An open suitcase on a bed, partially packed — one side has neatly stacked data printouts and a hard drive, the other side has a folded sweater and a jacket, a price tag still attached, afternoon light

Monday.

Three days.

I pulled the suitcase from under the bed this morning. It had been there since the Karaganda trip in February, which I realize now was the last time I packed it, which means the last time I packed it was approximately four weeks ago and before that approximately twenty years.

The Data

The data problem has been unresolved since March 2. Today I resolved it.

The suitcase will contain:

Goes:

  • Hard drive: all 1,102 pages of digitized Morozov material, fully indexed
  • Laptop: measurement logs, 33 sessions, 337 data points
  • Nokia Method calibration records
  • Mikhail’s February 24 data, filed separately
  • Presentation file (v7) + backup on USB

Stays:

  • The spare frequency counter (Ruslan has one, Mikhail has one; a third in Novosibirsk would be redundant)
  • The printed notebooks (I have the PDFs; the originals should not travel)
  • Ruslan’s 20-tab spreadsheet (he is sending me a one-page summary by Wednesday; I asked him in February and mentioned it again this morning)

I also finally replied to Ruslan about the pressure measurement table. My answer: yes, I will bring the Nokia setup and attempt measurements at his six proposed waypoints, on the condition that he accepts that train vibration introduces measurement error and that any results will be marked as indicative rather than calibrated. He replied in four minutes: “Acceptable. I will add a column for estimated vibration error.” He has already updated the spreadsheet. It now has 21 tabs.

The data side of packing is finished. It took 40 minutes.

The Clothing Problem

The other side of the suitcase took considerably longer.

I have not prepared for a formal event since — I tried to remember and eventually concluded: 2009. A departmental conference in Almaty at which I presented a paper on temperature anomalies in underground parking structures. I wore a jacket I owned at the time. I still own it.

The jacket is from 2007. It fits. The lining has separated from the collar in one place, which is not visible unless someone looks carefully. I do not expect anyone at the alumni meeting to look carefully at my jacket lining. On the other hand, I will be presenting to a room of physicists, and physicists notice things.

I went to the shops on Furmanov Street at 11:00.

Furmanov Street, Monday Morning

I would like to note that I was last in this section of Furmanov Street approximately eight months ago, when I bought the laptop battery. At that time I did not look in clothing shop windows because I had no reason to.

I have looked in clothing shop windows now.

The first shop had a sweater in the window at a price I will not write down because I do not want this blog to become a record of my financial distress. I will say that the sweater was not made of anything I recognized as justifying the price. I went inside and asked the person at the counter what the sweater was made of. She said it was a “merino blend.” I asked what percentage was merino. She said she would have to check. She checked. It was 30%.

I left.

The second shop was more expensive. I did not go inside.

The third shop was a practical clothing store with a small formal section near the back. The jackets were a reasonable price. I tried on three. The first fit well in the shoulders but not in the sleeves. The second fit in the sleeves but had a pattern I found difficult to justify. The third fit correctly and was a dark navy that I am told is considered appropriate for academic events.

I stood in the fitting room for some time. I am aware that I have not purchased a jacket in seventeen years. I am also aware that the concept of “appropriate for academic events” has not been relevant to my daily life since Laboratory 23-Б closed in 2003, and that I have been, in some sense, operating without a dress code for twenty-three years.

The jacket cost more than I expected but less than the 30%-merino sweater. I bought it. I also bought a dark blue sweater from the same rack, on the principle that I should not arrive in Novosibirsk in March wearing only a jacket and hoping for central heating.

Total time in shops: one hour and forty minutes. Total items purchased: one jacket, one sweater. Price of jacket: I will not say. Price of sweater: also I will not say. Total: enough that I understand why people consider this kind of shopping an event rather than an errand.

Back at the Suitcase

The jacket and sweater are on the bed. The data is on the other side of the suitcase. Between them, the suitcase looks like two different trips that have been accidentally combined: on the left, the careful scientific record of 43 years of anomalous frequency data; on the right, a jacket that fits correctly and a sweater that will be warm enough.

Both halves are necessary. I did not expect to be thinking about jacket linings this week. I am thinking about jacket linings this week.

Tomorrow is Tuesday. Artyom measures at 14:37 Moscow time. I will be here, at this desk, with the Nokia setup and the frequency counter, and we will see what the fourth row of the table says.

The foil ball and the dried leaf are on the windowsill now. I moved them there to make room for the suitcase. Misha approved this arrangement. She inspected the new jacket for approximately thirty seconds before losing interest. This is probably a good sign.

Current status:

  • Suitcase: open. Data side: packed. Clothing side: packed. Three days.
  • Data subset: resolved. Hard drive + laptop + calibration records + Mikhail’s data + presentation.
  • Ruslan: pressure table accepted (with vibration error column). Spreadsheet now 21 tabs. One-page summary: arriving Wednesday.
  • New jacket: navy, fits correctly, lining intact. Price: not documented.
  • New sweater: dark blue, wool blend (actual percentage unknown). Price: also not documented.
  • Last formal event prepared for: 2009. Gap: 17 years. This is fine.
  • Artyom: tomorrow, 14:37 Moscow local time. Table: fourth row still empty. For now.
  • Archive: 5 days. March 14.
  • Departure: 3 days. March 12, evening.
  • Foil ball and dried leaf: windowsill, relocated. Misha: approved.
  • Emotional state: I have a jacket that fits. This is more than I had this morning.

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