So that's what happened!
< eyes you suspiciously >


Hugs!

           Foaled    Fold

While growing up I was told that the pain in my side was just a symptom of laziness. It was not going to get me out of work. Occasionally, the pain would come and go,I would get told it was all in my head. I learned not to bother my parents about any pains. While in the military, the pain got severe, and I ended up in the hospital. I was later told that my appendix ruptured while I was on the operating table.
I'm trying to show that my feeling did not matter, that I was always wrong and my parents were always right.
When I burned my hand on a hot exhaust pipe on the combine, it was very painful. My mother set me straight, it was her and not me that got their hand burned. My mother told me she did not know who got their hand in the washing machine wringer, but it definitely was not me. I thought I had won a pair of roller skates in a raffle, It was painful to admit that it was my dad who had won the skates. The big problem was, he lied to his friends about winning the skates.
Since I have never been tested for Klinefelter Syndrome, I can not claim I have it. I would like to get tested for it, but I was told the test is too expensive.
Should I believe my therapist who told me that I loved being male because I masturbated, and therefore was not trans. This was back in the 1990s.
I see this all over the place.
Unless a doctor says so, you can not have ADHD.
Unless a doctor says so, you can not have autism.
I have no proof that I am intersex, so I can not clam to be intersex.
All this could be due to the fact that my mother put dresses on me until I was about 4 years old. In other words she raised me as a girl until that time. None of that would make me look like a girl, to get constantly misgendered as a female when I am trying to live as a male. To even get yelled at when entering the men's restroom. It may have started as a joke, if I look female, I might as well dress female. Finally clothes that fit properly. I have never had hormone therapy, and I pass as a female even without makeup. I don't even get a second glance entering the women's restroom. My genitals have been dysfunctional for decades. I decided I needed get tested, my testosterone level was low, but normal.(Whatever that means) No followup.
Michelle

I think we were all a little worried. So good to be back.

Hugs
Jessica xxx

Nice to be back after the weekend "break".

So this weekend, I had run out of money, not being paid until the end of the week. So it was a cheap stay at home. Eating out of the freezer instead of a restaurant. No fancy operas or classical concerts.

I was also in trouble for not mentioning the passport change but hay I was working on it. It's not easy to talk to K and tbh I getting fed up of not being able to live my life. I got the passport to get ID for security at work without outing myself beyond HR and security both very good to me but still very embarrassing.

Anyway, I spent the weekend renovating a 1961 Goldring Lenco GL75 turntable. I purchased it for £70 and gave it a good PM.

I replaced the tonearm (the weak point) and put in a lovely Linn ITOK spare (originally purchased 1986) and a AT33sa moving coil cartridge (spare).

The main part of the referb, however is I lovely hand built solid plinth that I acquired via a part exchange of an amp I was selling. The plinth is bare wood made of about 30 layers of high quality plywood.

I could have got it veneered, but left it naked with many layers of yacht varnish. It's now drying. I am hoping it will be dry enough to be able to rebuild it so to take the finished turntable to a group of friends on Sunday.

Still living out of the freezer 2 days to go

Hugs
Jessica xxx

Quote from: LoriDee on Today at 12:54:39 PMI love it!
Awesome choice.

Thanks Lori! I definitely had my Beyoncé moment - I posted one picture and then apparently I broke the internet around here for three days. 😂

Your not the only one dear!

Congratulations on finishing and meeting your goal! Glad to hear that your first half of the race went really well.

Looking forward to your longer trip report!

Hugs,

Heidemarie

I attended the Saturday event. There were several "vendors" from the DAV and the Black Hills VA Mental Health Department covering everything from filing disability claims to substance abuse, homelessness, and other new VA programs.

Attendance was rather lackluster, but that was attributed to people having difficulty getting through the gates. The event was held at Camp Rapid, the local National Guard base. The NG does not provide its own security. That is handled by a contractor. To begin with, people were being turned away if they did not have a military ID. By the time I arrived, things had been worked out and I was able to get in just showing my VA ID.

The vendors packed up and left at about 3:30 and the LGBTQ+ Listening Session began at 4:00. Tom Johnson, Public Affairs Director for the Black Hills VA Healthcare System gave us some insight into how the Black Hills system works a little bit differently than other VAs around the country.

Every VA has staff and providers who truly care about their veterans. The problems they all face are budgeting and policies dictated to them by Washington, DC., such as Gender Affirming Surgeries that are prohibited by regulation.

Since electrolysis is an ongoing issue that I am dealing with, my question was what can be done when a service is declared by everyone under the Sun as medically necessary, yet not a single VA clinic in the country provides that service. He said he would need to investigate that further, but promised to get me a response. I suggested several methods that the VA could use to offer electrolysis, but they do not fit into the way the VA currently operates. And we don't want to wait 8 years while they postpone services until such a system is in place.

A woman asked about secondary disabilities. She is disabled due to service-connected PTSD. That PTSD causes stress, which in turn is causing alopecia (hair loss). She asked if that too would be considered a service-connected issue and if she could then get hair transplantation as treatment. Mr. Johnson noted that the VA does cover hairpiece prosthetics for medically necessary therapies and transgender veterans are included. I suggested the VA do a cost comparison to see how much money they spend on wigs x the number of veterans receiving them over their lifetime, versus a single hair transplant, with possible follow-up treatments. It may save money by doing the transplants. He said he did not know the answer about whether a secondary disability would also be considered "service-connected" and that he would talk to the experts who make those decisions and get back to her with an answer.

Most of the other questions were very general about how to handle VA employees or contractors who are rude or abusive. Answer: Report them immediately to the Clinic Manager.

He stated that the VA is there to serve us who served. Technically, they work for us. If you have a problem with any of your providers, you can fire them. Talk to the Clinic/Hospital Manager and ask to be assigned to a different PACT Team. The reason our healthcare is broken down into teams is each team has a variety of specialties and they work together to provide the best care. PACT stands for "Patient Aligned Care Team" and they work for the patient.

Our one-hour session ran to two hours, but all agreed it was very beneficial and there are plans to do it again. It never hurts to get more feedback.

If such a session is happening near you, plan to attend.

"Decisions are made by those who show up."