13th of June , East Yorkshire Thoroughbred Car Club
I was off to Hull that weekend, and it turned out there was a free to attend classic car meet at northern car park of the Humber bridge.
Did need to register prior to turning up, which was a bit of a pain as it didn't like my primary email, so had to do it twice. I invited my friend Alice to come along too, as she is not that far away, and does invite me to some herself.
It was quite a hot day, so driving from mine to Hull wasn't that pleasant, but i made good time. I went to Charlotte's to pick her up, and also wait for her friend Danni who is also a classic car enthusiast - she has a pride flag on her car roof !!
We got to the car park fine, and Alice soon joined us, along with another lady who I have totally forgotten their name.
I was a really nice show, there were loads of cars, some nice food vans, and of course an ice-cream van. We had some food there, and looked at plent y of cars. It seemed like every Vauxhall Nova still in existence was there, several of us commented that we hadn't see so many since the 90's.
There were some friendly members of the GCCG (Gay Classic Car Group) that came and talked to us a bit - it's open to LGBTQ+ members, i had seen their stand at the NEC last year.
It didn't go on too long, and it was starting to look a bit sparse by 8pm, and we said our goodbyes.
14th of June, Spurn Point
Myself and Charlotte had been talking about doing Spurn for a while, it is somewhere we both likeexploring. I had tried to take my wife and kids a few years ago, but they were put off by the sand blowing across the exposed section of spit, and had turned around before anywhere near the main part of the point. I continued and had a lovely afternoon while they were bored at the visitor center ....
We drove there fairly early, and was parked up by about 10:45am. I had applied loads of sun cream - but it seems not everywhere !
I had only gone in a light dress, as it was expected to be hot that day, but some cloud cover and wind made it a bit cool for the first half an hour or so. It did eventually become quite warm later on. We walked down the seaward side of the beach, to start with. The aim was to get to the lighthouse - which serves cold drinks and ice cream and has benches - where we would eat our packed lunches.
The sand on the beach was a bit hard going so it took a bit longer than i had anticipated, but we still managed to get to the lighthouse just after midday.
We got some drinks from the friendly lighthouse attendant, and sat on the bench outside. We were very careful not to touch any furry caterpillars, as they can cause skin irritation and breathing difficulties !
After sandwiches, and crisps and such we headed back into the lighthouse to pay to ascend it. It's 128 ft high with 3 floors and the light area at the top. There were some displays and things of interest to look at on the way to the top, but being able to get into the top of it is the primary attraction. You get a fab view, almost 360, there is a small bit that is blanked off.
The steps to the top are very steep and they recommend you treat it like a ladder on the way down.
We stayed up there quite a while - there were not that many people on the point it seems that day. We did meet one chap who was ascending but there was room to pass on one of the walkways.
After this, we headed towards the end of the point, using the path down the middle as it was easier going. We did some investigation of things along the way, eventually getting to the abandoned RNLI accommodation and cafe area. We discovered that the loo's still existed and were operational - although one was a bit wet under foot. Met a nice lady in there who was very friendly to both of us.
We decided to try and get right to the end, so after a dead end due to a dangerous path that had been closed, we did make our way further on. We passed by the ruined gun emplacements, but didn't try and get in any. It seemed more closed off that my previous visit, lots of boards up.
I was using my 360 video camera for this bit so didn't get any photo's but we did get there.
We walked onto the beach, and then took a right to head down the inland side, but only for a bit as that side of the point is not so good for walking down. We eventually ended back at the RLNI station and used the main path to go back.
We did meet a lady who from a distance inquired something along the lines 'how far to the end ladies' , but then who seemed to be confused by us as she got closer. It was a bit odd, but not upsetting.
Popped back into the lighthouse for more water, as we had drunk our supplies and we were both quite hot by then !
I was quite tired, and the trek back for me seemed a lot more arduous than my leggy companion. But we still had enough energy to try and walk on all the bits of the road that had been washed away on the exposed part of the spit.
Was very glad to get into an air conditioned car for the drive back to Hull !!
14th of June, Beat the Clock Disco - Hull
Yes after a day of walking, we were off dancing !!
We had a pizza, some wine, a shower and got changed, then got a taxi to Princes Avenue, arriving at HOi for about 20:45
The disco was upstairs, but it doesn't really get going till later, so we had some drinks in the bar downstairs first. I had a baby Guinness, some actual Guinness and then discovered they did my favorite flat cider brand 'Seacider' - i think it was Bakewell Tart flavor - it's gorgeous.
We headed upstairs about 10pm, and I got some seats. Gemma, Emily and possibly Danni were expected to come along later, but they were attending a comedy show 1st so we were not sure when they were due.
We did a fair bit of dancing, even with tired legs - it was pretty good music. They do 60's 70's and 80's but try and steer clear of all the 'best of' type hits that get overplayed. It's all on original vinyl too.
The others did eventually turn up, but were not there that long. We we thinking about heading off just after midnight, so i booked an uber for us, and we waited downstairs in the bar for it to arrive.
It was a fab night, i really like that event and venue, and excellent company too of course 🤣
'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
One of my friends had noticed I had not blogged for ages and got in touch using other means !
This has spurred me to sit down and mash the keys 😊
So current state of play, I am not too happy at work at the moment, so the weekdays are a bit of a low point. Weekends are not so bad, I usually have things to distract me.
Got blood tests on Friday morning, I am keen to see what my levels are, I am possibly expecting my Oestrogen to be too high now that I am on testosterone blockers. We shall see !
I do think i've had a bit of a boob-spurt too, seem to be less finger room in the bra's - not a scientific method, but a method at least :)
Adventures !!!!
It's been a fun filled month since my last post.
Wales was the high point, it was a 'Womens Drivers Social Club' meet, we were all mostly in classic or at least old cars. Camping for four nights at 'Bryn Ffanigl Ganol Caravan and Camping Park'
I was taking my friend Charlotte, she had not been to the group before, or been camping in many years, or done long distances in Josephine, so it was a bit more of an unknown for her !
Wales Day 1
We had planned to leave on the Friday morning, stopping off for lunch in Chester, then on- wards for a quick detour to see her father who lives near Chester. It seemed rude not to pop in since we were so close.
The journey over the Pennines was very good, we had nice weather and although we had gone a fairly non-motorway route using Woodhead pass we made good time.
On arrival in Chester we had a lovely lunch in a nice cafe - had originally looked at the posh food places in the market, but they were too fancy for my simple tastes. How hard is it to do a jacket potato !!!
Spent an hour or so with her father and partner, consumed some nice fruit tea, then on-wards towards the campsite. I think we arrived at 5ish , the traffic was pretty bad with it being rush hour on Friday.
After getting the keys from the nice site manager we drove up a steep hill to the end of the site where the non-electric pitches were.
Then came the fun of putting up the tent - a brand new one never been out of the bag. It was a 'bell tent' design with a long central pole that facilitates standing in the centre of the tent - at least if you are a heffalump like me, Charlotte is taller 😆
It only took us about 30 minutes, which I thought was good considering we were researching knots, and trying to figure things out as we went.
My friend to her horror did discover that the toilet block had loud piped music blaring, which was a bit of a downer. We assumed it was to stop people sleeping in them ! - we had decided to use the disabled as per my previous po st. It was at least very modern and clean.
I had brought cooking equipment and a selection of easy to cook food, so we did that next - I think it was a pasta and sausage affair.
After unpacking the car and getting the airbeds blown up we were not feeling particularly energized and had a quiet night. Some of the other ladies did have a bit of huddle and socialized for a bit, but figured we would get chance the next few nights to do that.
We didn't sleep too well, although it had been a sunny day, there was no cloud cover and it got rather cold ! The sleeping bags we had brought were sadly lacking, way too thin. The pillows were bad too - so we vowed to go shopping for some additional warmth the next day.
Wales Day 2 - Anglesey
Breakfast was consumed, with hot beverages - I had to boil a saucepan of water as my tiny kettle was not sufficient. Charlotte had brought some biscuits she had made, and also jam. I had not had chance to buy eggs on the way, but they were a nice alternative.
The plan for the day was a group drive to a motor museum in Anglesey , were we would stay for most of the day, then a scenic drive back to the campsite.
I spent some time getting my 360 camera attached to the back of the car, then we sort of formed a formation to get going. The instructions were a little vague, but i was meant to be following a white beetle, so I did that :)
The drive was fun, lots of tunnels which do sound good when you go through them, although we were keeping to a steady pace so nobody got left behind.
We arrived at the museum at 11:30ish , and managed to mostly park together.
The museum was fab, lovely staff and cafe, and plenty of exhibits. I won't bore with all the photo's I took, there was a lot to see. We had lunch first, then wandered around with some of the other ladies, and spent a good few hours there.
We decided to forgo the scenic drive back, and go our separate way as we needed to find better sleeping equipment. So we headed off before the rest. First to a farm shop to buy eggs for my standard breakfast :) - also got some real apple juice and some Welsh bread, i I forget the name.
Then we set the sat nav for Dunelm ! figured this would have bedding, our aim was a duvet to go over the top of us and provide more insulation.
We got that, and also some pillows and some throws to put over us while sat out on an evening, then headed back to the site. We were the 1st to arrive by some time, some of the other girls had mechanical issues and a puncture, and had been helping each other out to get back !
Wasn't much we could do, so we had some food - there was meant to be a communal cook later on, but we were hungry and wasn't sure if there would be a delay so we did some rice and sausage.
The others did eventually get back - aside from one car which took a long while to get fixed ! Food was cooked, and we ended up sat around with everyone in a big circle.
We had a few beverages with the food, and spent a while chatting with everyone, it was really nice. The throws were not that warm though, and as it got colder we did decide to head off to the tent - we were not the 1st though. I think if i do camping again in May I need an oodie !
Wales Day 3 - Llandudno
This would be a day where no driving of Josephine was required. There was a big transport event in Llandudno - which has terrible car parking. So the plan was to take everyone to a nearby train station in as few cars as possible. Then we would get the train in, spend the day there, then train back etc.
We ended up in Tashe's mum's Mazda 2 :) which had been borrowed for the day.
After the short drive, and short train journey we ended up in the town centre, and were given instructions on where to meet later. There was a vintage bus ride around the Great Orme, and we had to be at the transport festival to meet the other ladies for that.
There were lots of things we could do during the day, but I had always fancied going up the Greate Orme on the tram, and Charlotte is a fan of these too, so we decided to go get some lunch, and then ascend the headland !
I found us a vegan cafe that did intresting food, and we had our fill, and a beverage. Then we walked along the front - there were some supercars doing a bit of a show along the front so stopped and watched these for a while.
Upon arriving at the tram station, it was clear there would be a bit of a wait. I think we ended up waiting about 30 minutes. The ride up was fun, you have to stop half way and change, which broke it up a bit.
At the top, the cafe was a bit disappointing, and it was very windy, so wasn't feeling too great about the plan - but we stumbled on a food van doing really nice food and drinks in a very out of the way location - and also two other members of the group using it !
We sat on a bench and had a nice natter with them, it was out of the wind too, so very pleasant.
After this I decided i didn't want to queue for ages at the top tram station, so we walked downhill , past the mines to the intermediate station. This meant we were nearly at the front of the queue when the next tram was coming up !
We trundled down on that, and then made our way back into town. My gas had run out, so we nipped into an outdoor shop to get some more bottles too.
Then along the front all the way to the vintage transport showground. We paid to get in, found some more food - pulled pork sandwiches ! then met up with the other ladies.
After this, we did some waiting for the vintage coach that was to take us around the town, and then around the Great Orme. It didn't seem like we waited that long.
The coach was fab, it had air ducts, which were very pleasing, it had been a hot day.
The trip around town, and around the Great Orme was really fun, we were all in a group at the back of the bus. We were very near the front of the convoy of vehicles and we could see it stretching miles behind us.
By the time we got back into town, we actually crossed paths with the tail of the convey which hadn't even made it to the Orme yet !
We got off in the town, and did spend a while watching the tail of other vehicles go past, which was fun. Then we headed into a nearby large pub to get some food until it was time to get to the train station and head back to the campsite.
The food wasn't bad, and had a few ciders. The train back was good, and we got a lift back in the same car. Unexpected conversations about octopus bum holes were had 😂
There was a gathering when we got back, but it was dark and cold and we just ended up saying goodnight fairly early.
Wales Day 4 - Home time
The others were going to the zoo - I hadn't bothered booking this part of the weekend, as I wasn't that fussed about trailing around while worrying about getting home.
So we were going to head back to Yorkshire via Chester and have a little explore and find somewhere nice to eat instead.
We ended up at a pub near the river 'The Boathouse & Riverside Rooms'. We arrived shortly before they were doing food, which was very good, as it got busy very quickly and we were able to get our orders in first :)
After a really nice meal, we did some walking along the river, and along the walls, and a nearby park to help settle the food. The walls were fun, we only managed a short section of them.
Soon we were back on the road heading mostly the same way as we had come. Traffic wasn't too bad and we made good time !
Then the adventure was at an end - well for me, Charlotte had to drive home to Hull !
It was a really good weekend , and I am glad it went so well. Had been looking forward to it for months.
Well I didn't see any of the last few weeks events coming, so it's been a bit of kick in the guts.
I am alternating between feeling numb, angry and scared really. I am trying to avoid the news, it just gets worse every time I see something new.
I am aware that no laws have changed about which loo's I can use, but the media has been effective
at spreading the lies, and I am in no doubt that a good percentage of
the populous now believe it to be true.
I must be feeling a bit like disabled people do when they need to go out somewhere, got to know where all the accessible toilets are going to be in advance. Emailing places to check on access etc. Certainly feel more trapped and restricted.
I can't say I will never use the gents, but it would need to be the absolute last resort. I don't really want to risk being confronted in the ladies either. So if there are no gender neutral facilities, it will have to be the disabled.
Radar keys can be acquired from a neurodiversity shop in Hull apparently. I have had friends get them off Amazon only to find they didn't work. But a friend has vouched for these ones.
Transition Status
No immediate change to my plan at the moment, but if things are going to get significantly worse then the pipe dream of emigrating may require some genuine thought, and reservation of funds.
I am going to progress with the laser hair removal down there, I hadn't planned on contacting the surgeon till much later in the year anyway.
I've had my medical interview with Pride In Health this week - it went well, and she seemed pleased with my progress.
It was an hour long call, but for some reason the calendar had messed up at her end and she was 10 minutes late. We spent about 45 minutes in the end, which was good as I had a work call 5 minutes after it ended.
We covered my dosage history, what effects physically and emotionally I had experienced, and what effects I was still hoping to see. She was happy with my last blood test results, but needs to see a full health check with Liver Function Tests to see how my liver is coping with the blockers before she will prescribe.
I have 6 months of everything left at the moment, so it seems no rush at the moment.
Not had my letter from her yet with a summary of everything we spoke about, but should get it by the end of the week.
Social Activities :
I did go out at the weekend, and I did still have a good time, but the
issues were at the back of my mind, and I should have been more happy
than I was. It did help to be out though.
Riding Lesson
My friend Charlotte had suggest that I might like to try riding a horse ! she was planning to go on the Friday afternoon, and had offered to pay for me to try it too.
I do like to try new things, so was quite excited. I had taken Josephine over too, partly as a bit of a shakedown drive before my wales trip in early May, and also to make sure she and Charlotte got on , as she is joining me on that trip and has never been in her. There is very little passenger seat adjustment, and she is quite tall.
So I drove her to a pub for some food to achieve that aim. We ordered a fish goujon sandwich, which sounded light, but was basically a massive piece of fish in bread. I didn't finish it all ! - as it was before some of the more recent press garbage I still felt OK to risk the loos, nobody said anything.
After returning to hers, and swapping to her vehicle we headed to the yard in Beverly.
I got equipped with a helmet, and asked to fill in a disclaimer form, with emergency contact details etc ! I have a small head apparently, and there was disbelief I was in my 40's - she thought I was a lot younger.
I had to wait for my steed 'Gordon' to return to the yard, he had been out in public with a young lady on a bit of a ride and hadn't returned yet. They wanted to give me one that was size appropriate, and also very well behaved given I had not ridden before.
Gordon seemed nice, the young instructor led him into the riding area, and I had to walk up some box steps so I could mount him.
She taught me how to do the basics, start , stop left and right turns. I got to do some maneuvering, they have letters on the fences around the area, so she would tell me to A for example, then to B.
We did try some faster riding, where I had to try and stand on the stirrups - that wasn't so much fun for me, I think I should have untucked !
Anyway I was told I did really well, and that she didn't really need to be helping me - at least with just going around at walking pace.
I would like to try again some time, but I would prefer to go with my friend, and it's in Hull so may not be something I do often.
Beat the Clock - Vinyl disco
Sally, Rebeka and a few of Charlotte's friends were meant to be coming, but her friends sadly pulled out, so it was just the four of us.
Sally, Charlotte and myself went to a Pizza restaurant first, then met Rebeka in a bar afterwards.
The disco was in a room above it later on in the evening, it's a semi regular retro vinyl disco, playing obscure music from the 60's 70's and 80's - it was nice, but I had hoped for a few more popular ones.
There were no loo issues, the cubicles were all self contained with sinks and dryer off a central corridor and were not gendered.
We did some dancing, and drank some refreshing beverages - I had a lot less than the others though, as was being good.
I think we left after midnight some time.
Hornsea
I had decided to stay an extra day since the weather was nice, and I had Josephine on hand, I suggested we go to the seaside to get some nice air.
Had a nice pootle out there, and a bit of a wander around town for a bit. I bought a warmer coat from a charity shop as it was quite bracing near the beach. We had a light bite at a little cafe near the Boat Launch , then proceeded south down the beach to look for fossils and such.
I should really have taken a hammer from the car, but forgot they had them down there. It was a pleasant walk, there was a paraglider taking advantage of the sea breeze to fly up and down over the edge of the cliff.
On our return we headed back into the centre and grabbed a drink at a cool gaming cafe, then we went to a deli and grabbed some traditional saveloys which we planned to have with pasta for tea.
Then we headed back. The saveloys were really nice, we had with spaghetti and a spicy tomato sauce.
Headed home the next day, Josephine seemed happy, which was nice :)
Well I've finally got myself a formal diagnosis - It was part of the signup process for Pride in Health a new service I have signed up for :
As per today’s assessment, Miss Isobel <Redacted> fulfils the criteria and holds a diagnosis of gender incongruence according to the ICD-11 classification HA60 ‘Gender incongruence of adolescence or adulthood':
“Gender incongruence in adolescence or adulthood is characterised by a marked and persistent incongruence between an individual's experienced gender and the assigned sex, which often leads to a desire to 'transition' to live and be accepted as a person of the experienced gender through hormonal treatment, surgery or other health care services to make the individual's body align, as much as desired and to the extent possible, with the experienced gender”.
Gender incongruence is associated with clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning, as highlighted in Miss Isobel <Redacted>’s gender history. She wishes to affirm her gender identity through hormone replacement therapy.
I had previously been 'assessed' by GenderGP, but I didn't get a four page PDF signed by a Psychologist at the end of it.
So there you go, I wasn't just going through a phase for the past few years 😂
Other medical matters :
The blockersseem to be doing something, I won't go into detail but I definitely am less testosterone driven. This is good !
I am not taking the dose I am meant to be on, as it seemed excessive compared to my friends. So I am mirroring them. I will be reviewing my dosages with Pride in Health when I am fully onboard - one more interview to go with that.
In preparation for the possibility of surgeries downstairs, I have been consulting with those that have already been there and had that done. I have concluded that Tina Rashid seems to be my preferred option. She is UK based, and in the London area. I have not approached them for anything yet.
I have also started hair removal down there - which I have not been looking forward to, but it seems is recommended before you get assessed. Had my first session last week, it was a bit awkward, but the lady is very professional and my dignity was mostly maintained. I didn't realise but the package also included rear removal ! I am sort of glad as I would have worried more.
Anyway there was very little pain, compared to the top lip anything else you get done is a walk in the park really. I got 6 sessions for the price of 5, £550 in total - https://www.laserluxxe.co.uk/
I went to the doctors to ask for blood tests at the start of the month, he was super friendly which was nice - he wasn't my usual doctor and i am sure he was a bit grumpy with me the last time i saw him maybe 7 years ago. But anyway he was fine to give me the tests.
Not sure if he will be forced to stop doing them in the though, I hear that dear old Wes Streeting has been telling the NHS not to do them for kids, and he's likely angling for the adults too. What a lovely chap.
Social life
I've been to LFF of course, Indian Street food was had at Bundobust followed by an afternoon of drinking in the bars. In the evening we ended up at Behind Closed Doors again, an underground bar with a seedy theme, but not a place where seedy things happen.
They did a cocktail where they clip a condom to your glass, we had a few of them - which reminds me I really ought to throw them away, my wife might get the wrong idea if she looked in my handbag right now 😂 - I think it was called Kitten Mittens.
We finished the night sharing cheesy chips with sauce on, which was nice.
The next day myself Sally and Benni were out in Wakefield. Unfortunately I wasn't feeling up to another heavy night, but we had a nice time. I left about 10 ish - was meant to be staying over in Wakefield but just needed my own bed.
I've made it to the last two Chameleons which is good. I did leave a bit early last Thursday, as I had the day off the next day and I needed to get my car finished. So it gave me an earlier night to get a good sleep.
Met a newbie last time who seemed lovely, hoping they will come again although it seems their work might get in the way.
I am going to Hull for a disco night next Friday, and I have swimming again today - went last weekend too. So I am doing well with the mingling (as normal I guess).
Josephine
Many many hours have been spent removing, rebuilding, re-installing the gearbox. Then it didn't sound good, so I had to do it all again 😢
Anyway attempt two seems to have gone well , fingers crossed. She is back on the road, and seemingly ready for my camping adventure in Wales in May with the Women's Drivers Social Group !!
Proof of this is below, I drove my wife into Wakefield to pick up her car that was having an MOT :
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 !
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.
