At last! Got new official invitation (to replace the old one, which because traveling for two-months with the snail-Russian/US postal services became outdated) – this time sent via express delivery service (Russian partner of our FedEx). Then, getting the Russian visa… you can cut in line if you pay enough… express visa handling (24-hours) costs US$500. Then, the air ticket… The connection stinks! Any way you try, there is an 11-hours layover in Snowden’s old haunts at Sheremetievo (Moscow Airport)… - too far to take a stroll on the Red Square and have a beer or two on Arbat… - and the total travel time takes three days(!); leaving for JFK Monday, 11/4 at noon; flight to Moscow at 7:05pm – landing next day in Moscow at 1:25pm; and then overnight flight to Tomsk leaving Moscow at 12:25am on Wednesday(!) Ain’t I a masochist? But, the weather people say it will be sunny 28 degrees Fahrenheit there on landing… yep! Definitely – a masochist… OK – time to pack…