Mneeding Mnemonics

So, back from our wanderings, recovered from jet lag, and back to the mundane things of life, such as: why can't I tell which is which?

If we have two things that are roughly equal, but not quite, I can't keep them straight to save my life. Unless I find some silly little mnemonic device* to help me remember.

*Wiktionary: mnemonic (plural mnemonics)

1. Anything (especially something in verbal form) used to help remember something.

   Example: To remember the colours of the rainbow, use the mnemonic: Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet)

My Aunt Lyddie and Uncle Amos had two boys, Truman and Joni, and I can never remember which is which. One, as I recall, has sharper features, but which is it? I suppose if they lived in Oklahoma instead of Oregon I'd soon learn, but meanwhile Mom tells me that Melvin who is a brother to two little girls I used to teach married Truman's daughter a while back (or wait, was it Joni's?). Sigh.

Then on the other side of the world we have the Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda, and I have heard the story many times, of the tribe that was powerful and the tribe that wasn't, and of the terrible slaughter of one tribe against another, but which was which?

And which of my eyes is nearsighted and which is farsighted? Can't remember that either.

And of course we have the dilemma of jump-starting a car, and is it positive-to-positive or positive-to-negative, and if I'm ever on a desert island, how will I know if SOS is dashes-dots-dashes or dots-dashes-dots?

"Think S for Simple," Emily told me yesterday. "So it's dots first."

Hmmm, we'll see, maybe I can actually remember that.

I saved myself much frustration when a comic character in the newspaper introduced me to Lefty-Loosey, Righty-Tighty when it comes to turning jar lids and such, and it feels silly to whisper "righty-tighty" to yourself when you have pliers in hand and are trying to tighten the bolts on the wobbly toilet seat, but the alternative takes a lot longer.

Up in Salem there's a Sizzler restaurant that is a nice place to meet and eat and talk, and I know you take the Market Street exit and then Sizzler is on Lancaster Drive, but I could never remember if you turn left or right, and it is embarrassing how much driving around I have done trying to find it. Then, ta-da! Sizzler is South! Easy.

If only every dilemma in life fit a neat little mnemonic.

Quote of the Day:
Ben: I haven't had a good argument all day.
Jenny: UH!! We just had an argument!
Ben: That wasn't an argument because I was clearly right.
Jenny: I hate those kinds of arguments.