Spelling, and the importance of the meaning of words

Today I had a most unusual experience. I wrote a cheque in a shop. This I have not done in a long time, and for reasons which came flooding back: I have no idea how to spell '14'. Like, in letters, I mean.

So today I had to send some packages (on behalf of Alex, of whom more presently), and they came to £19.14. Since I was paying out of my business account, I tried to use my business account card, but had forgotten (or, more likely, never knew) my PIN, which left the options: pay out of own money and do complicated bookkeeping manouvers manoveurs (hmm, another word I cannot spell) things, or write a cheque. So I chose the cheque option, and realised that it is a looong time since I wrote a cheque in a shop, and that I did not know how to spell '14'.

But back to Alex, who has asked me to tell you about getting her house painted, as a warning to you all. This happened some time ago, when Alex (who lives in Omeath) decided the house could do with brightening up (the outside of the house), and toyed with Doing Something About It. Other Half Peter had got some ludicrous quotes of millions of Euro and so on, and Alex suspected that she could get a better deal.

So one day when out for a walk, she bumped into a chap whose name I cannot recall (for the purposes of this lesson, we shall call him Derek). Anyway, they got talking, and Alex mentioned she wanted her house to be painted, and Derek said that he had a friend who could do it. He gave directions and told her to ask for Redbeard. Yes, Readbeard.

So Alex goes and finds the house and finds Redbeard and asks if he can paint her house and how much will it cost and so on. And he says €300 (0r some such amount; I can't remember the exact details). So Alex thinks 'my my, this is good', and asks whether paint is included and he says it is. She asks whether he needs to know dimensions of the house etc and he says 'no'. She also asks him to do it much the same colour as it is, and he agrees, and they decide that Redbeard will come some day when the weather is nice, and get started.

So Alex has signed up a chap called Redbeard to paint her house for about a quarter of the price that everyone else was charging, and he claims he does not need to see the house, the current colour or the dimensions in advance, and that the price of paint is included in his quote.

Which did not make a lot of sense until he turned up at the house one day... wearing a smock and carrying an assortment of little paint tubes and an easel.