Coming out at work

OK, maybe a second coming-out is more appropriate. I work for 2
companies as the IT person and at the one they know Heather because I
worked with many of these people at my previous job. The second company
I was definitely not out to until today. The office manager and another
female employee are all in the same office as my desk. She has been
stating that she doesn't feel comfortable being herself around me
because she is afraid she'll scare me off and I have replied with the
fact that I seriously doubt that. I told them that one of these days
I'll go into more detail but for now, no worries, I can take it. Well,
today she says to me "So, when are we going to hear some stories?" Well,
I took the hint and asked how she felt about alternative lifestyles.
Their reply was that it wasn't an issue for them, so I showed them a
picture of Heather. The comments were along the lines of "you don't look
bad", "Nice legs", " Where'd you get the boobs", etc. All in all it was
a good day. The office manager even asked if I'd come in as Heather to
the office. I told her I didn't think it was a good idea unless the
owner and other employees agreed, so we'll see if she asks again. It's
good to be accepted.. :)

Its raining!

Well, it was a long day, the motorcycle is on the trailer behind the
Jeep, the valuables are still loaded & ready to go, but we're still
home. The wind has died down again now that the cold front has blown
through. Its raining which should help some with the fire. We can
actually open the windows for a bit to air the place out. I'm beat, it
was a long day. Hopefully tomorrow I can unload all the stuff and get
life back to normal.

Still here....

We're still home. The street to the end of the block got the evac order about 2 hours ago.

Still here

Well, the fire jumped rt 72 last night and burned brighton at barnegat
and the campground out there. This is less than 10 miles from home. At
this stage they have the fire less than 10% contained so I am working
from home today. I spent part of the night watching (and taking pictures
of) the glow from the fire on the horizon. This morning the sky i grey
with smoke and i can definitely smell smoke in the air.

fire watch

Well, we're more or less in the path of what is definitely a huge forest
fire. The smoke has died down considerably in the last few hours but we
have had watch planes circling over the area now for a while. We're
prepared to go if we have to, the cat carriers are out and the really
valuable (and non-replaceable) stuff is sitting in a pile in the living
room. Hopefully we'll be putting it all away in the morning. More later....

a must read article

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18618970/site/newsweek/

extremely well written.

Southern NJ support group update

This morning Kimm and I met with the Friends of Galloway (the Quakers).
The meeting went real well and we stayed for their worship service
(which was interesting in its own right). I'm glad we stayed because
afterwards we got to talk with many of the members of the church (its a
small congregation) and the feeling that I got is that we (the
transgendered community) are welcomed by all of them. Several said that
thy were looking forward to seeing us again, so I'm taking that as a
positive thing. The nature of our support group was openly discussed by
everyone who we talked to and I brought a few tasteful pics along to
debunk the drag queen image that many have of our community. I am pretty
certain that we now have a home.

I'll post more once I have more information, but pass the word along to
any that you know in or near the southern NJ area. This support group is
coming closer to a first meeting!

Support group happenings

Well, there hasn't been a whole lot to blog about lately. Today we are
meeting with the church to see if we can get some space for the support
group. I'm hoping that they will say yes to it so that I can finally get
this thing off the ground. Wish me luck!

Some girls just know their hardware....

Well, today I went to Home Depot as Heather. I dressed in my typical
stretch jeans, pink "vegas girl" top and white flat sandals, nothing out
of the ordinary. I was looking at some hinges for a project and a couple
of guys were next to me looking at door stops. They couldn't figure out
which one was the one they needed, but I knew from hearing them talk. I
just reached over & tapped on the bin where the one they wanted was and
the one guy commented "Wow, you really know your hardware." I just
looked at him and smiled and then went on my merry way. Neither of them
figured me out, and neither did any of the other 100 or so people that
saw me that day. I guess it pays to know your hardware.. LOL

And people wonder why we are loathed by society.....

http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.app.com%2Fapps%2Fpbcs.dll%2Farticle%3FAID%3D%2F20070504%2FNEWS%2F70504021%2F1001%2Frss

A small update

Well, not much has been happening of interest lately. I've been getting the chance to work from home as Heather so this is a good thing. I got a call back from the Transgender Project and it looks as if I was chosen to participate in the followups. It should be interesting to see what results are gotten from the study. I bought a bathing suit so I can do another swimsuit shoot this spring. I might even venture out onto the beach one day just to see if I can do it.