Going to the UK

In a few weeks we're going to the United Kingdom for a week. I have to say that to myself a few times because this trip has been over the horizon for so long that I have to start making myself think of it as something that's coming soon, and therefore, something about which I have to start thinking in terms of details like "what am I bringing?" and "what do I have to be getting ready now?"

The main thing I have to be getting ready now is a tuxedo. One of the things I'm doing on the trip is being best man at a wedding, and that means a tuxedo rental. I've never rented clothes before and had no idea how long it takes. Fortunately, my instinct to go in way early saved me because way early is exactly right -- in fact, if I'd put it off any longer it might not have been ready in time, or at least not without paying "rush" prices. Some of that is because I'm hard to fit because of my size and shape, and some is because it's the height of both prom and wedding season, but most of it is just because that's how long it takes.

I had a partial fitting on Thursday afternoon and will get a final fitting on Tuesday morning. Turns out I'm also taking my responsibility as best man -- making sure the groom arrives prepared -- the next step by harassing him about it and then forcing him to go with me to his fitting. It'll be like a scene from a romantic comedy, hopefully with fewer wacky hijinks.

What else has to be prepared? We already have a budget and a flight itinerary since Siobhan took care of that, but we will soon need to get a more solid idea -- or maybe just I need to -- of what we'll be doing on each day, because that'll inform what we're bringing. We just learned that the flat we're renting won't have Internet (!) so I'm not sure what arrangements I'll need to make to get through the time without Internet access. If we're going to be out all day, hardly seems worth bringing a computer just to lug it a few blocks to a cybercafé if I'm going to be too tired to spend much time there anyway. So this, like most things, depends more on what we're doing, and how much of our time it will take up.

I guess this weekend if I can find time I'll go over the schedule. It might be tricky, we're going to see not one but two movies today, plus shopping.