See, even when you remember the rules, it doesn't help:
... By the time I graduated ("S+V,S+V" missing comma?) I was stepping through all of my papers ...

>In college one of my professors provided the students with a cheatsheet of English punctuation rules. It basically covered everything in my English Grammar book. I was attending the University of Maryland at the time. I referred to it before turning in all of my papers. By the time I graduated I was stepping through all of my papers as though I was reading code not content. Of course I've since forgotten all the rules! :o)
>
>It went something like:
>
>S+V,S+V
>S+V+V
>
>He ran to the store, and he purchased milk.
>He ran to the store and purchased milk.
>
>Well, that is all I remember! :o)
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>
>
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>>>>>... My neighbors on both sides speak like that, and sometimes I get into the tune, sometimes it just flies through my ears, one way. And they aren't the same color; the pronunciation problem, however, is.
>>>>
>>>>So, what colors are your ears? <g>
>>>
>>>You don't want to go deep into that :).
>>
>>You are right, I just wanted to know the colors on the outside :)
>>
>>You are amazingly proficient in English, and, I'd say, pedant, a little (in the sense of asking for precision). Some time ago I read this little book: "Eats, Shoots and Leaves: A Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation" by Lynne Truss. I forgot the rules, and... exceptions, almost as soon as I read them, but I remember that it removed any illusion I had, that I can write a paragraph, in English, without mistakes.