Burning for you

 

'Burning for you' - A favorite blue Oyster cult song, appropriate for a number of reasons concerning this weekends adventures 😊

But first i need to do a blog post about everything I have failed to blog about so far !! 

8th of May: Chameleons !  - I can't remember much about this, but i was there !

10th of May :  Church Fete, my friend Alice does a bit of a vintage vehicle display outside her local church every year. I had been once before and displayed Josephine, and did the same again this year.  However this time I got to drive one of her tractors !!! 

It was so much fun !!!   We went to a pub for tea afterwards, I had a very nice pork dish with crackling.  Was on the Guinness Zero so I could drive home afterwards.  It was a really fun day.  

11th of May: Trans Swimming !  

16th of May : Went to Hull on the Friday to visit my friend Charlotte, we had a lemon pasta linguine that she cooked which was lovely.  I think we watched one of the Star War films.

17th of May: Headed into Leeds, I was meeting old school friends in the afternoon for a mini pub crawl (loosely based on my Pints and Straws one) . I was a bit nervous about meeting them all, only one has seen me dressed before - but all had known for a while. It went well, and spent a lovely few hours catching up with them.  

 

 

In the evening, Charlotte re-joined, and we had a Not-Birthday meal for her at Cut and Craft.  The food was excellent, and the service was incredibly quick !  I had the cheapest steak on the menu - just labeled 'Flat Iron' , it was probably the 2nd best i've ever had - only marginally pipped by an expensive fillet at Goucho's.  But if you factor in the price it was the best by a mile. We did some cocktails, and I had a few more beers in the evening, it was a really nice day.

 

 

On the Sunday we sought a place for breakfast and ended up a fab cafe / cheese monger
combo in the Corn Exchange. We both enjoyed our sandwiches, then spent a load of money on cheese and their fine selection of canned fish !

 

 

22nd of May :  Chameleons , the lovely Wig ladies were in, as was Sally and Ann. Was a fab night, I did go a bit early as I didn't want to be tired for the morning as has blood tests.

 

 

 

 

23rd of May :  Had my NHS blood tests in Barsley, grabbed a pork pie from the market for lunch.

26th of May :  Went to Lotherton with Charlotte, we did a tour of the deer park on a
tractor ! You got to see them really up close as they threw food next to the trailer. 

The weather wasn't the best, we had showers and was a bit under dressed, but still had a nice time. I had gone in Josephine too, I don't like getting her damp, but the it was sunny when I set off.

 

 

30th of May :  My 2nd riding lesson, it went well !  I had Nero this time, he was lovely very similar in size look, and temperament to Gordon.   

It was very warm, and I got a bit more of a workout, as we were attempting to trot ! My timing is still atrocious, but I think I am getting better. I am not standing when the saddle is coming up, which isn't ideal for my undercarriage ! 

I am booked in again to ride later this month, hoping next time will be better.   

 

6th of June : Leeds First Friday - It was good to be back, I had missed the previous one due to being in Wales.   Grabbed a bagel at Flamingos with Benni for lunch, then did the Pints and Straws bar crawl. There we not that many there, but it was still good.  My friend Jess from Bristol was waiting for us outside the Travelodge as we made our way to pub 3 , I was sober enough to be looking out for her :) 

We ended in the Tetley, where a really weird (and likley on drugs) guy decided to gatecrash our group and start asking for relationship advice. It slowly got worse over the minutes, and he was soon on to telling us which ones of us he knew were blokes.  We were getting to the end of the event anyway, but we made a hasty retreat when he went to the loo. 

A number of us ate at the Adephi - I wasn't that enamored with my food, it was a belly pork dish, it was way too salty for my liking, and not what i needed after a load of beer. 

The others seemed to like theirs though. Not sure i will go there again for food.

We headed over to the Bridge End social after this - after being chased by a barmaid who thought we had one dish still to pay for - a straggler was finishing there's in a leisurely fashion and hadn't been to pay yet :)

I ended up on the pool table there, my friend Jess likes a game or too.  Ended up doing winner stays on, and I think I played 4 games, but only one 2.  One of the crown had challenged me, she was very unlucky. 

After this we did Northern Guitar, The Viaduct, and the End Bar.  I don't think I had eaten enough so I wasn't feeling that great. I wanted to try and stay out till midnight for the sake of  Jess who had come all the way from Bristol - but I gave up at about 11:20pm. My digestive system was making bad noises.

Walked back to Vicar lane travelodge, and proceeded to have no sleep whatsoever overnight and spend a lot of time going to the loo.

I gave up at 6am ish, and decided just to drive home. Not the best ending to an LFF i've had, but I had enjoyed most of the day. 

8th of June : Trans swimming, 50 lengths again !  and this was in about 50 minutes, so I
am possibly getting faster.  I will need to do more lengths per minute if I have any hope of getting to the 1 mile figure of 74 lengths ! 

It doesn't seem that achievable at the moment !  

 

 

12th of June : Chameleons again !  - It was one of the ladies birthdays and they had
brought cake - I didn't actually eat and I had stuffed myself on chocolate fingers before they arrived 😂 

Sally was there, but no Ann this time as she was away with work.  Not many youngsters attended, but was a decent turnout.  

 

 

 

Anyway here endeth the catch up, I intend to do a detailed write up of this weekends adventures later in the week - totally not going to forget to do it , honest  

 

Deploy the emergency penguins

Trans Updates

I have a call booked with Pride In Health for next week, i think they are still lacking a doctor, but I will get a formal diagnosis I believe. With this I should be able to go to a 3rd party endocrinologist that i know of, so hopefully can bin off GenderGP and get some
proper care. 

I have started on blockers, I have had them for ages, but had not bothered. Only had two doses so too early to tell. My plan is to do another blood test in April, see how I am doing.

 

IT Changes

In light of the issues over the pond, I've been attempting to move as much of my IT from US hosted services to UK/European ones.  

I am Microsoft free for my laptop and PC now,  Linux Mint on the laptop, Manjaro on the PC. 

I found a cloud provider in Norway which I have used to replace OneDrive (https://jottacloud.com/en/ ) this has a CLI based client for Linux which does what I need.

I have a new email and domain hosting provider in the UK ( https://www.fasthosts.co.uk/ )  , but not changed my email address on a lot of things yet.

Coincidentally, Skype - who I have been using ever since they binned MSN Messenger, is due to be closed down in May. So my Uni friends and I have prepared a Discord server to use after it's demise.  

This blog may get moved at some point, I did a backup a while ago, I might do another soon just in case.

I've also binned off my Amazon Music and Audible accounts too. I had binned off Tw@tter a long time ago. 

Still got my Insta, Youtube and Facebook - I would be upset if they went, but they don't cost me anything, so no need to totally throw my toys out of the pram :)

I don't expect they will starve just because I reduced what I spend, but if enough of us do it then it will convey a message.

 

March Social Events:

Leeds First Friday - 7th 

Had a pizza at Rudys with Benni on arrival. We headed to Pints and Straws afterwards, it was a pretty good turnout. Fun times were had :)

Sally turned up towards the end, which was nice.

We ate  at Bundobust before the main event, it is an entirely vegetarian Indian streetfood restaurant with craft beer.  I really liked it, had a fab burger.

In the evening we met up with Gemma, who I don't get to see a lot of these days.  After the usual Bridge End Social visit, we did cocktails at the viaduct, then I think we went to Behind closed doors which is a fun place I think will try and add to the schedule next month.

We did 'The End' then 'Smokestack' after this. I was getting tired and Sally was done for the night too, so I walked her back to the Leanardo, then headed back the Travelodge.

Chameleons - 13th

I had missed the last two Chameleons, partly due to stress at work leading to a lack of
motivation, but I knew I wouldn't be missing this one, as it was an overnight stop on my way down to Milton Keynes the next day.

Ann was there which was nice,  it wasn't the busiest of nights, but not a bad turnout.

There was a talk planned by a guy who runs a dance company, who it seems grew up not far from where i live. 

It was a nice night, I enjoyed the talk and presentation, but he hadn't expected to be talking so long so he ended up rushing off :)

I stayed over at the Premier Inn near the tram station not far from the community center. It was undergoing some building work, but it didn't end up disrupting me too much.

Pink Punters -  14th

I couldn't decide on anywhere fun to go on the way to Milton Keynes, so decided to go
straight there. It was an uneventful drive, I had charged fully at the church next to the community center the night before, so got there fine.  

I pottered around the main shopping center for a bit , couldn't find anywhere I fancied to eat so ended up with a Greggs meal deal.  I was meeting Benni at the train station later in the day, so I could give her a lift to the hotel. I had hoped to go around the art gallery again, I liked that when I did it with Ann one time, but it was not open that day.

After picking up Benni and checking in, we met up with Sally in the bar and had an early meal there - nothing special, just to get us ready for the night!

Then we went to a local real ale pub for an hour which was nice, they had some good beers.   

We went back to the hotel - via an off-license where a local recommended a tonic wine for us to try ! we got a small bottle each, and tried them back in the room. It was drinkable, and fun to video our reactions, but I wouldn't want it again too soon :)

It did help fuel me for some Kareoke in the bar after we changed, I ruined 'Breaking the law' by Judas Priest. 

We went over to the night club later on, and mostly stayed in the cocktail bar. I didn't drink that much really. I went to bed a bit earlier than the others, had some tea and water and watched a bit of TV before going to sleep.

We all met up for breakfast in the morning, it was pretty good, but wasn't feeling 100% so ended up laying down for a bit afterwards.

I drove Benni to the station before heading home.  Was having difficulty finding a free
charger again, but I noticed one not at a services I had never seen before on my google maps, so headed there.  

Turns out I had a quite a big charging complex all to myself !  

 

Hull - 21st 

A visit to Hull to explore some more real ale pubs with Charlotte.  We were also going to try a Brazilian restaurant (meat on a stick type place).

It was a very nice afternoon, we did two new ones (new to me) and then one we had done the previous month. One of them was where the plot that started the civil war took place !

We stopped for a tea at a little gallery on the way to the restaurant, just to sober up a bit :)

The Brazilian restaurant was really nice, but we probably had too many drinks to fully get our moneys worth.  You had a card that you flipped over to stop or start the delivery of meat, and a salad bar. 

 

Swimming

I did attend on the 2nd and 9th , I think I managed 42 on both !

 

Baby Guinness

General Updates

I have recently signed up for a new trans health care provider, 'Pride In health'. It was one a friend had suggested to another friend - they were were not an option when I first looked. They seem to be a lot cheaper, and I am hopeful they will be more interested in my well being.  GenderGP is not proactive at all.

I have ordered a home blood test kit - a fancy one, that sucks from your upper arm ! - I have tried finger pricks before, and didn't get on with those.  This is a stop gap to get me some hormone levels until I speak with a doctor to ask for a free test. It was that stressful dealing with them over the NHS App, I have not wanted to go back until recently.

I tried cutting my fringe yesterday, it had started to annoy me, getting over my eyes. It doesn't look too bad, but it far from perfect. My next appointment is on the 28th of this month, so i may need to do it again before then.

I have been for laser today (04/03/2025)  , it was not fun, hurt quite a bit.  I had sent pictures of a few days growth so she could target the worst areas.  You have to shave before the session, so it's hard for them to tell.

Work is a tad stressful, there is a re-org going on, I am unaffected by it really, but my own department move is still ongoing.  I have a new laptop at least, and I got some praise for saving the company some money by doing some work in house rather than pay our contractor. 

Swimming - I managed 48 lengths on the 2nd !! 

Adventures

Catch up with an ex-colleague - 14th of Feb

I went to Leeds in the morning for brunch with an ex-colleague who I have been friends with for quite a while. We had some breakfast bagels at a place I didn't know existed down a narrow passage near the
cat café. 

It was a pleasant couple of hours.  She did ask if I had done more with the voice training, which I haven't done at all.  She also thought I had lost weight, which I haven't - possibly my face might look thinner with the hormones ? that is about all I can think of. 

Blackpool - 14th / 15th Feb

I drove to Blackpool straight from Leeds, I was staying at my friends new house, and she wasn't meant to be getting away from work until 6pm.  So my plan was to dump the car on her drive, and then go for adventures. 

I had been looking at real ale places near where she lived, and had seen a Micropub I quite fancied.

My friend was very impressed I had dared venture there alone, as it was in the roughest part of town ! and is something she wouldn't have considered.

But anyway, there were no issues.  It was a bit cold inside, not very big.  The barwoman was OK with me, but not overly friendly.  I tried a bitter which it seems was nearly done, so not at it best. 

I sat for a bit and did some social media, but got bored and put my phone away. An older chap who was nearby took this as a sign that I was open to conversation, and we had a bit of a chat.  He was into real ale himself, and had been all over in the past. 

I had a pint and a half more while we talked. Nice fellow, we never exchanged names though :)

My friend messaged to say she had unexpectedly got off early, so I said my goodbyes and walked back to hers. 

I got the guided tour of the house, which was very nice indeed.  It had a lovely garage with a rollup door. Unfortunately my friend is not into cars, so it will never likely receive an oil stain 🥲

We popped to Lidl after a bit, but ended up popping into another pub - once she had been in 20 years
ago, but had never expected to go into again. It was OK, we had a drink, then went
to Lidl to buy breakfast items.  Shopping in Lidl after a few beers is dangerous however, and I bought some cheap metal taps and dies from the isles of temptation :)

After dumping the shopping back at hers we drove into town to find somewhere to eat, ending up at the Abingdon Street Market.  I had a disappointing curry, but it filled a hole.

We had a look at some bars, but they were quite noisy, so ended up going back to hers and watching some telly.  

The next day we did Lytham St Annes in the morning, mainly the charity shops - I didn't get much, but they were nice shops.  I picked up a corgi Morris Minor, series 2 but in Lilac. Not sure that combination ever existed, but it was only £2.

We lounged around the house in the afternoon, then had some of the food we had bought the previous day.  There was a gig at a rock pub nearby  - The Waterloo Music Bar , which started about 9pm, and ended up going to that.

The bands were not that good, but it was a great venue, full of memorabilia - it has one of Lemmy's bass amps !  (behind a cage).   I had a few Guinness's and enjoyed the ambiance. Lots of weird looking people there, so I fitted in :)

We didn't stay too late, and got home at a reasonable hour.

I left pretty early in the morning, I wanted to beat the traffic, so was back by lunchtime.

Hull - 28th Feb

A hull meetup had been organised by Cindy, I know a few people from that area so was keen to go.  I had done it for New Years Eve, but not really been to any other bars in the city centre. 

I arrived at a friends house in the early afternoon, and it was about 3pm before we made it into the city centre.  Ended up at a few real ale pubs, and played some pool.

The others had gone to check into their hotel, and so met up with us a bit later in a tapas bar.  We had some lovely food, then ventured to the gay quarter.

It's not a huge area, only really four bars, two owned by one person, and two by another. But they all seemed to have their own character, so was still nice to move around them.  We did encounter a drunken bloke who took a bit of a shine to Sally, but we did eventually lose him !

Persuaded a few of us to try Baby Guinness's - got a shot of me trying to do the old 'small and far-away' comparison 😁 

We decided to leave this area and go to another gay bar which was about 10 minutes away.  Unfortunately they were charging to enter, and nobody seemed to have an appetite to pay - but I spotted a pub called The King Edward, which I thought sounded like a good idea, as pubs named after potatoes must be good !

Had a couple in there, then decided to call it a night, and got a taxi back to my friends house. It was a fab night, and would definitely go back again - I believe Saturdays are more lively though. 

Fringe achieved, international travel enabled

Thursday 23rd of Jan - Chameleons :  

Spoke a lady who I assumed was there for the 1st time, and was perhaps only just coming out. But it turned out she had been over a decade ago, and despite having her surgery had been living in ambiguous mode for a few years now.  I am not sure if she will return, hopefully she does.

Saturday 25th of Jan - Wakefield :

I decided to get on with sorting my passport out, as I felt I had lost a bit of momentum with my legal transition. I didn't like my drivers license photo that I did in a booth at the Co-up up the road, so I went into Wakefield to a 'Max Spielmann' I had been recommended before. 

It was all over in an instant, and he didn't take the million shots I would normally do, before choosing the best - but it looked better than my driving license one.

I had also wanted to book a hair appointment, so I was brave an went into 'Scott Banks' which looked quite posh.  The lady was very nice, and got me booked in for the following Friday, which was one of my days off.   

I went to the Black Rock for a refreshing beverage to celebrate my successes. It was rather full, and mostly of the older generations, but I didn't get any bother from anyone. Although one chap was definitely keeping an eye on me. 

 

26th of Jan  - Swimming Bramley baths  :  

I equalled my PB of 42 lengths , Only Mars bars in the vending machine !

31st of Jan - Wakefield Hair Appointment :

I arrived , they offered to take my coat, and asked what I wanted to drink !  I am not used to this, it was nice.

I was introduced to Lucy and ushered upstairs.  

She sat me down, brushed my hair a bit, and we discussed the plan, I had wanted a fringe - it is meant to be a good trans option, to hide the vast expanse of my forehead, which I have a bit of a thing about.

We agreed she could take a bit off the ends to tidy them up a bit, and it was determined that with a centre parting, I would need about 1 inch off one side, and 2 off the other ! 

After that we went to the washing station, where I was treated to a weird massage by the chair as she washed and treated my hair.  Back to the other chair, and then had the blow dry.

At this point she double checked I really really wanted a fringe, and she did a rough cut to take off most of it.   Then spent a good while refining it. 

It was all done in an hour, a nice and relaxing experience.  I must admit I wasn't 100% sure I had done the right thing with it, it just didn't look like me in the mirror. But I have grown to like it a lot. 

I wear it a lot with a pony tail for work, and really only wear it as per the photo when I go out. 

I do have to spray and blow dry my fringe for a few minutes each morning, but that has been a lot more simple that many of the YouTube videos seemed to make it out to be. So hasn't really added a great deal to my getting ready time.

Was advised that 8 weeks would be a good interval to aim for with the next cut, so I have booked one for the end of March.

Comments on social media seem to indicate that I look nice :)

4th of Feb - My passport arrived !! : 

It was very quick - I got the supporting docs back the next day too, I was amazed

Friday the 7th of Feb : LFF 

I had avocado and feta on toast for lunch with Benni, before heading to Pints and Straws for the afternoon bar crawl.  

It was a lovely afternoon,  met some newbies who really seemed to enjoy it too.  There were quite a lot of us, which was a bit unexpected.

We ate at the Botanist , there were 5 of us there.  I had a hanging kebab, which was delicious. 

After this we headed to the main meeting bar, the 'Bridge End Social' , where we caught up with people for an hour or so, then onwards to a cocktail event in Farands.

I had a Black Velvet, which was Guinness and champagne based, it was OK, not too overpowering. Then I decided to have a Zombie - they didn't do flaming zombies there (my favourite drink at the sadly recently closed Shed bar).  So I took it upon myself to recreate one, by fishing out a t-light from a table decoration, much to the alarm of my friends - Nobody died, or had their fringe burned off.

We ended up in the 'end bar' :)   -  didn't do much dancing, the friend I was sharing with wasn't feeling that great, and we were in one quite a walk away, so ended up going home about 1:30am ish. 

Ended up watching an episode of LoveJoy while eating a pot noodle when we got back - very rock and roll :)

Saturday the 8th of Feb : 

I didn't sleep too bad, but my digestive system was not happy with the cocktails, or cheese, or hanging kebab, beer, or all of the above.

We didn't manage breakfast, but I did try a pasty from the pound bakery.  I only managed half.  

Spent the afternoon with Alice and Rebecca, we did the armouries which was OK, then tried to get a table in a pub - this was problematic as all the  pubs were rammed. We assumed it was football related, but it continued to be extremely busy well beyond the match time, and hardly any football clothing spotted.

We had to walk a fair way out of town to find a pub to eat in during the evening. We managed to find a table at the 'Midnight Bell'.  I had a pheasant starter, followed by a chicken and chorizo cassoulet . It was lovely.

After this we went to 'The Hop' at the Granary Wharf, and had a relaxing few hours.  I was pretty tired so we ended up going home before kicking out time.  It was a bit of a trek to the Vicar lane Travelodge.

Sunday : 

Breakfast at the Travelodge was achieved, it wasn't too bad, only scrambled eggs, but nice sausage !

I got home before lunch, which I didn't have. I ended up having a nap in the afternoon.  I got an email from a YouTube subscriber who had offered me a free gearbox, and I followed up to see if he would mind if I picked it up that evening - he agreed.

Went to swimming, only managed 32 lengths, but I was trying to swim harder, and I think I got a good workout.  They had restocked the vending machine !!! so I could have a twirl.

After saying goodbye to my friends, and expressing a hope that I wouldn't get murdered, I travelled north to meet the guy who has messaged me.

He turned out to be really nice, and even insisted on carrying it out to my car. It was a bit dirty, but seems to turn, so hopeful it can be used.

I returned home pretty late and hungry, with the swimming, and missing lunch. 

It was a very busy weekend !

  

You spin me right round baby right round

Life Updates 

It has been a fairly quiet month in terms of attending the big trans night outs.  I hadn't planned on going to anything until December. It's nice to have a slow month every now and then. December is going to be hectic, but perhaps I will try and keep January a low key one too.

I did still have some things to go to, Swimming and chameleons got me mingling a bit every other week, which is nice.  It's good to have regular normal things that don't involve alcohol.

Work

Not really sure what triggered it, but it was suggested that I might like to move department. So as of the new year I shall be back in the ranks of the IT . There is another woman who works under the same boss,  but the rest are blokes, whereas finance has a lot more women. 

From a company tree perspective, I will have fallen a few rungs, but I have always thought I was reporting way too high, so it's not a bad thing. 

It's not the first time I've had my role changed, it seems to happen quite regularly to some people in the company.  Ones they don't want to keep don't seem to be moved, so I am hopeful it's not part of a move to oust me.  I am having to hand over some critical business tasks to others in the finance team, it's a bit difficult as a lot of what I do is in my head, but I am improving processes and documentation to make it possible at least.

Medical Matters

Due to the name change at the doctors, and them having a new computer system installed, I've been unable to re-register for online access to my medical records.  I used to get access to my blood tests which I need to provide to Gender GP for them to safely prescribe my hormones.

I am going to pop into the doctors with the form next week to see if they are ready to process it, fingers crossed they will.

In the mean time, I just told Gender GP I didn't have any results to provide, and they seemed happy to just give me the same dose as last time.  Once I get access again , I can check if the levels were OK, and adjust my dose if the E is too low. It will just run out sooner, and I will have to re-order sooner.

Home life

Things are fairly static, I did note that my wife seemed to be calling my Izzy more often, rather than daddy ( to the kids)  which is an improvement.  

My parents seem to be doing OK, my brother has been doing some painting for them. I try to pop in when I go swimming if possible, it can sort of be on the way.

Hobby News 

The new (old) car is not going well, the aluminium head is firmly stuck on the head studs. But I have finally got around to purchasing a metal working lathe !!

I have coveted one for a long time, and this issue with the car sort of swung it.  With the lathe I can make a very thin long hole saw to cut around the studs, and free the head.  I will also be able to tackle the worn out steering nut in the steering box with it too.  Plus lots of other things I wanted to use it for as well.

I also bought a new extruder assembly for my 3D printer which should rejuvenate it, and give it much superior performance.   

This is the bad side of not being out drinking at the weekends, I actually get to do other things, and they expensive.

Things Attended : 

NEC Classic Motor Show - 8th of November

My friend Alice was meant to be meeting up with me at this event, you have to pre-book tickets. It's a very big show, the biggest I've ever been to.  

The Woman's Drivers Social Club had a stand, and I had set off really early to ensure I got there for the 10am group photo - but not early enough as it seems.  I had pre-booked parking in the EV part, but the car park people were directing everyone into a normal car park, so I had to try and find my way back out of that, and then around the congested roads to the correct one - which I missed and then had to do another lap.  Anyway, did eventually get into the event.

My main mission , aside from meeting up with the WDSC girls, was to do a bit of networking with the people on the Standard Motor Company group stand, as I will likely need help and to buy parts from fellow club members - and get advice on certain things.

I did manage to talk with Rodger who was lovely, and he said he would put me in touch with a chap who owns the same model as mine. 

Spent a while walking around the event, I got my eldest a drone from one of the stands, got a bit ripped off, it turns out there is no Android App for it !  Bought some tools from one stall, a Morris Minor t-shirt from the owners club stand too.

Did sit with the WDSC girls for a bit as well.  My feet were starting to hurt, so I took a shuttle bus back to my car to change into an alternate pair which were flatter, and drop off some of my goodies too.

Overall it was a nice experience, there were a few bad moments though -  some guys who were clearly having a joke about me while I was walking into the event in the morning, I could hear them a bit, then they all went totally silent while they past me, and then started joking as they got far enough away to feel brave again.  There was also some guys who were less than impressed that there was a Gay motoring club with a stand there.   But most people we friendly enough, and I saw lots of nice cars. 

Perhaps next year I will do 2 days, there is far too much to see on just one day.

  

Swimming Bramley Baths - 10th of November

I popped into my parents an hour before the session just to see how they were. The house was a bit of a state as my brother was there, he had been painting their hallway for them. He stayed for a bit so I got to talk to him too.  I only stayed about 40 minutes, but was glad I had made the effort.

I did 34 lengths during the session  -  it was quite quiet, and neither of my two usual companions (distractions) were there, so I ended up having to swim lots.  I managed 34 lengths, which for the 22m pool is nearly 750 Meters ! 

Alex was there I did talk to her for a bit before we got into the pool, but she likes to try and do 1Km, so doesn't chat in the pool - that's 46 lengths.

This is a new PB, and a target I hope to try and beat one  day soon.  

Chameleons - 14th November

Given that I hadn't been out much, I was even more keen than usual to go. It was a lovely night, packed again. Had a good natter, I made some disappointing tea - I am no good with tea pots. 

There was some new ladies there which was nice to see, and a very packed room once again. We certainly do seem to be on a roll with new people coming this year. 

Swimming 24th of November

I met up with my friend Charlotte at a shopping centre that could be on our mutual routes to the baths.  Had offered to have a coffee with her before the swimming, as it's only a 1 hour session, so you can't have a popper chat really.  

We met at the White Rose centre, and ended up in Starbucks.  I had a Fudge Brownie hot chocolate, with cream on the top - thus neutralising any calorie loss due to the imminent exercise 😄

She had cracked her ribs doing some indoor climbing with a Queer climbing group this week, so I didn't try to make her laugh. We had a nice chat, then headed to the baths which was about 20 minutes away. 

I did only manage 22 lengths this time, well short of the previous count, but it was a lot busier session, and I did have someone to talk to.   I am back on the 1st of December, I think I will be on my own for that one, so hopefully get to 30 at least.

Cutting back on the sausages

Life Updates

Things are not too bad at the moment.  My dad was in hospital with gall bladder problems a few weeks ago, but had thankfully returned home. There were a few visits to hospital to keep him company in the evenings. He has since been back for day visits for an issue with his mouth swelling, but that also seems to be on the mend.

I have a family meal with my in-laws and my brother in law and his family booked for Saturday, I am a little worried about this, but not massively panicking.  It will be the first time meeting any of them as me, but at least it's only an afternoon, and there will be alcohol. 

Finally got around to updating my CV - a colleague who recently left seems to think her new business would be a good fit.  It took me some time to do, as it had been so long it was sat on a hard disk in a pile of hard discs in a dusty cupboard ! 

Work is not too bad at the moment, but I would still very much like to win the lottery. 

Medical Matters

I have finally updated my details with the doctor, this will result in a brand new NHS number. It seems the ladies in the office had to print off all my letters, redact my old name, and then scan them all back in again, so I actually feel a bit guilty. I might take them some chocolates. 

They have been really lovely, spoken to one in person, and the other on the phone a few times.

I also got the results of my latest blood test - it wasn't for hormones though, it was a normal health check one.  Unfortunately my cholesterol is a bit high, so I need to cut back on the fry ups, cheesy chips, sausages and such 😐 - there were no warning labels on the menu's , it's clearly not my fault. 

I also managed to wangle some more tests for my hormone levels, which I shall book shortly.

Peterborough Beer Festival - 22nd / 23rd August

I had a blood test first thing on the Thursday, but had tea and toast in a café in Barnsley before setting off on the drive - didn't feint which is a bonus ! 

There were a number of 1st timers that came along, Benni and Jo had never been before.  Alice , Cindy , Rebeka and Gemma were all back from last year.

There were lots of nice beers on, the weather was pretty good. The layout of everything was almost exactly the same as the previous year, with even the food stalls being in the same place. The loos were a bit closer, but didn't seem to be as many of them !  There were 20+ queues in the evening.

I didn't try anything too strong, as I didn't want to ruin the Friday, or be too hungover to drive back. Apparently there was a very strong peanut butter stout that did sound intriguing, but had run out. 

There were some really good bands on, almost worth going just to watch them, most covers. There was a really good punk band did a number of classics that got a lot of people dancing along. 

I had a lovely deep fried soft shell crab at the Thai place on the Thursday that was worth of note. We also had a fab breakfast in a café attached to the Theatre on the Saturday morning. 

Leeds International Beer Festival - 6th September

This was in the ruins of Kirkstall Abbey, it was very photogenic, but I didn't get that many photos :)

It was organised by the council, not Camra so was a lot more commercially focused, with each brewery or business had it's own stands and employee's, rather than barrels and volunteers. 

It did make it a much more slick looking event, with neons and logo's and such. But it came at a cost, it was £15 to get in, and all you got for that was a pint glass.  They also kicked you out between sessions, so you couldn't simply pay to get in on the afternoon, then stay for the evening.

I didn't do the evening, but some of my friends had done the night before, and the abbey was really nicely lit, it looked fantastic in the photo's.

I was there for about 4 hours, we got an Uber from the city centre. I had been helping my friend empty the remnants of the furniture of a house she was selling into a skip the night before, and on the Friday morning, so we had got in a bit later than normal.

We had some lovely Indian burgers shortly after arriving, then I was mainly on the ciders.  I did have a couple of strong stouts, as it would have been rude not to :)

After the bars were told to stop serving, I managed to flutter my eyelids at the guy running the cider stall, and he let me buy a half :) 

We got an Uber back after this, then checked into the hotel. Pizza was booked for 6:30 at 'Pizza Pilgrims' near the Marriot. I changed into my evening outfit before we went for food - a gothic look, but not particularly gothic makeup.

I had an American inspired one, that had sliced hotdog sausages and chips as a topping ! it was OK. There were 8 or 9 of us eating there, it was fun.

Leeds First Friday - 6th September 

We headed to the main meeting venue 'The Bridge End Social' straight after the food, and met up with other friends. It seemed quiet again, which was a shame - I had become used to it being quite busy, I
hope this is just a lull before the xmas season.

I ended up leading a number of us, first to 'The End' , then 'The Shed' , then 'The Smokestack' , skipping the Viaduct again.  I only had a couple of drinks the whole night, a Long Island Iced Tea in the End, and a flaming Zombie in the Shed.  I had consumed enough during the day. 

Didn't feel like I needed any cheesy chips, so skipped the call of Big Bites, and headed to bed shortly after 1pm.   It was a nice night, but nothing special realy.

I wasn't feeling too great in the morning, my digestive system was not happy with me - I blame the
flaming Zombie.  I didn't manage to eat much of my breakfast at Riveresque - I had gone with a veggy one this time.

My friend needed a lift back to the house we had been clearing fairly early, as there was a man with a van on the way to collect some mattresses, so we didn't hang about.

I spent the rest of the morning helping her with a few last bits and pieces, and took some boxes of things away with me to store for her - she is hoping to move up here again soon.

Swimming 

Sunday night I had swimming booked at Bramley, and a few LFF friends had also booked. So I actually knew a few people, which made it nicer.  We did still manage to do a few lengths in between chatting.  Although one of them is a much stronger swimmer and was literally twice as fast as me.

I was a fab ending to the weekend, and nice to get some exercise in, my foot is still not right from the walking over 2 months ago now ! 

I have booked another session on the 29th, and one on the 6th.

Heavy metal

 

General Updates

Have managed to get a new prescription from Gender GP, the changes to the their online systems were a bit concerning, as was an extra charge they had said they were adding to send it off to an online service (£5).  But I don't seem to have been charged it yet.

I have been on them for just over 6 months now, so this batch will take me to 9 months.

I spent a while last night filling in the GIC referral form for Nottingham. I am giving this to the doctor tommorow, in the hope it will get through his in tray a lot quicker. 

I have decided upon a tunic top, jeans, and my high heeled DM's for the visit, although I reserve the right to panic and change my mind at the last minute.

I will need to revert on my return, as I will be on a video call with 300+ people.

Adventures

Thursday - I was out around Wakefield with my friend Bennie, we had one drink at a pub near her house, then got an Uber into town and headed to the 'Sofra Turkish Grill'.

I had the 'Turkish Sausage' which was in a tomato sauce, followed by a 'Lamb Beyti' which seemed to be parcels of meat. Really enjoyed it, and my friend did too. 

We did a few pubs afterwards, Black Rock, Polka Hop and Luis bar, it was a pleasant evening.

In the morning we went to Gems café for a breakfast, then headed into Leeds.

Friday - Leeds

Pints and Straws was at 'Friends of Ham', 'Head of Steam (Mill hill)'  and 'Tapped'. We had a record
attendance, 16 I think in the end. I made sure to try and speak with a couple of newbies, but didn't get around everyone. We got a lovely review of it on TvChix.

It was quite amusing in that one of the newbies could only attend as they were on strike - they were a train driver :)  Quite a few girls had been unable to come due to train issues though.

For food I had a pizza at Tapped - ham and mushroom.

I wore a fab Phase 8 dress I had got from Vinted for the evening, it got a lot of compliments, and I was very pleased with how it looked on me.

In the evening we did :

• Bridge End Social 
• The Bridge Bar - where there was a 360 video service setup for us !
• The Viaduct
• The End
• Smokestack

I headed to bed at 1am ish, no cheesy chips this time. 

Saturday 

Met up with Bennie, Jen, Alex and Jade at the Bridge End Social for breakfast. I was nice, a bit too
much seasoning for me, but I will ask for less next time.

Had a nice chat with the other girls over drinks and the food.

Due to a fairly late start time, and quite a long cooking time we didn't actually finish breakfast until quite late, so it was soon time for us to head off.  Myself and Bennie had got a group on deal for axe throwing near Kirkstall at 1pm.

We got an Uber there which didn't take that long. The staff there were very friendly, once we had filled in the fairly long waiver we were shown to our lane and given a quick guide on how to throw.

I picked it up quite well, and we getting some decent scores pretty soon. It was not Bennies first time,
so I thought she would be beating me, but she had terrible luck with them not going in.  

We were there for an hour, I think we must have got about four games in - I had my new 360 camera recording for some of it, and I got some video which I have uploaded to YouTube.

When our session was over we walked to the brewery which according to my friend was only 5 minutes
away. 30 minutes later we arrived !  We had a few beers in there, and then got another Uber back into the city centre. 

After changing for the evening we went in search of food, and stumbled across 'Pizza Punks' where we had some nice Pizza.  Then onwards to Whitelocks, but we didn't like the look of it, as there was nowhere to sit. So we decided upon Northern Guitar.  

We watched some bands setup there while we enjoyed a drink, but the soundcheck was too much for my hearing, and we swiftly moved on before they actually began playing.

Banker Cat was the final pub of the day, and partly because it was nice in there and we got a seat, and partly because the heavens had opened we stayed in there for a couple. 

I was quite tired so was in bed before midnight again.

Sunday 

I should have tried to find something more healthy for breakfast, but we ended up at the
Weatherspoon's, and I had to try their cheap full English.  It was OK for the money, did feel a bit strange being in there so early with people drinking pints for breakfast though !

We didn't hang about long after breakfast, and set off for Wakefield. My friends train home was after lunch, so we went to a café for a drink to kill some time first.

I headed home after this. 

Did a bit of adulting in the afternoon, and then I headed out at 4:30 to another trans swimming session in Leeds. This was with a different group to the last time, and I was treated to an induction and a run through of their rules when I arrived. 

The other people were not as friendly as the previous group, and seemed to be mainly FTM. There was one person who seemed to have a few mobility issues, but enjoyed doing handstands under water. They got in the way a bit, and I had to swim around them a lot.

My friend Alex was there, but she was on a mission to swim her mile so we didn't talk. I managed 32 lengths at 22m each, so 704 meters, so 0.43 miles. I will try and get to the half mile this Sunday, which would be about 37 lengths.