If you are applying for the job of hired man, here is a list of helpful hints to evaluate your potential employer.

1. If the new boss's hat isn't sweat-stained, you can pretty much figger whose will be.

2. Phrases like, "My dad never paid me a dime ‘til I was 25", or "I haven't had a day off since Dad's funeral in '87", should put you on guard.

3. Expensive equipment doesn't guarantee you'll be paid well. That might be where the money's all gone.

4. This should send up a warning flag: "My son is all-state in every sport in school, president of the senior class, engaged to the banker's daughter, building a hot rod and learning to fly an airplane. He'll be helping you with the chores."

5. If the words "day off" or "insurance" bring a quizzical look to the boss's face, you better think it through.

6. You may want to reconsider when the new boss says, "I never had any use for dang newfangled gadgets like milking machines, PTO posthole diggers or a round baler. They just breed sloth."

7. It should be a tip-off if the prospective employer complains that he can't keep a hired man on the place.

8. Be suspicious if the boss's own dogs run for cover at the sound of his voice.

9. If the boss himself lives in a 1972 New Moon single-wide, don't expect much from his offer of "housing furnished".

10. And if the term "retirement plan" is mentioned, you can rest assured it's not yours he's talking about.

But the best hired man learns that critical skill for gettin' along with a good boss - when to listen to him and when not to.

The most successful arrangement I've seen, that lasted for years, was between a couple of ol' compadres of mine named Tom and Dale. Tom summed up their perfect relationship this way: "Wouldn't nobody else work for Dale and nobody else would hire me. I've got a job for life."