# Discussion thread for the "Polls only" thread (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 28, 2022, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380 "2022-09-28T11:33:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 272
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2023, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/5424 "2023-07-08T18:31:00Z")
The next show we watch will be on Acorn or BritBox, and will involve a quaint village in either New Zealand or England where heinous murders are committed, and a wisecracking police Inspector will solve it by the end, with the help of a trusted lieutenant or two. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2023, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/5425 "2023-07-08T18:40:44Z")
> [@colinfred](#): > > At the moment Other is leading the TV poll: I’m not sure how. We own a tv but watch it every few years. It’s complicated. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2023, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/5426 "2023-07-08T18:43:00Z")
When I saw the poll about types of TV shows, I was in the room with my wife, who’s watching a cooking show on PBS, which I suppose qualifies as “a documentary of factual events.” ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2023, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/5427 "2023-07-08T18:48:07Z")
I have no tv or cable. I sometimes watch the local news on the tv in the lobby. On my phone, I watch killtony podcasts. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2023, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/5428 "2023-07-08T19:19:02Z")
I’ve moved once because of a persistently barking dog. The woman next door took offense when we tried to talk to her about the problem and encouraged the dog to bark. We put the house up for sale, we were that miserable. I would have moved a second time if I could have broken the lease. The guy next door would leave town and leave his dog in the back yard while gone for days at a time. That dog would, no kidding, bark for 14 hours at a time. I made a log in case I could take legal action. It was that bad. I had to do soundproofing measures in my office (5/8" plexiglass over the single pane window) just so I could talk on the phone. I considered sleeping in my master closet to get away from the noise, but the dog usually got tired of barking around 9pm or so. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2023, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/5429 "2023-07-08T19:24:54Z")
Robots I didn’t want with me: Bishop. Because you KNOW he’s got programming to get info on the hostile aliens / tech / etc and my survival will be a distinct secondary at best. Figured I’d go with Data, he’s enough of a polymath that he’d been good for pretty much everything, from translation to a fight. And unlike Star Wars droids, can speak idiomatic modern english. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2023, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/5430 "2023-07-08T19:38:17Z")
Yeah, but he’s useless in childbirth since he can’t understand contractions. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2023, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/5431 "2023-07-08T19:53:36Z")
Go to your room. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2023, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/5432 "2023-07-08T19:58:01Z")
Regarding going to the Capitol, you missed at least one possibility, as far as I see: Going there on business to meet up with a politician. For example, as a lobbyist. Not me, but my sister is a lobbyist for an environmental organization, and she has done that. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2023, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/5433 "2023-07-08T20:21:02Z")
> [@colinfred](#): > > At the moment Other is leading the TV poll: I’m not sure how. There are 3 categories: real things, false things that could happen and false things that couldn’t happen. > > I put Other in in case of some edge case I hadn’t considered, but those 3 categories should cover pretty much “all of TV” “Other” in my case is “whatever’s on in somebody else’s house when I’m there.” I can’t have a TV, because if I do I’ll stare at it. Computer screens are dangerously close to TV’s for me, with the additional disadvantage that for multiple reasons I kind of have to have an on-line computer. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2023, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/5434 "2023-07-08T21:52:18Z")
My robot guardian on a hostile world should be both kickass _and_ good company, so Data won out over the Terminator for me. Marvin the Paranoid Android would be absolutely no help against hostile aliens as well as a real morale-crusher, so he’s out of the question. I’ve been in the White House twice, once for the standard public tour, and once for a specially-arranged private group tour about Lincoln and the Civil War years. I’d love to go back sometime, particularly to see the Oval Office, which I haven’t yet. I had a private group tour of the U.S. Capitol that included the chance to go out onto the floor of the House of Representatives (not in session at the time, obvs). I actually stood right at the podium where the President speaks during the State of the Union Address - very cool for a political junkie like me! I also had two Congressional internships in college, spending most of my time in the Rayburn Building both times. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2023, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/5435 "2023-07-08T22:37:14Z")
If my candidate got 51% of the vote, I would be shocked and certain some mix up, or fix, had occurred. (I been voting Libertarian) ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2023, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/5436 "2023-07-08T22:54:22Z")
I would be both jubilant that we won and alarmed that it was so close. ETA: But Velocity included an “other” option! I am pleased about that. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2023, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/5437 "2023-07-08T23:14:28Z")
> [@colinfred](#): > > At the moment Other is leading the TV poll: I’m not sure how. I’m not sure the wording of your choices is as clear as you think it is. My next watch will likely be a game show; I almost voted “other,” but after about three re-readings I decided “documentary of factual events” was closer. But I still wasn’t sure. I will be elated if my choice wins in 2024. We all know it will be extremely close, so that will be no surprise. A win is a win. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2023, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/5438 "2023-07-08T23:20:52Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > We all know it will be extremely close, so that will be no surprise. I’m alarmed that it won’t be surprising. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2023, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/5439 "2023-07-09T00:26:47Z")
Back when I ran regularly, I had a running partner, and we’d often train, and run races, together. We were typically running at about a 9:30 to 10:00 mile pace (so, definitely running, but not sprinting), and we were able to keep up a conversation. That said, the conversations were typically in short bursts of a sentence or two, not lengthy exposition, but we nearly always were talking with one another while we ran. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2023, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/5440 "2023-07-09T03:23:50Z")
My wife and I pretty much wing it on finances. Looking over our credit-card bills and bank statements every month usually suffices. We should probably save a bit more, but we’re both responsible and relatively frugal. I would not be surprised to see my preferred candidate only narrowly win. That’s the kind of country we live in right now. And, as **Wheelz** aptly notes, a win is a win. My wife is originally from Vermont and calls them jimmies; I am a Buckeye down to my toes and insist they’re sprinkles. Mork from (not “of,” IIRC) Ork would be a fun and amusing roomie. If he ever got to be too much, which I might expect, I think he would at least respect my wish to be left alone for awhile. No way am I voting on the poop/pee poll. TMI! ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2023, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/5441 "2023-07-09T03:51:21Z")
> [@susan](#): > > I’ve been in the Capitol as a lobbyist. Not these kind of lobbyist, I hope. [![](https://media.nbcwashington.com/2021/01/GettyImages-1230453278.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=5128%2C3418) ](https://media.nbcwashington.com/2021/01/GettyImages-1230453278.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=5128%2C3418) ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2023, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/5442 "2023-07-09T04:49:06Z")
Hardly. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2023, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/5443 "2023-07-09T05:27:34Z")
I do find it a bit ironic, or befitting, that the poll asking about how Dopers would feel about a narrow election victory is currently tied 46%-46%. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=271) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=273)