Still no update on Carl, but no news is good news.
We had a Winter Craft Fair at work on Tuesday. I bought a necklace, a cranberry scented candle, and a few other small items. The best part was a conversation I had with one of the vendors. After asking me to smell one of her handmade soaps she asked "How tall are you?", I told her that I was 6" 1'. She was very petite, and we started talking about clothing sizes. She showed me her shoes -- size 1 1/2, so I showed her my boots -- size 13! I noticed she was really craning her neck to make eye contact so I got down on one knee, then we were eye-to eye. We kept talking for about 15 minutes, and eventually I mentioned my daughters. She said something about me being a mom, then I told her there was something I had to show her -- I pulled out my old driver's license. She couldn't believe it, and in the next few minutes I got four or five hugs from her! Encounters like this really make my day.
On Wednesday Susan told me about something she had been doing that made me smile. She had started writing letters to the publishers of magazines we subscribe to, asking them to change the name on the subscriptions. I had never asked her to do this, she was doing it because she knows how much pain my dead name causes. I'm not sure that I deserve someone like her.
Thursday was another visit to the lightsabre salon. They treated my upper and lower legs along with my stomach. My lower legs and stomach are nearly hair-free now, they plan to spot-treat those areas during future appointments. My upper legs are getting better, but it is still exceptionally painful in a few spots, much worse than upper lip or south pole electrolysis.
Today I received a letter from USAA. This was the third letter I had received regarding the title of my car. USAA had released the lien so I could register the car under my name, but now they are having trouble recording the lien because the name on the loan does not match the name on the title. I called them after the first letter, and sent my own letter in response to their second request. I was expecting something different this time, but sadly I was mistaken. The letter I sent them made no difference. The envelope contained exactly the same 'one and the same' affidavit as before, which requested me to sign using my dead name. I called USAA again.
After explaining my situation to the first representative she said there was nothing they could do. I had to either sign the document or refinance my loan, at more than double my current interest rate. I told her neither of those options worked for me, so I was transferred to another office. I told my story again and received the same options, so I provided the same response. One more transfer, but the third representative was the jackpot.
I explained the situation to 'Lily' and told her how much pain my dead name causes. She understood. It seems her daughter shares an apartment with a transgender man! Lily said that I am the first transgender person their office had encountered with an issue like this. She worked with me for over 30 minutes, and no solution was apparent. However, she agreed that I could not sign the document using my dead name since that was no longer my legal name! Score! She created a 'work item' explaining the situation, which will be reviewed by their legal folks so they can come up with a way to deal with this situation. Lily also noted that they should stop sending me letters and documents with my dead name. I told her that she had made my day, and I thanked her profusely. Lily even gave me her extension in case I needed to contact her again. I am hopeful this has put the issue on a path to resolution.
