Dom Davis (The Blog)

I’m not sure if it’s the same with every airline but Malaysia Airlines require you reconfirm your flight 72 hours before hand (presumably so they can sell your seat again if you don’t). Doing this for our flight out was tricky to say the least. The windmill where we got married has mobile signal in limited areas in our room so the call involved being on hold for while trying not to get disconnected before speaking to a lady with a very thick Malaysian accent and understanding about 1/10th of what was said. Anyway, I think I confirmed the flight, and we were able to get on the plane which was the important thing.

For our internal flights I just let the hotel sort it. Wonder up to the front desk, hand them the details, 2 hours later a message on the room phone, all sorted. Job done.

For our return flights we decided to be clever and not only confirm our flights but also checkin online to get the seats we wanted. Turns out there is an app for this. What could be simpler?

App installed I entered the retired details for The Zozos ticket, booked her a seat where she wanted on the flight to KL and had the boarding pass emailed to my phone. It then allowed me to check in to the longer flight to England, only this time there was no option to pick a seat. Oh well, booked into 52A. Process finished there is then a message about would I like to check in another passenger and a note saying that for mobile checkin each passenger needed the checkin sent to a separate device. Hmmm.

So I proceed with my checkin. Book myself a seat next to The Zozo to KL, tell it to SMS the boarding pass to her phone. We’ll just have to swap phones for a bit when boarding. Next step, the flight to London. Again, not able to select a seat, but hey, the bookings were made together, they’ll know we want to sit together… 57F. Right. Sod that, let’s phone them and get them to change it so we can sit together. Ironically enough the lady in the Malasian MA office spoke better English than the one in the UK office.

Seats now sorted I was told to disregard the boarding passes on our phones and collect new ones at the airport. Incidentally the call cost about 3p from the hotel phone. In the UK it would be 100 times more.

To make the whole experience totally not worth it the flight we actually did successfully check on for and have mobile boarding passes for was cancelled, so we had to go to the checkin desk and recheckin anyway. I wonder, if when getting the hotel to do it, you can give them your seat preference and have them sort everything.

When you fly into England, if you look out of window you’ll see either it’s actually a very green country. The countryside is a patchwork of fields, dotted with villages, suburbia is a sprawling mass of gardens and even coming in over London there are large parks and the like. It’s really quite pretty.

You’d think, therefore, that flying into Kuala Lumpur or Kota Kinabalu would be jaw droopingly beautiful. Sadly not. The soil in that part of the world is bright orange. Anywhere where the green has been cut down for development sticks out like a massive scar on the land. You also quickly note that most of the green is the very regular hexagonal tessellation of palm trees grown for palm oil.

It’s only when you fly out over Kinabalu national park that things look as you expect, and then only in small areas. You hear about deforestation on the telly but I’m not sure it really means anything until you’ve seen it. Especially in a country where the geography doesn’t allow the damage to just blend in.

~/o I’m getting married in the morning¹! / Ding dong! The bells are gonna chime² / Pull out the stopper³! / Let’s have a whopper⁴! / But get me to the church⁵ on time⁶! o/~

So yes, hideously inaccurate ditty, but I do, indeed get married in a about 28 hours.

When we booked everything we figured that, since the wedding was in the afternoon, and given we were there for two nights, we’d have time for relaxing walks around Cley (it’s a beautiful area), few photographs and a bit of exploring the area. The day before and I think we’ve realised the reality will not allow for said walks. It’ll be dark by the time we get there tonight, tomorrow will be a tad busy from start to finish (it would appear weddings are a bit more involved than pitch up), Sunday we have to check out by 10, finish packing and drive to London.

That’s not to say we’ll be rushing about like headless chickens. The wedding preparation has been remarkably stress free and The Zozo hasn’t turned into bridezilla once. I think it helps that she hasn’t been planning this since the age of 11. As far as I’m concerned all that really matters is we’re both there. Everything else is just a bonus.

I am also a little amused that tradition dictates that people wish us luck. Every time someone says “good luck” I’m put in mind of me telling the story of the marriage some years down the line and saying “so, I just happened to be stood in Cley Windmill one day with a registrar when in walks Zo, which was a stroke of luck because we were able to get married” Enormously grateful as we are for the luck I think we’ll save that for getting a free upgrade on our flight and instead rely on planning for the wedding

Anyway, I’ve got a days work to get through. Blogging may or may not happen for the next 2 weeks. I’d assume not. In the interim can I recommend xkcd for your funnies and TV Tropes to pass the time. Be warned, TV tropes can lead you on wiki walks that can last hours, if not days

¹ Afternoon actually
² No bells
³ Cork. We are not heathens here, spade’s a spade and all that.
⁴ Actually a canapé reception with a small, informal sit-down meal afterwards. No idea where the nearest Burger King is, so no whoppers, not even a double bacon cheese whopper
⁵ No church
⁶ We’re staying at the venue the night before so arriving late will be a feat

Today it’s beginning to sink in that there are only a couple of days until everything kicks off. Tonight I started packing (well, I took a load of new clothes that I’d bought for the holiday from the bags on the floor and put them into the suitcase along with a few other clothes) which is always a good sign that you’re about to go away. Tomorrow, I have been reliably informed, will involve cleaning the house. I will, of course, help¹, but will probably mostly get underfoot. Friday we’re off to the Windmill and then it’s all go. There will be a period of time between returning from the Windmill on Sunday and leaving for our salubrious² overnight accommodation before being packaged into a pressurised cylinder and shot half way round the world³ which can be used for finishing up the packing but I thought it might be useful to get the drop on it.

I’ve also packed my camera. This is not as simple as it sounds as it’s not just the camera that needs to be packed. There are lenses, flashes, chargers, cable releases, cleaning items, tripod mounts, tripod heads, filters, batteries, and God knows what else in the three (yes, 3) camera bags I have. Every single piece of equipment I take will need to be carried, all day in the heat and humidity, on my back which means that I had to take everything out and decide what I really wanted to take and what I wanted to leave.

I also had to consider which camera bag to take. The choices were my trusty backpack which I usually use and my new slingshot. Not a simple decision as I had to weigh up size, ease of access to the camera, weight distribution and comfort. After parading round the bedroom with the fully loaded bags on my back I opted for the slingshot. I hope this isn’t a decision I regret 1 hour into a 3 hour hike into the jungle

Sunday will now be a question of get back home, check the passports, pack the clothes that are currently in the wash, check the passports, transpose the toiletries from the Windmill bag to the holiday back, check the passports, check the tickets are packed, check the passports, double check the hotel is actually at the airport we’re flying from, check the passports, double check we’ve got all the holiday information, check the passports, program the satnav, check the passports, check the tickets are packed, check the passports, load the car up, check the tickets have been packed, check the passports, check all the holiday details are packed, check the passports, head off to Heathrow, possibly stopping along the way to check the passports. Nervous? Me?

¹ For a given value of ‘help’

² For a given value of ‘salubrious’, it is, after all, a hotel next to Heathrow so my expectations are set low

³ This will be the longest flight I’ve ever done. While I used to love flying when I was younger the older I get the more I dislike it. I spend the entire flight just waiting for the thing to drop out of the sky which is not conducive to relaxing. Anyway, I have my happy pills, which help, and I have 5 longish flights under my belt from the engagement holiday so hopefully it wont quite be the terrifying ordeal that it perhaps would have been a few years ago.

People keep asking me if I’m nervous/scared/worried/otherwise concerned about my impending so called removal of freedom.

The answer is a steadfast no. It’s nearly two years after we started dating and I still rush to get the train home in the vain hope that it will somehow get me home to The Zozo faster. Besides, we both gave up this so called ‘freedom’ two years ago when we started dating. I’m not giving up anything, I’m making it legally more difficult for the current state if affairs to change. Something I’m all for.

Now if you’ll excuse me I have a station to rush to and a Zozo to get home to; something I’m very excited about

So the astute among you will gave spotted we’re getting married on the 9th of October 2010, or 09/10/10. This is a Saturday. Why, I hear you ask, didn’t we wait one day and have our wedding on 10/10/10? After all, these memorable dates are all the rage at the moment.

Ordinarily I’d agree with you. I love numbers and number patterns, so much so that I tried to have 15/12/09 as our engagement day (3 numbers, 15-3=12, 12-3=9)… that was the plan anyway. Due to a monumental cockup on my part to do with being on holiday and completely losing track of the date it ended up being the 16th :S so why 09/10/10 instead of 10/10/10? The answer is simple, and nothing to do with me cocking the date up, or making up for being a day late by being a day early. 09/10/10 will mark the second anniversary since we started dating. It was The Zozos idea and I think it’s great

I get married in a month. This is a pretty huge thing for me and, if you’ll excuse the slightly philosophical post, I shall tell you for why.

I don’t really come from your average family, it’s less 2.4 children and more 2.4 marriages¹ which makes for a complex family structure. If we consider immediate family (parents, siblings, step siblings and husbands of ex-step-mothers²) I think we average about 0.8 divorces each. Take the kids out of the equation and it’s 1.3³!

Now, one could by cynical here and say that marriage these days is less about until death do us part and more about until infidelity, differences and constant rowing do us part but I like to be slightly more pragmatic about things. After all, not every marriage is doomed to failure. No, I prefer the view that you don’t always get it right the first time. It’s why I spent 10 years living with someone without once popping the question. I wasn’t sure I’d got it right⁴.

I’m also not some huge romantic who believes Miss perfect will come along, you get married and live happily ever after in perfect bliss. Having seen where my parents started and where they ended up I know it’s much more about finding someone you’re happy with and who will put up with your shit (and, yes, that you can put up with theirs, although The Zozo has the bum end of the stick with that deal ). It certainly helps that I think The Zozo is achingly beautiful but I’m willing to bet that in 50 years time, when were both old and wrinkly, that I’ll still want to be with her. I’d not be marrying her otherwise. After all, in one months time I am rather betting that, this time, I’ve got it right. I give me good odds

¹ Not joking. It’s 2.5 marriages if you’re talking about immediate parents, if such a term exists!
² Told you it wasn’t your average family
³ That I’m sure of. It could even be over 1.6!
⁴ I hadn’t.

The Zozo and I have wildly different tastes in music, which is hardly surprising given I tend to listen to fairly fringe stuff where a single track can encompass an entire genre. Now you’d think that this would cause big problems when it comes to agreeing on music for the wedding but it has, in fact, made it easier, the rule being roughly this: If it’s on my iPod it’s not being played at the wedding¹. Instead we’re picking things from a list of tracks that Zo thinks would be good that I think are fun too (see, works out well for me ).

One such track is a version of the theme to this years mass vuvuzela concerts in South Africa called, I’m lead to believe, “Waving flag” or “Wavin’ flag” depending on the version, of which there are bloody millions. Not all versions are equal either. The one I want is the one that has the line “now wave your flag” repeated during the chorus. The versions I have downloaded thus far have an alternative lyric at this point which makes the song unfit for purpose in my view. Unfortunately the preview for many versions of this song on iTunes does not include the chorus so it’s difficult to tell which version I want.

Undeterred and unwilling to blindly download version after version looking for the one I want I simply asked Google. Google pointed me at YouTube who confirmed I wasn’t making this version of the song up and gave me an artist name. iTunes said no. This is what we would describe as “a bit of an arse” and will necessitate me procuring the track from elsewhere, possibly ‘borrowing’ it from YouTube as I think I have the tools to turn it into an mp3 from a YouTube video

¹Self imposed rule. The Zozo has not made any such proclamations but I bet you she’s glad I have

As part of the preparations for our forthcoming wedding The Zozo and I have been ordering various things from the internetwebs. One item had to be specially imported from the US (which was good fun in itself since the company in question only shipped to the continental US and wouldn’t take international credit cards. Thank God for postal forwarding companies) and needs duty paying on it when it’s finally delivered.

On Wednesday I got call from the DHL Indian call centre telling me my package would be arriving Thursday and would I be ok to pay the driver cash? I told her I wouldn’t be in and nor would anyone else. This didn’t phase our call centre worker who immediately proposed Friday as an alternative. Still no good, I told her, we won’t be home. This prompted confusion and she enquired as to when someone might be home. I tentatively suggested Saturday knowing full well that would not be an option and was promptly told as such. In the end, due to my audacity at not wanting to take time off at short notice it was decided that they would attempt a delivery on Thursday and when that failed I could rearrange it for a more convenient time or destination.

Now obviously I’m missing something here. Given the surprise at there being no one to receive my item perhaps there’s some simple option I’ve missed. Clearly this has never happened to them before. If it had then I’d be allowed to organise a time there and then that didn’t fall into the next 48 hours. Or maybe suggest an alternative address on the phone. No, they have to attempt a delivery that is guaranteed to fail and then, and only then, can we proceed.

On Saturday I went to pick up my precious which is very shiny, very comfy and very much in a drawer because apparently I’m not allowed to wear it until I’m actually married. Bit of an arse, but who am I to buck tradition?

Anyway, as part of the contributions to the cost of the wedding thing that parents are want to do, my mother had given me a load of old jewellery to sell with the proceeds going towards the ring. One piece was the wedding ring my father had given my mother when they got married. Since he can’t come to the wedding (being, as he is, somewhat metabolically challenged) I thought it was rather fitting.

Still trying to work out what to have engraved on the inside of it. Options include:

• 09/10/2010
• IX X MMX
• Dom & Zo, 09/10/2010
• 1286636400

Answers on in a comment please (“One ring to rule them all and in the darkness bind them” has been vetoed, so don’t even think it”)