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Poll thing

  • Oct. 15th, 2006 at 12:37 PM
lightning
mollyringle
Poll #845392 Questions unrelated to one another
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All. Participants: 51

(For my serious consideration.) If you were in the fiction section of the bookstore, or even the YA urban fantasy section specifically, which title would you be likelier to pick up?

View Answers
Heaven Universal
15(37.5%)
The Angel of Death Valley
25(62.5%)

(Just because I'm curious.) How high do you set your thermostat for regular at-home hours?

View Answers
60-61 F / 16 C
2(4.1%)
62-63 F / 17 C
2(4.1%)
64-65 F / 18 C
6(12.2%)
66-67 F / 19 C
9(18.4%)
68-69 F / 20 C
10(20.4%)
70-71 F / 21 C
8(16.3%)
72-73 F / 22 C
4(8.2%)
74-75 F / 23 C
3(6.1%)
76-77 F / 24 C
3(6.1%)
78-79 F / 26 C
2(4.1%)


Body type would have something to do with that last question, I'm sure; but I don't think it's as simple as "big people are warm; tiny people are cold." In fact, a lot of skinny people are skinny because they have metabolisms that burn like rocket fuel; therefore, they are comfortable at lower room temperatures than the average person. In addition, I'm betting it has to do with what you're used to. Those from toasty parts of California really can shiver and pile on sweaters when it's 62 outside. I have seen this personally. Meanwhile, Alaskans often wear shorts when it's 45. Again, personal witness.

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Comments

( 26 comments — Leave a comment )
gillen
Oct. 15th, 2006 08:04 pm (UTC)
As I live in Seattle, it doesn't usually get cold enough for me to want to turn on the heat. It's only a question of whether I have the windows open or not. In general, I'll turn on the heat if the outside temp is going to drop below 32degF and I'll think it overly warm if it's over 72degF or so.
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mollyringle
Oct. 16th, 2006 07:37 pm (UTC)
True, we live in a pretty temperate zone. Agreed on "overly warm if over 72"--that's why I live here. :) But I guess I'm wimpy the other direction as well, since if it were 50 inside, I'd consider it much too cold for an interior temperature. Granted, we do need better insulation, and are working on that...
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kali_kali
Oct. 15th, 2006 08:24 pm (UTC)
My roommate and I keep the temperature fairly high during the winter, because we get cold easily. She's quite skinny, and I'm of average size. My boyfriend, on the other hand, is a skinny skinny elfboy and likes it much cooler.

I've spent my entire life living in southern and eastern Ontario, where things get COLD during the winter. Blizzards, ice storms, whatever - completely normal! It's not uncommon for winter temperatures to be -30 or -40 Celsius (-22 to -40 Fahrenheit) with windchill (and last winter, it even went down to -50C with windchill! THAT was cold!).
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thomas_a_kempis
Oct. 16th, 2006 12:53 pm (UTC)
Yep...
-50C is cold, Arctic cold. Are you in NE Ontario...?

+
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kali_kali
Oct. 16th, 2006 02:43 pm (UTC)
Re: Yep...
No, just Eastern Ontario, which is still fairly south. I live in Ottawa.
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mollyringle
Oct. 16th, 2006 07:57 pm (UTC)
Yikes. Your heating bill is probably higher than mine by quite a bit, given those temps!
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kali_kali
Oct. 17th, 2006 01:49 am (UTC)
Our heat is paid by the company my roommate and I rent from, so we don't have to worry about it :) Good thing too, because this place leaks heat like nothing else.
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trilliah
Oct. 15th, 2006 08:42 pm (UTC)
I actually rather liked both titles, but "The Noun of Noun Noun" is just a structure I see so often that if I'm just scanning titles, I sometimes filter out. As for the thermostat--I don't think we even have it on yet, and it's been averaging in the 50's outside (thus my two layers of socks, two layers of shirts, and gloves without fingers that I'm constantly wearing). But when we DO turn it on, it'll be about 64, if tradition holds true.
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mollyringle
Oct. 16th, 2006 08:06 pm (UTC)
I know--"Noun of Noun" is a structure I myself have picked on lately, so I'm reluctant to use it. At this rate I'll be finding something else entirely...but maybe I'll fall back on 'Heaven Universal.'
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bluesound
Oct. 15th, 2006 08:43 pm (UTC)
I would answer your poll but I've heard nothing about either of those books and I have also no thermostat as the heating in our place is rubbish. Nasty wall mounted things that run directly of the mains. :(
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mollyringle
Oct. 15th, 2006 09:16 pm (UTC)
Of course you haven't heard of them. They're proposed titles for a book of mine, which isn't even finished yet, let alone published. So my question is, you see: which is a better title? And I'm *assuming* you know nothing about the book ahead of time, as most readers won't. :P Idea is to see which title would get someone's attention.
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rachel2205
Oct. 15th, 2006 10:29 pm (UTC)
We are trying to keep the heating off for as long as possible as the price of gas (by which I mean gas, not petrol!) is so high now... Our last winter bill was MASSIVE. So jumpers on and heaters off for as long as poss! :)
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mollyringle
Oct. 16th, 2006 08:07 pm (UTC)
heh--we call it "gas" here too, even though we also call gasoline "gas." Go figure. Yeah, I always think of the cost and turn it down if I'm comfortable enough already. Besides, I feel overheated if it's above 69-70.
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terrylj
Oct. 15th, 2006 11:13 pm (UTC)
There was no option in your poll for "How high would you keep the thermostat if your significant other did not insist on setting it at 70 F, causing actual icicles to form on the sleeping children", so I just assumed that was a given. :)
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mollyringle
Oct. 16th, 2006 08:09 pm (UTC)
Icicles at 70? Hehe. Good thing you live down south--you'd freeze here in Seattle. And that's to say nothing of, oh, Minnesota. (Mind you, that's way too cold for me.) But I feel overheated at anything above 70, so, as I say, depends what you're used to...
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kalquessa
Oct. 16th, 2006 01:50 am (UTC)
I have never controlled the thermostat because I've either lived in a big house with a lot of people and never really get a say (parents, in-laws) or I've lived with just the husband in apartments without central air/heat, so it's a moot question. I just dress in layers and keep blankets around my favorite places to sit so that I can easily adjust to everyone else's desired temperature. I voted for the temperature at which I seem to remember being most comfortable the last time I was actually paying attention to what temp the thermostat had been set to.
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mollyringle
Oct. 16th, 2006 08:10 pm (UTC)
You are a kind soul indeed. I don't mind throwing on an extra sweater, but it bugs me when people turn the heat higher than I'd like. Stepping out onto the deck to get some cool air seems a bit rude or something.
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dirae
Oct. 16th, 2006 02:09 am (UTC)
"The Angel of Death Valley" is too much of a Jeopardy "Before and After" category type of title for me... You know, kind of like "Gone With the Wind and Willows" (Novel in which Rhett Butler tells Toad, Rat, and Mole, "My dear, I don't give a damn"). It is too kitschy for my tastes personally. As for the other, I'd have to read the back of novel to see what it was about so you would get a few moments of my browsing time with it... that's half the battle, I suppose.
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mollyringle
Oct. 16th, 2006 08:12 pm (UTC)
Ugh, I'm hopeless when Jeopardy unleashes those questions. My mind doesn't work that way, at least not that fast. Anyhow, at this rate I'll probably change the title to something else altogether. Some stories come with a nice ready-made title; others torment me for years...
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shebit
Oct. 16th, 2006 09:40 am (UTC)
I didn't answer the book titles poll because I don't feel qualified. I'm one of those people who completely bypassed the whole YA reading phase and went straight into the adult SF/Fantasy section of my library aged around 10 or 12.

Having said that, I think that The Angel of Death Valley is a great title for a YA book, it's just not a title that would appeal to me, because it's very much a title for a YA.
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rachel2205
Oct. 16th, 2006 03:10 pm (UTC)
Yep - they both sound very like YA titles, which is good, because that's what you (being Molly, not shebit!) are aiming for. If you want to create a kind of crossover, though, the title may need a bit of tweaking.
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mollyringle
Oct. 16th, 2006 08:15 pm (UTC)
Hard to say what I'm after, I guess. I'm assuming it would be shelved under YA, but am hoping that adults would also enjoy it. (I didn't dumb down the vocabulary or plot complexity or anything, as some YA books seem to.) So perhaps a more mature title is in order. Must think on the subject.
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mollyringle
Oct. 16th, 2006 08:13 pm (UTC)
Well, I'm hoping this will be one of those technically-YA books that will also appeal to adults. But they'd probably shelve it in YA, so maybe a YA-ish title is good. Hm. Must consider.
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shebit
Oct. 17th, 2006 08:16 am (UTC)
The Angel of Death Valley is a great title for a YA, and might appeal to some adults, too.
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jerusha
Oct. 27th, 2006 03:08 pm (UTC)
My husband and I keep our thermostat set to 57. It's cooler than we really want it, by 5-10 degrees, but even after winterizing our apartment leaks warmth like a seive. So turning up the thermostat accomplishes two things: raising our gas bill to astonishing heights, and attempting to heat Greater Metro Chicago. It doesn't get enough warmer inside to make up for the extra money it costs, so we bundle up and leave blankets where we sit. And we got a heated matress pad last winter, which is wonderful.
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mollyringle
Oct. 30th, 2006 06:48 pm (UTC)
I hear ya...our house seems determined to be within 10 degrees of whatever the temperature is outside. But luckily this is only Seattle, which is temperate most of the time.

I dream of radiant-heat floors...
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( 26 comments — Leave a comment )