Fun Stuff #1

So I've done it yet again.  I've had a long hiatus.  I'm sorry about this.  I know all of you want to read more blog.  But, I'm extremely busy doing stuff (like learning Danish, Irish, and French, not to mention rocket science, quantum physics, how to run the government, environmental science, marketing, and other such things), and it's been, ironically, hard to find things to write about recently.

So here's some random educational stuff that I recommend:
-Try making pneumonics as a memory device--like for the planets (My Very Elegant Mother Just Served Us Noodles) or whatever.  This is just a really useful skill.

-Look up OCEANS.  This is a commonly accepted system of personality classification that, in my opinion, is more flexible and easier to understand than others.  Knowing about these common personality traits is useful in understanding people and doing any sort of deduction/persuasion.

-Learn more about your country's government.  I am taking a course in American government and there's so much information I didn't know even though I've lived here my whole life.  It's just something I think everyone should know about, because the government's decisions have a great effect on citizens.

Anyway, that's it for now.

-SM

Deduction #9--What I've Learned as a Door-to-Door Salesperson

Hello!  It's been about a month since I last blogged.  Also known as, way too long.  I've been busy with a lot of things, including but not limited to rocket science, applying for minor government positions, and musical theatre.  Oh, and door-to-door sales.

So, for the past nine years, I have been selling products door-to-door for fundraisers.  It has been a huge part of my life and I have sold up to six hundred packages in a specific sale period.  This activity is also how I first got into deductive reasoning.  Here is what I have learned.  I put it into a category of its own, because there are a few different topics covered here.
"They" refers to the people living in a house.
What to Look For

• Cars 
• If more than one car is in a driveway, the house probably belongs to a couple or a family.
• This also means one or more person is probably home.
• An empty driveway suggests they are not home.
• An empty driveway, but with a garage, means they are either not home or keep one or more vehicles in a garage.
• A driveway that has one car and a long streak of dirt and dust next to it indicates that they have more than one car.
• Pets
• When knocking on a door, you may hear a dog barking.  This is fairly self-explanatory.
• If you hear some shuffling noises accompanying the dog barking, and the dog barks get quieter, a person is trying to calm the dog.
• If there are blinds covering up a tall window next to the door, and the blinds towards the bottom seem bent, they may have a dog or cat that pushes up against the window to try to see out.
• Paw prints in mud, snow, dirt, or printed on cement in water will tell you the size of a dog.
• Pet toys and structures like cat trees will tell you what type of pet they have.
• Some people put stickers on their doors or windows telling what types of pets they have so firefighters and other public safety officials know to protect the animals in case of emergency.
• Small cages with bars indicate mice, rats, hamsters, birds, or gerbils.
• Larger cages indicate chinchillas, guinea pigs, birds, or rabbits.
• Tanks without water indicate lizards, frogs, snakes, hermit crabs, or sometimes small rodents like mice, rats, hamsters, or gerbils.
• Tanks filled with water indicate aquatic animals, such as fish and some invertebrates.
• Look for fur on anything.
• Plants
• Perfect circles on cement that are darker or lighter than the cement itself indicate that a plant pot once sat there.
• If there are a lot of plants in the yard, evenly arranged and in groups, the person is most likely a gardener.
• Look for shovels, trowels, knee pads, thick gloves, hoses, watering cans, plant pots, and other indications that the person is a gardener.
• If the plants have little labels on them, the person is most likely very organized.
•  Kids
• Look for shoes by the door.  Smaller ones suggest kids.
• Also look at toys in the yard.  Are they for older kids or younger kids?
• Girls are more likely to have toys in "feminine" colors like pink or purple, but this isn't a hard-and-fast rule.  Girls often have toys in other colors, too, and there are plenty of boys who like pink and purple.  So look at colors, but don't automatically assume gender.  A mix of colors probably suggests more than one kid, and/or a kid with various interests.
• Bends in the blinds at the middle level suggest a small child trying to look through, as do fingerprints or noseprints on windows.  Kids really will press their faces to the window sometimes!
• Look for characters that recur.  The kid(s) probably like that show or movie.

That's it for now!  Remember, don't go on people's property without their permission, PAYOR and use your best judgement.
Signing off,
SM