There are some words that I have trouble spelling. When I was a child, corral gave me problems. I always wanted to double the L instead of the R. As an adult, there remain a few standard words that seem to require much more thought than they deserve — vacuum, for example. Every time I write it, I want to double the C. I double the U without thought, but always pause on the C. Perhaps it’s because I use the word (and its object) so infrequently (about once a month — I’m a neat and tidy guy, and don’t get my carpet very dirty). Whatever the reason, vacuum remains one of that strange handful of words that, despite having spent about 30 years writing in English, still gives me problems. There was a punch line in here somewhere, but it seems to have been sucked up by the vacuum between my ears.