# 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:** 57
**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:** [January 2, 2023, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1122 "2023-01-02T18:20:25Z")
I’ve both walked to summits and taken public transit (and private transit. @Maserschmidt , i can’t believe you haven’t tried the cog railway. It’s a lot of fun.) But i would have assumed any method of ascending counts. ---
**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:** [January 2, 2023, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1123 "2023-01-02T18:23:39Z")
Yeah, if we do Mt Washington again, it’s gonna be cog all the way! ---
**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:** [January 2, 2023, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1124 "2023-01-02T18:32:40Z")
I’ve been to the summit of Mt. Whitney. The only way to get there is by foot. Sadly, I had altitude related problems and barely made it. I was barfing my guts out. Fortunately, getting over altitude problems (as opposed to the very serious alititude sickness) is easy … just go to a lower alititude. It’s amazing. I was literally feeling better with every step I took. By the time we got to Whitney Portal, I was ready for a beer. ---
**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:** [January 2, 2023, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1125 "2023-01-02T19:51:10Z")
I had to deal with a roof leak in the apartment I rented in grad school. Of course since I was renting my landlord was the one who had to deal with the repair, but I was the one who had to deal with the wet carpet after it rained. Although when I bought this house there was a very minor leak that got dealt with when I replaced the entire roof, which it needed anyway. So I guess that might count too. Since @Zyada suggested counting sewer problems as “septic failure”, I did have to have my sewer line snaked out. Damn tree roots grew down into the line, through an uncapped cleanout that had gotten buried. I almost checked “water heater failure”, but then I figured that meant a leak, not just the water heater not heating. And in my case the pilot light just kept going out, but I could relight it and get hot water for a little while, until it went out again. One that should have been included but wasn’t was air conditioner failure in hot weather – my AC crapped out in the middle of that massive heat wave California had last September. When it’s over 110 F outside, that does constitute an emergency. ---
**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:** [January 2, 2023, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1126 "2023-01-02T20:30:36Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > I almost checked “water heater failure”, but then I figured that meant a leak, not just the water heater not heating. And in my case the pilot light just kept going out, but I could relight it and get hot water for a little while, until it went out again. I was thinking “water heater failure” as something serious enough to require replacement, hence the household “emergency” until that was fixed. Bonus points for having the thing leak everywhere and cause damage, or actually explode for two bonus points. > [@WildaBeast](#): > > One that should have been included but wasn’t was air conditioner failure in hot weather – my AC crapped out in the middle of that massive heat wave California had last September. When it’s over 110 F outside, that does constitute an emergency. Fair, but a heater failure when it’s below freezing will eventually cause catastrophic damage to other parts of the house so perhaps more serious I guess? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2023, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1127 "2023-01-02T21:17:05Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > One that should have been included but wasn’t was air conditioner failure in hot weather – my AC crapped out in the middle of that massive heat wave California had last September. Welcome to the club! Mine, too. Blown capacitor. 5 minute swap out when the guy could finally get to me. The 3 hottest days last year were the 3 days I _didn’t_ have AC! ---
**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:** [January 2, 2023, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1128 "2023-01-02T21:36:42Z")
> [@Die\_Capacitrix](#): > > Regarding mountain summits, I presume it assumes the person is walking up, not using public transportation. The question was simply whether one has “stood on the summit.” I didn’t infer any caveat that it mattered how one got there. ---
**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:** [January 2, 2023, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1129 "2023-01-02T21:38:48Z")
I’ve had my central air die twice. Both times it was chipmunks having crewed something important, and the service guy was able to fix it fairly cheaply, once they took it apart and saw the damage. I have since built a giant hardware cloth condom around the external unit. I’m hopeful this will work. At any rate, they haven’t eaten it since I’ve done that. ---
**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:** [January 2, 2023, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1130 "2023-01-02T22:36:28Z")
Blown capacitor here, too. My repair guy said that’s a common problem during heat waves. After the second day I just took my cat and went to an AirBnb until the guy could come out and fix it. The cat wasn’t too happy about being taken to a strange place, but I was getting worried the excessive heat wasn’t good for his health (he’s a very long-haired cat). The annoying thing is the unit is 20 years old and I was already planning on replacing it soon. So I really only got a small about of use out of the repair before the weather got cooler and I didn’t need it any more, and now it and my gas furnace are about to be replaced with a heat pump. SMUD has a really attractive rebate for switching to a heat pump, plus a new tax credit that goes into effect this year. > [@squeegee](#): > > I was thinking “water heater failure” as something serious enough to require replacement I did end up replacing it, just because every plumber I talked to said it was old enough that they don’t repair them when they’re that old. ---
**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:** [January 2, 2023, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1131 "2023-01-02T22:58:51Z")
I’ve never had a house with central air conditioning, and have only recently had a single window air conditioner. It has gone out in hot weather due to a thunderstorm taking out the power, but I didn’t think it was an emergency; the thunderstorm had also cooled the air temporarily, and the power came back on within a few hours. I didn’t check that one. I’ve never actually had a house fire – been very briefly in a house that was having one once, but I wasn’t living there – but I’ve prevented at least a couple by catching a dangerous situation at the last minute. “the kittens knocked that lamp over and the rug under the bulb is starting to smoke” kind of situation. (Lamps now are mostly unplugged when not in use, though those particular kittens have years ago grown old and died. ☹ ) ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2023, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1132 "2023-01-02T23:01:22Z")
Can somebody please explain the Apple, Armor, Alligator one? ---
**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:** [January 2, 2023, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1133 "2023-01-02T23:04:50Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > I didn’t infer any caveat that it mattered how one got there. Heh. After climbing to Pic Paradise summit we retuned to the bar at the base and had a few drinks. Someone asked how the climb was (I had soaked my shirt through with sweat and looked exhausted). I told them it was worth the effort to see the view, which was spectacular. He looked me over some more, then said he would just drive up. I turned to my gf and said, “YOU CAN DRIVE UP?” ---
**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:** [January 2, 2023, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1134 "2023-01-02T23:09:45Z")
Wow. I have a tattoo (many) and a non-ear piercing (nipple). I thought I was pretty average, but no. ---
**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:** [January 2, 2023, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1135 "2023-01-02T23:20:48Z")
Would you believe my car was totaled two days before Christmas? I’m still a little bruised but not seriously hurt. [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52603736965_b5f2e43d11_b.jpg "2023-01-02\_05-18-10") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/190534151@N04/52603736965/) It looks like I had pulled off to the side of the road, but I didn’t. ---
**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:** [January 2, 2023, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1136 "2023-01-02T23:52:22Z")
The insurance company said the car was totalled, so I checked that on the poll; but I bought the remains back from them and clobbered it together with parts of a car with an undamaged body but a blown engine (mine had more body damage than they were willing to pay to repair on a car of its age, but the engine and transmission were fine.) For some years after that I drove a red SAAB 95 with green doors. Or maybe it was the other way around. I’ve got pictures somewhere, but I don’t offhand remember. Nobody was hurt. Whew. ETA: I don’t get the Apple, Armor, Alligator one either. ---
**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:** [January 3, 2023, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1137 "2023-01-03T00:27:26Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > At 61, I’m not going to start that kind of work. At 62, neither am I. But I might have made a good firefighter. I’ve put out a few fires on race cars. ---
**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:** [January 3, 2023, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1138 "2023-01-03T00:36:24Z")
I took it to be a take on kid’s books that start, “A is for”. No? ETA: I went with “apple” because our neighbors have an apple orchard, but really it’s alligator. ---
**Author:** ![De\_La\_Rue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@De\_La\_Rue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/De_La_Rue)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1139 "2023-01-03T00:59:14Z")
> [@Reeses\_Monkey](#): > > Can somebody please explain the Apple, Armor, Alligator one? It’s the examples Kitap gives when announcing the latest Botticelli letter [here](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botticelli-january-2023/977412/29). ---
**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:** [January 3, 2023, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1140 "2023-01-03T01:28:12Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > Since @Zyada suggested counting sewer problems as “septic failure”, I did have to have my sewer line snaked out. Damn tree roots grew down into the line, through an uncapped cleanout that had gotten buried. While we have city sewer, not a septic system, but the sewer line from the house to the street curb is the homeowner’s responsibility in our village, I did select “septic failure.” We, too, had tree root trouble in the line, as well as just general failure of the 95-year-old, terra cotta sewer pipes in our yard, and had to have nearly all of it replaced last year. The actual conversation I had, with the plumbing company’s supervisor, when he was about to inform me about the cost for repairs: Me: “Is it going to make me cry?” Him: “I’m sorry, but yes, it probably is.” He was correct. He also gave me a hug. 😉 ---
**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:** [January 3, 2023, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380/1141 "2023-01-03T02:07:17Z")
@Wheelz , is a [pulmonary embolism](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foot-injury-advice-it-s-a-blood-clot/970446) (actually “emboli”, there were 2) an “injury”? Or are you just counting physical oopsies/collisions/whatever? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=56) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-1/972380.md?page=58)