Althouse: 0° in Madison.

December 15, 2008

0° in Madison.

Right now, still pre-dawn.

I think of the law students who must endure another 8:30 a.m. exam. The exams are always at 8:30 a.m. -- a tough time for a young person. It's easy for us oldsters to be up and sharp at dawn. I could do an exam at 6 a.m. What's the problem?! But I remember the problem. How do you get yourself to sleep at all, knowing the exam is that early?

But the exam is early, and to make matters worse it's 0° here in Madison. Yesterday, it was in the 40s, and that was an exam day too. Yes, exams on Sundays. In fact, it was my Religion & the Constitution exam on Sunday. We love our ironies.

But better a Sunday exam in the 40s, than a Monday exam at 0. That's what I would think. Or does that zerosity jump-start your brain?

38 comments:

Justin said...: Here in Houston, we've already hit our high for the day, 64°F. It's all downhill from here.; 12/15/08, 7:31 AM
knox said...: Ugh my junior high started at 7:00 a.m. I'll never forget walking to the bus at 6:30 in the morning, when it was still dark and very, very cold. (This was in Ohio.) I still hate getting up early (anything before about 7:30 is early) to this day.; 12/15/08, 7:34 AM
George M. Spencer said...: Is that like O to the O power?

I knew Obama was popular up there, but not that much!; 12/15/08, 7:42 AM
kjbe said...: Well, got to work ok. I'm glad my car lives in a garage...; 12/15/08, 7:47 AM
Bart Hall (Kansas, USA) said...: It's currently -4 F here in eastern Kansas, and forecast to stay reasonably cold all week. This may be one of those winters we get to skate on the farm pond.

If so, that'll make three of the last four winters, and five of the last eight.; 12/15/08, 7:52 AM
AllenS said...: It's easy enough to explain. Climate change. Some days it's warmer and other days it's colder.; 12/15/08, 7:55 AM
rhhardin said...: Mysterious information from the government:

Winter Weather Advisory in effect from 6 PM this evening to 6 am EST Tuesday...
Winter Storm Watch in effect from Tuesday evening through late Tuesday night...

Does winter weather accompany these or is it what it appears to be, a hysteria warning?

The dictionary does not help. They're probably legal terms.; 12/15/08, 8:08 AM
Original Mike said...: It's easy for us oldsters to be up and sharp at dawn.

Speak for yourself.; 12/15/08, 8:10 AM
Tibore said...: "Justin said...
Here in Houston, we've already hit our high for the day, 64°F. It's all downhill from here."

Hey, no offense Justin, but:

Pbbbbbffffffffft! :-P

(For the record, mid 20's, sleet and wind today where I'm at... grumble...); 12/15/08, 8:41 AM
Crimso said...: "The exams are always at 8:30 a.m. -- a tough time for a young person."

As an undergraduate, all three semesters of my engineering calculus classes scheduled the final exam for 8:00 Saturday. It didn't seem like a big deal to us. For the entire semester (for three consecutive semesters), we had an exam every Tues from 8:00-9:15. Not a quiz, a full-blown exam. Every week. And if you scored less than an 80% on Tues, you had to come back Thurs from 8:00-9:15 and get another test over the same material. Strangely, I miss those days very much.; 12/15/08, 8:48 AM
Richard Fagin said...: The flip side of the oldsters being ready for an exam at 6 am is that some of us oldsters were taking night school exams from 6 to 9 (10 pm for four hour classes). That was not fun.; 12/15/08, 8:50 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: The exams are always at 8:30 a.m. -- a tough time for a young person.

Um, what? Exactly how old is a law school student? If 8:30 am is too early for some 20 something to get his/her shit together then I suggest they quit now and find a job with a 4-12 shift.

How do you get yourself to sleep at all, knowing the exam is that early?

How do these people think they're going to face the real world upon graduation if an exam keeps you up all night?; 12/15/08, 8:52 AM
chickelit said...: More cold, rainy drizzle coming everybody's way from California.

What we need to do is close all our coal-burning power plants to get this under control.; 12/15/08, 9:00 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Snow. 6 inches last night and still coming down and blowing sideways. At least it warms up when it snows to the high 20's.

SNOW DAY!! Nothing to do but work from home, make soup and loafs of cracked wheat bread.; 12/15/08, 9:16 AM
Tibore said...: "Crimso said...

... And if you scored less than an 80% on Tues, you had to come back Thurs from 8:00-9:15 and get another test over the same material. Strangely, I miss those days very much."

Ok, either you missed including the "end sarcasm" tags, or you're some kind of weirdo masochist ;) . In my case, I remember celebrating my junior and senior years in college because I managed to finally avoid those dreaded 8am classes and exams. Although I'm sorta jealous that in at least one school, you were permitted to retake a test if you scored below a certain percent... I soooooo could've used that for certain courses.

It might have driven me to drink more, but I could've used it. :D; 12/15/08, 9:29 AM
Michael McNeil said...: I suspect the folks in my home town of Great Falls, Montana — where today it's −22° F. — would look rather wistfully at that mere 0° you're having in Wisconsin.; 12/15/08, 10:12 AM
SteveR said...: I very deliberately avoided 8 am classes in college and took all three semesters of Calculus at 1 pm.

I hated getting up early to study, my self confidence was falsely influenced by my attraction to staying under the warm covers an extra 30 minutes.; 12/15/08, 10:47 AM
Crimso said...: "Although I'm sorta jealous that in at least one school, you were permitted to retake a test if you scored below a certain percent"

Not permitted. Forced. The first semester typically experienced about 2/3 of the students earning a D or F, and that was with a retest each week (they took the higher of your two exam grades for the week). Wheat, chaff, etc.; 12/15/08, 11:15 AM
MadisonMan said...: It was a cold walk in to work -- but the wind was at my back. For the walk home, into the wind, I'm taking the bus :)

I am grateful that yesterday's rain cleaned off the goop from sidewalks and roads.; 12/15/08, 11:30 AM
Hunter McDaniel said...: Minus thirteen here in Boulder, CO. Our students ad CU are taking finals too, ya know.; 12/15/08, 11:31 AM
Alex said...: Geez Althouse, it's -10 here and I'm not complaining. Suck it up.; 12/15/08, 11:35 AM
Anonymous said...: It's really a pisser, the things law students have to endure for three years before becoming highly paid for the balance of their working lives.

Meanwhile, over in Eyerack, it's another morning of feet on the floor at 0 Dark Thirty to begin another day of not being killed.

I hope the soldiers and marines can pause for a moment today and say a silent prayer for the UW law students as they endure the misery of an 8:30 AM exam in chilly weather.; 12/15/08, 11:45 AM
Original Mike said...: I am grateful that yesterday's rain cleaned off the goop from sidewalks and roads.

Amen. The walk to work was beginning to get treacherous.; 12/15/08, 12:00 PM
AllenS said...: It rained here yesterday, and then last night it snowed about an inch with the wind howling out of the northwest and the temp this morning was -10º. It's dangerous walking with ice underneath the snow.; 12/15/08, 12:21 PM
dick said...: It is not 58 degrees here in NYC. What is winter?; 12/15/08, 12:35 PM
Anthony said...: I remember one of those. A Spanish exam at 7:45, I think it was, and the temp was well below 0. Had to walk all the way from Gilman St. to. . .hmmmm. . .think it was over by Engineering. I made sure to leave early so my fingers would have enough time to warm up enough so that I could write.; 12/15/08, 1:00 PM
chuck b. said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/15/08, 3:56 PM
chuck b. said...: I think the coldest I've ever been was 0 deg F in Anchorage in December. I'm sure it was cold, but the low light all day long was more memorable. It was also memorable to hear the weatherbabe say things like "Today is zero, tomorrow will be two or three" without any hint of irony or humor.; 12/15/08, 3:57 PM
chuck b. said...: It was 50 in San Francisco on Saturday if you want to go to the farmers' market.; 12/15/08, 3:59 PM
knox said...: Does winter weather accompany these or is it what it appears to be, a hysteria warning?

It's a conspiracy devised by the grocery stores to get people to run out and buy 2 weeks' worth of food. At least that's what happens here if there's ANY threat of snow.; 12/15/08, 4:32 PM
knox said...: I very deliberately avoided 8 am classes in college

Me too!; 12/15/08, 4:34 PM
Original Mike said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/15/08, 4:36 PM
Original Mike said...: "It was also memorable to hear the weatherbabe say things like 'Today is zero, tomorrow will be two or three' without any hint of irony or humor."

I know it cracks me up when they report that "The sun will set tomorrow at 6:05" with a straight face.; 12/15/08, 4:47 PM
Tibore said...: "dick said...
It is not 58 degrees here in NYC. What is winter?"

Hey Dick? Pbbbbbffffffffft!   :-b

As a matter of fact, anyone who's presently experiencing above-freezing, non-winterlike temperatures: PBBBBBFFFFFFFFFT!   >:-b

Bitter jealousy can drive a man to juvenile behavior... dammit, I hate the cold...    :(; 12/15/08, 5:01 PM
blake said...: Well, it's 51 here now, and that's very wintry.; 12/15/08, 5:09 PM
Tibore said...: I will raspberry any and every comer who is currently experiencing temperatures warmer than I am where I'm at (19 degrees F, 10 degrees windchill... BRRRRRRRRRR...!!). And I will commiserate, bitch, and moan with anyone who's eperiencing lower ones (any Chicagoans or anyone else experiencing Lake Michigan mediated winter temps right now?).

I am the temperature justice... my weapon is my tongue and spittle.... PFFFFFBBBBBTT!

... eww... monitor's wet now...

;); 12/15/08, 6:02 PM
Craig Landon said...: "Meanwhile, over in Eyerack, it's another morning of feet on the floor at 0 Dark Thirty to begin another day of not being killed."

Roger that. One might also spare a thought for the flight deck crews on our carriers that are launching/recovering aircraft 24/7/365 in temps well below 30 deg with a wind over the deck of 30-40 mph. Strangely, most would not rather be in Madison.; 12/15/08, 8:23 PM
theobromophile said...: 8:30 exams aren't bad, provided that you've had early classes all semester (and are used to it). I've often thought that we've done students no favours by pushing class time back, so that students start at 11 am and don't end until the evening. (Even if you wouldn't mind taking early classes, they often aren't available.)

That said, I still curse out the professor that scheduled a 7:40 chem engineering class my senior year of college. It was a) mandatory and b) in a building that was a very, very brisk 15-minute walk from my dorm. Gah!

The sleep problem with an 8:30 am exam, even for those who don't mind getting up early, is that you're often too nervous about missing the test to sleep. (Maybe that's just me.) I've woken up at 4:30, 5, 5:30, 6, and then, finally, 7, to get to early exams. I'm just too worried about having overslept to actually get some rest.; 12/16/08, 12:03 AM