# 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:** 418
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2023, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8344 "2023-12-01T17:15:21Z")
In the “is it a love song or is it a drug song?” polls, I find a disturbingly strong temptation to select the option that I don’t actually believe, just to troll people. (I have not voted in any of them. Yet.) ---
**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:** [December 1, 2023, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8345 "2023-12-01T18:54:39Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Whereas i often stick a foot out from under the covers if I’m a little too warm. Yes, even in the winter. We’re long lost kin, aren’t we? I refer to it as my “heat snorkel”. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2023, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8346 "2023-12-01T20:17:29Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Whereas i often stick a foot out from under the covers if I’m a little too warm. Yes, even in the winter. Me, too. I sleep badly if the temperature is too much in either direction, but too hot makes me really miserable. I don’t typically use my duvet at all in the summer. I’ll often sleep with just a sheet. I had my first home PC in the mid 90s. Some friends took me to a technology fair at the L.A. County Fairgrounds. They went around to the various vendors, bought the necessary parts, and assembled my PC for me. I had it for years. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2023, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8347 "2023-12-01T20:43:24Z")
Is a song “actually about” what the songwriter had in mind when writing the song, or is it “actually about” what an astute listener can discern from listening to it (and/or reading its lyrics) without any inside information? I lean toward the latter. ---
**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:** [December 1, 2023, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8348 "2023-12-01T21:00:57Z")
Another topic where my liberal arts education comes in handy. Ahhhh… > **[Intentional fallacy | Rhetoric, Poetry, Analysis](https://www.britannica.com/art/intentional-fallacy)** > > Intentional fallacy, term used in 20th-century literary criticism to describe the problem inherent in trying to judge a work of art by assuming the intent or purpose of the artist who created it. Introduced by W.K. Wimsatt, Jr., and Monroe C.... > **Intentional fallacy** , term used in 20th-century [literary criticism](https://www.britannica.com/art/literary-criticism) to describe the problem [inherent](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inherent) in trying to judge a work of art by assuming the intent or purpose of the artist who created it. ---
**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:** [December 1, 2023, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8349 "2023-12-01T21:02:23Z")
We had an Altair 8800 in 1980 (I say “we,” but it belonged to Mr. Legend before I moved in). It had toggle switches on the front panel and I didn’t know how to use it. In 1981, we got a Kaypro, and he had a Compaq from work that wasn’t ours but lived with us for a year or so. Starting in the early eighties (maybe 1982?), we had an IBM PC, and that’s when I learned how to actually use a computer. I sleep in a room that gets very cold in the winter, so I put on socks and add blankets and a heavy comforter. I also have a space heater with a thermostat I keep set at 60, so the room doesn’t get colder than that. As for song meanings, well, a song means what I want it to mean, for me. It doesn’t really matter to me what anyone else, including the writer, thinks. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2023, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8350 "2023-12-01T21:14:00Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Is a song “actually about” what the songwriter had in mind when writing the song, or is it “actually about” what an astute listener can discern from listening to it (and/or reading its lyrics) without any inside information? I lean toward the latter. There’s likely no one right answer, and even many lyricists will say the same, that the listener’s interpretation isn’t necessarily any worse than the writer’s original intent. One reason I chose Gotta Get You… is that it is one of the first popular songs I can remember (Summer of '67, I was 5, tho oddly even tho a local pop station was playing it regularly on my mom’s car radio it never was a single). Only many years later did McCartney confirm it was about dope, not any date of his, which rather pissed me off tbh. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2023, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8351 "2023-12-01T21:14:06Z")
> [@InternetLegend](#): > > As for song meanings, well, a song means what I want it to mean, for me. It doesn’t really matter to me what anyone else, including the writer, thinks. > “When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’ > > ’The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’ > > ’The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master — that’s all.” ― Lewis Carroll, _Through the Looking Glass_ ---
**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:** [December 1, 2023, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8352 "2023-12-01T23:16:21Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > Turn up electric blanket to 1000F ?! I didn’t know they’d go that high. 😀 ---
**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:** [December 1, 2023, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8353 "2023-12-01T23:47:24Z")
My blanket goes to 11.😆 ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2023, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8354 "2023-12-01T23:50:39Z")
The manufactured home in which I live is nice and big, but it doesn’t heat evenly and the master bedroom and bathroom are usually several degrees below the living room and kitchen. So I use a space heater, and my husband and I argue about which temperature to put it on. I can’t sleep with socks on. It’s just this thing I have. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2023, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8355 "2023-12-02T00:02:05Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > We’re long lost kin, aren’t we? I refer to it as my “heat snorkel”. I’m from the same family as well. Nice to meet some cousins. My mother called my leg-out routine “temperature control”. When I’m hot, I can’t sleep. ---
**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:** [December 2, 2023, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8356 "2023-12-02T00:02:19Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > My blanket goes to 11.😆 This is Spinal Nap. mmm ---
**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:** [December 2, 2023, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8357 "2023-12-02T13:50:40Z")
My house has three heat zones, and i keep my bedroom and its ensuite bath cooler then the rest of the house. I really sleep better when the air is cool. I also got a fancy heated toilet seat (it’s also a bidet) which i like a lot more than i expected i would. Sitting in cool air with a warm bum is nice. ---
**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:** [December 2, 2023, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8358 "2023-12-02T14:05:21Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I also got a fancy heated toilet seat My gf bought a Subaru years ago. My first ride in it my seat started to feel _very_ warm and it freaked me out. I’d never been in a vehicle with heated seats and I honestly thought the car was on fire. I asked her to pull over and jumped out. She told me she’d turned my seat’s heat on. I hated that feature. ---
**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:** [December 2, 2023, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8359 "2023-12-02T14:15:04Z")
I actually hate it in cars, too. I used to use it in my hybrid electric to save power (it uses less electricity than heating the air) but i have only once turned it on in my current gas-powered car. And that was by mistake, and i promptly turned it off. I like it when i want to take a dump, though. And i even like it when i just want to sit and read on the john. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2023, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8360 "2023-12-02T14:45:06Z")
I had to guess in the car age poll. My brother used to drive Ford Prefects like this one, but i have no idea what age it was :- [![](https://classicandsportscar.ltd.uk/images/2019/11/lg/ford-prefect_43516.jpg) ](https://classicandsportscar.ltd.uk/images/2019/11/lg/ford-prefect_43516.jpg) ---
**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:** [December 2, 2023, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8361 "2023-12-02T14:46:47Z")
In addition to warm pajamas (and, yes, socks), we have an electric mattress pad for the bed, for winter weather. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2023, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8362 "2023-12-02T15:05:29Z")
A friend of my parents was in my father’s Audi one winter. Mom had accidentally turned on the heated seat thingie for the passenger seat (where their guest was seated) to full blast. After about 10 minutes the friend suddenly exclaimed, “My ass is on fire!” ---
**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:** [December 2, 2023, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8363 "2023-12-02T15:57:07Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > I had to guess in the car age poll. I also guessed the age of my father’s old MG with the running boards, on which IIRC he had to have windshield wipers installed because it didn’t come with any. I know it was old in the 50’s, I guessed the 30’s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=417) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=419)