Domestication

[Charlie Reams]

Arguably the most important poll ever.

[Eoin Monaghan]

Arguably the most important poll ever.

Part of my chores is hoovering, so guess what I chose?

[JimBentley]

I genuinely enjoy washing-up, but I've always thought this was a bit odd (nobody else I know seems to like it at all). So the poll results so far are quite surprising, I figured I'd be on my own with that one.

[Richard Priest]

I much prefer outdoor work when the weather's nice.

[Matt Morrison]

What the fuck, how can I be the only one who has said tidying?
Tidying rules, I remember from university the huge difference in mindframe that a tidy and a messy room can have when trying to work.
Tidiness helps you relax and be at ease in your surroundings, I'm deadly serious.
And the actual process is pretty cathartic, I'd especially have thought it popular among Countdown types as you get to do vaguely analytical stuff like 'sorting' and 'categorising' with it too.

[Phil Reynolds]

Arguably the most important poll ever.

I don't think you've thought the poll options through very carefully, to be frank. I enjoy cooking, which isn't listed; but maybe something you enjoy is ipso facto not a chore? That aside, I hate pretty much all chores, but I hate some less than others. In the end, I clicked Other [please specify], but this option did not work as advertised since there was no way to specify what other chore I'd selected, so now I'm thoroughly confused and miserable.

[Jon O'Neill]

What the fuck, how can I be the only one who has said tidying?
Tidying rules, I remember from university the huge difference in mindframe that a tidy and a messy room can have when trying to work.
Tidiness helps you relax and be at ease in your surroundings, I'm deadly serious.
And the actual process is pretty cathartic, I'd especially have thought it popular among Countdown types as you get to do vaguely analytical stuff like 'sorting' and 'categorising' with it too.

These are exactly my thoughts on the matter. Everything's just ten times better when all my items are at right angles.

[Dinos Sfyris]

What the fuck, how can I be the only one who has said tidying?
Tidying rules, I remember from university the huge difference in mindframe that a tidy and a messy room can have when trying to work.
Tidiness helps you relax and be at ease in your surroundings, I'm deadly serious.
And the actual process is pretty cathartic, I'd especially have thought it popular among Countdown types as you get to do vaguely analytical stuff like 'sorting' and 'categorising' with it too.

This is perhaps the biggest case of IAWTP in the history of my life.

[Dinos Sfyris]

Ha! I didn't see what Jon had put til after I posted. Also TIDYING has a perfect anagram so it must be true

[Matt Morrison]

You'd better all be nominated me in the best post threads.
Though kind of sad that it wasn't one of my hilarious jokes, just a recommendation of the joys of tidying. I feel like I'm past it.

[Charlie Reams]

I'd especially have thought it popular among Countdown types as you get to do vaguely analytical stuff like 'sorting' and 'categorising' with it too.

You overlooked the full extent of the Countdown/OCD interaction: my room never gets untidy enough to need tidying.

I enjoy cooking, which isn't listed; but maybe something you enjoy is ipso facto not a chore?

I don't think cooking is really a chore, any more than "going to sleep" or "inhaling" is a chore. I don't consider something to be a chore if it's necessary for basic survival. I realise this is a pretty debatable definition but at least I was consistent.

[Martin Gardner]

I find that washing up is quite good 'down time' for just staring out of the window and getting lost in your own thoughts.

[George Jenkins]

I find that washing up is quite good 'down time' for just staring out of the window and getting lost in your own thoughts.

I love washing up. Just chuck everything in the machine, press the button, and sod off to golf.

[Julie T]

If you saw my home, you'd be able to make a pretty good guess at which one I voted for!

I tried to be reasonably clean and tidy when I had children young enough to be crawling over the floor and shoving stuff in their mouths.
Now, as long as cooking and eating surfaces are clean, and we're not actually tripping over stuff on the floor, that'll do.

Philip's (my 18YO son) room is tidy, the rest of my kids are as slovenly as me.

I can't remember who said it, but I go by the philosophy that 'a tidy home is a sign of an empty life'. Well, that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it.

[Ben Hunter]

I'd especially have thought it popular among Countdown types as you get to do vaguely analytical stuff like 'sorting' and 'categorising' with it too.

You overlooked the full extent of the Countdown/OCD interaction: my room never gets untidy enough to need tidying.

The full extent of OCD manifests itself as a tendency to see patterns in the untidiness one creates, and as a sufferer of this I simply must leave things to pile up on the floor of my room lest I be deprived of the sublime, complex beauty that is my mess.

[Jon O'Neill]

I find that washing up is quite good 'down time' for just staring out of the window and getting lost in your own thoughts.

I love washing up. Just chuck everything in the machine, press the button, and sod off to golf.

Me too. Only instead of the machine, I just use the wife's face.

[Jon Corby]

Vacuuming, because it's the easiest and I'm lazy.

[Clare Sudbery]

Tidying, for the reasons specified by others.

And as for right angles... me too. We have a particularly irksome kitchen table which never stays still. Whenever I pass it, I have to line it up neatly with the floor tiles again. And for those who have been contestants on the new Countdown set... was anyone else disturbed by the fact that the chair is not placed centrally wrt to the monitor? I moved my chair but then had it moved back again. Apparently the clock isn't clearly visible between the contestants unless their chairs are moved to the side. From speaking to the other contestants I know I wasn't the only one bothered by it... and I'm guessing a lot of others will feel similarly.

Still... although I do like things to be tidy... I'm also lazy and busy and have small children and like to relax whenever I can... so my house is a tip. A regularly-tidied tip, but a tip nonetheless.

[Adam Dexter]

This is perhaps the biggest case of IAWTP in the history of my life.

Haha. I didn't know what IAWTP stood for, so guessed at "I am walking the plank". Genuinely. Just googled it and... oh dear!

[Derek Hazell]

Whenever I get my living room tidy, I always think how nice it looks. But then within a couple of days it's messy again. It's as if I get some peverse satisfaction out of living in a muddle. Can anyone explain this?

My own armchair pyschologist take on it would be that perhaps I cannot stand for life to be too easy, and feel that it should always be a challenge.

[Junaid Mubeen]

Ironing! You can do it whilst watching TV and not have to compromise on either. Plus there's something rather nice about seeing creases disappear.

[Phil Reynolds]

Ironing! You can do it whilst watching TV and not have to compromise on either.

I disagree. My other half irons while we're watching TV and it really annoys me as he misses so much. Sometimes if we're watching a good comedy I'll suddenly burst out laughing because of some subtle visual gag or nuance of physical expression and he'll go "What?" because he was folding something and missed it.

[Junaid Mubeen]

Ironing! You can do it whilst watching TV and not have to compromise on either.

I disagree. My other half irons while we're watching TV and it really annoys me as he misses so much. Sometimes if we're watching a good comedy I'll suddenly burst out laughing because of some subtle visual gag or nuance of physical expression and he'll go "What?" because he was folding something and missed it.

It's all about technique, Phil. Usually takes years of practise to achieve that crucial balance. Took me just a week as I am a gifted ironer.

[kevin manthorpe]

I went for other coz my favourite is making our housekeeper a cup of tea. Putting out the rubbish comes a close second coz I can yell at my housemates for not doing it themselves when the bin got full.

[Howard Somerset]

If "walking the dog" counts as a domestic chore, then it beats anything else, so I'd go for "other". It can last long enough for all the others to be done before I finish my task.

Otherwise, I have difficulty deciding between options 1 and 8. Although they're worded differently, to my mind they have exactly the same meaning.

[Kai Laddiman]

Otherwise, I have difficulty deciding between options 1 and 8. Although they're worded differently, to my mind they have exactly the same meaning.

That's why I chose the top one

[Ian Volante]

Ironing! You can do it whilst watching TV and not have to compromise on either. Plus there's something rather nice about seeing creases disappear.

The only good thing about ironing is that I can play poker online at the same time. Or I could until we rearranged the front room anyway...

Then again, the amount of time I spend ironing is roughly equivalent to the time I spend cleaning the windows (I live on the second floor of a tenement...)

[Derek Hazell]

(I live on the second floor of a tenement...)

That's only the second time I have ever heard that word . . . the first was in "The Days of Pearly Spencer".

[JimBentley]

(I live on the second floor of a tenement...)

That's only the second time I have ever heard that word . . . the first was in "The Days of Pearly Spencer".

Tenements are great. I used to live here, right on the top floor.

[Adam Dexter]

(I live on the second floor of a tenement...)

That's only the second time I have ever heard that word . . . the first was in "The Days of Pearly Spencer".

Tenements are great. I used to live here, right on the top floor.

How intriguing... are all Ladbrokes blue in Scotland, or is this a special one?

[Ian Volante]

(I live on the second floor of a tenement...)

That's only the second time I have ever heard that word . . . the first was in "The Days of Pearly Spencer".

Tenements are great. I used to live here, right on the top floor.

The Playstation version of Doom has a level called "Tenements" too. Level 44 I think.

Oh, and this is my street...you can't really see how mucky my windows are though.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?ie=UTF8&l ... 0000000001

[Jon O'Neill]

My mum is on StreetView.

Link.

[Ian Volante]

My mum is on StreetView.

Link.

I'm sure I must be on somewhere, I remember seeing the car go past.