I give dates. Why leave it up to a possible mistake when specificity is an option?

This. Also, because next vs this is something Mr. Loomycakes and I wrangle over.

I know there was at least one that I hit in West Seattle when I was up there. I can ask my nieces what's still up there.

Yes, please!

I knew you people would understand!!

Pathetic Bachelor Tales, by Tom Scola

So I went to do my laundry this morning, so that means I had to strip my bed of the only set of sheets I own. Only I discovered that I had ripped a big hole in my fitted sheet overnight, which means that I now had zero sets of sheets to use on my bed. And I began to wonder: maybe if I had washed the sheets more than every month or so, maybe they would have lasted longer? Or maybe if I hadn't tried to bleach the hell out of them in an (unsuccessful) attempt to keep them from yellowing so badly, maybe they would have lasted longer, too?

So anyway, I went online and ordered new expensive-ish sheets (and new pillows, too, what the hell). And since the company I ordered from is also in Brooklyn (you can probably guess what company it is), my new sheets were waiting for me when I came home from work today! Except that I guess I should wash my sheets before using them for the first time, and I don't want to do another load of laundry today. So I guess I'm stuck with my ratty old sheets for a little while longer.

I'm going to guess that if you had washed them more they would have crapped out sooner. But maybe get a spare set of sheets and alternate?

I go with avoiding saying "next Saturday" like the plague, since I can never be sure what the other person will understand by it.

This.

Tom, I have never washed new sheets before I used them.

I sorta fixed our washer. All that was really wrong with it was that the button that turned it on had broken. Not the electronics but the plastic . After removing the circuit boards and cleaning out the broken plastic it works again. You have to poke a pencil or something through a hole to press the button on the circuit board, but it does turn on. With the missing button, the broken knob, and the half-broken door handle it feels like it has sort of gone form being a West Germany (yes, it's that old) made washer to more like a Russian washer.

Why would next Saturday be this Saturday? Next Saturday is a week from now.

Because this coming Saturday is literally the NEXT Saturday to occur.

It has to be next to something! There have to be two! It's a sequence.

I've had washing machines just like that, Gud!

I tend to throw in a "this coming Saturday" into the mix, meaning (in this case) day after tomorrow (which at some point is where anyone having this discussion with me is going to e forced to land, and probably both of us will say "Day after tomorrow? Huh, I guess it is" (or, you know, "No, the Saturday after that" if that is what they meant)). I am on the side of relentless questioning and confirmation to be sure is what I'm saying, I think.

And confirming with "the 16th" would probably lead to actually looking at a paper calendar or at least my phone. Actually, that's probably inevitable whatever route we take to get there. There might be pointing required.

Also, I am a firm believer in having a spare set of sheets and swapping them out so it is at least theoretically possible to change the bed without doing laundry, but I can see the appeal of just having the one and not having anything to store.