, we can put it on a credit card. The only problem with putting something like this on a credit card is that by the time you pay it off you need another procedure.

But, she is worth it in my checkbook. I have no compunction whatsoever of writing out that check.

Each day I checked the appointment calendar hanging on our refrigerator to find out when she would be going in for the surgery. Day after day, I looked, but could never find any appointment.

I supposed she was a little sensitive about the whole thing and did not want it staring at her day after day on the appointment calendar. Whatever the reason, she had my silent support, for all it was worth. I am sure she would do the same for me. That is what marriage is all about. Supporting one another in the developments of life, whatever that development might be.

I decided to tuck this little bit in the back of my mind and, however it developed would be all right with me.

One day this week, I went to the Slurp N' Burp Café for a quiet lunch. The issue was far from my mind as I enjoyed a delicious lunch. As I finished my last cup of coffee, the waitress brought my bill and I pulled my wallet out to pay for it.

In searching my wallet for a credit card I discovered, much to my chagrin, that there were no credit cards to be found. Somehow, I had lost my credit cards. Perhaps, in the morning when I was getting dressed they dropped out of my wallet as I was placing it in my trousers.

The problem with that theory was that all the other cards in my wallet were intact.

Fortunately, I had my cell phone and called my wife.

"Honey, I've lost all my credit cards. I'm here at the restaurant and I can't find any credit cards in my wallet. Do you have any idea what I did with my credit cards?"

"I cut them all up."

"You did what?"

"You said you supported my plastic surgery plan, didn't you?"

"But, I thought... "

"You, thought what?"

Oh boy.

Dear reader: please disregard the first part of this column. If you happen to read my obituary in next week's newspaper, you will know that my lovely, vivacious, eternally youthful wife did not disregard the first part and I'm currently Resting In Pieces.

Easy As Car Shopping

When approaching the mandatory, and often dreaded task of writing or updating your resume, there are different avenues people can take to help them. One popular way is to copy another resume, changing only vital information like name, employer titles, addresses, etc.

Another popular technique is to apply no technique at all and just list as much random personal information about oneself as possible. Both of these methods will create a haphazard resume that gives Hiring Managers about as clear of an impression of the applicant as a blind man trying to distinguish between an orange and a tangerine. Instead, when writing your resume, your ultimate goal should be to stand out from the crowd, to highlight your greatest strengths and achievements, and to focus on fulfilling the qualifications the employer is seeking.

Build A Simple Resume

If you are having a difficult time trying to make yourself appealing in your resume, and you are a man, perhaps try thinking about yourself as if you were a car. The concept is simple. In your resume you sell yourself. Imagine you're not a human but an automobile, and you are trying to sell this automobile. This will help you understand what to highlight and what to feature in an effort to appear as hirable or sellable as possible. Let's glance at a few common types of resumes, and their motor vehicle equivalents.

The Cadillac

This is the senior level candidate. You have years of experience, or in auto terms, slapped quite a few miles on your odometer. You've proven your reliability and experience and this is something to highlight, dependability, in both machine form and human form. This is done on your resume listing through your years of experience, promotions, achievements and managerial experience. You're confident and dependable.

The Nissan GT-R

You are a newcomer. Perhaps you just graduated University. Perhaps you used an online resume builder You've been in development for quite a while, and you are packed with knowledge. In car form this translates to heavy investment in research and development. These are your strengths, your technical capabilities. In human form this means you have a background of highly applicable study. You have knowledge that you can draw upon as your strength. You're technologically savvy and ready for rapid speed and performance growth.

The F-150

Like the Cadillac you are a candidate that exemplifies dependability. Not packed with technology like the fresh university graduates, you instead make a name for yourself with high payloads and practical, applicable utility. No sir, you don't need to use any amateur resume templates. You have metal working, welding, and heavy equipment operation skills. You do what you do and you do it well, this is the calling card of the pick-up truck.

In conclusion, each vehicle is unique in its strengths and areas of expertise or focus. The key is identifying your greatest strengths and featuring them in your application process. By presenting strengths in a prominent fashion, you are pronouncing to HR managers all over the world that you're ready to put the pedal to the metal. Hopefully this has helped all you "gearheads" gain a better understanding of how to write a resume.