Wednesday, September 18, 2013

An old acquaintance surfaces...



A couple of weeks ago, I spoke on the phone with an old acquaintance, who shares an affinity for the same "pastime" which I (and many of us who blog here) do.  Hadn't thought of him much lately...till his call.  A little history:

The time frame is a bit hazy - best estimate is nearly 3 years ago.  Both of us worked for different employers, but knew each other casually through our jobs.  We were at a work-related meeting in our facility, and our common interest came to light quite by accident.  He'd been to a Halloween party several days before, and was commenting to a few of us about it, in VERY, VERY bland and generic terms. Others missed (or ignored) his "hints," but my ears perked right up.  Subsequently, from his raised eyebrows at my own brief comment (to nobody in particular), that I had my very own sartorial style, the "light went on" for both of us.  

The meeting concluded at quitting time, and my acquaintance walked to my office with me, while I shut down my computer and put things away for the night.  Once we were alone, he asked if I was "wearing nail enhancements, women's shoes and a women's suit?"  How could I answer with anything but "yes" - he'd obviously noticed my shiny acrylic nails, and the fact that my suit coat buttoned the "wrong" way.  He told me that he noticed my skimmers when my pantleg moved up as we climbed the stairs, while I was leading the way!  

From my archives, here's a picture of how I was dressed that day (minus the lipstick and silver nails, of course): 

Very "suitable" for work...notice how invisible my skimmers were,  until that pant leg came up.

"Outing myself" to him opened the door for reciprocation. He began to reveal details about his dressing. He gave me some snapshots, in which he was well dressed, recognizable up close but looking very feminine.  We talked freely about our dressing, our clothes, and needless to say,  lingered for a while, gabbing like a couple of schoolgirls.

From that point on, we spoke by phone every couple months, and enjoyed lunch together in Washington, DC, whenever our schedules coincided - he in drab, and me in my progressively more androgynous clothes... 

Segue to the present:  It's been well over a year and a half since I retired, without a call from, or a lunch with, him, and he'd retreated into memory.   But, the other day, surprise!  He still had my number, was on the line from NC, and I was alone in the car (fortunately).  It was great to talk with him again after all this time...he'd gotten very busy with work, and apologized for falling way behind on his social obligations.  We brought each other up to date on our activities.

Since he's still too young to retire, he remains "in the closet" as far as his employer is concerned - a male-dominated occupation.  They aren't as liberal as they could be.  He still gets "out and about" several times each year, though his girlfriend is not particularly supportive.  If you've been following my blog, you already know my own situation...so I won't repeat myself here. 

Once I retired, unfortunately our lunches became much tougher to work out....though we've agreed to try to get together at some point "down the road," possibly even to dress.  Time will tell how much we can do...

Cheers,

Mandy

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

A Quickie - Skyrockets in flight.


Last Friday night, with clear skies, I set my alarm clock for 11 PM, to see if I could watch NASA's Lunar Space Explorer take off for a date with the moon, from Wallops Island, Virginia.  It was reportedly to be the first out-of-earth's-orbit launch from that site. While my residence is on the Delmarva Peninsula, it's more than 100 road miles from the launch site.


I have just enough clear view in the direction of Wallops Island, that I was able to see a few early minutes of the launch, but then the show moved behind some trees. As its trajectory changed, I could see glimpses through the tree branches, as the rocket roared off toward Bermuda.  This wasn't quite as exciting as the time I watched Space Shuttle Discovery take off from Cape Canaveral in person (you couldn't hear the roar last night) but it was definitely worth getting up for.  And, it was much more comfortable standing in the living room in my nightgown, than on the shoulder of some back road, along with gazillions of other dummies!  

There's a commercial launch coming up from Wallops Island on the 17th...weather permitting.  I'll get up for that as well, but get in the car and drive a few yards to a clearing, for (hopefully) a better view!   Maybe I can even get a picture from there...

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

"That's a lot of Bull" and other things...

Here are a couple quick shots from a trip to Utah in September of 2012...a massive bison, ambling along the highway in Yellowstone National Park...and one of a different bison, ambling through a parking lot at one of the thermal features.  Oh my, it was a fabulous trip!  'Tis not often possible to see this much wildlife up close without being in a zoo...

That's a lot of Bull!
  

This guy attracted a lot of attention from the folks in the bus! 

The past few weeks haven't been favorable for any female presentation, or even any substantial blogging. Maybe the "pink fog" has faded a bit?  Perhaps, but more likely it was that life's daily events (not connected with dressing or gender) simply made it more convenient to look like a casual androgyne every day:  capris or shorts, a sleeveless or sleeved top, flats or sandals, and a purse, with light, or no, makeup.  

We finally wore out  the old "daily driver" automobile...at 198,000 miles, the engine and transmission were running just fine, but it had developed too many other issues to attempt to repair.  So, new car shopping became a high priority. (I hate new car shopping with a passion - so we drive them till they stop.)  At least it was the right time of year for that...I just would have liked to watch it turn 200,000, but that wasn't meant to be.  And the issue is now solved.

My laid-up-for-repairs antique car has prevented any out-of-town trips.  And even posting here has suffered - but the latter is partly for a good reason:  my nails.  Some of them have grown out to 3/8" and the rest are at or over 5/16" beyond my fingertips, with many having an overall nail length of nearly an inch from the cuticles to the ends.  I love them, and my long talons feminize my hands.  But finally they've grown enough to make touch typing a challenge. You don't want to know how long typing this little blog - as carefully as possible -  is taking!

Administrative assistants who have long nails deserve complete respect for their appearance and abilities - typing, and even filing, is a challenge!  So, unless my nail tech decides to cut them at my Thursday fill appointment, I'll become intimately familiar with spell check and the delete key!  I can request she cut them, but since she's the professional and wants my hands to look pretty, she makes all the length decisions for me.  And I think I know what her decision will be - last time, she didn't shorten them at all.   I guess I'd better be prepared to learn the knack of accurate, fast typing with my feminine nails.  

What color do you think would look best???

But the decision she and the other techs want me to make, which I keep deferring, is a color for my nails.  I like the Pink & Whites, but they want to see me with something more noticeable, perhaps matching an outfit.  For now it's going to be status quo, but what do you think would eventually look nice?


They gently but noticeably click on each other as I move my fingers, and also on any hard surfaces I touch!  So feminine...

The bright side is that the lady in the nursing home who enjoys looking at my legs still compliments them every time she sees me in shorts and nylons with my flats. And lately, even when I'm in capri pants... 

Guess it never hurts that I stop and talk to her for a bit... 

Cheers,

Mandy