Originally posted February 13, 2000 on Original BigCloset

"Sparky Is My Hero"
by Joyce E. Melton

February 13, 2000

Eric Bogle - The Band Played Waltzing Matilda - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG48Ftsr3OI

And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" is a song written by Scottish-born
Australian singer-songwriter Eric Bogle in 1971. The song describes war as futile
and ...

I've read some blogs on Bigcloset lately about selling your book on Amazon and Kindle. My question, does it actually work? As in does it actually make money? I'm not talking about a payment of 100-200USD once in a blue moon, I'm asking if it's enough for someone to live in conditions that can be described as middle class in a city like, say, Boston for half a year.

What are the pros and cons or special considerations for selling in such a place?

The Family Girl Blogs (aka "The New Working Girl Blogs") Blog #69: Fireworks! To see all of Bobbie's Family Girl Blogs, click on this link: http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/28818/family-girl-blogs

Lots of fireworks over here!

Happy New Year!

I understand that my body is changing. I did not ask for it to change, it is happening anyways. My testosterone levels have been dropping for about ten years now (I'll be 57 in 2 months) and that is normal. But since my wife died 7 years ago I have not slept well. I usually get 3-5 hrs of sleep, in the past few months it's more like 3-6 hrs. Rarely do I sleep more than 6 hrs. I recently investigated the causes of low testosterone in men and found that age 40+ the levels decrease, this is natural.

The Family Girl Blogs (aka "The New Working Girl Blogs") Blog #66: Sleepy Girl To see all of Bobbie's Family Girl Blogs, click on this link: http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/28818/family-girl-blogs

It's about one AM, Saturday here. Moe and I landed in Manila International an hour ago. We got through customs super-fast (compared to DC), and are staying in the passenger lounge until our ride arrives. Manny is extremely late. I called him and he explained that no one told him we were arriving tonight much less the time of our flight's arrival. Hmmm. Someone dropped the ball there. Will investigate on Monday.

Ah well. Manny said he's at least an hour away. That's okay - gives me time to post this.

The Family Girl Blogs (aka "The New Working Girl Blogs") Blog #64: Just going away for a couple of months. Peace! To see all of Bobbie's Family Girl Blogs, click on this link: http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/28818/family-girl-blogs

Hi, everyone. Will be away for a couple of months, so don't get mad, or worry if you don't see me logging on or posting for a bit. Peace! Sweetie and I are just taking some time off from everything, to recover from the loss of the baby. Just need some alone time. I'm sure you understand.

I saw this today and the information leaves me confused.

Cosmetic:

The Family Girl Blogs (aka "The New Working Girl Blogs") Blog #63: Happy 4th of July To see all of Bobbie's Family Girl Blogs, click on this link: http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/28818/family-girl-blogs

It's too bad that the 4th of July's just a regular workday around here, except at my office, of course - only essential people or on-duty call agents were required to report for work.

Unfortunately, per the office's operations guide, my position is considered "essential," hence I had to work today... darn...

But, nevertheless, A hearty Happy 4th of July to everyone! Enjoy the day, and keep safe!

And a special shoutout to our brave fighting men and women! This is your day as much as it is anyone's.

The Family Girl Blogs (aka "The New Working Girl Blogs") Blog #61: It's Too Obvious Now To see all of Bobbie's Family Girl Blogs, click on this link: http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/28818/family-girl-blogs

It was actually confirmed February 22, but Sweetie and I haven't been telling anyone. We weren't really keeping it a secret, but we would only tell people if they asked. So we've been able to keep it quiet for a while. Which was something we thought was important. I being a post-op TG girl wasn't the issue (as very, very few here know), but the fact that we were in a same-sex relationship was. Especially in a very conservative, predominantly-catholic country like the Philippines. (Guess that's the advantage of Washington DC - people are more blasé about such things back home.) And adding this to the mix will just make us doubly... controversial... So we though keeping this quiet was important.

But that's impossible now.

The Family Girl Blogs (aka "The New Working Girl Blogs") Blog #59: Identity Theft! To see all of Bobbie's Family Girl Blogs, click on this link: http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/28818/family-girl-blogs

A little while ago (June 5, 10:58pm eastern) I got an e-mail from Laika. From out of the blue, actually.

Her e-mail was a little funny - it didn't have a subject-title, it was also sent to four other people that I didn't know (who is DALENEK1 anyway), and the e-mail's content was just a hotlink to an ad about a raspberry diet supplement.

And a few minutes after that, my iPad started asking me to re-confirm/re-enter the passowords for my other e-mail profiles. Hmmm... that's funny. Anyway, I didn't, and nothing bad happened when I didn't re-enter the passwords... Hmmm...

I cannot therefore help but think that Laika and I were being spoofed.

The Family Girl Blogs (aka "The New Working Girl Blogs") Blog #57: It's Half Full! To see all of Bobbie's Family Girl Blogs, click on this link: http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/28818/family-girl-blogs

It is disheartening at times (lately it's almost all the time), to be reading tales of woe and hardship, of depression and sadness, here in my favorite site. I suppose our community has more than its share of hardship stories. More than other equivalent communities, I'm sure. I can understand that. I've been there, too, after all. But, even so, I wish there were more positive posts. Goodness knows I try to be positive in my blogs as often as I can, if just to provide a contrast to what is apparently the norm now here in the Blogs section of BCTS.

The Family Girl Blogs (aka "The New Working Girl Blogs") Blog #55: A Reminder On My Calendar To see all of Bobbie's Family Girl Blogs, click on this link: http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/28818/family-girl-blogs

I had a... drama-filled discussion with a BCTS friend about twelve hours ago via Yahoo Messenger. Seems those are the only kinds of discussions we've had lately. Anyway, she has finally given me a date for when she will be taking the first concrete step towards arresting the "steady decline" (her words) in her life.

The Family Girl Blogs (aka "The New Working Girl Blogs") Blog #53: A Summer Girl's Four Epiphanies To see all of Bobbie's Family Girl Blogs, click on this link: http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/28818/family-girl-blogs

Ma said during our last skype call a few days ago that it's forty-five degrees back home. Living in Manila for a while now, I am now more used to using Centigrade when measuring temperature, as opposed to Fahrenheit, and using kilometers instead of miles when measuring distance. So when she said forty-five degrees, I used my iPad and came up with 7.2 Centigrade. I told her it was 95 degrees here (which is 35 in centigrade-speak). It's so friggin' hot here! What I wouldn't give for a forty-five degree day.

The Family Girl Blogs (aka "The New Working Girl Blogs") Blog #52: A Simple Palm Sunday this year To see all of Bobbie's Family Girl Blogs, click on this link: http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/28818/family-girl-blogs

Since we are twelve hours ahead of everyoe back home, I decided to wait until now to post this.

That's so I can greet everyone, and say Happy Palm Sunday!

The Family Girl Blogs (aka "The New Working Girl Blogs") Blog #49: Sandy Come A-Knocking To see all of Bobbie's Family Girl Blogs, click on this link: http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/28818/family-girl-blogs

I am from DC, as many know, and I cannot help but be worried about the superstorm coming to hit the east coast. My ma and dad have buttoned down their house and are ready to ride out the hurricane.   Dad also secured my house in Maryland, so it's as safe as it can be. I hope all of you have prepared in like manner.

Moe and I are safe all the way here in Manila, but the reason I am posting this blog is so that we can wish all of our friends there in the east coast to be safe, and to weather the hurricane (pun intended) and come out on the other side safe n sound. Good luck, be safe, follow the warnings, and don't do anything stupid.

Why I Write What I Write...

The Family Girl Blogs (aka "The New Working Girl Blogs") Blog #46:  The Upside to Mental Problems, or At Least I'm Still a Size Zero To see all of Bobbie's Family Girl Blogs, click on this link: http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/28818/family-girl-blogs

I spent Friday evening and the whole day Saturday in the hospital for a checkup. Just a checkup, no big deal.   My therapist thought it a good idea for me to have the checkup, and I did.   And since the set of tests to be done was just a hop, skip and a jump from those required for a full-blown complete physical, I agreed to the extra tests, x-rays and whatnot and made it a full physical - at least the kind of tests that my company's insurance carrier requires for a "full physical."   That means I doan pay nuthin'!   :-)   It's all on the company's bill, and it satisfies the yearly checkup requirement.

The results came Monday (the hospital apparently doesn't process test results on weekends), and then the squad of doctors that my therapist required did their thing and interpreted the results and typed up their findings, and we got everything Tuesday, which we brought to my therapist for her further perusal.

Anyways, my less-than-perfect bod was mostly okay.

The Family Girl Blogs (aka "The New Working Girl Blogs") Blog #44: Flying Around To see all of Bobbie's Family Girl Blogs, click on this link: http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/28818/family-girl-blogs

To anyone who's read my random conglomerations of words here before, they probably know I've been shuttling back and forth on planes between work assignments for some time now.   Used to be there was novelty in flying. Now, its pretty much like going on a long trip in a bus.   And the airport inspections in DC? Grrr...  

Anyway, Moe n I are flying home tomorrow morning for our scheduled two weeks.   It'll be good to go home of course, but I all I can think about right now is the hassle of it all.   I've done this so often now, I sometimes think I can do this without the airplane anymore...