I do wonder why English is so odd in its spelling,
In a nutshell, because the spoken language changes and the written language doesn't.
For example, the reason we have a 'silent l' in words like
'would' and
'should' is that a few hundred years ago those letters were pronounced, as they are in their modern German equivalents : -
'wollte' and
'sollte'.
Unlike France who have their 'Academie' , there is no governing body in any English-speaking country to pronounce on such matters.
Noah Webster's self-appointed herculean task of reforming English (or American - his reforms were not intended for the Eastern side of the Atlantic-) spelling was always doomed to failure and he had barely started to scratch the surface of the problem before he went to join the Great Lexicographer in the sky.
As for textese - 'CU L8er, W8 4 me' - it just exacerbates the problem!