Think it's rather likely that many of you have run into the little boy (or boys- it's possible they aren't the same child, but to my mind it's one hapless little kid who isn't in school yet and hasn't learned to add or subtract because I (we) are tasked with figuring out how many apples (or marbles) he has left after gaining or losing more of whichever it happens to be at the time.) Anyway. What I have long feared has finally happened. The kid had four marbles and lost four. He has well and truly lost his marbles. Do you ever feel like you are losing your marbles?

With some frequency, a screening question asks that I identify which item in a list is not and animal, color, or number. Basically a "which of these is not like the other" kind of thing. Occasionally, I a am given this list: Giraffe, Cat, Desk, Elephant. This always gives me pause. Do you see my dilemma?

The first question on a survey I attempted this morning should have been easy. Select the state in which you live. The four STATES listed were: Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, and Miami. There was no option for "none of the above." If you had been me, what would you have done? (The "next" button does not appear unless you make a selection.)

Ye Olde Write One to Two Sentences about your favorite book, movie, song, or fruit give me a low-grade urge to scream. At my age (70), there are too many books/movies/songs that I love to choose from. (Though I do have a favorite fruit.) Sometimes I amuse myself by claiming something like Harry Chapin's "30,000 Pounds of Bananas" as my favorite song. Have been tempted to identify the children's book shown as nearest my heart- and add a complete analysis of the book's theme, humor, plot, and characters- but have resisted the impulse. Do you have stock responses ready to go for these all-too-common screening questions?

Recently, while filling out the demographic information on a survey, a spreadsheet popped up. It didn't make me laugh or scream, but it was interesting reading and something I am sure was not meant to be seen by a survey taker. My responses to the questions, the quota for each category, and the number of seconds spent on each page were shown. **This is NOT a screenshot of that page- just a random example of a spreadsheet. Have you ever had a survey glitch on you like this?