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Emma’s dilEMMA
Those of you that know me well know that I am not a person who wrestles with problems. I prefer to look at a situation and then just make a decision and get on with it. For better or worse, this has generally served me very well over the years.
It will surprise many reading this that in my other life I am an engineer in a very niche part of the construction industry. Over the years I have added and added skills to my resume that many in my field thought dull, unnecessary, and pointless. I have frequently done work in my field because nobody else has wanted to and most of the time it has been to my advantage and I have been quiet about it (another shock for you all no doubt).
Recently, through a bizarre set of circumstances, I have had quite the dilemma. Somehow he is now the flavour-of-the-month and everyone wants him. Those dull and pointless bits of paper he has accumulated, and the hands on stuff he has done, have, through the miracle of synchronicity (no, not The Police album although it is very good), resulted in him being THE only one left standing suitably qualified to do particular things and now it has tremendous currency. He has been offered 3 positions: one in Sydney, one in Melbourne, and one in Hobart. Each gig is attractive in its own way and the offers are about on par.
I confess that a lot of my thoughts regarding an inevitable move from Adelaide, where my 9 siblings and I have lived since 1967 after my dad retired from the Navy, have centred on my TG life. It is really important to me and I value my friendships across the entire country, not just the girls I knock around with here whom I love to bits and will miss desperately. If I go to Sydney I have a built in, rock solid TG social life waiting for me running around with Fay, and Caroline, and Adrian, and Shana etc. etc. If I go to Melbourne it would be exactly the same as I have another great group of gal pals there that I have made over the years – is there a more vibrant TG social scene in the country than Melbourne? I doubt it. Hobart, where I am originally from, is a different kettle of fish: it is a TG wasteland…more akin to you feeling like an extra in Gorky Park. I go to Tasmania once a year, every year, to see my very large and colourful extended relatives and have always left Emma at home as I (1) usually stay at a rellies place and (2) could see no palpable evidence that there is any ‘scene’ there whatsoever so there was no point. There is one ‘gay’ nightspot called Flamingos which is only open on the weekend and it is no Taxi Club. Progressively over the last few years there have been quite a number of gay operated café’s and bars open up as Hobart has become ‘hipster heaven’ but by and large not much happens on the frock-and-heels scene. I am ‘email friends’ with about half a dozen trannies down there who are all deeply closeted and I had a coffee with another tgirl when I was there in September but we were both in drab.
So I picked Hobart.
What could possibly go wrong? The way I see it is this: I know, like everyone knows, that there would be a pile of trannies dug in in suburban Hobart just looking for a spark. A stack of them I would never get out into the real world but I’m sure a number of them I could. Oh, and Melbourne and Sydney are just one direct flight away so don’t get too comfortable bitches
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20 Replies
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I think Hobart is a brilliant choice. It desperately needs someone to spark it up. I visited there 20 years ago and the girls were still in well the closet. I rather like the idea of me, a frocked up tranny tourist, being a crim as, at the time it was still illegal!
Good on ya Emma. Rock the boat.
Claire xx -
Hi Emma, moving to Tasmania is a really smart idea, the lack of open tg life notwithstanding. My son has just moved there with his family and they are loving it; less hassle, booming economy, you can now get a good cup of coffee and a feed (very important to us Melbourne people) and further South (I think the the effects of climate change are going to be far worse than the popular imagination has accepted).
Good on you gurl
V x x -
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What a sensational idea Karron!
My ancestral family were mariners….well fish rustlers if I’m really honest…so I have an image of a homage to Priscilla aboard an old she-oaker at full tilt on the Derwent.
I’m going to make that happen xx
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I am sure that all the fine inhabitants of Hobart will welcome the sightings soon to come of a genuine Tasmanian Tiger. Things will definitely be on the improve down there when Emma struts her stuff in the confident, self sssured and ebullient manner that is her character. And one we have all come to love and admire. All the best for your move Emma. Hugs Marian
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Brilliant Emma. Who would of thought all those closeted skills would be useful one day! We dinosaurs live on. Why is it though that engineers look great in frocks. (Personal confession trifecta Navy Engineer Frocks) Having met you at Transformal I’m sure you’ll soon establish a beach head ( or should that be bitch head!) in the land of Hodgeman. I’ll look forward to reading in the press of the unusual increased incidence on the Apple Isle of gentlemen wearing frocks and breaking out into My Boy Lollipop at the most inappropriate occasion. Big hugs. Michelle
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Emma – I am sure you will make a mark in Tasmania. I am an engineer too (electronic) and totally with you on the doing things right and getting the dull things done. Good to see that has paid off for you.
I was down there in Hobart in July – while it is no funky town I don’t think it is Gorky park. I could see myself going out and feeling safe.
Hope it all works out for you.
Michelle – lots of engineers frock up and look great. Wondered about that myself.
Hugs
Juliette -
It is staggering how many engineers are in our racket ladies….maybe it makes up for the dreariness of it all? xx
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Hi Emma,
Ha ha, Engineer here too.
Cheers Marilyn
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Maybe it is too let out that feminine intuitive part of us that sits alongside but is suppressed/oppressed(?) by the cold hard logic of it all.
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Good for you Emma, can we expect a Pricilla style picture of yourself and others from the top of Mount Wellinton surveying your domain?
“Engineers in Frocks,” to be quite honest I never thought of our different occupations, and did one group some of us all together. I don’t profess to be an engineer, but as a technician in Avionics working in a variety of projects, I work with a lot of engineers, and have done so for more years than I care to remember. Trying to picture the team I work with frocked up, during a staff meeting, might not be the best use of my time, but it could be amusing. As we would say in our work place, you had a problem, you applied rigour, to give youself a solution and will move forward with your next achievement.
Best of luck in Tassie Emma, Rosemary -
Emma_Thorne wrote:It is staggering how many engineers are in our racket ladies….maybe it makes up for the dreariness of it all? xx
Interesting point, some may have heard of if not read the famous book on crossdressing in the USA, ‘A Year Among The Girls’. Casa Susanna gets a mention.
One of the observations made by the writer was regarding the number of crossdressers that were engineers. He speculated there were quite a few at Cape Canaveral, later Cape Kennedy, that were wearing lingerie under their male clothing as they did their work in the early days of the space race. -
We visited Tasmania in 20120, so only ten years after cross dressing was removed as a criminal offence. I went out to dinner with my wife in one of Hobart’s suburbs (Lindisfarne) and had no problems at all. The wait staff were polite and courteous.
A few days later I spent the day exploring Bicheno, and though I did get a couple of inquisitory looks, again I had no problems.Emma, I think you’ll be just the ‘medicine’ that Hobart needs.
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Brilliant plan Emma. You can lead the revolution in short skirts and high heels! Hobart really needs a good shake-up! I had no idea being a trannie there was a criminal offence until this century!
Have to ‘fess up that (you guessed it!) I am an engineer (mechanical) albeit now retired. Perhaps we should start up a survey to see how many of us are engineers, but that may be an idea for another thread.
I have heaps of rellies in Tasmania and just starting to wonder if we are related ha ha! My father was an engineer in the navy and if your dad was in that stream, I bet they knew each other.
Anyway, I know you will have a great time in Hobart, because you will make it so. Cheers!
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Martina there is every possibility that we ARE related (it IS true what they say about Tasmanians ladies!). I shall message you privately about that
So I can give you all a bit of flavour about Hobart:
1. Yes, it was the last state to remove homosexuality (which apparently included us) as a crime from the statute books. This nervousness from the crossdressing populace extends to this day but I shall break that all up.
2. It is becoming VERY quirky and has a certain hipster element in parts of Hobart like North Hobart ,and West Hobart, where I will be living.
3. It has one “gay” venue but increasingly a lot of LGBetc owned pubs and cafe’s all over the state.
4. It is a very friendly place.
5. You can do a naked tour of the MONA Gallery. I shall be doing this.
6. There are some towns, of quite reasonable size, where I am related to everyone who lives there.
7. I will have no problems flouncing about anywhere in Hobart at any time.In preparation of my return I have made contact with quite a number of local girls, almost without exception none of them have ever been outside their front door, so that will change.
I’ve been doing some hosting of events here and there lately like Quiz Nights. I did one a couple of weeks ago at a local hockey club for the beige population using bingo which was called “Bingo With[/i] Balls” which, I must say, was a rip roaring success so I’ll be looking to expand on that when I get home.
It is interesting what everyone has said about engineers and dressing. I didn’t know most of what has been said above and will track down “A Year With The Girls” as it sounds fascinating. At Transformal I met at least 3 other engineers and I think the whole concept is hilarious!
