It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Puppy
Dec. 27th, 2020 05:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lupestripeIt was always going to be a strange Christmas due to COVID-19, but there have been advantages too. It was fortunate that I had already decided not to see my parents this year, particularly when flights to and from the UK were banned last weekend due to the new strain of coronavirus. They understood my position, although it was quite sad that I was the only person not around the dinner table. As my mother and father are in their own support bubble, the rest of the family could meet up within the rules. Being here, meant I couldn't. However, I did manage to speak to all of them on Christmas Day, either during my lengthy walk (my father was on the phone for nearly two hours) or in between cooking the Christmas Dinner. Indeed, Wolfie and I did this together and was a real bonding experience. Our relationship has stuttered a little of late, largely due to the stress of moving combined with us now working in separate rooms. It was therefore good to spend some time together, dedicated to a common purpose. Listening to Christmas tunes while cooking the goose - a German tradition - while drinking wine was a real highlight of the year. We had a nice bottle of white at first, which cost around €4.80, before hitting the red I had bought for €1.83. This tasted every bit as you would expect for such a low price, and we resolved to buy higher priced products going forward.
I spoke to my brother and sister through the haze of wine at around 6pm, phoning my mother after dinner and my uncle and aunt deeper into the evening. I was quite shocked to hear my uncle say I was brave to move to Germany in the middle of a pandemic. Objectively, this may be true, but I felt I had little choice due to the Brexit deadline. The last few weeks have been tumultous enough on this front, but at least a deal has been agreed, even if it's deeply inimicial for the UK and favours the EU considerably. Still, a deal does preserve the Withdrawal Agreement and makes things like getting medical insurance here significantly easier, so it's welcome on my behalf. Looking from the outside at the UK just highlights how much of a clusterfuck the place is right now, with COVID hospital admissions at an all-time high and a trade deal that will create huge amounts of friction at the border. I am not happy that we have seven days to study and implement its contents from a business point of view - not least because three of those days were Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Eve - and the sheer level of disdain shown by the Government on British businesses is quite extraordinary. I think we should be okay, and it is reassuring to read my fellow directors can represent the company at EU-based trade shows in the new year without getting a visa, but there is just more bureaucracy to deal with. Anyway, maybe I was brave to leave, maybe it was stupid. It was certainly odd hearing praise from my family, a rare commodity in all honesty, but I always felt I didn't really have a choice and I had to get on with it.
Boxing Day was a similar day to Christmas Day really, on account of the fact that Wolfie and I again cooked a huge roast dinner. His culinary skills on Friday were exemplary with the bread sauce he had made, making the best of the fact that we had no herbs or onions with which to create a gravy, while my idea of adding a bit of cheese definitely went down well. On Saturday, we had Irish steak, again with roast potatoes and broccoli. This was after we had decided to crack open the gin and tonic, with Wolfie playing ambient jazz Christmas songs making our front room seem like the lobby of a Marriott hotel. Indeed, he even turned on the TV to display a log fire crackling, to really ramp up the ambience. With peanuts on hand too, it all had quite a colonial feel. We had steak on Boxing Day, as opposed to goose, and we have now vowed to do something similar every Sunday going forward. Wolfie's parents may even post over a baking tin for Yorkshire Puddings, such things not being found here.
Last night was our fifth Brew Crew tasting session and was our most popular let. Yokiro joined us from Vermont, and Mooie was there from Gothenburg avec a Taliban-style beard. There was Blujay in Hamburg, Evi and Nanomium from the Netherlands (visiting their parents in Germany) along with Patter, Stray, Vuples, Wolfie and myself. As usual, it was a great mix of conversation and beer comparision, lasting about five hours in total. It was great catching up with everyone, with this being the first one we had done from Germany, and again we hope to make it a regularly monthly thing in 2021.
After the Brew Crew tasting, which Stray kindly hosted on Zoom, we ended up back in Discord for the usual Saturday evening Jackbox games. Note, one of our Berlin friends, was there again as was one of Stray's mates from Max's channel, who it was great to see again. The format was a little different to usual as there was 2-3 minutes of interrogation on the Fibbage About You game, much in the style of Would I Lie To You? This added a fun angle to things. More people were on video call than there would usually be, and things took their usual dark turn as the night progressed. We were up to 5am in the end, as we had been the night before when Stray had streamed the Muppets Christmas Carol followed by Rammstein's Paris gig. Listening to a French crowd singing German lyrics picqued my sense of European loyality and both that night and last night I had a sense of genuinely liking myself for the first time in a long while. I was quite drunk at this point and after the show, once everyone had logged off, I spent a good hour just listening to my own music and singing along. Hopefully I didn't wake the upstairs neighbours up, but I did try and keep it down. Unsurprisingly, both yesterday and today have been spent under the faint hum of a hangover.
Christmas Eve saw us spend the evening with Gothi and her rock/metal set, which was sadly cancelled on Christmas Day due to her tiredness. However, the Christmas Eve event more than made up for it, and it was great just to vegetate after what had been a very hard week at work. Trying to cram 25 hours of work into four days, not five, on top of other projects had really taken its toll so it was good just to be able to relax. I played Animal Crossing for quite a while as I had to catch up with six weeks' worth of updates, with my Switch having failed to connect to the wifi since mid-November. It was also Toy Day too, so I had a lot of things to do. I must admit I kept procrastinating Stray's thing as I was so comfortable, meaning I joined the Muppets Christmas Carol about two-thirds of the way into it, but I have seen the movie so often that wasn't an issue.
I was also in my new fem gear, having bought another pair of silicon breasts and five dresses during the Black Friday sales. I certainly feel more comfortable in female clothing and think I look a lot more attractive wearing it. Certainly if I can shift this beer gut, I'd definitely feel a lot better about myself. I am certainly genderfluid, maybe full trans, but I am not 100% sure on the latter part. This is something I am going to keep exploring though and Eddie Izzard's recent revelation on her own pronouns has certainly given me confidence to explore this side of me. I've certainly always felt more female than male, pretty much for as long as I can remember. Even at school, I always had more empathy with and my closest friends were girls. Losing the belly would certainly aid me as it's one physiological aspect that defines my maleness. I'm hoping 2021 will be the year I can do this and to work out whether I am indeed female. Right now, genderfluid is right though as I do swing across the spectrum, probably identifying myself as female around 70% of the time. I am getting more confident in expressing my femininity though, posting pictures on Twitter in my new dresses. The support I am receiving from furs has been humbling, highlighting just how accepting this community is.
Our Christmas presents were quite scarce this year due to the move, but Adia had kindly wrapped up a box of 160 Yorkshire Teabags, which is like liquid brown gold here. It's very much appreciated. My father also sent us a shoebox full of goodies that included M&S chocolates, Christmas cake, garlic crackers, Walkers Thai Sweet Chili Sensations and a Koala Stressball. It was great to get a few little tastes from home as I am missing certain things, particularly baked products (crumpets, bagels and crackers), sharp cheeses and decent craft beer/real ale. I can get some of these here, but not quite to the quality I would like. My father even gave Wolfie a few presents too, knowing he doesn't really get many (although his parents did send him a huge Warhammer boxset with which he is currently fettling). Meanwhile, earlier in the week, my mother was quite shocked they don't have an M&S in Germany. Considering she's quite knowledgeable, although admittedly not overly well-travelled these days, I was quite surprised she thought this.
The rest of the week has been quite busy, on account of trying to squeeze five days of work into four. The medical insurance is held up slightly but I am hoping to resolve this tomorrow, while they want me to post off my driving license so they can send me a German one - this means I need to work out how to do recorded delivery. While out today, I got stung €5.49 in ATM charges for withdrawing a €20 note, meaning I'll only ever do so from cash machines attached to banks. There was no warning on the charge, it just went straight on my Revolut. I was not happy.
The only other thing that happened this week was Stray's live streaming of an Electric Six live show that took place out of Detroit on Tuesday evening. This started at midnight, and so was quite late, and there were latency issues in the middle of the show meaning the middle few songs were all stuttery. However, the start and the end of the gig was incredibly good and its Christmas theme definitely put me in the mood for the Holidays. Furthermore, it was quite an eclectic show too, with guest contributions every three songs or so, some of which were completely batshit. Definitely a fun event and great live music, making me realise just how much I miss going to gigs. We'll likely be streaming more concerts tonight, as we usually do on a Sunday, with tonight being our takeaway night instead of yesterday. We have opted for pizza this time, not having had a takeaway pizza for over a month.
I spoke to my brother and sister through the haze of wine at around 6pm, phoning my mother after dinner and my uncle and aunt deeper into the evening. I was quite shocked to hear my uncle say I was brave to move to Germany in the middle of a pandemic. Objectively, this may be true, but I felt I had little choice due to the Brexit deadline. The last few weeks have been tumultous enough on this front, but at least a deal has been agreed, even if it's deeply inimicial for the UK and favours the EU considerably. Still, a deal does preserve the Withdrawal Agreement and makes things like getting medical insurance here significantly easier, so it's welcome on my behalf. Looking from the outside at the UK just highlights how much of a clusterfuck the place is right now, with COVID hospital admissions at an all-time high and a trade deal that will create huge amounts of friction at the border. I am not happy that we have seven days to study and implement its contents from a business point of view - not least because three of those days were Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Eve - and the sheer level of disdain shown by the Government on British businesses is quite extraordinary. I think we should be okay, and it is reassuring to read my fellow directors can represent the company at EU-based trade shows in the new year without getting a visa, but there is just more bureaucracy to deal with. Anyway, maybe I was brave to leave, maybe it was stupid. It was certainly odd hearing praise from my family, a rare commodity in all honesty, but I always felt I didn't really have a choice and I had to get on with it.
Boxing Day was a similar day to Christmas Day really, on account of the fact that Wolfie and I again cooked a huge roast dinner. His culinary skills on Friday were exemplary with the bread sauce he had made, making the best of the fact that we had no herbs or onions with which to create a gravy, while my idea of adding a bit of cheese definitely went down well. On Saturday, we had Irish steak, again with roast potatoes and broccoli. This was after we had decided to crack open the gin and tonic, with Wolfie playing ambient jazz Christmas songs making our front room seem like the lobby of a Marriott hotel. Indeed, he even turned on the TV to display a log fire crackling, to really ramp up the ambience. With peanuts on hand too, it all had quite a colonial feel. We had steak on Boxing Day, as opposed to goose, and we have now vowed to do something similar every Sunday going forward. Wolfie's parents may even post over a baking tin for Yorkshire Puddings, such things not being found here.
Last night was our fifth Brew Crew tasting session and was our most popular let. Yokiro joined us from Vermont, and Mooie was there from Gothenburg avec a Taliban-style beard. There was Blujay in Hamburg, Evi and Nanomium from the Netherlands (visiting their parents in Germany) along with Patter, Stray, Vuples, Wolfie and myself. As usual, it was a great mix of conversation and beer comparision, lasting about five hours in total. It was great catching up with everyone, with this being the first one we had done from Germany, and again we hope to make it a regularly monthly thing in 2021.
After the Brew Crew tasting, which Stray kindly hosted on Zoom, we ended up back in Discord for the usual Saturday evening Jackbox games. Note, one of our Berlin friends, was there again as was one of Stray's mates from Max's channel, who it was great to see again. The format was a little different to usual as there was 2-3 minutes of interrogation on the Fibbage About You game, much in the style of Would I Lie To You? This added a fun angle to things. More people were on video call than there would usually be, and things took their usual dark turn as the night progressed. We were up to 5am in the end, as we had been the night before when Stray had streamed the Muppets Christmas Carol followed by Rammstein's Paris gig. Listening to a French crowd singing German lyrics picqued my sense of European loyality and both that night and last night I had a sense of genuinely liking myself for the first time in a long while. I was quite drunk at this point and after the show, once everyone had logged off, I spent a good hour just listening to my own music and singing along. Hopefully I didn't wake the upstairs neighbours up, but I did try and keep it down. Unsurprisingly, both yesterday and today have been spent under the faint hum of a hangover.
Christmas Eve saw us spend the evening with Gothi and her rock/metal set, which was sadly cancelled on Christmas Day due to her tiredness. However, the Christmas Eve event more than made up for it, and it was great just to vegetate after what had been a very hard week at work. Trying to cram 25 hours of work into four days, not five, on top of other projects had really taken its toll so it was good just to be able to relax. I played Animal Crossing for quite a while as I had to catch up with six weeks' worth of updates, with my Switch having failed to connect to the wifi since mid-November. It was also Toy Day too, so I had a lot of things to do. I must admit I kept procrastinating Stray's thing as I was so comfortable, meaning I joined the Muppets Christmas Carol about two-thirds of the way into it, but I have seen the movie so often that wasn't an issue.
I was also in my new fem gear, having bought another pair of silicon breasts and five dresses during the Black Friday sales. I certainly feel more comfortable in female clothing and think I look a lot more attractive wearing it. Certainly if I can shift this beer gut, I'd definitely feel a lot better about myself. I am certainly genderfluid, maybe full trans, but I am not 100% sure on the latter part. This is something I am going to keep exploring though and Eddie Izzard's recent revelation on her own pronouns has certainly given me confidence to explore this side of me. I've certainly always felt more female than male, pretty much for as long as I can remember. Even at school, I always had more empathy with and my closest friends were girls. Losing the belly would certainly aid me as it's one physiological aspect that defines my maleness. I'm hoping 2021 will be the year I can do this and to work out whether I am indeed female. Right now, genderfluid is right though as I do swing across the spectrum, probably identifying myself as female around 70% of the time. I am getting more confident in expressing my femininity though, posting pictures on Twitter in my new dresses. The support I am receiving from furs has been humbling, highlighting just how accepting this community is.
Our Christmas presents were quite scarce this year due to the move, but Adia had kindly wrapped up a box of 160 Yorkshire Teabags, which is like liquid brown gold here. It's very much appreciated. My father also sent us a shoebox full of goodies that included M&S chocolates, Christmas cake, garlic crackers, Walkers Thai Sweet Chili Sensations and a Koala Stressball. It was great to get a few little tastes from home as I am missing certain things, particularly baked products (crumpets, bagels and crackers), sharp cheeses and decent craft beer/real ale. I can get some of these here, but not quite to the quality I would like. My father even gave Wolfie a few presents too, knowing he doesn't really get many (although his parents did send him a huge Warhammer boxset with which he is currently fettling). Meanwhile, earlier in the week, my mother was quite shocked they don't have an M&S in Germany. Considering she's quite knowledgeable, although admittedly not overly well-travelled these days, I was quite surprised she thought this.
The rest of the week has been quite busy, on account of trying to squeeze five days of work into four. The medical insurance is held up slightly but I am hoping to resolve this tomorrow, while they want me to post off my driving license so they can send me a German one - this means I need to work out how to do recorded delivery. While out today, I got stung €5.49 in ATM charges for withdrawing a €20 note, meaning I'll only ever do so from cash machines attached to banks. There was no warning on the charge, it just went straight on my Revolut. I was not happy.
The only other thing that happened this week was Stray's live streaming of an Electric Six live show that took place out of Detroit on Tuesday evening. This started at midnight, and so was quite late, and there were latency issues in the middle of the show meaning the middle few songs were all stuttery. However, the start and the end of the gig was incredibly good and its Christmas theme definitely put me in the mood for the Holidays. Furthermore, it was quite an eclectic show too, with guest contributions every three songs or so, some of which were completely batshit. Definitely a fun event and great live music, making me realise just how much I miss going to gigs. We'll likely be streaming more concerts tonight, as we usually do on a Sunday, with tonight being our takeaway night instead of yesterday. We have opted for pizza this time, not having had a takeaway pizza for over a month.
