Davjohn

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Make Refreshing Cucumber Mint Water			593
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I Will Always Remember September 11, 2001 May you rest in peace. Put this on your user page by adding {{911}}

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I was born in a small New England town. The only significant thing that occurred in my childhood was on my 6th birthday. President Kennedy was killed. I was too young to really understand, but later it seemed to make an impact.
I served in the Navy for 10 years, right out of high school. While I was serving I visited 28 of my 36 states and 12 of my 13 foreign countries, living in Scotland for 2½ years, and visiting Mexico, Norway, Puerto Rico, England, Ireland, Germany, Spain, France, Greece, Pakistan, and Malaysia. Although I didn't get off the ship I did get into Italy, and Somalia. I had visited Canada as a youth.
I earned the Sea Service Medal (6 times), Battle Efficiency unit commendation (5 times), Good Conduct (2 times), Meritorious Unit Commendation and the Navy Achievement Medal for rescuing a stranded ship at sea.
I've worked security both in and out of the military, including US Customs, British Ministry of Defense, and US Submarine Security.
After the Navy I worked as a banker, truck driver, warehouse and construction worker.
I never did earn a traditional college degree, but I spent several years studying metaphysics, 4 years of Bible school, and taking classes from more colleges than I can count.

From the first day I started at wikiHow I understood its mission to be the "Quality How To Site on the Internet." Unfortunately, I have found that there are far too many articles that are not only substandard, but there are entire topics, some containing hundreds of articles, that frankly shouldn't be here, in my opinion. For example, there are 47 articles of various lengths and depths in the topic of How To Poop or How To Pee/Urinate. Really?
Because of the discussion of an article that turned out to be quite controversial and has brought out some strong feelings, I had decided to write a blog article in which I would write a point-for-point rebuttal. However, after reading the article, the articles it linked to, and the related articles, I realized that the errors were so egregious and numerous that it would be impossible to rebut the article without a total sentence-by-sentence deconstruction, and possibly a copyright violation.
Then there's the topic of religion. One would have thought an editor had thrown a grenade into the room. As soon as someone tosses in a category about "religion" all quality, accuracy, ethics, and morality go out the window and anything goes.
The general consensus is "Do good.", "Give to the poor.", "Obey the Ten Commandments.", "Don't hurt your neighbor.", "Go to church (when it's convenient).", "Being a good, sincere person with good intentions, go to church, make confession, and obey your catechism is good enough to get into Heaven." and, "Know that a loving God won't throw anyone into hellfire." These are the words spouted by the very people who have torn down crosses, and nativities, burned churches, and removed the Ten Commandments, from public places. There aren't words strong enough to respond to those lies. Satan has been spreading those lies all the way back to the seating of the pope and the establishment of ecumenical churchianity to replace Biblical Christianity. Their doctrine points their fingers at Christians and screams, "Thou shalt not judge!" when they refuse to judge themselves. "By their fruits ye shall know them." When Christianity is turned into religion, and religion becomes politically correct, Christ is lost. Christian, after all, means "Follower of Christ." It does not mean interpreter of the Word, builder of denominations, ruler of church-controlled nations, etc. If it's not in the Bible, it's not Christian. Period.
Therefore, I have made the choice to not edit, patrol, boost, or otherwise collaborate on articles that I feel do not, and can not, enhance the vision, mission, and purpose of wikiHow, unless the article can be written in such a manner as to be as accurate as possible, personal opinions aside.

The problem with using "his" or "her" in a sentence is not sexist, it's that it's not politically correct. This may be fine, and a reasonable argument in a socialist society where everyone is a cookie-cutter copy of each other. In all but strictly formal uses, plural pronouns (such as "they" or "their") have become acceptable substitutes for the third person singular pronoun. This is grammatically incorrect. Leave it at the UN or the Washington beltway where it belongs.
Each of the following are grammatically correct:
"Each aide must complete her or his schedule for the week."
"The aides must complete their schedules for the week." or
"Each aide must complete her or his schedule for the week." Shortcuts such as his/her or s/he are acceptable.
In the sentences where the word aide is the singular subject, and the schedule is the singular object, the pronoun must be singular.
In the sentence, "Each aide must complete their schedule for the week.", indicates that the singulars 'aide,' and 'schedule' should remain singular. 'Each' is always singular. "The aides must complete their schedules for the week." is the proper plural sentence. Saying 'Each aide' in the plural is as bad as saying "The both of you..." which is the same as saying "The you and the you..."

To anyone who is interested in learning English, especially as a second language...
When I was in school following the work was always difficult. I taught myself, in large part. I forced myself to read, even if I didn't fully understand and remember what I read. I always had a dictionary at hand. I looked up words, and used the phonetics to help me sound out the words.
I started reading simple books that I was comfortable with, and moved up to the higher and higher grades. By the time I entered Middle School I was reading on a High School level.
I had read many of the popular literary classics, such as Jules Verne, Edgar Rice Burrows, Herman Melville, and Mark Twain. I still have a 25 book library of Mark Twain that is almost 100 years old. I have read the entire Bible, cover to cover, 5 times, in different versions. Although that's no bragging point, imagine learning Elizabethan English while fighting with learning disabilities.
Sometimes it is hard to remember that we are writing, not speaking. In English, we tend to get lazy when speaking. We start sentences with "Wanna go to...", or "Don't wanna forget your keys.", and odd things like that. In speaking, the "Do you want to" is replaced with "Wanna", and "You don't want to" is replaced with "Don't wanna..." Some parts of sentences are understood and it sounds like we are making up words. In writing, even informal writing, we can't afford to do this. It looks sloppy, it tells our audience that we are uneducated, lazy, and that we don't care. Wanna is not a word! When we write articles that are semi-formal, such as in wikiHow, our audience is often educated and expect us to at least pretend that we have some sense. Instead of insulting them it would be a good thing if we stopped to think before we write. If we use spoken English, we are calling ourselves ignorant and it reflects on the whole of wikiHow.

The English language has odd and funny things within it that you never realize when it is spoken.
There are capital letters at the start of a sentence and proper nouns.
It uses punctuation according to certain rules.
It never uses ALL CAPS.
Rarely does it use exclamation points unless there is excitement and enthusiasm, even then they are used sparingly.
It doesn't number its sentences.
It has spellings that follow a standard convention, even if that standard doesn't seem to make sense. Sew (a garment) and sow (a crop) are spelled differently, sound the same, but mean different things. Sow (a crop) and sow (a pig) are spelled the same, but sound different and mean different things. Meet, mete, and meat all sound the same, but are spelled differently and mean different things. Same with Medal, metal, and mettle. Differences with words and spellings can be a lot of fun. (BTW, it's spelled a lot, not alot.)
A word about political correctness. Even though the fad uses neutral words, these are actually offensive to most readers. No one wants to be an Orwellian "non-person." You are not a "them." You are an individual. Regardless of how you feel about PC, it is still considered rude to refer to another person in those terms.

Since you are on wikiHow, there are several articles that will help you get a good start on writing in English. Start with the Writer's Guide. Understand what wikiHow is not. Use the Tutorial. That's what it's there for. You'll be surprised how your articles won't be edited apart from the way you want them to be. That's what a collaborative community is supposed to be. Spell, Spell Commonly Misspelled Words, Use English Punctuation Correctly, Use Commas, Avoid Using Personal Reference on wikiHow, Editing Basics Then use the related wikiHow articles at the bottom of that article. Each one of those related articles has its own list of related articles. Use them, as a collection, for a primer of writing English. They are not perfect, but they will get you started.
Do a wikiHow search of topics such as spelling and punctuation. You will find a wealth of information in those articles.
Buy a good dictionary of the English language. The American Heritage Dictionary is a good, basic dictionary if you live in the US. If you live in Britain or Australia, try an Oxford dictionary. Merriam Webster is a good choice as a universal English dictionary, but the better ones tend to be expensive.
Good Luck. It will take some time and effort, but it's worth it.
If you have any problems, don't hesitate to contact the Help Team, an Admin, post in the Forum, or Email us. The only dumb question is the one you don't ask, so good grief don't hold it in. Ask. No one knows everything.

Me in General !
This author will always remember September 11th.	This author's time zone is North American Mountain Standard Time.
This author is proud Navy Veteran.	This author prefers to drink Yergecheffe Coffee!
This author is a citizen of the United States of America.	This author resides in Arizona, USA.
This author believes owning firearms is a basic human right.	This author buckles up.
This author prefers to listen to Jazz.	This author prefers the Windows Operating System.
This author owns a cell phone!	This author prefers the Firefox Internet browser.
This author abides by the laws of physics.	This author knows not to discuss his age on a public website.
This author prefers not to smoke.	This author could live on pizza.
This author prefers to recycle as much waste as possible.	This author loves dogs! Woof woof!
WS This author has a website at davjohn.weebly.com.	This author tends to stay up past their appointed bedtime.
This author is not a supporter of Barack Obama.	1=1 This author disagrees with Darwin's theory of Evolution.
This author follows the teachings of Christianity. Love you, Jesus!	This author is a man.
This author is Disabled and proud.	This author is a born again Christian.
This author is a Conservative.	This author has been to or wants to go to college.
This author thinks that if we are capable of doing something, we should.	This author uses Mass Transit as a primary means of transport.
This author prefers to throw caution to the wind.	This author prefers not to wear ties.
too many This author has too many User Information Boxes.

Spelling & Grammar !
This author uses American English.	ə This author is a Grammar nazi and wears a schwa sticker as proof.
A–Z This author refuses to misspell words and believes others should do the same.	OO This author prefers OpenOffice.org.
'? This author thinks that if your grammar is incorrect, you're in need of help.	2 This author thinks there are too many ways to spell two and that wikiHow editors might as well use them all.
h/h This author refuses to use "their" when the proper word would be either "his" or "hers".	L? This author knows the difference between "to lay" and "to lie" and knows when to use each of them.
Aw This author knows there is a way to spell "away" and only one way.	“?” This author thinks American punctuation is best for quotation marks. Do you?
This author is strongly opposed to internet slang.	wT This author is a wikiTutor!

wikiHow !
This author is a wikiHow Administrator. (verify)	This author is a member of the wikiHow Help Team.
S A V E D ! This NFD Saviors project member hopes you'll join!	This author patrols and reverts vandalism.
This author uses the wikiHow Editor's Toolbar.	This author is on the SOS team and helps save stubs from NFD deletion.
This author believes that if a monkey can do it, we don't need a wikiHow about it and votes accordingly.	This author patrols and removes copyright violations.
This author is a conscientious and passionate editor of wikiHow.	This author is a member of the Recent Changes Patrol.
This author can spell without a computer program.	This author is a member of the Welcome Team.
5 This author copyedits five articles every chance that comes up.	This author can be contacted through E-mail.
20 This author does twenty minutes of RC patrol each day at a minimum.	This author is a member of the New Article Boosters. (verify)
1 This author reads one Random page each day to gain mastery over the wikiHow library.	18 This author has written 18 wikiHow articles!
This author prefers to add information to an article.	This author likes colorful user boxes.
63 This author has 63 User Information Boxes.