CHIT CHAT in VOLTVILLE

[JoAnnW]

I just checked tracking for my FT order and it's in-transit to the US!!! Finally some movement!! Yipee!!

 

[cindycated]

haha you make it sound like China's been constipated!

Congrats! If it gets stuck in San Francisco, it wasn't me!

 

[awsum140]

Good morning, Voltatics! It's a rainy, windy morning here in the "Great" Garden State. Coffee is hot and fresh dark roast Columbian and munchies will be along in a bit.

I keep getting sidetracked on little projects. Now I'm building a variable voltage power supply to "enhance" my CD welding abilities. Maybe later today I'll also drag out the vacuum and mop the floor in the kitchen, quick steam mop. Yeah, I now it's raining and it'll get messed up again real soon, but it could use a mopping.

 

[White Rabbit]

Good Morning Awsum, Thanks again for the morning coffee. I have some Dunkin Donuts fresh ground from a visit by friends last night, so I am good. Thought you all would appreciate some morning humor about our "uneducated" populace so here goes:

IDIOT SIGHTINGS

My daughter and I went through the McDonald's driveway window and I gave the cashier a $5 note.
Our total was $4.25, so I also handed her 25 cents.
She said, 'you gave me too much money.'
I said, 'Yes I know, but this way you can just give me a dollar coin back.'
She sighed and went to get the manager who asked me to repeat my request.
I did so, and he handed me back the 25 cents, and said 'We're sorry but we don’t do that kind of thing.'
The cashier then proceeded to give me back 75 cents in change.
Do not confuse the people at MacD's.

IDIOT SIGHTING.

We had to have the garage door repaired.
The repairman told us that one of our problems was that we did not have a 'large' enough motor on the opener.
I thought for a minute, and said that we had the largest one made at that time, a 1/2 horsepower.
He shook his head and said, 'You need a 1/4 horsepower.'
I responded that 1/2 was larger than 1/4 and he said, 'NOOO, it's not. Four is larger than two.'
We haven't used that repairman since...

IDIOT SIGHTING.

 

[celticluvr]

wow,
Thanks for that Mr. Wabbit! It just goes to show everyone that blonds aren't the only dumb ones... (no offense intended I'm a natural blond) but jeez. We went to arby's the other day and my mom requested Very clearly the horsey sauce or the horseradish type sauce... they gave us arby's sauce... the drive thru girl didn't look old enough to work there and more than a little ditzy... but she seemed very sweet though.

 

[JoAnnW]

haha you make it sound like China's been constipated!

Congrats! If it gets stuck in San Francisco, it wasn't me!

I think it was and Hong Kong was the plug!

 

[Renolizzie]

Good morning peeps. It is 38 degrees and a bit cloudy this morning.

I was way too lazy yesterday. I ran the wood stove and waited for Hubby to get home so that we could make the pen for the little horsey. The pen is now up. I have a water bowl for the new guy. Tonight, Hubby will make him a tire feeder. We are basically ready.

I need to get some stuff done around here today

 

[White Rabbit]

You all seemed to like my previous "Idiot Sightings" that I will post two more that I found:

My daughter went to a Mexican takeaway and ordered a taco.
She asked the person behind the counter for 'minimal lettuce.'
He said he was sorry, but they only had iceberg lettuce.



I was at the airport, checking in at the gate when an airport employee asked,
'Has anyone put anything in your baggage without your knowledge?'
To which I replied, 'If it was without my knowledge, how would I know?'
He smiled knowingly and nodded, 'That's why we ask.'


What has happened to our educational system? I just seems that there are more "uneducated" people in positions that normally require some degree of common sense. Or am I just being too judgmental?

The Wabbit

 

[celticluvr]

I don't think you're being too judgmental. What with schools doing away with spelling tests, using expensive tablets instead of textbooks, people( meaning young people) super texting everyday 24/7 and just a lack of caring about education in general, people are indeed getting dumber. I am super upset about no more spelling tests in schools... That was my favorite thing to do! I love reading and language arts. In fact I am about to start editing a book!

 

[White Rabbit]

Well celticluvr, I can't really condemn "anyone" for bad spelling. I failed spelling in the third grade and never caught up.

If it were not for "spell check" you all would think that I was an idiot. That being a given, common sense is something that seems to be lacking in our current society. Just look at some of the crazy videos that are posted on You Tube showing people doing dangerous and stupid things, getting hurt, and then posting how dumb they were.



I guess this applies? (I just hope not to vaping)

The Wabbit

 

[SandySu]

Good morning peeps. It is 38 degrees and a bit cloudy this morning.

I was way too lazy yesterday. I ran the wood stove and waited for Hubby to get home so that we could make the pen for the little horsey. The pen is now up. I have a water bowl for the new guy. Tonight, Hubby will make him a tire feeder. We are basically ready.

I need to get some stuff done around here today

Your lazy days sound busy enough to me. Erecting a horse pen isn't nothing. I bet you're getting excited about the new horse coming. I would be. It'll be a whole new chapter of your life.

Penny will have some changes, too. Last night I decided to move her back to Deb's. Now I have to arrange transportation there. I think I'll ask Deb to do it. That makes the most sense. Till the move, I'll ask the present barn owner to put Penny out with the others. My access to her may be limited for the next few weeks, but if she doesn't get the grooming she's used to, I think she'll survive. Today, as usual, I'll go to the barn to ride with everyone. We'll see what kind of reception I get. I didn't get an e-mail answer this morning to my rebuttal, but maybe the barn owner plans to discuss it today. I hate this tension. I wish we could be on friendly terms till the move, but I fear it may not be so.

 

[SandySu]

What has happened to our educational system? I just seems that there are more "uneducated" people in positions that normally require some degree of common sense. Or am I just being too judgmental?

The Wabbit

I notice that people generally seem more illiterate. I know a quite well-educated person who tells his dog to "lay down." Granted, English was never his strong suit, but this is such a basic grammatical error it makes me wonder how a college-educated person can say it. BTW, in case any other grammar-challenged people are wondering, it should be "lie down." I remember a saying we had in school to teach us the difference: "Hens lay eggs; people lie down." Believe me -- I'll be teaching this stuff to the kids I'm tutoring.

As for the 1/2 and 1/4 confusion, even I know that, and I consider myself math-challenged.

But are these stories true, or are they just gags to demonstrate how ignorant people can be? Did they really happen?

 

[SandySu]

I don't think you're being too judgmental. What with schools doing away with spelling tests, using expensive tablets instead of textbooks, people( meaning young people) super texting everyday 24/7 and just a lack of caring about education in general, people are indeed getting dumber. I am super upset about no more spelling tests in schools... That was my favorite thing to do! I love reading and language arts. In fact I am about to start editing a book!

They did away with spelling tests? Why?

You're editing a book? How exciting! Tell us about it.

 

[celticluvr]

I don't condemn those with problems or that sort of thing because that just " ain't" right, I condemn those that I knew in school and from other places who were very good at spelling and then jumped off the bandwagon so to speak just to fit in with the "in"crowd. I used to tutor my friends in school so that way they could get better grades... we hit high school and wham they didn't care anymore even though they planned on going to college. I became upset with more than a few of my so called friends for throwing away everything they had learned. They were very smart and worked really hard and even their parents encouraged them but they just stopped going to school and caring about anything but drugs and partying. I lost about twenty or thirty friends this way. I grew up with them and knew their families but noone could change their paths to self destruction. Many died through various way car accidents and fourwheeler wrecks... And others just Screwed up their whole live through being arrested and various methods.

In no way did I mean to offend anyone. I just get frustrated because of the effort I put in to help those who have no wish to help themselves.

Celticluvr

 

[celticluvr]

I don't know why they did away with spelling tests but my mom told me about it. It has something to do with spellcheck or something.
It doesn't make sense to me.

Well the book is a collection of short stories about the Civil War. It's called 'A Matter of Honor' By Charles H. DuBose. It's about the south from what I've gathered and, Boy, do I have my work cut out for me! I've glanced through it and its a very rough draft. There are a bunch of grammatical errors and repetitive sentences... and we're doing this for $200. My fiance is doing some sketches for it as well as the front cover.

 

[3mg Meniere]

Boy, do I have my work cut out for me! I've glanced through it and its a very rough draft. There are a bunch of grammatical errors and repetitive sentences....

It is beyond me why anyone who does not know how to write would attempt to write a book. I am back in writing mode, and just ran a spelling and grammar check. I am again struggling with passive voice. For God's sake, when writing about theology, passive voice is often appropriate!!

Spellcheck doesn't work with homonyms!!

 

[SandySu]

I don't know why they did away with spelling tests but my mom told me about it. It has something to do with spellcheck or something.
It doesn't make sense to me.

Well the book is a collection of short stories about the Civil War. It's called 'A Matter of Honor' By Charles H. DuBose. It's about the south from what I've gathered and, Boy, do I have my work cut out for me! I've glanced through it and its a very rough draft. There are a bunch of grammatical errors and repetitive sentences... and we're doing this for $200. My fiance is doing some sketches for it as well as the front cover.

I Googled the abandonment of spelling tests and now understand it a bit better. Instead of giving a student a list of words to memorize, they are giving the student a writing assignment, and the words spelled wrong in that are addressed. It makes sense to me, since that personalizes a particular student's weak points instead of mass-producing a list of words for everyone. It sounds like a more personalized approach. In fact, that's the method I'm using with tutoring. If I give the boy a writing assignment, I can see where he needs the most help. Then I can tailor the lesson to address those issues. I'm not following a curriculum as much as just going after what he doesn't know. For instance, he told me he already studied contractions, but I found that he didn't have them down in his mind. We are working on them till he understands them and can spell them. I found this out from a writing assignment I gave him. So I think they are taking this approach, and if a teacher is conscientious about addressing a specific student's spelling errors in a writing assignment, it may be a better approach. I think one of the problems with a school education is that you have to teach the whole class the same thing, even if some students know it already and others aren't ready for that level of learning. This is why one-on-one tutoring works better. So now I can sort of see the point.

As for the editing project, if it's a first draft, it's probably pretty messy. Best to construct a style sheet with grammatical rules and spelling problems so you can get some consistency. I've been doing this kind of work for years, so if you need help, just ask in a PM. Choose a style book -- I like the Chicago Manual of Style -- and use that style, so you have a consistent approach. Some style books have differing approaches, and one isn't any more right than another, but it really helps to use already-established guidelines. If you've got the manuscript on the computer in MS Word instead of printed out on paper, Track Changes really is a good way to edit it. One of the book publishers I worked for used this method, and the other still had us use a pencil on proofs that were printed out. Also, using the computer, the spell check will find a number of errors that you may miss. You are more apt to miss things if the ms. is thick with them. It's the law of averages. Once you make your corrections, go over the whole thing again with a better sense of the style, the errors you're going to be looking for, etc. One reading will never find everything. In fact, multiple readings probably won't, but with at least 2 and maybe 3 readings, you can find the major portion of problems. In addition to spelling and grammar, look for continuity problems. I have found cases where a character went to bed on Monday and woke up the next morning on Thursday. Stuff like that. Also, hair color or eye color can change in a single character. You'd think an author would have a better mental picture of their characters, but some don't seem to. Oh, I could go on and on, but I'm probably boring a lot of people here.

 

[SandySu]

It is beyond me why anyone who does not know how to write would attempt to write a book. I am back in writing mode, and just ran a spelling and grammar check. I am again struggling with passive voice. For God's sake, when writing about theology, passive voice is often appropriate!!

Spellcheck doesn't work with homonyms!!

Lots of people are good storytellers but can't spell. That's why they hire editors and proofreaders. I was good at correcting an author's work, but I could never write a book! People used to say I should write a book and had trouble understanding how I knew I couldn't do it successfully.

And yes, spell check certainly helps, but it doesn't catch everything. We still need human eyes to look over a book. Still, a computer can be a great aid in making corrections. Let's say you find an author is inconsistent in spelling gray and grey. You choose the American spelling, gray. So you can do a search and replace, but you have to watch that it doesn't change Mr. Grey's last name to Mr. Gray. Still, the computer will find all instances of grey and change them for you. Just watch out for words broken at the end of a line, if they exist, because the spell check won't identify those words as a whole word.

 

[celticluvr]

That does make sense on the spelling issue. When I was in school we did do both, though. So if some kids didn't understand the lists they could understand it in the writing assignment.

Thank you for the help, its very much appreciated and if I do run into problems I'll definitely PM you!
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

 

[3mg Meniere]

In addition to spelling and grammar, look for continuity problems. I have found cases where a character went to bed on Monday and woke up the next morning on Thursday. Stuff like that. Also, hair color or eye color can change in a single character. You'd think an author would have a better mental picture of their characters, but some don't seem to.

Giggling. I need to work on that, especially since part of the subject is highlighting internal inconsistency in the work of others.