timill

I know I've been a touch mysterious about why I went to the UK and why I'm with Cheryl Morgan. Today was the big day, and now that it's done and we've finally made it back to her home in Wales, I can finally reveal what the big deal was and why we could not talk about it.

( It's not clickbait, really! )

They treated us very well, and they took much better professional photos compared to my quick shots here. These two are here just so you who follow me know what happened. I haven't labeled all of my photos, and I hope to go back soon and talk more about how yesterday went. I will say that the university treated both Cheryl and I very well, and I am extremely proud that she asked me to be her +1 with her at this event.

More later when I have had more sleep and time to work on labeling photos. We'll be here at Cheryl's place, with me working on the Day Jobbe tomorrow and Wednesday. I'm taking Thursday and Friday off, and Friday we head back up to London, where we'll stay at a hotel near Heathrow to make it easier for me to take my flight home. I'd love to stay longer, but medical, dental, and fannish commitments during this very busy part of my year are piling up.

Surprisingly, I seem to have adjusted to UK time pretty well. Okay, I woke up at 5 AM, but my normal wake-up time at home is around 4:30 AM anyway. OTOH, that won't work on the two days this coming week that I'm working remotely at the Day Jobbe, but I'll deal with that when we get there.

Today we had the day to ourselves (we have commitments tomorrow).

( Around Exeter )

We did a lot of shopping but very little buying. There was a street market with various vendors, and I bought Kayla a pair of earrings, which was about all for me. We also looked in some bookstores, but I didn't find anything that I wanted to try and squeeze into my luggage.

We were back at the hotel in the mid-to-late afternoon, as I was loaning my computer to Kayla to participate in the First Main Meeting of the 2025 WSFS Business Meeting. She participated by voice only because I didn't pack the webcam. Because of the nature of the meeting, neither she nor I have much to say about it. Cheryl put various sports on the hotel TV and we ordered room service.

Tomorrow we have non-fannish responsibilities about which we'll report later, but with luck I'll get some sleep tonight despite having to drink a bunch of coffee to stay awake earlier today.

I left Reno for SFO on Friday afternoon and arrived in London mid-afternoon on Saturday, continuing on to Exeter via London Paddington by train. Travel is always wearing, but this was some of the best travel I've ever had.

( First Class Most of the Way )

This was of course a very long day-plus for me, but fortunately, we don't have to be up early tomorrow. Getting that Polaris upgrade made a big difference, so I'm only tired, not shattered.

I'm heading to the UK (RNO-SFO-LHR) today for a week, staying with Cheryl Morgan at her place in Wales. We're attending a non-fannish function about which I might write later, but not now. In order to preserve PTO, I'll work remotely for a couple of the days I'm there, as I did last summer after Worldcon.

Normally, I don't look forward to long flights, but this time United's upgrade algorithm slipped a gear and offered a Polaris Business class upgrade for less than Premium Economy and cheap compared to them asking $500 (!) for a first-class upgrade for the roughly hour-long flight RNO-SFO, and I jumped on it before the AI came to its senses. I get what looks to be a very nice seat (left side single), along with Polaris lounge access at SFO on the layover.

With luck, I should get some valuable sleep tonight. The flight leaves in the evening and arrives Saturday afternoon local time. Given how tired I am right now, I'm looking forward to it.