Now that's interesting, paulb. I wonder if she was preparing to write something? I do try to think ahead and make what comes out of my mouth seem somewhat logical, but I find that I make my greatest effort at
organizing my thoughts when I want to write something. I suppose that started when I had to write all those darned research papers in college. I'd have a kajillion scraps of information and quotes all over the place, and would sometimes number them, then scratch each off as I included it, because I might have item #4 on page 2 of my notes, and what I decided to make #5 might be on page 3 of my notes.

Some months ago, I helped a friend with his PhD thesis.
My part was to organize his survey responses. Egads! These weren't nice little multiple-choice surveys--people had written free-form responses, and of course did not always stick to the topic. My friend had suggested categories the responses should fall into, and before I got through with the first batch, I realized his suggestions had to go right out the window. I finally just
cleared off my dining table and physically laid out all of the surveys, assigning categories as best I could. Trying to decide where all the "gray" ones went was...interesting. I think there were about 400 surveys; far too many for me to remember at #279 that #12 had had something similar. I had to lay them out, so I could find the first one. I am glad he isn't doing a second thesis!