tenth rebirthday

I had my little tenth rebirthday celebration, i.e. a Zoom party for the tenth anniversary of when I started as a woman. Goths and Burners and queers, oh my! And even a few people from grad school and Microsoft. It was lovely chatting with everyone and drinking snobby alcohol. And, of course, showing off my outfit.

Shallow fashion details: the Midnight Baroque Scrolls ensemble from Gallery Serpentine. If you scroll down far enough, there's a photo of yours truly modeling it in front of her apartment.

So how am I doing ten years out? Pretty well, even better than pretty well, except for the absence of any Ms. Right. My job, my relations with family both blood and chosen, my living situation, and my circumflatulation activities are all, as NASA might say, nominal.

I have to say that ten years ago I didn't really wonder what my life would be like today. Beginning to live as a woman was such a hugely positive experience for me that it crowded the past and future out of my mind. The last ten years have been the best of my life, and even if things really go to hell for me, nothing can take them away from me.

catalytic converter stolen

This all started as the Wendling was leaving the Devil Girl Pad as usual around noon on Wednesday. He said the car was vibrating (?!) so against his parents' wishes, he took mass transit back to his mother's. He thought it was because the car was nearly out of gas, which is patent nonsense.

When I started the car this morning, I realized that something was seriously wrong with the car: it was much louder, and I could smell exhaust. One of my neighbors, duly masked, heard the noise and came out to tell me that my catalytic converter had probably been stolen. We looked under the car, but we didn't see anything obviously broken or missing.

So, I made an appointment at Toyota of Seattle for ASAP and made the harrowing drive over a bridge and through a tunnel. (Punch line: there was something wrong with a railroad crossing signal, blinking but open. Someone from BNSF came out in a pickup and turned it off.)

Said the service tech:

1. "Thousands" of Priuses have had their catalytic converters stolen recently.
2. Because of the recent rash of thefts, the part is back ordered. It'll take a while.
3. It'll also take $3K-$4K. Oy.
4. However, insurance may cover it.
5. There are shields that you can by to prevent this kind of thing.
6. The thieves aren't selling the catalytic converters as parts; they're going after the platinum inside. Therefore, spikes in the price of platinum drive spikes in catalytic converter thefts.

Poo emoji. Well, at least this all happened just days after I drove the car for beautification two weekends in a row.