why grammar and other language minutiae matter

Sometimes people roll their eyes and get annoyed with those of us who persist in preserving a difference between its and it's, lay and lie, imply and infer, breath and breathe, loose and lose, and so on (take all the rest as read, please; there's no need to try to provide an exhaustive list), or who insist that there really should be a place in the world for the serial comma (and that place is not just Oxford), or who know and try to persuade others that, for example, none and any are both singular, no, really.

This morning one of the op-eds in the Washington Post is (surprise, surprise) about health care. "Obamacare Won't Work", says the headline, and then, along with the writer's name, the subhead says, "If you're already insured, the plan is bad news."

And without even reading the piece, I am furious, and it's only because I probably won't actually read it at all that I'm not charging in to post a comment there (not that I couldn't, but one tries not to be That Guy) noting what a number of people have been saying for ages: sometimes it's not what's best for each of us that is most important, but what is best for all of us.

Tell me a good grasp of pronouns doesn't matter. Harumph.

knitting update

Over the last couple of weeks I'd occasionally catch the last hour or so of a stage of the Tour de France, when at various times the commentators would be talking about how by this point in the day the guys are exhausted and in nine thousand kinds of pain and it's just by sheer bloody-mindedness that they are by god keeping on going and crossing that finish line (only to go again the next day, of course; impressive, but also crazy).

Blocks in complete afghan: 55
Blocks completed as of this morning: 45 (which you'd think would be 81.81818181...%)
Actual percent of work done: 79.1666666...
Target date: August 17
Today's date: July 28
Days remaining: 20, less a few for shipping
Blocks remaining: 10
Blocks per day to stay on target given 20 days: half a block; blocks are of different sizes, etc., as I've been saying
Blocks per day to stay on target given, say, 14 days: a little less than three quarters of a block, assuming can work on the thing every day etc.

Odds of coming in on time: see above re: Tour de France.

Actually the next block up is the large square at the bottom right-hand corner, which will mean three of the four sides are done, in a way; in fact I've turned the last corner and what remains is the bottom row of the blasted thing, which means I am now literally, literally, in the home stretch. I've been saying all along I'll get this thing done if it kills me, and I will, I swear to god I will. (Even if I have to buy another skein. Shut up.) I've been too busy knitting to take pictures of the knitting, but I'll have to remedy that before it's done.

never jam today

For this block, as it happened, I needed to cast on 48 stitches, place a marker, and then pick up 48 more along an existing edge. I did the casting on and placed the marker and counted carefully ... and got to the corner, where there were no more stitches to pick up, with only 47 stitches after the marker. Sigh, rip back to the marker, go again ... and get to 48 one stitch before the corner. Sigh, rip back, go again, 4bloody7. @*&#!^ Finally got 48 stitches picked up between the marker and the corner with no gaps. That should not have taken so long. Have mercy.

BUT: the bottom row of the Ruby Wedding Afghan of Doom is in progress! \o/

tiny update

I have done 16 of the (gulp) 96 rows of the present Large Square. Every other row is shorter, of course, so the thing picks up momentum. Not going any further tonight.

I did lay the whole thing out on the floor of the guest room and take a couple of pictures. They are coming out awfully, awfully pink. Tomorrow sanj and I are going to take more, but odds are it will be dark outside by then as well, so maybe Thursday I will be able to get the thing in natural light -- hopefully then it won't bounce the light from the flash back quite so much.