Packing Theory

My friendliest friend Kathi is responsible for all the days I look absolutely fabulous and has told me not to wear what I don on days I look not so.  She has applied her talented eye to my house and made suggestive improvements that are both within my budget and within me. In return I made her come to a running group in the dead of winter at night.  How's that for a friend?

So when I asked her whether it was OK that I was sending my twins to Harvard with their linens in garbage bags (clear ones and labeled so as to not be mistook for actual garbage) and her face lit up like a drag race Christmas tree, well then I knew I was not totally in the weirdo zone.

Packing for college, Ward style: 

note plastic bag in lower right (clear) and middle left (black with blue tie)

She rightly pointed out that the bags take the shape of the space (like a liquid) and thus lead to more efficient packing of the car.  Her intuitive understanding of packing theory is upheld by Princeton physicists.  They describe a "maximally random jammed state" as being the most precise state where particles are so tightly jammed that none can move. "Most materials and things we deal with are disorder.  That we can explain how disordered they are and in what ways is a very intriguing notion," Debenedetti said.    Dr. Debenedetti needs to get out of the lab more often.   I invite him to Carl's bedroom upon returning from hiking the Teton Crest Trail.  Or perhaps our laundry system-- but...wait...I digress.

Also, have you noticed that the airplanes are getting smaller?  The wheelie roller-boards simply do not fit in what passes for an "overhead compartment" anymore.  American uses Embraer jets on the RDU-StL runs as well as NYC and Boston.  No space over your head on these babies. Checking a bag on your weekend getaway (or most any trip really) is a Ward NoNo.  Today we took 4 old wheelie suitcases to Goodwill. We are 100% softies for that maximally random jammed luggage state.
Trash bags: not just for trash any more.  
Thank you Kathi!

Onwards,