# 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:** 370
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7384 "2023-10-11T12:59:03Z")
They enjoy mowing? ---
**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:** [October 11, 2023, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7385 "2023-10-11T13:03:30Z")
Seems… wasteful, and not good for the grass. ---
**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:** [October 11, 2023, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7386 "2023-10-11T13:18:55Z")
Well, they are mowing four acres of grass in various locations around their home. Some is wooded, some open lawn. One sloped area. They used to do it all in one day, now they’ve slowed down. I’ve offered to mow areas adjacent to our property, but he told me, “thanks, but I’d rather it look nice “. He’s a curmudgeon, and meant it as a joke. When I’m working in our yard, he sometimes brings me a beer. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7387 "2023-10-11T13:22:18Z")
I look out over my mini-meadow of mixed grasses, clover, and assorted weeds and think, “not for me”. ---
**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:** [October 11, 2023, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7388 "2023-10-11T13:40:01Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Well, they are mowing four acres of grass in various locations around their home. Some is wooded, some open lawn. One sloped area. They used to do it all in one day, now they’ve slowed down. Ah, got it, doing it in sections. I voted Fenway. I understand the historic appeal of Yankee Stadium, but watching during the summer in the reflective white cement of the upper deck was like being in a toaster oven. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7389 "2023-10-11T14:48:40Z")
See, I was assuming the neighbor and I would have similar aesthetics when I voted that I’d just mow the whole thing. So I really should go back and vote that I’d consult with the neighbor. Realistically, I’d do what I could to come to a consensus so that there’s not a “paint a line down the middle” effect. My daughter just moved into her first house this spring, and she’s slowly converting the expanse of turf grass to vegetable and pollinator gardens. In the meantime, she’s chatting with neighbors and forming alliances so that she’s less likely to fall afoul of HOA when they realize, five years from now, that the yard is a small strip of regulation-length grass surrounding a riot of wildflowers. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7390 "2023-10-11T16:47:15Z")
The computer poll was a difficult one for me to answer. I currently own a laptop. I would not attempt to open that up and do any repairs or replacements. And by extension, I apply that sense of inability to working on other computers. I do not feel like I can do any work inside a computer. But I have worked inside computers. I’ve been involved with computers since the seventies and I’ve owned computers since the nineties. I can remember opening up computers and doing upgrades on them. So I have somehow managed to achieve a state where I don’t believe I can work inside a computer despite knowing I have done so. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7391 "2023-10-11T16:50:15Z")
I have no problem with movies that depict Christian mythology as real. I view them like I would view a movie that depicted magic spells or vampires or talking animals as real. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7392 "2023-10-11T17:04:00Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > So I have somehow managed to achieve a state where I don’t believe I can work inside a computer despite knowing I have done so. Computers have gotten much harder to work inside. More components are incorporated into the mother chip. More components are glued in place, where they used to be affixed with screws or friction. More parts have become proprietary. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7393 "2023-10-11T17:26:12Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Computers have gotten much harder to work inside. More components are incorporated into the mother chip. More components are glued in place, where they used to be affixed with screws or friction. More parts have become proprietary. I’d like to believe that the world has become more difficult as the decades pass and it’s not just me getting older and less able to do things. But self-awareness kicks in. ---
**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:** [October 11, 2023, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7394 "2023-10-11T17:26:25Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > It’s my experience that with few exceptions works that depict Christian mythology as real tend to simply not bother addressing other belief systems, or even if they do it’s more or less hand waved away, and they go on adhering primarily to the Christian mythology they started with. Ah, that’s more or less the way I assumed when I was evaluating my answer, with a solid helping of @InternetLegend’s “doing it poorly at best”. Thank you for the prompt answer! On to the computer poll: I voted ‘other’. TBF, most issues with a reasonably current computer (say 2-4 years) are software based, and those I’ll attempt to fix with online research, being successful 70-80% of the time or so. Hardware issues in my experience are can be really simple (loose cable, internal or external to the case, something juuust out of it’s socket such as RAM, etc), be a bit challenging to work with because of small enclosed areas (replacing a hard-drive or video card), or extremely challenging (anything on the motherboard, multiple sources of failure). Software, as I said, I’ll try to fix with some success. Hardware, well, I’ve replaced a hard-drive and a video card, but not much more than that. One of the reasons I selected other though, is our of our closest friends has spent much of their lives tinkering with computers (hardware and software) and been a highly paid IT professional for decades. If I can’t fix a software problem, it’s Teamviewer Time! and generally a quick fix. They visit 4-5 times a year from out of state, and about every other time there’s a computer upgrade for my or my wife’s PC, from fresh RAM, to a hand-me-down replacement SSD / Video card, up to and including new PCs (both new and new to us). For the record, we help them with other things of value as well, but they take a great deal of joy in upgrading and rebuilding computers. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7395 "2023-10-11T18:01:18Z")
I voted I’m qualified to open a computer up and stare at the innards in the hope of divine intervention. It’s the same approach I take to cars: if the problem is something I recognize from days of yore, I’m good to go. Otherwise, it’s a sign to someone more capable to stop and help. In the case of computer hardware, that’ll be my electrical engineer husband. I’m the queen of checking to see if things are plugged in and getting dust and hair out of revolving parts, like fans. Beyond that, I’m going to need an expert. ---
**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:** [October 11, 2023, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7396 "2023-10-11T18:03:29Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > If you discuss it with the neighbor, you’ll find out. Yeah, that’s why I chose that option. – I’ll call a friend who knows a lot more about computers than I do. If they tell me to do something, I’ll try it. If they tell me to call tech support, I’ll do that. Also, my computer’s a minimac and an iPad. I don’t think either of them was designed to be taken apart and worked on by a non-computer person. I will change the battery in my non-Apple flip phone, and have done so; and I’ll take apart a mouse in the hope that what’s wrong with it is an accumulation of cat hair, and in the knowledge that a replacement mouse, if I do kill it, costs a whole lot less than a computer. And I do check that everything that’s supposed to be plugged in tight actually is, and turn everything on and off. What made @Little_Nemo’s poll confusing was that I don’t know what Gravity Falls is; or for that matter what a lot of Mean Mr Mustard’s list was, either. I might bring the opened toiletries home with me, depending on whether I liked them. I always bring my own, because I probably won’t like them, because I usually don’t like scented stuff and they’re usually scented. But before using my own I’ll check the hotel’s in case I do like them. Started to vote sometimes if they’re nice; then decided it’s probably actually sometimes, other factors and changed my vote. > [@InternetLegend](#): > > From what I’ve seen, most shows that depict Christian faith do it inaccurately at best. There are so many versions of Christian faith – how are you deciding which ones count as “accurate”? I mean, if they say specifically “Groffdale Conference Mennonites” or something like that, it would be possible to say that they got something specific wrong. But if it’s just “Christianity, these characters go to (unspecified) church” – how is it possible to say that they don’t attend a church which does it the way the show depicts it? ---
**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:** [October 11, 2023, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7397 "2023-10-11T18:30:31Z")
I feel like most of the hotels I stay up in the US these days have those wall-mounted shampoo, soap, and body wash bottles, and only the tiniest bar of actual soap. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7398 "2023-10-11T18:38:34Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > What made @Little_Nemo’s poll confusing was that I don’t know what Gravity Falls is; or for that matter what a lot of Mean Mr Mustard’s list was, either. Just to clarify, in case anyone is still wondering. My poll is for live action sitcoms, and “Gravity Falls”, as it turns out, is an animated show. mmm ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7399 "2023-10-11T18:48:05Z")
Someone once described Hollywood’s approach to Christianity as “Jewish film-makers telling Catholic stories to Protestant audiences.” ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7400 "2023-10-11T19:15:05Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > I feel like most of the hotels I stay up in the US these days have those wall-mounted shampoo, soap, and body wash bottles, and only the tiniest bar of actual soap. Yeah, that’s becoming increasingly common, especially at more budget level hotels. I suppose it’s more environmentally friendly since it eliminates all the tiny plastic bottles that mostly just get thrown away and probably not recycled, not to mention it probably saves the hotel money. The question included an implied “assuming the hotel provides them”. But if you’re a serious cheapskate and _really_ want to bring some shampoo home from the hotel, bring an empty bottle and fill from the big shampoo bottle in the shower. 😉 ---
**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:** [October 11, 2023, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7401 "2023-10-11T19:23:49Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > But if you’re a serious cheapskate and _really_ want to bring some shampoo home from the hotel, bring an empty bottle and fill from the big shampoo bottle in the shower. 😉 lol I admit that never occurred to me. On a sidenote, I used to travel a lot to Europe and southeast Asia, and inevitably the hotels would have some sort of fancy tube of hand cream . I always took those and brought those home to my daughter, who would ask me for them. ---
**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:** [October 11, 2023, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7402 "2023-10-11T19:44:55Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > But if you’re a serious cheapskate and _really_ want to bring some shampoo home from the hotel, bring an empty bottle and fill from the big shampoo bottle in the shower. 😉 I usually take the little shampoo bottles, not because I’m a cheapskate, but because they’re useful to stock in the guest bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/7403 "2023-10-11T19:46:27Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Someone once described Hollywood’s approach to Christianity as “Jewish film-makers telling Catholic stories to Protestant audiences.” This right here is what I find inaccurate. There are indeed loads of different types of “church,” even within denominations, but you aren’t going to have infant baptism or rosaries in an evangelical Protestant church, and it rings as false as any other instance in which writers obviously have a vague image of what something is and do absolutely no research. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=369) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=371)