Said (Sir) Bob Geldolf. Brenda Spencer inspired him to say it.
But when you work seven days a week, there really isn’t a Monday to hate. Neither is there a Friday to look forward to. This Monday was a good one. I’m starting to develop a working relationship with my boss and I’m learning more about my responsibilities and what is expected from me in this position. My boss realizes that I am not doing my regular job and that it’ll be a while before I’m comfortable at what I’m doing.
*START RANT * It’s pretty darn easy to use apostrophes. If a noun is possessive, use an apostrophe. If a word is a contraction, use an apostrophe. If a word is plural, don’t use an apostrophe. I think those are the three main rules. I learned them in 8th or 9th grade. HOW EASY CAN I MAKE IT, PEOPLE?!? I’m proofreading papers that are being staffed through multiple offices and I see dozens of cases where an apostrophe is used (or not used) incorrectly. “This model of truck drive’s faster.” FAIL!
Does your company have a product? Then it is your company’s product. Do you work with more than one company? Then you work with multiple companies. Grrrr!!!
These people almost all have graduate level degrees (or higher), and they are senior to me. Don’t they know how to write? I’m no English Major (I’ll leave that up to Sara), but I know how to write an intelligent memo!
I’m not being paid to proofread your papers, but you send me crap. I CAN’T send it forward looking like your 8th grade homework.
And here’s a clue to those who don’t (or can’t) write very well. MS Word will tell you when you have a sentence fragment, misspelled word, or a problem with your tenses. Those squiggly little lines under your words or sentences… means that something needs to be investigated a little more. There’s probably something wrong. I’m not the best speller, and I might miss something here or there, but don’t “Add to dictionary” a word that you THINK looks right before checking it out.* END RANT *
And when the director of our Directorate (is that redundant?) says, “Michael bring me the [and he uses finger-quotes] BOOK”, what he really wants me to do is bring him the book. It’s a book. You don’t need finger-quotes. Now, if “BOOK” was code-word for a beer, I could understand the use of finger-quotes.
I’m glad you’re reading my “blog”.
It was still gray and drizzly day again. There wasn’t any wind, and it wasn’t really raining, so it wasn’t too bad. My buddy, Mule, is in town visiting. I’ve shot him an e-mail to see if he wants to get together, but all I’ve gotten is his “out of office message”. I haven’t seen him in a while and it’d be cool to get together and have lunch or something. He’s visiting from Kansas but I don’t have his cell number to call him.
You know what I haven’t had for a long time? A box of Cracker Jacks. But I had a box today. They really are good. All of the peanuts were in the bottom of the box. I almost forgot that there were peanuts in Cracker Jacks. And my box had the worst prize in it. It was a piece of paper with a cow’s face on it. If you folded the paper and pinched it just right, you could make the cow’s mouth move like it was talking. Aside from the toy, the Cracker Jack Experience was pretty good. I’m going to have to buy a couple of boxes for Rebecca and Liam when I get back home.
One of the perks of this company is that they have a laundry service. They’ll wash, dry, and fold all of your clothes. But do you know what they WON’T do? Match up my socks by the distinctive letter indicating which socks belong as designated pairs. If you’re reading this, you know what I mean. Grrr!!!
I don’t know what I keep complaining about. I had a pretty good day. And I’m glad it’s over.
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Too funny. I liked your e-mail. I think most people learn and then forget the possessive stuff. It irritates me too though. I'm glad you had a pretty good day. I'm grading some papers that would really make you cringe! Although they are sixth grade students, not adults with masters degrees.
ReplyDeleteMichael, some of the worst writers I've ever known have MASTER'S in EDUCATION degrees! The "teachers" with whom I worked at the Division for the Visually Impaired couldn't write or spell as well as Katrina did when she was in first grade. I had to rewrite every report they submitted, and all I could think was "It's a good thing their students are blind."
ReplyDeleteWe won't even get started on people with Master's or even Ph.D.'s in science or engineering! You've heard that rant many a time!
And working a rotating progressive shift, Mondays (no apostrophe) happen at random.
ReplyDeleteOK, so I didn't use the apostrophe in master's earlier. Oops! I honestly wasn't sure if it had one or not. Maybe if I get my master's in English, I'll figure it out for sure?
ReplyDeletePoor Michael! How dare they violate your Laundry Code of Conduct?!?
ReplyDeleteTwo links this post inspired me to send for you're amusement (totally kidding - I know it's "your"!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tt-WIdmCVQ
http://www.unnecessaryquotes.com/
Trina, I think it's good for him. It's one of my most favorite things to tease him about. It gives me immense pleasure that his socks are finally polygamous.
ReplyDeleteWow. I love the apostrophe rant. That, too, is one of my pet peeves. The plural possesive is the worst of all. Those kids' toys (more than one kid) vs. that kid's toys (just one kid). I long ago gave up hope that people would figure it out.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear about your polygamous socks...LOL. Though I don't have a sophisticated system like "your's" (haha - that's another one that gets me) to keep your socks from straying, the idea appeals to my OCD. Then again, my kids wear mismatched socks every day on purpose, so there are extremes on both ends of the spectrum.