As 2014 draws to an end, my thoughts turn to the new year, but also and perhaps more so, to the old year we’re just leaving. What have I achieved? What has changed in my life? All these things are important if I am to consider what changes to make for the new year. Or else, how am I to progress, time would repeat itself. (more…)
Category: Transition
Your Plastic Pal Who’s Fun To Be With†

There’s one thing that really defines post-operative life, it’s dilation. It’s uncomfortable, messy and way too frequent. It’s the first thing you think of in the morning, the last thing you think of at night and well, most of your day revolves around it for at least the first few months. For me, it’s been a couple of weeks since the operation, and a week since dilation began. I have plenty more time for this. So if you’re likely to be squicked out by biological descriptions, then I’d advise not reading further. It may be NSFW too, depending on what I decide to include. (more…)
Celebratory Post-Op Feast
Week one of my release. It’s Friday and I thought a feast was in order. Nothing too expensive but tasty… And so I decided on tuna. We got a couple of thick juicy steaks, an Italian style salad and some chips (that’s French fried potato to the yanks, not crisps) and while Louise kindly cooked the fish for about 4 minutes, I opened a bottle of Prosecco.
We followed this with mince pies (not allowed by law in England at Christmas) and some apple wood smoked cheddar. There’s some Sauvignon Blanc to finish off… Yum!
Recovery’s a bitch
Just so you know, I’m bored. It’s not so much that I have nothing to do, but that I can’t really do any of it. It’s uncomfortable even to sit in a chair for very long (though thick cushions help), so I end up back on my bed which is suboptimal. (more…)
The Great Adventure – Part 9 (Epilogue: V+8)
It’s good to be home, that’s for sure! Though life is still unsettled for the moment. They finally let me out about 2 o’clock yesterday afternoon, and Louise brought me home on the underground, and then bought me pizza for lunch, my first in more than a week… (more…)
The Great Adventure – Part 8 (V+5)
A two day update then, since I didn’t write yesterday. I had a much better night Thursday night, and so was bouncy as I could be on Friday. This was even better since I had a lot of visitors.
The Great Adventure – Part 7 (V+3)
Just a quick update from my phone this morning, and potentially TMI or NSFW for some people. So more after the cut (sic)
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The Great Adventure – Part 6
I am up! Surprising a thing as this is to say, I’ve been committed to bed for 48 hours after surgery, and now I am up and about. I just did a walk down to the other end of the ward and back, which is apparently no mean feat after such a short time.
The Great Adventure – Part 5
Tuesday night. I’m listening to an audiobook recording of Pratchett and Baxter’s The Long Earth. I’ve just had the last of the canullas removed from my hand. I came out of surgery about lunchtime yesterday and since then, been spending time between sleeping and suffering with a headache.
The Great Adventure – Part 4
It’s 9:30 on Sunday night, and I’ve been here for five and a half hours. To say I am nervous would be an understatement. Louise left about 6, and food arrived about 35 minutes later. Since then, I’ve been mostly on my own.
Everything is better with bacon


The cool down sucks. Last evening I didn’t know what to do with myself. I was met in the hospital by Emma Rome and Louise Newberry, and we went to the local pub for a beer and some food. After a quite tasty meal, we headed off home, with Louise accompanying me. (more…)
The Great Adventure – Part 3 (V minus 30 mins)
Due to circumstances beyond our control, suspected to be due to complications in an earlier use of the facility, the mission has been scrubbed at V minus 30 minutes. The next launch window is on two weeks time on December 1st.
This report will continue at that time. For now all systems have been returned to a holding facility in East London.