# Discussion thread for the "Polls only" thread (Part 3) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 29, 2026, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157 "2026-01-29T18:21:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 158
**Author:** ![RollOutTheBarrel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rolloutthebarrel/32/1649_2.png) [@RollOutTheBarrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RollOutTheBarrel)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3141 "2026-09-19T16:14:41Z")
I attended a school that was kindergarten through 8th grade in one school. We called the K-5 portion the elementary school and the 6-8 portion the junior high. Together, we called them the grade school. I picked “elementary school” in the poll. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3142 "2026-09-19T16:15:37Z")
I say “fiver” instead of five. It’s the Canadian 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:** [September 19, 2026, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3143 "2026-09-19T16:58:38Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > My high school was most unimaginatively named. Las Cruces High School, in Las Cruces, NM. Of course, it was the _only_ high school in town originally, one of _two_ when I was attending, and now there’s a third. Same for my high school, except that there’s still only one high school. It was a smallish unincorporated city surrounded by Los Angeles, so it didn’t have a lot of room to expand. I just checked the population stats, though, and they’re about 25% higher than when I lived there (I know there’s more density now). Maybe more singles or seniors are who expanded the population. My elementary school is a Catholic one and my only school that was in one building. I still pass it occasionally when I have to go to the hospital, instead of the local clinic (for whatever reason). Looks pretty much the same. They painted some trim a dark blue and added a couple of potted plants outside the (in my time) mostly unused front door. Otherwise looks exactly the same. > [@Thumper668](#): > > When you start Kindergarten (age 5-6) depends on when your birthday is. This is true, but I started kindergarten at 4. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3144 "2026-09-19T17:30:07Z")
I went to four different elementary schools, so hard to choose. I think they all still exist, but not sure. I never went to middle school because the school district I lived in at the time went straight from elementary school at 6th grade to high school at 7th grade. Our family moved a lot when I was a kid, so I went to seven different schools between kindergarten and high school. ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3145 "2026-09-19T20:36:09Z")
When I’m channeling my inner Raymond Chandler (yes it happens) I might use _fin_ for _five_, as in “Hey buddy - got two fins for a sawbuck?” ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3146 "2026-09-19T21:50:25Z")
Makes me think of my favorite Abbott & Costello bit “2 tens for a 5” ---
**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:** [September 19, 2026, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3147 "2026-09-19T23:09:34Z")
I check my 401k balance daily, which I know is a bad habit, one I have been trying to break. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Jegpeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jegpeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jegpeg)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3148 "2026-09-19T23:58:46Z")
I have a final salary pension (if you retire at the standard pension age you get 1/n of you final salary for each year of service), so I never have had a retirement portfolio. On two occasions I requested a calculation of what my pension would be if I took early retirement (and on the second occasion did so). I also have some shares that provide part of my savings (though I wouldn’t consider it a retirement plant I could use it tp top up my retirement income if necessary) which I check on roughly once a quarter. ---
**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:** [September 20, 2026, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3149 "2026-09-20T04:14:27Z")
I don’t use spacer words, but my timing isn’t impeccable. ---
**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:** [September 20, 2026, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3150 "2026-09-20T04:41:16Z")
Same. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2026, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3151 "2026-09-20T11:03:36Z")
I check my retirement account about once every three or four months, so I said “other” (falls between two of the options). And, I, too, don’t use spacer words, but I doubt my timing is impeccable (though it’s pretty good). ---
**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:** [September 20, 2026, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3152 "2026-09-20T11:31:22Z")
Like others, no spacer words here, and I’m very peccable. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2026, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3153 "2026-09-20T11:49:35Z")
My retirement account is included in my daily Quicken download so the balance is always updated, but I rarely pay attention to it. I only look at the investments once a year around my birthday for rebalancing to see if anything needs changing. ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2026, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3154 "2026-09-20T13:41:05Z")
I use “one thousand” as spacer words, but not “one, one thousand” that always seemed dumb to me. I say it like a real number - one thousand one, one thousand two, … ---
**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:** [September 20, 2026, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3155 "2026-09-20T14:39:46Z")
One thousand one, one thousand two. But it doesn’t help my timing much, because I can’t judge whether I’m saying it at the right speed — that is, I can tell whether I’m sayingitrealfast, or . . . verrry . . . sllooowly, but there’s quite a range in the middle and if you’re talking more than a couple of seconds being slightly off in the pace adds up. ---
**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:** [September 20, 2026, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3156 "2026-09-20T15:53:45Z")
Every Thursday in the business park where my office is is Food Truck Thursday, where a different food truck comes every week. Getting lunch from the food truck has become my weekly routine. ---
**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:** [September 20, 2026, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3157 "2026-09-20T15:59:11Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I check my 401k balance daily, which I know is a bad habit, one I have been trying to break. Both my sister and I are retired, and she checks her Fidelity account Every Single Day. Oh well. Gives her something to do. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2026, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3158 "2026-09-20T16:21:48Z")
I started the food truck poll because I went to my first one last week (Mexican) I was wondering if I was ahead or behind my peers. As usual, I’m behind. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2026, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3159 "2026-09-20T16:22:53Z")
I check my portfolio several times a day, when the market is open. I know I shouldn’t. ---
**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:** [September 20, 2026, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/3160 "2026-09-20T16:30:38Z")
Recently my husband had a discussion about “One Mississippi, two Mississippi,” and someone what would be the version for the metric system. So he said, “One metric system, two metric system, …”. Regarding food trucks, a Thai food truck started appearing near home during COVD and it’s still there every Wednesday, but we no longer see it, as a building was built in our sight line. So we forget about it for weeks, and then remember it’s there, and then get something from them. We also went to two street food festivals this year, which are basically a bunch of food trucks gathered together. So we probably average out to eating from a food truck about once a month. Is that considered frequent? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157.md?page=157) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157.md?page=159)