SPELLING

 

SPELLING

I recently did something to someone that I hate when it is done to me.  I corrected his spelling.  The word was spelled correctly, it was just a homophone for the word he wanted.  Spell check does not catch those.

I corrected him offline because I know he wanted what he wrote to be professional. 

I am a terrible speller, if it were not for spellcheck, I would not even attempt to write this blog.  I can double check my post a thousand times and still I will miss isle for aisle, weather for whether and my all time favorite your for you're…spell check needs to be more intuitive.

I sometimes joke that I am a poor speller because spelling is just not that important to me.  I am more interested in what I write and what words I use than the correct arrangement of letters. 

I could easily read an article loaded with words spelled wrong, but phonetically correct and it would not bother me one bit.

I no their our sum readers hoo simply cud not get passed miss spelled words.  (ok, that bothers even me)

Anyway, I claim poor spelling can be a sign of intelligence.  Intelligent people are not bothered about spelling because they are only concerned with content.  They hone in on the meaning of words, the intent of words, and not what the words look like on paper. 

Intelligent people “hear” the words and do not see or care about the letter arrangement.  This is not to say that excellent spellers are not intelligent, only that they perceive and process words differently than poor spellers. 

Of course some poor spellers are just uneducated, but spelling is not a good indication of intelligence.

Anyway, that is my somewhat tongue-in-cheek explanation of my poor spelling and I am sticking to it.  The alternate explanation is depressing.

As a goof, and to support my theory I Googled “Notable bad spellers” and was surprised by my findings.

https://leelofland.com/15-famous-thinkers-who-couldnt-spell/

Among the list of poor spellers:

John F. Kennedy

Winston Churchill

Ernest Hemmingway

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Albert Einstein 

Turns out I don’t keep such bad company. 

Now all I need is talent.

 

 

It’s A Running Battle I tell Ya!

 

It’s A Running Battle I tell Ya!

 

Mrs. C and I are not totally compatible.  That probably shocks most married couples, but we are not always compatible.  We try to manage.

One of the biggest issues is temperature.  I like it cool; Mrs. C likes it hot…and then she likes it cold…and then hot again.  Apparently, she is going through something.  Whatever it is, we never agree on temperature.

Sometimes a solution is easy, I don’t need covers at night, she does…and then she doesn’t…and then she does again.  Not an issue for me, she can have the covers as needed.

One thing I find interesting is when in the car she turns the heat up to 80 degrees in the winter and down to 68 in the summer.

“Why, so high (or low)?”

“I want the car to heat up (or cool off) as fast as possible.”

I explain that the car will reach 72 degrees if you set to 72 just as fast as if you set it at 80 degrees.

She disagrees about the degrees.

Anyway, temperature is a constant battle.  In the summer I drop the temp to 74 when she is not looking.  When I suddenly start to feel warm, I find she has changed it to 78.  Fortunately, she does not hide the thermostat under a towel, so I just quietly change it back.  It is a running battle.

Recently Mrs. C found a solution for our bedroom.  She bought a cube thing that you fill with ice water.  It has a fan and blows cool air in my direction.

The first night she had the cube set on the low step of a two-step step-ladder we have.  The cold air was great except it was aimed below me.  On the top step of the ladder, she had an air diffuser thing that filled the room with a hint of eucalyptus. 

(Have I mentioned that Mrs. C will buy just about any gadget she sees in a catalog?)

I moved the cooling cube up the ladder.

“Don’t do that, it will ruin the air diffusing.”

“No it won’t, the diffuser goes straight up and not in the way of the cooling air.”

“Leave it on the lower step!”

“That just blows refreshing air under the bed and is useless!”

For one of the few times in our marriage I won a “discussion” and the cube went to the top step.

Then:

“Could you turn the cube away a bit and turn the divertors in a down direction? I am feeling the cold air.”

“Sure, but then I won’t feel any of the cooling air.”

“Just turn it a bit!”

I turned it and adjusted it so she receives no refreshing cool air.  For the most part I am still warm…the top of my forehead does feel cool and refreshed.

You just have to take what the wife gives you.  

 

SERIOUSLY?

 

SERIOUSLY?

I recently read that some people have complained about Notre Dame’s mascot.  A leprechaun in a fighting pose for “The Fighting Irish” was called offensive. 

As if you could ever offend the Irish.  No one has a better sense of humor about Irish stereotypes than the Irish themselves.

I highly doubt that anyone of Irish heritage is offended by a fighting leprechaun mascot.  If you want to start some trouble with the Irish, just try and get rid of the Notre Dame symbol.

It seems to me that these days people are just looking for things to offend. 

I once referred to Myrle Streep as an actress and a young feminist nearly took my head off.  Apparently now, “Actress” is offensive and misogynist.  All actors today are just actors regardless of gender.

I guess now the Oscars will give a statue out to the “Best Cisgender Actor that was Identified at Birth as Female.”

Somehow that seems more offensive to me.

Pretty much everything today is racist.  I am white.  I am sorry.

Bad enough that it is hard to express an opinion without offending someone, opinions expressed in the past are dug up to offend in the present.

That does not seem fair.  Its like getting a ticket because 10 years ago you were driving on the expressway at 65 MPH and they just changed the limit to 60 mph.

Don’t fight it, it only makes it worse.  Just pay the ticket.

The world today somehow reminds me of a swim club we were members of in the 80’s.  It had a large pool, a snack bar, chairs and tables around the pool, tennis courts, lifeguards with whistles and rules.

OMG there were rules!  And OMG there were whistles!

No diving off the edge, no running, no eating in the pool area, no bottles in the pool area, no long hair in the pool without a cap.  Oh, sure there were  reasons for all the rules. 

Running on concrete could cause scrapped knees.  Diving of the pool edge could be dangerous, eating brought ants, long hair shed and clogged pool filters. 

There was a reason for every rule.

Well kids around a pool will run, and they will dive.  All the whistles in the world never stopped it. 

“Ooh, sorry.” And 10 seconds later they were off running and diving.  They were kids.  Kids run, and around water they will jump in.

Eating brings ants? Bull shit, and ants can be stepped on.  I’m not leaving the pool area just to eat my lunch or snack on a potato chip. 

Sure, bottles break and glass can cut.  You can also clean up broken glass before it cuts.  I know because I’ve done it at home like a thousand times. 

Long hair clogging the filter? Please!  And if…just clean the damn filters!  That is what filters do, they catch stuff and eventually clog if you don’t clear the caught stuff!

The constant whistling and nagging about breaking the stupid pool rules was almost as annoying as that freaking Marco Polo game the kids played all day long.

Anyway, I used to say there should be just one rule in the pool area.  Put up a big sign:

HAVING FUN WHILE IN THE POOL AREA IS PROHIBITED!!

The world today needs a similar proclamation:

NO OFFENDING IN THE PUBLIC ARENA, THINKING OUTLOUD OR TALKING IS PROHIBITED!!

BTW, I still say that Myrle Streep is a great actress!