Women's motoring

 

General Updates

Have got some better passport photo's , paperwork to send off on Monday !

I have also booked a haircut with a posh stylist in Wakefield for Friday morning. I am going to give a bangs/fringe look a go !

I had a call with my new boss on Thursday, my move to IT is actually happening, it all sounded positive. There is a team meeting (video call) on Monday, so I will need to remember what I am working on for that.

Women's Drivers Social club meetup (Winter Warmer)

This was in Bicester. which is about 150 miles south of my location in the grim north :)  .  I had been preparing Josephine over Christmas, but as always was still working on her the night before to get her ready.

I had taken her for a test drive, and all was well, aside from her desire not to inform other road users that she wanted to turn left.  Which is unusual, as it was usually turning right that had the issue.  So I bodged up a spare generic indicator stalk in addition to the one already fitted.  This was required as the original stalk does the horn, and this generic one doesn't.

The meeting was on Saturday, but it's a long drive, so I decided to go down the day before and stay at Banbury. I found a cheapish hotel the 'Whately Hall Hotel', which looked to have a nice car park - which is clearly more important than my own comfort.  It turned out to be quite a nice place, the room was good, although a little noisy during the early evening as it seems the main road gets a lot of traffic.

Friday 

I arrived around 2pm, having stopped for a sandwich on the way down at some services.  After checking in, I had a bit of a wander around Banbury, it was quite dead really, but not as depressing as some places.  I found a tap bar in a shopping ce
ntre and had one stout in there.  Possibly losing a penguin earring in the process.  Then headed to a pub nearer the hotel, where I had a couple of pints of bitter, and ham eggs and chips.  It was a nice place, seemed actually interested in her job, and was good at remembering what had been previously ordered.

I had noticed the missing earring in there, so did re-trace my steps, but couldn't find it.  So went back to the hotel. I was going to chill there for the evening, and get an early night, as the plan was to do the Womens Drivers event, then drive to Birmingham for a Trans night out in the evening.

Saturday

I had been upsold breakfast when I checked in the previous day, so I got up at 7ish to be ready for 8am when they started serving,  The were only a few of us in there that early, a table with some tourists and then myself on my own.

The food was good, aside from the sausage which didn't have much texture to it - but for £10 it was OK.  

I had to be in Bicester for 10:30am, so there wasn't much of a rush after I got back to my room.  Josephine started fine, but on attempting to use the windscreen washers the pump died, didn't think much of it until I I was on the move and realised the dashcam had switched off - so i must have blown a fuse.  I was able to swap the dashcam to a power bank without stopping though.

I arrived on time, there were quite a few other ladies and cars already there, so I got a space nearer the car park entrance. We were meeting a garage that specialises in keeping classics on the road - not a place that does full restorations.  Classic Collective

I do feel a bit of imposter syndrome when around the other ladies, but they are very
welcoming, and other than a few short periods where I was looking a bit lonely I had a fab time. 

There were about 20 of us there, so quite a crowd really, 518 members on the FB group, but there seem to be not that many that go to real world meetups.

There was a workshop tour, a bit of a sales pitch on some fuel stabiliser, free hot drinks, and just some time for us all to chat. I got some video of the workshop of course :

At around 1pm we all headed to a pub for some lunch. It was a 15 minute drive away, so we did a convoy, and arrived together.

Not by design I ended up on a table with a trans woman who I had seen but not really spoken to much before, and also her partner, and some other ladies.

Had a really good talk with them, and had some nice food. The service was a bit chaotic, so we all ended up getting our orders way after others - I was lucky and got mine first. 

It was around 4pm when I decided I should make a move - a few others had left so I wasn't the first by any means. I said my goodbyes and headed out for the next leg of the adventure.

Birmingham 

I think it took me about and hour and a half to get to Birmingham, it was quite cold and I had to stop
for a wee, and also fuel on the way.  I put an extra dress on at the services to try and stay warmer for the remainder of the journey.  It got dark while I was driving as well which made it less fun too.  

I think I was at the hotel by 5:45pm  , It took a while for me to find a parking space in the multistorey I had chosen for her.  The Travelodge was only a 5 minute walk away and I got checked in quickly.

One of my friends from Leeds / Hull had heard I was going and wanted to join, so had booked in at the same hotel.  After a quick refresh of my makeup I arranged to meet her in reception so we could go get some food.

We had decided upon Wagamama's as it was close, and we were going to change before heading to the pub for the social event around 8pm.  

I can't say that I had been that impressed with them previously, but I did manage to find something I really liked at this one. It was a rice bowl with chicken - "Shu's Shiok Chicken'  - was very nice, and only 478 kcals.  With the breakfast and pub meal, I didn't want anything too calorific.

We headed back to the hotel afterwards and spent another 30 mins or so getting ready for the evening. I went with a gothic-ish look, which suited the biker boots and leggings I had kept on because it was just too damn cold !

Transcend 

This event was previously called 'Birmingham Belles' but had been re-named to make it more inclusive for trans-masc and non-binary people. The lady that runs it is a regular at LFF and comes along to our Pints and Straws event regularly too - had been meaning to go for ages.

We met in the Equator bar , and spent a good hour or s
o in there. I liked it, it had a nice atmosphere and did at least have Guinness.  We ended up talking to a couple who were going to LFF in February, so will be looking out for them  at that.  

My friend wanted to dance, so we decided to go investigate other venues,  we had a look at 'Missing' but it seemed like there was a queue, so ended up at 'Sidewalk', where we felt very old. We had a drink in there though, then moved to 'The Fox' where we ended up back with the rest of the gang.

It was a fun place, there was a pool table and some banter going on around there, I did play my friend but lost :(  

I can't remember the exact order from there onwards, we did 'The Village' , possibly 'Sidewalk' again, and 'Missing', before finishing back at the Fox.  They kicked us out of there - I think 1am , 2am something like that, and we wobbled back to the hotel :)

All in all a very good night, some really nice friendly venues - I was struck by the number of non-T rainbow people in them - LFF it doesn't feel like there are many other members of the community out with us, it just seems a lot more straight in Leeds.  This was more like Manchester in that regard.

The long drive home 

I was a bit hungover, but nothing a paracetamol couldn't mostly fix.  I wanted to get off early, so that I was in less traffic getting out of the city centre.  It wasn't a bad drive, but still quite cold. I stopped off at Woodall for a loo stop, but other than that I just kept going.  

I was a bit tired on the Monday, but was well worth it, was a very good weekend ! 

An actual update !

Some non-social event details for a change :)  -  plus a random weird photo from NYE 😀

Legal transition status:

Pensions finally got all that sorted in late December.  For some reason Scottish Widows required a certified Deed Poll - which cost me a £5 , I was very annoyed, they were the only company that needed one, and it was totally pointless because all she did was photocopy the original and sign it to say it was a certified copy.  I could have fabricated the whole document, she was only saying that it was a copy of the document I provided her to sign. Even after sending them this, It took them several weeks, and me chasing them to get it actually changed.

I still have some investments to sort, I am also on companies house for the estates management company under my dead name. 

Passport - it's £55 I think to get a letter from GenderGP stating that my transition is likely permanent -  I would use my own GP, but despite several requests, and having an appointment, nobody had got back to me.   One of my friends has done me a letter, their qualifications should meet the passport office requirements, but they are not a GP so I don't know if it will work.  I need to get a better set of passport photo's done, that make me look vaguely feminine.  I might go into a photography shop in Wakefield to get those. 

Medical matters 

NHS App - I do now have access to my medical records again !! however they don't seem as good as when the GP was using their previous service.  I does seem like I can get my hormone test results though, which I was getting quite upset about losing access to. Gender GP seemed fine to provide we with meds without me giving them test results, but it's not ideal to be medicating blind.

My oestrogen levels in October - which I have only just got access to were a bit disappointing, lower than previously, and my T was higher. So I have decided to increase my dose by one extra pump a day, then I will ask my GP for another blood test and see what GenderGP say.

I stopped taking Progesterone before Xmas, when I was ill and I think I will stay off it a while, i feel sharper off it, and my breast tissue is still tender, so the Oestrogen seems to be working fine without it.

Work

I haven't really had much contact with the team I am meant to be working under now, there are lots of changes going on in the company, and I suspect I am not a priority one, so I am just keeping my head down and cracking on with my work.  Trying to do more development, and throw basic hands on stuff to others I have trained on it.

Home life

My Wife just got a head of department job at a different school, so it's step up the ladder with a pay rise  - which is nice. Hoping she enjoys it, and it's not too stressful. But good for her to go for it, she was very pleased to have been successful, having failed to get other roles in her current trust.

Not much else is changing, we have our usual routines, she goes to things on evenings during the week, and I get to go out on a Friday and sometimes Saturday.  Kids are doing well, they have been a bit ill recently, I think possibly the bug I had or something similar.

My parents are not doing too bad, I saw them last weekend when I went swimming. Managed 42 lengths again :)

Josephine

I did some welding on the drivers side inner wing area over Xmas.  I have been on adventures in her this weekend - I will post about that some other time probably.  I think I will have to take the gearbox back out again, it's noisy in neutral, I think a bearing has gone on the input shaft.

I also need to swap the axle casing and differential, the current casing has a few perforations I fixed, but the final drive ratio is too low - it was intended for it's original engine, and I have a replacement that should allow for lower RPM at motorway speeds which will please my ears, and her engine :)

Noticed the rear passenger side door is rotten at the bottom, so that needs sorting - and the drivers side rear looks a bit weird, doesn't look to fit properly.  The drivers door also needs some shims to align it too. 

Lots of fun to be had this year then :)

Christmas day and New Year Eve

 

Christmas Day

Christmas day was at my parents, given my dads health issues over the last year we thought was best to spend it at theirs. I hope it's not our last together, but you just can't tell what is going to happen.

Anyway, it was a nice day, my mum had done her usual spread, lots of different things to tuck into. She did manage to burn the stuffing balls, but that was no serious issue :)

My wife had bought me a xmas jumper with a Penguin on it, which was lovely, but my parents tend to have the heating quite high, and with all that food I figured it would be better to wear something thinner.

We helped with the washing up, and spend the afternoon on the sofas.  Watch a bit of Dr Who - a bit pants , but watchable.  Then headed home about 6ish.

All in all a nice day, and my 1st as myself of course. There were quite a few name / pronoun slips, but they are trying, and it didn't ruin it. 

My wife and kids enjoyed it too, mostly - youngest had a bit of a melt down trying to do a really hard jigsaw we had bought him.

New Years Eve

One of my friends lives in Hull and was attending an 80's themed New Years Eve party there - Charlotte. She hadn't realised I wasn't doing anything,  and so asked me if I wanted to go - an offer of a free room sealed the deal. There was a prize for the best dressed, which sparked my interest too. 

It seems I had been subconsciously building an outfit for the last couple of years and hadn't realised. On searching through my cupboard I found a genuine vintage dress that was very likely 80's , and I also remembered the really curly wig I had got in a charity sale at Chams ages ago.  ( A mostly wigless month )

I really only needed to perfect some 80's makeup , and also get some accessories - some neon fishnet
gloves of course 😁 

I got ready during the afternoon after researching some vintage makeup looks of the era. I was really pleased with how I looked.

Drove over the my friends house with the makeup, but my own hair and a more comfortable dress, managed to get there about 5:30.  We had some lovely lentil stew she had made, then I got shown to her sons room which I would be borrowing for the night  (he was at his mums)

We were ready for about 7:15 ish , with a taxi booked for 7:30 , got a few photo's while we waited of course 😊 

Due to the horrible weather that day, (high winds with rain) we were not going anywhere before hand, but we did end up arriving a bit early before it had opened, so sought refuge in a tapas bar opposite to wait for the rest of the gang to turn up. 

The ticket included a glass of prosecco on entry, we managed to get some seats next to the dancefloor as well.  Gemma , Emily and Rebeka were already there, and was funny to see a few double takes when they spotted us - I haven't worn wigs in ages, so wasn't as recognisable.

Another trans woman and her cis wife turned up a bit later, had not met them before but they were nice, and also a guy that was friends with Gemma and Emily came along too.

There were quite a few other women who had gone to a fair bit of effort, so it swiftly became clear I wasn't a contender for the best dressed prize :)  -  I need a shorter dress and pink legwarmers next year I think.

The music was fab, spent a lot of time on the dancefloor, everyone had a great time.  Charlotte had pre-booked us a taxi back to her house at 00:30, so we didn't hang about after midnight.  But we had some White Russians back at her place when we did get back.

Probably not the best of ideas, it took me a while to feel sober enough to come home in the morning 😁

It was a great night though, and I hope to go back there next year ! - I hadn't seen much of some of the Hull crew for a while, so was great to catch up with them as well.

Glasgow Third Friday

 

Glasgow Third Friday - 20th of December

I had been wanting to do this event for a while, partly because it's somewhere new to explore, but also as Susan who has come to a few LFF and Pints and Straws events runs it, so it's nice to reciprocate and show some support.

Ann had decided to come too, and even offered to drive, which did make it a lot easier for me 😊

She had stayed over in a hotel in Wakefield the night before, so we were able to get on the road quite early. There were weather warnings for winds, and it was raining a bit, so it wasn't the best of trips, but not too bad in the end.

After parking up we went to an Italian place that she has been to before - it was my 1st time to the city so was happy to go somewhere she knew was good.

I had a pizza and she had a huge lasagne, it was very pleasant.  

We did a bit of mooching around the general area Susan had suggested, getting some photo's then went looking for a pub. The beer choices were not huge, so I was mostly on Guinness in a lot of places. Around 3pm we checked into the hotel and then went back out again. We headed to a Christmas fair in a big square, it had a beer tent - but no Guinness, so I had a lager !

We left there and went to another place which seemed to have the generic red theme that at least one bar in any city will have.  We had a couple of drinks in there, sat at the bar as were no tables.

The chief LFF coordinator Grai was also attending, and sharing with Ann, so she left me in a very gay, gay bar to wait for Susan while she headed back to the hotel to give her a room key. It was a really friendly place, but was glad when she arrived as I was the only T in the room 😄 

We left there after a while, and I nipped back to my room to change my dress for the evening.  Then we were back out to the 'St Johns St Speakeasy'  which is the starting - and for those that don't venture,
the only venue of the night.  

It was really fab in there, the Guinness shortage had hit this one, but there was an ale of sorts that wasn't bad.  They also served pie and chips !   so I got one of those for tea. 

We got to know some of the regulars and had a nice time in there.

Susan was given a surprise thankyou by the regulars for her work organising the event, which was nice to witness.

After this we went across the road to Katies bar, which was in vaulted cellar, it was quite a fun place - it clearly was the sort of place that could get a bit messy, they had a female toilet attendant on hand to ensure single occupancy, and she was clearly someone you wouldn't mess with. 

Then we headed to the final venue of the evening, which was like several bars in one building, a bit BNO ish, it was called 'Polo Lounge' - there was a club downstairs with two rooms - one a more standard one, another that had a bit of an S&M vibe. The main upstairs are was more like a gentleman's club, posh tables and chairs, and then a separate posh bar off to one side. 

Susan hadn't been feeling too great - vertigo, so she left at about 1ish I think. I decided to head off shortly afterwards.  I didn't want to be feeling poorly in Ann's car on the way back in the morning.

I think she stayed out for a while longer and got a kebab with Grai.

Not sure if I swindled the Premier Inn out of breakfast for us both in the morning, I don't think I paid for it - but the lady crossed me off a list. 

We headed back shortly afterwards - it was a lot windier on the way down, so it wasn't the most fun of drives. We stopped off at the services near Lancaster for a sausage roll and a drink.  

I treated Ann to a coffee at the local Starbucks on the way to my house, as she had another hour and a bit of driving to do after she dropped me off.

All in all a very pleasant evening, I may perhaps go again in the summer, but maybe book two nights to make the most of it, it's a long drive just for one night out.