Saturday, March 31, 2007

Indianapolis



So I get word that a major customer in Indianapolis has a piece of our test equipment and it isn't working. The bad news is I am booked for the next couple of weeks, so what to do?! Major customer, wants me there ASAP, booked for two weeks. . . hmm . . . I know! Let's go to Indianapolis on the weekend! So, I get a free trip to Indy over the weekend, my customer gets rapid response, and my manager thinks I'm the hero - talk about a win/win!

Right before I go, I am introduced via email to Gina Sinclair by another Tgirl that is on one of the yahoo groups I am on, and Gina agrees to meet with me at the hotel in boy mode that Friday night when I arrive. If we hit it off, we will meet Saturday night and go out! Well, imagine my joy when I land at the airport . . . and my bags don't! I find this really amusing as I have just paid them $70 to ship my extra bag (yes, the one with my female clothes and makeup) and they have lost it. I have to admit though that I was not shocked as I had barely made one of my connections and it's no great act of brilliance to figure out how my bags might not have made it.

I go the US Airways counter and express my concern and am told that there is one more flight coming in that night at 8PM and my bags may be on it. Now I'm a reasonably nice and patient person, but this really hits my funny bone.
"Let me get this straight, you just charged me $70 to lose my bags, and you can't even guarantee that they will be on the next flight?"
"That's correct"
Go through all the usual paper work when your stuff is lost and then head for the hotel. At about 8:30PM I call the airlines baggage service and am told that not only were my bags NOT delivered, but they don't know where they are! Like I said, I can understand that they may not have been able to get my bags from the one plane to the other in the time they had, but to completely lose them is another matter entirely!
So I call Gina and tell her I'm going to be a little late, and off I head to KMart to buy some clothes and other things as it was all in my bags that were lost. The whole time, all I can think about is how the heck am I gonna do my job if I don't have any tools or parts? Get back to the hotel lounge literally just seconds before Gina. Gina walks in in boy mode, and we're both looking at each other and wondering if we have the right person! Don't recall which of us moved first, but eventually one of us started off with the "Are you . . .?" question and we sit down to talk.

It's just amazing how much we have in common and I really like her! I am filled with disappointment and anxiety that my stuff may not find me by tomorrow, and so I will be unable to go out with her. The Night draws to a close and I go to bed . . . to be awoken a little after 1AM by the airline telling me they have my bags and will deliver them. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Next Morning get to the customer to find out that they shut the AC down over the weekend and so we are working on the instrument in a lab that is over 100 degrees! My shirt is soaked and I'm handling electronics and probes with sweat pouring off my finger tips. The job turns out to be harder than I'd hoped, but I'm headed for the hotel at around 4 and looking forward to going out with Gina!

So I meet Gina at the hotel and we head to English Ivy's for dinner. While there, Gina sees Doc and Stephanie, a couple of friends of hers. They come over and we are all introduced - seem like nice folks and it turns out they will going out to Talbot Street tonight too. By the way, gay, straight, TG, what ever, I recommend English Ivy's for dinner. Good food, good and friendly service, and nice atmosphere.

Finnish dinner and head for Talbot Street, a local club that is very friendly to all. They have a wonderful drag show with Tgirls that were so pretty I felt fat, old, and ugly. :-( Not that it is all about competition, but there is no way 41 year old me is gonna be able to compete with 20-30 year old Tgirls that have breasts and have been on hormones their whole adult life. Had a great time with the group (Gina, Doc, Steph, and the others) and was SO happy that I had managed to meet up with folks that kept it from being a boring trip - thanks guys!

Almost forgot to mention that I went to the movies for the first time! This is typically real scary because it requires speaking to people. While I don't exactly have to speak with a deep bass voice, there is still little doubt that I am male when you hear my voice, so anything that requires speaking takes a lot of courage. :-( No one looked at me twice, or gave me any problems or attitude - it was awesome! So! Got a weekend in Indy on the company, customer is thrilled, my boss thinks I'm a hero, and I met new friends and had a great time. And I get PAID to do this??!! :-)

Saturday, March 10, 2007

My Second Makeover


So this day turned out to be a mixture of good and bad. . .



I had my second life time make over and was SO thrilled! The makeover was by Beth Boye, a person very well known in the TG community. She owns a local beauty salon called Salon Muse and often travels to TG conferences and the like.
Anyway, she brought out a short haired wig and said "let's try this!"
I've never really been big on short hair, but I nodded and said "OK" just to be polite, all the while thinking "yeah, yeah, let's get this out of the way and get back to the long pretty hair."
You just can't imagine the shock that I felt when I looked into the mirror and LOVED it!
Needless to say, the new hair went home with me. So now thanks to Beth, I had a new make over, new hair, and a new look that I adore!

OK, that was good part . . .


So I go out that night and have a pretty good time. Everyone is gushing over my new look and I myself am thrilled to death, but eventually the night draws to a close and its time to head for the hotel that I have rented so that I wont have far to drive with a few drinks in me. I had skipped dinner (sort of a guilt thing trying to get that girlish figure) and so I decide to stop at Whataburger for something to eat.
No exaggerating, there were only four cars in front of me and in 20 minutes they had not moved at all. If they couldnt service one customer in over 20 minutes, I could only imagine how long it was gonna take them to get to me. Eventually I decided that I'd had enough and attempted to leave by driving over the curb in my truck. This was when I found out that it was not a small curb, but a curb with a 1 foot drop on the other side. I discovered this the hard way when I found my truck high centered, rear wheels spinning, and four cars behind me with honking horns. I recall one person shouting something about "stupid red neck bi$%#!" and I of course kept my mouth shut as I had just clearly proven her point for her.
So there I am, truck high centered, rear wheel smoking when I tried to back up, and up walks the young man from the truck behind me. He asked which tire was spinning and I told him I didn't have the foggiest clue.
Of course at this point I had already tried to get my car loose with no success and was close to tears. He said "No problem" and started jumping up and down on my bumper telling me to try and back it up. This did not work. At that point I was a nervous wreck!
He said "No problem sweetheart" and went back to his truck where he got a tow strap, connected his truck and mine, and told me to try and back up with him. And oh yeah, "Don't hit my truck" he told me.
It took several tries, with screaming tires and white smoke everywhere, but he DID get my car loose.
I didn't know what to do. I wanted to hug him and tell him he was my hero, but I also knew that the more I interacted with him, the more likely it was that he was going to peg me and freak.
In the long run, I got to the window and told the clerk that I was buying breakfast for the two cars behind me. . .

Now think about this. While not drunk, I DID have a few drinks in me and I'd just blocked and halted a working business - all of this while cross dressed. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out I was only moments away from spending the night in jail if these guys hadn't helped me get the truck out. Talk about SCARED!