I'm half way through writing the next episode of Bike when I suddenly realise I hadn't heard the central heating/hot water boiler light up. It's old and noisy. On checking I find it isn't working. Up in the attic to make sure the header tank hasn't run dry - it hadn't. Looks like the boiler may have died of old age. After swearing at the cats because they wanted to see what was going on but know even less about boilers than I do - which is minuscule - I try the immersion heater, which I kept despite the assurances of the plumber I wouldn't need it.

As we roll on towards 2700 episodes I'd once again like to ask if the readers want me to continue writing this saga. I know some of you really enjoy it, I also appreciate it's become almost a fixture of BC and I get emails if I miss two in a row without stating why.

I presume Erin is happy for me to continue cluttering up her hard drives and I'd like to thank her for her continued support.

This 'sassy' actress seems to turn up on everything, but much of what she says I would agree with. I certainly don't think she needs facial feminisation surgery.

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jun/14/laverne-...

Sorry got a bit distracted tonight, hopefully normal service will be resumed tomorrow.

Angharad

A link to an event hosted by the Guardian, chaired by Paris Lees. There were one or two pearls of wisdom and i particularly liked the story on the train in New York with the Indian lady.

http://www.theguardian.com/membership/video/2015/jun/05/tran...

Sorry folks, I've been having connection problems for some time. It seems to have given up the ghost entirely tonight, so obviously I won't be posting tonight. I hope for better news tomorrow but I'm not holding my breath.

From the Guardian a story about how one parish convinced a diocese to put a proposal to the General Synod of the Church of England about renaming ceremonies for transgender Christians. While I'm unlikely to consider it as an unbeliever, I welcome what looks like the slightest movement of progress for those who do, and I wish Blackburn Diocese good luck with their motion.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/may/21/proposal-for-...

Another article from the Guardian about guns. Everyone, should by now, know how opposed I am to them but there are some interesting statistics, especially the increased risk of injury or death to women if guns are kept in the home.

For those interested: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/18/gun-violence-wa...

Please keep the responses civil.

A poorly understood condition in which sufferers dislike or feel something is wrong or ugly with their body and which can have serious consequences for individuals. It has at least one celebrity sufferer.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/may/09/body-dys...

This is a very interesting article, including a link to the full 79 page report about transgender women working in the sex industry in Shanghai and Beijing by a group called Asia Catalyst, which I found while poking about on the Guardian website. It appears that the Chinese generally are not very accepting of transgender people so treatment to transition and so on is not easily found, plus the establishment while not making it illegal is not very helpful either.

A link to the Daily Wail showing some graphic pictures of the brutal treatment of a transgender prisoner by Brazilian police, who have a reputation for being rather violent. Like all violence it seems pointless.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3054222/Images-trans...

We all remember the pictures of Mikki in her pink wig and PVC dress winning the UK Scrabble championships and wondering if it was just a joke or was she transgender. It seems she was the latter and she suffered abuse from the public in Carlisle where she lived.

It appears she was very unhappy and took her own life last November. I hope she is at peace now.

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/transgender-woman-kille...

A variety of distractions seem to have conspired to prevent me scribbling tonight, phone calls, puter problems - hopefully sorted but very time consuming. It seems the closer I get to retiring the more life throws at me and usually the more stressed I get. Oh well, tomorrow I hope will be more normal but at least I did get a bike ride this morning (on the bike shown below) and a toasted teacake.

Twice I've been distracted while writing by having friends phone who needed to talk, tonight was the second. I'm sorry but I've run out of time - a combination of working too many hours and being a good listener (when awake). I shall endeavour to get back into normal production over the weekend. I'm also hoping to get back on a bike as I haven't ridden for about a month.

Thanks for your patience, I hope it will be worth it.

I watched this programme which I thought was done in a positive way for the most part. I had a mixture of emotions about some of the contributors, fearing for some and knowing others had the best chance possible because their parents were 100% behind them.

If I have a criticism, it's that the whole transgender thing seems like a conveyor belt industry and I wonder how many rushing to get surgery or hormones will live to regret it. I hear all sorts of statistics and don't believe any of them.