Kickstart

I started on a 48k Spectrum in 1983, then an Amstrad CPC6128 in 1985. Landed up working as a programmer, initially in PL/1 (so yes plenty of JCL, and avoiding coding by doing processing using sort). Used to many languages through work, but these days mostly SQL with some PHP. All the best Katy

I beleive that the reason for the design of the 3" disk was that the 3.5" disk did not fit into the standard Japanese mail envelope. The 3" disk was designed to do this. A massive number of drives and disks were made, but were a sales failure. Hence Amstrad could buy them cheaply for their computers, with the Amstrad CPC664, CPC6128, PCW8256 and PCW8512 using them, along with some late versions of the Spectrum. From my experience with my CPC6128, they worked well and (for the time) had plenty of storage. Down side was that they were expensive (a box of 5 cost me ~£20 in 1985) All the best Katy

Doesn't matter unless it has the relevant homologation All the best Katy

To me, this M&S just off the A52 in Derby looks like it was designed to look like an engine shed:- All the best Katy

Hiya Depending on the private provider you use, you should be able to get good feedback on blood tests, etc. However this will be a LOT easier if your GP will undertake the required blood tests (my GP was very good, but some GPs are very bad). Of the 2 main providers, Gender Care seem to be better than Gender GP at this, plus GPs tend to be happier to deal with Gender Care requests and recommendations. There are a significant number of mental health professionals who will deal with trans patients and be helpful (but some will err towards conversion therapy so should be strongly avoided!). One advantage of some of the GICs is that they are supportive over MH support Not sure if the Beaumont Society is still that active. There are a singificant number of local trans groups, which vary in the audience they are aimed at. There are also groups aimed at supporting parents and partners of trans people. All the best Katy

The GICs vary, but some are not bad. I have heard virtually nothing nasty about Nottingham, except some of their communication is not great. Think their current waiting list is in the region of 2 years, down from ~3.5 years no that long ago (partly because the appear to have spaces out appointments a bit once you reach the top of the queue). I know Nottingham will treat enbies, and those who are not at the moment fully transitioning. T blocking and estrogen alone will have some impact on hair loss. But depends on how long the hair loss has been there - ie, might revive some hair folicles that have only recently stopped producing hair but not those that have stopped a long time ago. Hair transplants are possible. T blockers and estrogen will also impact body hair quite a bit, but will do pretty much zero for facial hair - either laser or electrolysis will be required there (laser is far faster, but won't work on grey or ginger hair, and it relies on a contrast between hair and skin colour). Estrogen alone will greatly suppress T levels alone for a short while, but this tends to only be in the short term. T levels will slowly increase again (one reason why many start on just E, and use a T blocker if necessary). Goserelin / Zoladex is mainly used for treatment of prostate cancer, but is also used to a far more limited extent for trans patients. It is a monthly or 3 monthly injection / implant (often seems they use the 1 month at first, then switch to the 3 month assuming there has been no adverse reaction). However as I understand it the shots are in the £200~£300 each range. They work by stopping the body triggering testosterone production, but a side effect of the way they work can be an initial short term (~ a week) boost in T production. Spiro is very rarely used in the UK NHS due to the adverse health issues (I know 1 person who was prescribed it - and that was only because they had adverse reactions to every other T blocker they had tried). All the best Katy

Hiya Firstly congratulations, and if I can help then just ask. I would recommend geting referred to an NHS GIC. Depending on which one they are fairly flexible, and it certainly helps to get along the list for later on. The meds prices vary from fairly cheap for estrogen to "omg" for T blockers such as Goserelin / Zoladex. There are times when things can mess you up. For example, when the E dose was increased for me, for about a week by poor attention span (generally like a pin ball machine) became non existent - best I can describe it was like trying to think with my brain in a liquidiser. All the best Katy

Changes massively if the 4 engined comparison aircraft carries 800 passengers. But only if the route supports that kind of passenger volume All the best Katy

Largely yes. Although for some wide hips stay noticable. Boobs can relatively easily be flattened out. As to hair, gravity seems to sdhuffle it from the top of therir head to their chin 😉 Just make it known that 1% (or 0.1%) of air bags are actually claymore mines! Kill or cure All the best Katy

Loss of pockets is a common issue for trans women! Although Hell Bunny are quite proud at making clothes with pockets. Society seems to behave rather too close to that is Quatermass And The Pit. All the best Katy

True, but that is one thing a novice needs to learn, and which they probably stand the best chance of successfully learning in something with relatively benign handling when they reach the limit. All the best Katy

Many trans people have not had their teenage years learning what works and what doesn't. Essentially they go through this at a later age. As someone put it earlier in this thread, how many husbands could go out without help and buy a complete outfit (including shoes, jewelry, etc) for their wives for an event and get it right? All the best Katy

Maybe, but I keep meaning to buy a "No hairdressing tools left in this vehicle overnight" sticker for mine. In honesty, it is quick enough to be fun without being so quick that the fun only comes at silly speeds. It is one reason I like small 2 stroke bikes as well, where they are slow enough that I can enjoy thrashing the engine. An essential point for mine was having a 6 speed manual gearbox. Unfortunately, in the wet rather a lot will get near or beyoind the handling limits of their car, especially if it is rwd without any gadgets to stop them stepping over the limits. An MX5 can easily break traction and swap ends in the wet. All the best Katy

You probably have met quite a few FTM people without realising it. Testosterone has a dramatic effect. I know quite a lot, and after a fairly short term on T there are virtually no hints beyond maybe height. All the best Katy

I want to have control, and a feature like that on a car would be something I would pay not to have! As an aside, as I understand it the most likely issue with people over cooking it is understeer, and the natural reaction when things go wrong is to back off the throttle which on most FWD cars will save things (not on some sports fwd cars which will suffer lift off oversteer- hence why the Peugeot 205 GTi caught people out). RWD tends to catch people out who are not practiced at catching things. Can't say that torque steer bothers me that much, even in an Alfa 164 which used to get slated for it. All the best Katy

UK in general has no restrictions on those who have just passed their test (although hideous insurance costs does some of that!). However in the UK your driving licence has 12 point, and a normal speeding ticket is 3 points (lasting in effect 3 years on your licence). For the first 2 years after getting your first full licence you only have 6 points. This is slightly different as hitting 6 points at this point results in their licence being revoked, rather than being banned. Northern Ireland has orange R plates. These have various restrictions such as 45mph max. When I lived there nobody took the slightest notice of this as the police had other things to worry about, but does seem to be enforced a lot more now. All the best Katy

To me no equiping with cats and traps was a mistake no so much due to the f35B being restrictive, rather than lack of ability to cross operate other aircraft when required. If a French Rafale or US Hornet needs to divert (either in an emergency, or just for joint exercises) it is pretty much impossible. All the best Katy

A close 2nd for me All the best Katy

Think the Mosquito is still the best looking aircraft ever. All the best Katy

Possibly, pump water at high pressure to expand it out again. This is how some exhausts are made for 2 stroke bikes. All the best Katy

Starting rollers would make life a LOT easier! I can just about see the marks, but quite dim and hard to see when outside. In the darker garage they should be clear and easy to see. All the best Katy

Yep, problem is getting it started to do this final adjustment. Too likely at the moment I will just be a messy heap beside the bike! It should be close enough now to do the final adjustment on the cdi adjuster screw. I have a half decent timing light, but even then it is hard to make out the marks on the drive. Need to clear enough space to do this inside the garage to cut down the ambient light. Mixture wise, with the K&N I am not sure if it is a touch lean for cold starts - not too far out but just making what is already a not easy to be even harder. Thank you All the best Katy

Finally got around to stripping down the engine for the AF1 Sintesi that I blew up last summer. Big end bearing went, but the barrel and piston were also damaged. While I had dropped the engine out pretty much the same day, I hadn't done any more as I wanted to get the FZR600 sorted first. Took about 45 mins to strip the engine down. Crank will be sent off to be rebuilt. All the best Katy

Looks like Easyjet use CFM engines father than P&W (looks like CFM have the majority of the A320 Neo market), and P&W seem to be suffering with supply issues but claiming they have sufficient capacity to cover Boeing and Airbus orders. Possibly suggests that spare parts are lower priority and they don't have capacity for those. Seem to be some suggestions that the Indian pilots have been pushing the engines more, but how much is in that I have no idea. There are claims the problems have been solved on later engines, but that leaves earlier engines to still be upgraded. The A220 (using a P&W engine from the same family) had similar issues All the best Katy

I did read something elsewhere that the Indian aviation regulator had grounded the aircraft due to significant numbers of failures, pending modification. But there also appear to be reports of supply issues from Pratt and Witney. So at a guess the required modified engines haven't been available. Older article here:- https://www.businesstoday.in/industry/aviation/story/indigo-warning-for-airbus-a320neo-planes-faulty-engines-dgca-238476-2019-11-01 All the best Katy