A sign the fall semester is near

Last night, instead of dreaming about my impending trip to Vegas for ASA, I dreamed that it was the first day of class and many of the students were talking amongst themselves instead of paying attention to the details of the syllabus.  When I informed them that they were being disrespectful and that if they wanted to talk to each other they could do so outside of the classroom, most of them left.  I guess that’s one way to reduce class sizes.

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To ASA or not to ASA?

As announced yesterday, this year’s ASA will be held in Las Vegas.  August in Las Vegas.  According to Weather.com, the average August temperature in Las Vegas is 102.  Granted, having everything under the Caesar’s Palace roof will make it easier to avoid the heat, but I don’t typically enjoy the experience of walking outside into what feels like a blast furnace.  Incidentally, the only time I’ve been to Vegas was also in the summer.  If you’ve never been to Vegas and are unsure of whether or not you want to deal with the heat, I have one piece of advice: ignore anybody that tells you that “it’s a dry heat.”  You know what other heat is dry?  Your oven.  Would you claim that it isn’t hot?  Of course not.  102 degrees is hot, period.

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