"special" means one thing that is better than similar things "particular" and "specific" are more general, and have much the same meaning. One item chosen from many items that are the same or similar. "He chose a specific cup each time" "He always chose one cup in particular" "He had a special cup which he liked more than the others"

"We enjoyed you going by in your jet" is the sardonic comment - the letter write is saying he moved so fast through El Paso that it's like he was flying past in a jet. He didn't take his time to let the people see him. "bear for detail" means he cares about detail. I think "this one" is a detail, and the detail is the First Lady's hair - it's important to him that it look good.

It depends a lot on context and culture. Here I can say "Hey guys" or "you guys", and it includes both guys and girls. But I can't say "Look at that guy over there" if it's a girl. If a group is guys only, I will say "guys". If it's mixed, "guys". If it's girls only, "girls".

Just read the digits, unless the same number appears more than once. For example: 1360771 : one three six zero double seven one Some english speakers will have trouble understanding if you say "seven seven" instead of "double seven", because they don't expect it. You can also say "triple seven" for three sevens, but "double seven double seven" for four sevens. One local phone number here is 9422 2222. Most people read it out as "nine four double two (pause) double two double two". The last part is read out quickly to make it clear that it really is two lots of double two.

Another common usage is "This town is quite dead", meaning it's not very exciting. Often used of a town with no nightlife. Thumbs up for Alan's answer too - for me in Australia, "quite dead" means "definitely dead".

They are asking you to pretend to be interested. Or to pretend to enjoy doing something when they don't expect you to. "I can see you don't want to listen to me talk about my holiday, but just humour me."