Snow

The last time there was snow like this was 1991. A huge cloud of snow on its way to Moscow dumped itself prematurely on south east England. I remember it well. The roof to our block of flats was removed in readiness for a new set of slates. Perfect timing. But more memorable was the fact that I was off to Moscow for the 33rd Annual Conference for the Young Historians and Philosophers of Science. Much excitement as everyone was saying it was colder in London than in Moscow. I had been offered the chance to go to this conference by Steve Woolgar, who was then the head of a research centre at Brunel University that hosted a number of projects looking at innovation, culture, and technology. I was engaged on an ethnographic study of computer systems designers at in a water company just before privatisation. It was this research that formed the basis of the paper I was to give to the young historians and philosophers in Moscow.

I count myself very lucky to have had the chance to go. There was one MacDonalds in the main square, a single bright blob of colour in a grey landscape with a huge long queue snaking out the door and down the road. Queues were not unusual, of course, and not particular to MacDonalds, they were a part of city life. Other bits of life were also open to me. I was given a room in an appartment of a lovely young woman and her husband for the duration of my stay. Their fridge and cupboards were stocked to the gills with merchandise of one form or another. Their phone rang almost constantly when we were at home, and this was the mechanism that triggered the exchange of money and goods for this family and their friends.

I also remember my amazement when standing at a bus stop with Natasha waiting to get home. We were there for just a few minutes when a car pulled up and we jumped inside. She explained that this was normal - she didn't know the driver, but in return for taciturn grunts she handed him a few coins when we got out. It was not a pleasant social experience, but it was extremely helpful on a cold winter's night.

I had intended to go to the HPC today to observe the Education and Training Committee Panel meeting, but apparently all the buses in London have been suspended, and I'm certainly not chancing my bike. Can you imagine our society developing a private taxi service along the lines that sprung up in Moscow? I wonder what we would do should it ever become necessary to innovate.