No Monday jokes, please...

January 21, 2005 1:35 PM

[W+(D-d)]xTQ MxNA = Monday, January 24, 2005 will suck.
posted by hellbient (32 comments total)

Thanks for the excuse to drink up on Sunday afternoon.
posted by manicroom at 1:46 PM on January 21, 2005

It applied more to the Northern hemisphere. What about people living close to the equator, or in the Southern hemi, or those who don't celebrate xmas?
posted by PurplePorpoise at 1:50 PM on January 21, 2005

[Dr Arnall] interviewed more than 1,000 people attending stress management classes for the research, which was commissioned by the TV channel Sky Travel.

(popsci formula) + (hopelessly limited sampling population) + (dubiously disinterested funding source) = tabloid gold!
posted by gramschmidt at 1:51 PM on January 21, 2005

Another /. repost.

Anyone notice that the guy who came up with this formula has no credentials listed in either article except for being a "part-time tutor at Cardiff University?" They don't even say what department he teaches in, or what he's a doctor of.
posted by iJames at 1:53 PM on January 21, 2005

Combine this with the football playoffs and I'm calling in sick on Monday!

Thanks for the extra ammo!
posted by fenriq at 1:53 PM on January 21, 2005

Nice post. I especially like how it seems to be coming true a bit early for some people.
posted by OmieWise at 1:55 PM on January 21, 2005

Monday, January 24, 2005 will suck.

Only if the Steelers lose.
posted by octothorpe at 1:57 PM on January 21, 2005

It reads: [W+(D-d)]xTQ MxNA and takes into account six factors likely to have an emotional impact at this time of year.

These include the weather (W), debt (D) (minus the amount of money to be paid on your next pay day) and the time since Christmas (T). Then there is the time since a failed attempt to quit a bad habit (Q) along with general motivational levels (M) and the need to take action to have something to look forward to (NA).

Hm...Am I just missing the proper math background here? Assuming that [D]ebt is a bad thing, then W[eather] must be measured in terms of it's foulness (worse weather being represented by a higher number).

Is there a division sign missing before the M[otivational Levels] and Something[NA]-to-look-forward-to? If not, then don't they seem to multiply with the foulness/debt number?

Another article includes more or less the same formula.
posted by nobody at 1:58 PM on January 21, 2005

It gets worse??
posted by mudpuppie at 1:58 PM on January 21, 2005

Oh, wait. Here's an article that records it properly.

(First google search attempt missed it).
posted by nobody at 2:00 PM on January 21, 2005

octothorpe, Right on! Go Steelers!
posted by fenriq at 2:02 PM on January 21, 2005

Didn't check the math, don't really need to, has been one hell of a week. I'll take it face value and call it ironically, perfect.
posted by sled at 2:10 PM on January 21, 2005

I generally like to stay drunk from the holidays through to my birthday in mid-march. January 24th is irrelevant to me.
posted by psmealey at 2:18 PM on January 21, 2005

My birthday is the most depressing day of the year....

COOL!
posted by jefgodesky at 2:19 PM on January 21, 2005

Steelers? Go Eagles, though an all PA Superbowl would be great. Ed Rendell could eat himself into a serious food coma.
posted by fixedgear at 2:19 PM on January 21, 2005

Another /. repost.

Maybe you should just read /. then.
posted by eyeballkid at 2:37 PM on January 21, 2005

I question their happiness factors.
posted by rushmc at 2:50 PM on January 21, 2005

Crap. I'm starting a new job on Monday the 24th. This is all I need.
posted by AstroGuy at 2:50 PM on January 21, 2005

God I hate these "formulas". They seem to be springing up at all times, with variables such as A, where A is the colour yellow.
posted by Orange Goblin at 3:23 PM on January 21, 2005

I'm getting laid off on Monday, but this only means I get unemployment for six months. Am I going to get depressed because I paid for doing nothing? I don't think so.
posted by bastionofsanity at 3:44 PM on January 21, 2005

North Americans typically combat depression with the formula:
Happiness = [5eX + $ > J + 5UV]
where J = Joneses.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 4:31 PM on January 21, 2005

How did a man in Scotland know my American Express bill needs to be paid on January 24th? Should I move Quicken to a computer that is not online?
posted by Cranberry at 4:53 PM on January 21, 2005

My college (University of Chicago) actually gives us a random Monday off during the winter, six weeks into the term, just so we won't be as sad. It's jokingly called "suicide prevention day," or more succinctly, "suicide day." Not the 24th, but same idea.
posted by mai at 5:45 PM on January 21, 2005

This will go appropriately with my post-birthday hangover.
posted by mullingitover at 6:37 PM on January 21, 2005

Hooray for pseudoscience!
posted by sanko at 6:55 PM on January 21, 2005

Monday will suck, huh?

I could've told you that.
posted by lathrop at 7:39 PM on January 21, 2005

Bah, Monday the 24th of January, 2005 will be one of my best days yet!

::shakes a fist at the formula::
posted by kamylyon at 7:54 PM on January 21, 2005

Monday the 24th of January, 2005, is gonna be the BEST DAY EVER!!
</SpongeBob>

In all seriousness, that broken resolution doesn't apply to me.... I'm down 18 pounds for the year and counting. :- )
posted by Doohickie at 8:46 PM on January 21, 2005

18 pounds in 21 days? WTF kind of diet are you on?

Oh, and EVERY day of the year sucks the most. Doesn't take a PhD to figure that out.
posted by Eekacat at 2:16 AM on January 22, 2005

Eekacat: South Beach.
posted by Doohickie at 7:16 AM on January 24, 2005

So far this day has been alright
posted by poppo at 10:26 AM on January 24, 2005

Just so happened that the sprinkler system at work exploded today. The fire pump kicked on and everything worked perfectly, spraying thousands of gallons of water all over everything. Only thing was, no fire.
posted by sled at 11:04 AM on January 24, 2005