Call me Carl, please. I wish I'd never used my full name here! People don't know what to call me!!
Anyway, here is what I reckon. See if you can get some cream before Sat. If you can afford it. Maybe some Body Shop Macca Root, O Melhor, Truefitt and Hill, C O Bigalow something like that. Cream is great for a beginner, it removes a variable somewhat.
Grab a kitchen knife or anything else to simulate a razor before the shave. Stand at a mirror and work out how you're going to hold the razor.
Obviously you've watched some shaving videos first (if not, do so). Plan to swap hands (R H for R side, L H for L side) but that is NOT imperative. You're only going to do your right side (or left side if you're left handed) on the first shave anyway. Relax, you've got plenty of days to build up to it. Rome wasn't built in a day.
DO NOT strop the razor before the shave. Don't touch the edge. Prepare well for the shave, shower, hot towels, good lather. Let the lather sit for a few minutes. You could even wash it off and lather again. Then, short, soft strokes with the razor. Don't try and do long strokes. CONCENTRATE, just like you're at the range shooting targets at 300 meters.
LOW angle, double the width of the spine. STOP after you've done a cheek. Then use your normal razor to finish off. I know you want to do the whole thing with the straight, but we want you to live and fight another day.
THEN you can either not strop at all (at this point in time) or maybe do 20 or so SLOW strokes on the strop. KEEP THE RAZOR FLAT. In fact, I'd rather you put the spine in contact more so than the edge, you can wreck the edge pretty quickly by holding the razor incorrectly. You can use a razor for a week or so (depending on your hair, etc) without stropping, but can dull the edge with one bad stropping session. I normally strop 30/70 linen/leather each shave with 10/10 after, but at this stage you can do more harm than good stropping.
I can't tell you what side to use first, the colour of the leather to me means nothing. Try and post a pic of the strop showing each side.
If the razor tugs on the hair rather than cutting. Stop. Shave with your normal razor and ask us what to do. At that stage we may suggest a light stropping or even 10 laps on the 8k hone, but don't rush it, I really suggest you ask questions here first. That's a nice razor you have, your very first one, you don't want to ruin it (or your face:))
Good luck.
BTW, Australians don't normally say this, but thanks for your service...
Carl