Takin' Care of Business and Workin' Overtime!

Well, not really. I am retired so sincerely, I work more than I did.

Recently, I wrote an informational post on the the blog about what's called monetization or Google running ads. For example from Connie:  "Hey, I keep putting in my two cents worth, and I get nothing in return!!!! :-)

I believe the ads are geared toward the individual user, are they not? Mine, today, are for "4 signs of heart trouble", "Senior Cruises", and one for REI. So, someone (or some thing) knows I'm old (still two years younger than you until tomorrow :)."

OLD Picture

The ads are indeed tailored and I get some crazy ones, recently plugging trips to Florida and on line degrees. (They must read the blog?) 


"Do you really get haters and trolls?"

Yes, I do get trolls and haters occasionally, just not much lately. My all time classic was when someone called me "just another old guy on hormones." :)

Since I don't get nearly the daily hits I used to on the blog, I think I'm less visible. When I started it years ago, there were fewer blogs. Now everyone and their "Mama" has one.

"Just Fab!"

I casually follow a fashion site/blog called Just Fab which "indirectly" carries my style of clothes. I love the "Bohemia" fringe colorful looks.

Frankly, I can't wear or afford most, but it's fun to "window shop."

Actually too, a long maxi skirt and tank top give me a nice slimming line I am always looking for.

So, I'm comfortable, and feeling attractive at the same time. I am approximately 5'11" too, so I am not terribly tall. 

Check it out! 

Takin Care of Business

I have had several friends I see on a regular basis tell me they can't make a comment on the blog and what's up with the advertisements?

It is my understanding,you have to become a member of the blog to make a comment.(no charge) The spot to do it is on the right hand side about 2/3's of the way down.(Almost clear to the bottom.) The only right I have is to censure any haters or trolls.

Now, the ad's...Google pretty much has total say on which ad's you will see. Sometimes they are worthwhile for you sometimes not. An example was the ad I had today from some obscure university I had never heard of. Perhaps they have read my writing?

Why have ad's at all? Bluntly, like Connie, I need the cash and while I know you can make some sort of respectful return on the time you put into a blog, I haven't seen it yet. Easily, I put an hour a day into JJ's for a very small return.

How is the return figured you ask? Good question. Say you like "Joe Blow's Burger Rama" and an ad shows up on the blog and you you check out the ad, I get an itty bitty kick back.

The ad for the book is a good deal, I get a nice kick back from that, while Frock Magazine is an exchange.

So, if you have paid attention, every once in a while, I position the ads in a different place to create more much needed revenue from a community which is notoriously broke.

Then there are those who fund their blogs through a Paypal account (donation). I have always felt bad about that. It seems to put more pressure on something I started doing for fun.

So there you you go, I hope some of this info helps!!!!! 

Transgender Working World

Connie wrote in via the cyrstih@yahoo.com email account about her experiences in Seattle where she works with an Hispanic crew and a boss who considers her an abomination. 

Her leg is swelling from blood clots again and she desperately needs the money so my thoughts go out to her. In her words :I'm working along this job and have an interesting story; not the nature of the work, but the nature of the people on the job. 

My job is to maintain large hanging flower baskets in some of the business districts around town - mostly watering - in the early morning hours. Last week, I was involved in the installation of the new summer baskets.

The foreman is a Latino, which means nothing to me except that he obviously is engrossed enough in his culture that I am an abomination to him. Still, he's at least "tolerant" of my existence there; tolerant to a point. It's his pronoun usage when talking about and to me that is the problem. It's always "he,his,or Amigo not Amiga."

I made one subtle remark about it to him, but he either refuses to give me the proper respect or he didn't get the message. So, after a week of this, I brought the subject up with the owner. He was not comprehending what I was telling him at all, and couldn't understand why his foreman would be using male pronouns when  he didn't do so with, or to, other women. Ha! I had to tell my boss that I was a transgender woman, because for all the time he's known me he has thought that I was a cis woman!!! (with a rather low voice, he said)

The whole thing is not worth a battle to me, as this is just a temporary seasonal job I've taken, while this guy has been working there for fifteen years. I believe that I would even have legal grounds for making a stink about this, but I'm more interested in searching out avenues of positive energy. I know that there are those who think I'm giving in here, but I prefer to see the positivity in the fact the owner is happy to have me be a face for his business, working and dealing with the people in the districts he serves. Besides, who wouldn't be pleased to be able to work independently without a foreman looking over her back all the time. Also, if he mis-genders me to someone, he's only going to be confusing them. I win all the way around!

Feel free to use any or all of this. I just think it's an amusing twist of sorts on the "transgenders in the workplace" issues that are usually reported."

First of all Connie, I wish you good health! And second of all what an inspiring story. I had a difficult time lifting it from yahoo over to here for some reason, hope everyone got the meaning!

From India

"In a highly unusual move, a designer in the southern Indian state of Kerala has launched her new collection of saris, featuring two transgender models, writes the BBC's Geeta Pandey in Delhi.

Sharmila Nair's collection is called Mazhavil - or, the rainbow - and it's "dedicated to transgender people because globally they are represented by rainbow flags".

In India, where transgender people are looked down upon by the larger society and are considered as the in-between people who are to be ridiculed and shunned, Ms Nair's choice of models is attracting a lot of attention."

The models - Maya Menon and Gowri Savitri - have no previous experience in modelling and Ms Nair says she found them through Queerala, an organisation that works with the LGBT (lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgender) people in Kerala.

"I was thinking about how I was going to showcase this collection of handloom saris and I saw a Facebook post about the state government's new policy to better the lives of transgender people.

"I thought since the government was doing so much for the LGBT people, I should also do something," Ms Nair told the BBC on phone from Cochin."

Follow the link for more.

Strut!

Comedian and actress Whoopi Goldberg will serve as executive producer on an upcoming show called Strut.

Strut will follow the day-to-day lives of a group of trans fashion models.

Focusing on Slay Model Management, the show will tell the story of the world’s first exclusively transgender modelling agency, People reports.

“This show is important right now, because for all of the positive advances the community has made and continues to make, transgender is still a hot-button word that gets people hysterical,” Goldberg in a statement.

“People tend to focus on the stereotype instead of the person,” she added.

“This series will give viewers a unique opportunity to spend time with real people who are struggling with the same challenges we all face as we make our way through the world.

“You may even be surprised to discover that you have been seeing and interacting with transgender men and women in ways you didn’t even realiSe!”

Strut will premiere later this year on the Oxygen network.

Muse-ings

Just a couple more Ideas I ran across recently.

Our CBS affiliate here in Cincinnati last Sunday, ran a segment on a gender-less society. The basic premise was, all the transgender bathroom ruckus will be a thing of the past as more and more millennials just don't see the problem, and it's true.

I call them dinosaurs. The radicals running through Target screaming with a bible all the way down to the "average Joe" on the street. Many have gray hair and are fighting the losing battle against much of corporate America who realizes the impact of LGBT spending. Plus consider this:
Companies are beginning to approve insurance coverage for genital reassignment surgery and I read the average cis woman today is equal in size to the average cis man in the 1960's.

I don't know how long it took for the dinosaurs to go extinct and I am sure ours today will never go away completely, but you can sure feel the winds of change.

Plus, I read we should be on the outlook for a Democratic party resurgence on the local and state levels soon. If you know what a "Log Cabin Republican" is, there is also middle point between both parties. Check them out on the link.


Finally, if you really want to help the cause this year, get registered to vote and check what the candidates stand for on the "social level".

You Are Not the Boss of Me

Yesterday was my once monthly trip to my therapist. Interestingly enough, we talk rarely concerning me being transgender and lean more into my bi-polar and other life issues.

Somehow, my Mom keeps being brought up in the conversations. She was guilty of pushing too hard. If I got three A's and a B-what was up with that B type person. By osmosis (or a broom) I carry that attitude too and have to ignore it. Examples:

If I have what I think is the sharpest new outfit I have ever owned, well...

Back in the day, if I bought a new wig and thought it looked great, well...it did for a month.

Don't get me wrong, Mom has been gone for a long time and I wish I could talk to her now about all that has happened to me, but I am afraid I would have to quote Tom Selleck  in his Jesse Stone role:

"You can fire me, but you can't tell me what to do."

I would put that on my tombstone if I was going to have one!

Also in many ways, the quote describes the emerging transgender community.

JJ's SUNDAY EDITION

KER PLUNK! Another Sunday Edition is hitting your virtual front porch! First the weather:
We are seeing sunshine and mild temps for the first time in a while today, a welcome change!
Excellent for a iced cup o Joe (coffee) or tea. Let's get started:

Page One: The Week that Was or Wasn't: As the battle rages on over the bigoted stupid transgender rest room laws, my email was jammed packed every morning with news of at least 25 or 30 different municipalities, school districts and of course states debating the issue with mixed results. The whole affair is at once so tragic and tedious because once we are out, we are out and it's refreshing to note the big corporations agree. Plus, as more and more people come to know a transgender person, they will find how they were swindled by the simplistic false idea of a "man in the woman's room" hate mongering.

Last week we also wrote about the Veterans Administration withholding coverage for any sort of plastic/surgery/genital realignment surgeries, which as you think about it, is not a huge surprise...for trans vets.



Page Two: Yesterday's Coffee: Opinion: Last night, Liz and I got together with a group of friends and one dear one asked me about my take on the transgender restroom situation and which restroom do I use. I said, the women's and have for years. She asked if I had any negative feedback and I said yes, but not for a while. "Back in the day" I had two or three run in's with police who were called on me to no avail and realistically, I face much more danger if I used a restroom which corresponded to my birth gender. She is an ally and agree with me totally the whole mess was an unneeded deal. We need more like her and others which mean so much to me from the same circle of friends!

Page Three: The Back Page: Hey kids, it's time to go and try out some of this new weather (sun) with Liz and the dogs. Thanks for being part of JJ's and remember, I love you!!!

JJ