Forwarded from Loree Cook-Daniels. This is last-minute as they need responses by the end of today, but please cross-post to appropriate communities!

Loree Cook-Daniels from the FORGE Transgender Ageing Network here. A few years ago, MetLife and the LGBT Ageing Issues Network of the American Society on Ageing did a well-publicised survey of LGBT people age 45-64. Unfortunately, for a bunch of reasons, there were few to no Trans respondents. They are redoing the survey and trying to do this one right, but we need more Trans respondents -- NOW (by the end of the weekend).

Note that this survey is set up in a complicated way that redirects anyone who is not in the right age bracket and/or that doesn't indicate they're Trans by noting they were assigned a different gender at birth. (So if you get a question about elected officials being out of touch, know you've been redirected.) Despite that, the questions were written for a mixed LGBT audience, so they're not all as Trans-savvy as we would like. Please be gracious if you fall within the needed age range and answer anyway, because we'd like to: 1) have Trans respondents; and 2) show other researchers that you CAN get Trans respondents in a mixed LGBT survey, if you outreach.

Below is MetLife's description and the link. Thank you.

Loree

( Read more... )

Thanks to ganimede for this! This is definitely not men-only territory.

I have six out of the 13 listed items in my car. (For the curious: I counted the cell phone because I always keep mine in my pocket and I make an effort to have it well-charged before I go anywhere, although I currently don't have a car charger for it; on top of that, I have jumper cables, a flashlight/torch [I think], a warm blanket [plus my bright orange sleeping bag, both for warmth and attention-getting], two ice scrapers [one with attached snow brush], and two first aid kits [thanks ganimede for the new one!].) I had seven, but after several years without being needed, the gallon jugs of water I kept in the trunk/boot just evaporated from baking in a hot car over time. Plus obviously it's heavy, which affects gas mileage. Everything except the phone, one small flashlight/torch (I think), the smaller first aid kit, and the ice scrapers live in the trunk/boot. There should be a small flashlight/torch in the glove compartment, which is where the smaller first aid kit lives, and the ice scrapers live under the seats. My phone lives in my pocket, of course.

I also have two bungee cords, which weren't listed for some reason. The MREs are a great idea and easy enough to implement, so I'll have to get some of those! (I might get Power Bars or something rather than actual MREs, though.)

More suggestions are in the comments, of course, found at the end of the original post. One suggestion I found ridiculously helpful was a roll of duct tape, plus a copy of a book you love if you need to amuse yourself while waiting for help.


http://artofmanliness.com/2009/12/17/13-things-a-man-should-keep-in-his-car/



When I was growing up, I noticed that my dad kept the trunk of his car well-stocked with supplies. A lot of the equipment in his car was for his job busting poachers as a game warden, but most of the things he packed in his trunk were for emergency situations.

And there were plenty of times when my dad was able to put his trunk equipment to work.

For example, about 20 years ago my dad was driving home to Oklahoma from New Mexico in his old burgundy Caprice. Just outside of Groom, TX, near the famous leaning water tower along I-40, a hellacious snow storm hit. It was a complete white out, so my dad had to pull over until things settled down.

But things didn’t settle down until a day later.

My dad had to spend the night in his car in the middle of nowhere while a blizzard roared outside. But because he had the forethought to prepare for situations like this, he was able to keep warm with some blankets and avoid ravaging hunger with some MREs.

Many of you will be hitting the road this holiday season to visit family, so I consulted my dad, Tom McKay, and asked him what supplies he thinks every man should keep in his car. Here’s his suggested list.

( 13 items )

Tonight is the final night of Chanuka. All Jewish holidays begin and end at sundown, so tomorrow is the final day of Chanuka, and at sundown tomorrow the holiday will be over.

I only managed to get two boxes of candles this year, so only two menorahs are lit tonight, as opposed to all three like last year.

( Three pictures of my fully lit menorahs, all 640x480 )

Yesterday I changed my sex with Social Security! I changed my name with Social Security nearly ten years ago, and it's been nearly six years since I had top surgery, but I never bothered changing my sex with Social Security because the office was a schlep to get to, and it hadn't interfered with anything employment-wise; I wasn't bothered about being listed as female on work records, and as long as the work records match Social Security's info, you can get paid. Recently, though, I found out that there was another Social Security office very near my house, so I figured I might as well get this done. I dug out my surgeon's letter from Dr Brownstein - last used to get my passport a couple of years ago, and very nicely returned to me by the passport people - and went along to the office.

The office was nearly empty, as most people are at work in the middle of the day. I took a number and waited, and finally the only other person there finished his business and left. The nice lady called my number and I went up to the window and said I needed to change my sex on my records.

This poor nice lady did not know what to do with me. She looked completely weirded out from the moment I said what I needed right up until I left. She was, however, entirely professional in how she treated me, and I really have no complaints. When I told her what I needed, she looked at me for a minute and then asked, 'Did you have a sex-change operation?' I was proud of myself for not launching straight into Trans 101, which I nearly did just by reflex; I managed to catch myself and just told her yes. She responded, 'Oh! I didn't know if you meant we got it wrong.' Well, in a matter of speaking, they did, but I wasn't going to go there. Her head was seconds from exploding as it was.

I gave her my driver's license and my surgeon's letter, which she took a little time looking over, still looking completely weirded out. Something had clearly short-circuited in her brain, making it hard for her to read and process what is a pretty simple letter. She took so long with it that I piped up with 'My understanding is that the surgeon's letter is all that's required to change the records', to which she replied 'Oh yes ... I mean, I assume so, I just need to read it' or something to that effect. She did also say, 'It's a pretty unusual request!' and I smiled and agreed that it must be. Finally she worked out that Dr Brownstein was my surgeon, and that the name at the bottom was just the person who had notarised it.

She then asked me a bunch of questions to fill in the form on her computer screen - my Social Security number (of course), birth name, current name, parents' birth names, whether I'd been born in the US, race (complete with long shpiel about my not being obligated to disclose my race and why they ask - wouldn't it be nice if they did that for sex too?), and maybe another question or two that I can't remember now. Totally not a problem. She filled everything in, printed it out, and asked me to check that the information there was all correct, which it was. Then something else printed out, which she went to retrieve, and she said that apparently it had decided to send me a new Social Security card even though I'd said I didn't need one and she thought she'd told it not to send one. She said there were restrictions on how many you could get in a year and how many you could get in a lifetime, and I said I only had the one currently, so she said that was completely fine. She was still looking weirded out at this point, but she said I was all set, so I smiled and thanked her and left.

I think I gave her a great story to tell her family if she goes visiting for Christmas or anything. I wonder if she gossiped to anyone else who was back there as soon as I left. 'You will not believe the request I just got ...' I was highly amused by the whole thing.

It's a relief to have that done, even though it wasn't urgent or anything. Transition at this point, in terms of nuts and bolts, is really just about tying up loose ends. I still have a hysto on my to-do list, but that's more or less it for big stuff!

Nathaniel and I had talked a considerable amount about what he was getting me for Chanuka, because it was a shirt and he wanted to be sure it was just what I wanted and that it would fit me, and because I hate surprises. I ordered a Chanuka present for him online a little while back, to try and make sure it would get there by today, and tried to decide whether I'd open his present as soon as it arrived or wait until the final night of Chanuka, as is customary when you receive only one gift from someone.

Today Nathaniel IM'd me to say good night, and asked if the package he'd sent had arrived yet. I said it hadn't, and he asked if I was sure, since it would be sitting on the front porch and wouldn't have come in through the mail slot. I had checked when the post arrived today and it wasn't there, but I went down to check again - and there it was! I swear he's psychic. It was quite a heavy box, which had me curious as I was only expecting a shirt. I brought it up and Nathaniel stayed online while I opened it.

This incredibly sweet, thoughtful, wonderful boy got me eight presents, one for each night, and didn't tell me. His logic was that he knows I hate surprises, so he just didn't tell me I was getting a surprise. Annoyingly, I found this hard to argue with.

( Here be 7 pictures - all 640x480 )

I really am the luckiest boy alive - not because I get stuff, but because I have this amazing thoughtful boyfriend who's always thinking of me and doing sweet things for me. I don't know what I did to deserve someone this wonderful, but it must have been something pretty epic.


... oh yeah, also, happy Chanuka to all those celebrating.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8400172.stm

Testosterone link to aggression 'all in the mind'

Giving women more of the male hormone testosterone can turn them into fairer and more amiable game players, according to tests.

A single dose of testosterone was enough to have this effect, European scientists found, but only if the woman was oblivious to the treatment.


Hormones may dictate only a small part of our attitude

If she realised she had received the hormone and not a dummy drug, she turned to greed and selfishness.

The work in Nature magazine suggests the mind can win over hormones.

Testosterone induces anti-social behaviour in humans, but only because of our own prejudices about its effect rather than its biological activity, suggest the authors.

They believe the same is true in men, although they only studied women.

Power of suggestion

For the study, they asked more than 120 women to pair up and play an "ultimatum" bargaining game with real money at stake.

In the game, one of the pair is the "proposer" and is tasked with suggesting to the other player - the responder - how to split the money between them.

The responder can then only accept or reject the offer.

This puts hormones in their place. Hormones provide a basic backdrop, but changes in levels will do little to behaviour compared to personality, culture and society
Endocrinologist Professor Ashley Grossman

If they reject it, neither of the pair gets any of the cash.

The researchers gave the proposers either a dummy pill or one containing testosterone, but did not tell the women which pill they had been given.

Once they had played the game, the proposers were asked to say which pill they thought they had taken.

Those who received testosterone behaved more fairly, had fewer bargaining conflicts and were better at social interactions.

However, women who thought that they had received testosterone, whether or not they actually did, behaved more unfairly than those who thought that they had received placebo, again whether or not they actually did.

The researchers, led by Ernst Fehr of the University of Zurich, Switzerland, said the results suggested a case of "mind over matter" with the brain overriding body chemistry.

"Whereas other animals may be predominantly under the influence of biological factors such as hormones, biology seems to exert less control over human behaviour," they said.

UK endocrinologist Professor Ashley Grossman said: "This puts hormones in their place.

"Hormones provide a basic backdrop, but changes in levels will do little to behaviour compared to personality, culture and society."