# 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:** 449
**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 30, 2023, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8964 "2023-12-30T03:20:31Z")
We try to get decorations up by a week before Christmas, and we try to take them down when they start being more depressing than joyful, which is typically some time in January. We kept them up until the beginning of March in 2021. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8965 "2023-12-30T07:42:49Z")
We get a real tree every year. I like to keep it up until January 2nd or so. This year it stopped taking water and the branches started to droop. The decorations were in danger of falling off. So this year everything came down December 29th. Unfortunately they won’t pick up the tree until January 10th so it has to sit outside the garage until then. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8966 "2023-12-30T08:56:10Z")
I’ve always made sure to take the decorations down before my husband’s birthday (between 1st and 6th of January). Some years ago he said he’d rather enjoy the decorations a bit longer. I think last year we put away most of the decorations before we went back to work. But we keep the lights (white) until mid-February. ---
**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 30, 2023, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8967 "2023-12-30T14:23:18Z")
I think white lights are arguably a winter decoration, not a Christmas decoration. I endorse keeping the lights up until there nights get shorter. ---
**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:** [December 30, 2023, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8968 "2023-12-30T14:57:30Z")
I dislike the singular they, but I use it because I am not an asshole. I, however, avoid use of the reflective form whenever possible. ---
**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 30, 2023, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8969 "2023-12-30T15:20:06Z")
I use the singular they a lot, because i have many friends who prefer it. And I’m trying to train myself to use it more. But i can’t recall ever using the reflective form. I’d just say “someone got some ice cream” ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8970 "2023-12-30T16:54:01Z")
I’d be surprised if anyone in my town (and surrounding small towns) has a garbage disposal. While there _are_ a now few models we could buy, I’m not sure anyone considers them continent enough to justify needing to have their septic tank pumped more often. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8971 "2023-12-30T17:10:50Z")
Here, we have weekly compost collection, so most of the stuff that a garbage disposal (“garburator”) might have disposed of, we just put in the green bin. ---
**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 30, 2023, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8972 "2023-12-30T17:13:30Z")
We leave the Christmas decorations (indoor only; we don’t decorate outside) up until early January. There’s no set date for when we take them down – it depends on having a weekend day or two when we don’t have anything else going on. We have artificial trees, so at least we don’t face the issue of a real tree drying out. We don’t have an in-sink garbage disposal. We have older plumbing (and faced years of issues with the sewer line running out to the street), so sending food waste down there was just one more thing we didn’t want to deal with. ---
**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 30, 2023, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8973 "2023-12-30T17:30:02Z")
> [@Die\_Capacitrix](#): > > I’ve always made sure to take the decorations down before my husband’s birthday (between 1st and 6th of January). Some years ago he said he’d rather enjoy the decorations a bit longer. > > I think last year we put away most of the decorations before we went back to work. But we keep the lights (white) until mid-February. My husband’s birthday is a week before Christmas, and my dad’s was, too. My dad absolutely hated Christmas impinging on his birthday, so we never put up decorations until after that. But my spouse loves Christmas and likes to have the decorations up in time for his, so I retrained myself. We have an artificial tree, so we have a lot more leeway for keeping it up as long as we want, and our outdoor lights are a nifty string of programmable LEDs that we leave up all year along the eaves of our front porch. They’re almost invisible during the day or when they aren’t on, so we just turn them off once everyone else in the block has taken theirs down. The wreath on the door (also artificial) comes inside at the same time. I love my garbage disposal, but I don’t purposely put much food down there. It’s really handy for the remnants of wet foods that would leak if they went in the garbage but that are too lumpy for the dishwasher. Given that you can’t put meat or fat or fibrous things down there, the volume of food is pretty small. I put most vegetable waste into the compost bucket, but at this time of year, the compost heap is too cold to be active, so I end up throwing some of that away. ---
**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 30, 2023, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8974 "2023-12-30T19:06:37Z")
We do not have a garbage disposal, instead we compost or feed scraps to our chickens. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8975 "2023-12-30T19:16:17Z")
Yep. My disposal is the chicken coop. There’s one under my sink but I’ve rarely used it. Hard on septic tank. ---
**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 30, 2023, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8976 "2023-12-30T19:21:09Z")
Theirself. Nobody says “mineself”, it’s “myself.” – it is, admittedly, “himself” and “herself”; but “themself” just feels wrong in my mouth. ---
**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 30, 2023, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8977 "2023-12-30T19:40:07Z")
We compost. But small scraps of meat, and any soggy bits that i don’t want to scrape into the compost bin, go through the disposal. It also handles fibrous stuff fine. I suppose they eventually get dull and stop working well. We’ve replaced ours once or twice. We’ve been here more than 25 years and never had an issue with that drain. ---
**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:** [December 30, 2023, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8978 "2023-12-30T20:04:14Z")
No love for fencing? ---
**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 30, 2023, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8979 "2023-12-30T21:10:32Z")
Actually, that’s what I was indicating with my “other” vote. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8980 "2023-12-30T21:24:32Z")
But nobody says “theirselves,” and “themself” is a back formation from “themselves.” ---
**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 30, 2023, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8981 "2023-12-30T21:41:15Z")
True. Why “themselves” sounds fine to me and “themself” sounds wrong I don’t know. And English is weird. ---
**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 30, 2023, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8982 "2023-12-30T22:13:21Z")
> [@InternetLegend](#): > > I love my garbage disposal, but I don’t purposely put much food down there. It’s really handy for the remnants of wet foods that would leak if they went in the garbage but that are too lumpy for the dishwasher. Given that you can’t put meat or fat or fibrous things down there, the volume of food is pretty small You saved me some typing! I wish I had a chicken coop. Our condo board does not approve. ETA: My “other” sport was badminton. I loved it, and I was really good. Mixing up my shots was my forte. I didn’t have the height or strength to be a power player. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/8983 "2023-12-30T22:28:26Z")
Re the sports poll: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA (yeah, right) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=448) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=450)