So a few words about my impending trip to Russia: it isn't clear why I'm going. Officially, I am part of the "technical delegation" assigned to assist with a decidedly non-technical meeting. My role is that of "Information Barrier Expert." I've only been in this business for about 6 months, and in that time I have never built or even designed a piece of information barrier hardware. I read a couple of papers, so now I'm the expert. I am assured that this is OK, because I won't actually be called on to speak.

The purpose of the meeting is for the Russians and Americans to agree on specifications for an attribute measurement system for assaying sensitive plutonium items. I can tell you one thing for certain: none of the decisions that have ever been made at one of these meetings are rooted in actual technical reasoning. So when they tell me that the technical delegation will not be called upon to speak, it is both believeable and depressing. I expect that at this meeting I will see the faces of those responsible for the weird framework of arbitrary nonsense that I have to work with when I am doing AMS work.

And I have to wear a suit. Everyday, all day. Basically I get to sit in a room with a bunch of non-techie beaurocrats, wearing uncomfortable clothes, and I can't talk or sleep. I am very not looking forward to this meeting

However, going to the meeting gets me to Moscow with the better part of two rest days to do nothing but wander around Red Square and buy concentric dolls. I'll be travelling with Doug; he and I get along great. He was one of the people I interviewed with when I applied for a job at N-1 and I specifically requested that he be one of my mentors when I was offered the job. Unfortunately for me (and possibly him), he got promoted to management between when I accepted the job and when I finished my thesis. So he's not one of my mentors and I don't get to do much work for him. But he's still hilarious and I'm glad that, of all the people I could have gotten stuck with for two days of wandering around Moscow, it's him.

So yeah, at least one good travel companion combined with the fact that the Russian business workday is actually really short means that the suit-factor of this trip won't be as horrid as I may have let on earlier. Once we get out of the meetings, it'll be ridiculously opulent Russian hotels, fuzzy hats, and onion domes. Yeah

And then, after three days of suits, I fly to Vienna, where I won't have to wear a suit at all. Furthermore, the purpose of this trip is well-defined, as is my role in it. I'm giving a talk and demonstration of a piece of hardware that I'm writing the firmware for (and that, on the next turn, I will probably be the lead hardware designer for). Basically the Vienna trip will be entirely centered around my work, and I'll be running the show at the meetings. Much better. And, as a bonus, Vienna has the Christkindlmarkt. Now I'm not a huge Christmas participant... but apparently this includes good chocolate and cider. I'm in.