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kitanziWell, it's been an eventful and interesting weekend so far - enough so to feel worth posting about!
Last night I got home from work (in a very good mood, since I took a sample test on what I've been studying and got a comfortably higher than passing grade both times) and cheerfully talked ACat into scraping up enough energy to keep our tentative date to go to Eddie's Attic and see Screen Door play. We were faithful fans for a while, showing up at every gig to the point where they recognized us and remembered ACat's's name. (Granted, a 6' 5" tall guy with a bushy beard who ALWAYS sits in the front and sings along on EVERY song is bound to be memorable! *G*) The last 4 months or so, though, they've always been playing on days or in places where we couldn't make it, and I'd kind of forgotten how much I enjoyed them. We took MARTA down (the local subway system) and got there just a few minutes early, but the guys recognized us and invited us to come on in if we didn't mind sitting through the last of the sound check. They were incredible, as always. Due to the last minute nature of the gig (they were replacing someone else who had cancelled - we only knew through their email list) the audience started out as just the two of us, and I don't think it had hit even twenty by the end of the hourlong set, but they still made an impression on everyone, including some who were obviously there for the next act. We had a great time, but never did get around to getting food from the bar so we got out of there and went to Mick's for a very tasty and enormous dinner a little past nine, then wandered back down to the subway.
We caught the first leg of the trip just fine, got out at the usual spot to change lines, and didn't notice (until the "wrong" train had come and gone three times!) that after nine, we had to take the wrong train and get out and transfer to the RIGHT train further along. Oh well, whatever - they win a prize for outdated, obscure and misleading signage. Meanwhile, we actually had lots of fun sitting down in the station and singing Dave and Tracy songs to the bemusement of some of the other folks waiting. (I think we sounded pretty good, actually, a bit to our own surprise.) We obviously weren't busking, but I don't think they really got the concept! After an hour or so of alternately swearing at the trains and serenading the crowd, we did figure out where we were going wrong and (correctly) got on the wrong train to get to the right train to get to the car to get home at way past our bedtimes and fall over dead asleep. Passing through the town center on the way home, though, I happened to see the banners advertising a big church sale today - and a big banner for a Red Cross blood drive.
The last time I donated was over 7 years ago, according to my donor card. I don't know why they always seem to manage to do these when I can't conveniently make it, but they do. *shrug* Anyhow, ACat was willing, though he'd never donated before, so we got up this morning and trundled down to donate. I don't think I'll do that again too soon. :)
Actually, they were very sweet and I probably will, since it turns out there's a donor center in our town, but this particular donation turned into a bit of an endurance trial. Since we were walk in donors we waited a while to be processed - standard, no big deal. We got processed and walked over to the big bus they were using for the mobile donation center to finish up the paperwork and get stuck for the blood iron test. Well, ACat's bloodpressure readings kept coming out high enough that he should have been in the hospital and when my blood iron wasn't high enough to get a result with the drop test they found that their more sensitive blood gizmo - hemostat? - was broken. I sat and drank juice and chatted while they sent someone out for a replacement and ACat went through his donation. (Turned out that once they used the BIG blood pressure cuff, they got more reasonable readings! Surprise, surprise.) Naturally, just about the time he was done and could have gone they came back with the gizmo, so I went in, got stuck again, then lay down to be bled. By this point the lady who'd done my paperwork was making jokes about me putting in enough time to be an employee, but she hooked me up and started me filling my bag. The first half of it went well enough, but then I seemed to start running dry or something. They kept coming over and checking me, squeezing the tube and picking up the bag and cheefully telling me I was "almost done" about 8 times! I wound up with the supervisor and one of the nurses fussing and "helping" until it finally filled, but then they had to get 3 small vials extra for testing and such. The first two filled fine - I was so relieved, I was SO ready to get out of there by then - and then something went wrong or broke, and halfway through the third they just couldn't get another drop. They both kept trying, fiddling and getting new vials and such, but no blood. Lots of jokes though - "I'm so sorry, I'm usually so good at this I could get blood from a turnip!" "I guess I'm not a turnip!". (Maybe you just had to be there.)
Eventually the supervisor apologetically told me that they HAD to have that third vial, and I could either just let them discard the blood or let them stick a SECOND needle in my OTHER arm to get blood for that. *sigh* After all this, I wasn't about to have them throw the blood out, so they got their vial (which, naturally, took several tries and hurt much worse than the entire pint with the big needle had) and I eventually walked out with two fingers bandaged and tourniquet bandages around BOTH elbows and a well earned sticker telling everyone to be nice to me! Poor ACat waited for me very patiently, and we briefly wandered the church's sale then decided to get more solid food than the Red Cross's free juice and cookies.
We went off to Hops for absolutely fantastic steaks, and we lucked out with a very cute, very chatty waitress who spontaneously brought us a takehome box of the world's best honey crossoints because she saw our donation stickers. (She might have guessed first by our eating - I drank 5 glasses of water, and we went through food like famine was coming!) Needless to say, she got a nice tip. :)
We indulged a little further with a stop at a used bookstore and got away relatively cheaply but enjoyed talking to the friendly folks who work there. It's a particularly social bunch of bookstore folks, and I find that used book store workers tend to be remarkably fond of chatting about books to begin with. After that we agreed that we were about worn out and we'd earned it, so we came home to digest and rest. I swapped out laundry and fell over to sleep for about an hour and a half and woke feeling MUCH better!
On the whole, an intersting and pleasant weekend, and only about half way through! (Gotta catch up on the groceries and housework tomorrow, though. *sigh*)
Last night I got home from work (in a very good mood, since I took a sample test on what I've been studying and got a comfortably higher than passing grade both times) and cheerfully talked ACat into scraping up enough energy to keep our tentative date to go to Eddie's Attic and see Screen Door play. We were faithful fans for a while, showing up at every gig to the point where they recognized us and remembered ACat's's name. (Granted, a 6' 5" tall guy with a bushy beard who ALWAYS sits in the front and sings along on EVERY song is bound to be memorable! *G*) The last 4 months or so, though, they've always been playing on days or in places where we couldn't make it, and I'd kind of forgotten how much I enjoyed them. We took MARTA down (the local subway system) and got there just a few minutes early, but the guys recognized us and invited us to come on in if we didn't mind sitting through the last of the sound check. They were incredible, as always. Due to the last minute nature of the gig (they were replacing someone else who had cancelled - we only knew through their email list) the audience started out as just the two of us, and I don't think it had hit even twenty by the end of the hourlong set, but they still made an impression on everyone, including some who were obviously there for the next act. We had a great time, but never did get around to getting food from the bar so we got out of there and went to Mick's for a very tasty and enormous dinner a little past nine, then wandered back down to the subway.
We caught the first leg of the trip just fine, got out at the usual spot to change lines, and didn't notice (until the "wrong" train had come and gone three times!) that after nine, we had to take the wrong train and get out and transfer to the RIGHT train further along. Oh well, whatever - they win a prize for outdated, obscure and misleading signage. Meanwhile, we actually had lots of fun sitting down in the station and singing Dave and Tracy songs to the bemusement of some of the other folks waiting. (I think we sounded pretty good, actually, a bit to our own surprise.) We obviously weren't busking, but I don't think they really got the concept! After an hour or so of alternately swearing at the trains and serenading the crowd, we did figure out where we were going wrong and (correctly) got on the wrong train to get to the right train to get to the car to get home at way past our bedtimes and fall over dead asleep. Passing through the town center on the way home, though, I happened to see the banners advertising a big church sale today - and a big banner for a Red Cross blood drive.
The last time I donated was over 7 years ago, according to my donor card. I don't know why they always seem to manage to do these when I can't conveniently make it, but they do. *shrug* Anyhow, ACat was willing, though he'd never donated before, so we got up this morning and trundled down to donate. I don't think I'll do that again too soon. :)
Actually, they were very sweet and I probably will, since it turns out there's a donor center in our town, but this particular donation turned into a bit of an endurance trial. Since we were walk in donors we waited a while to be processed - standard, no big deal. We got processed and walked over to the big bus they were using for the mobile donation center to finish up the paperwork and get stuck for the blood iron test. Well, ACat's bloodpressure readings kept coming out high enough that he should have been in the hospital and when my blood iron wasn't high enough to get a result with the drop test they found that their more sensitive blood gizmo - hemostat? - was broken. I sat and drank juice and chatted while they sent someone out for a replacement and ACat went through his donation. (Turned out that once they used the BIG blood pressure cuff, they got more reasonable readings! Surprise, surprise.) Naturally, just about the time he was done and could have gone they came back with the gizmo, so I went in, got stuck again, then lay down to be bled. By this point the lady who'd done my paperwork was making jokes about me putting in enough time to be an employee, but she hooked me up and started me filling my bag. The first half of it went well enough, but then I seemed to start running dry or something. They kept coming over and checking me, squeezing the tube and picking up the bag and cheefully telling me I was "almost done" about 8 times! I wound up with the supervisor and one of the nurses fussing and "helping" until it finally filled, but then they had to get 3 small vials extra for testing and such. The first two filled fine - I was so relieved, I was SO ready to get out of there by then - and then something went wrong or broke, and halfway through the third they just couldn't get another drop. They both kept trying, fiddling and getting new vials and such, but no blood. Lots of jokes though - "I'm so sorry, I'm usually so good at this I could get blood from a turnip!" "I guess I'm not a turnip!". (Maybe you just had to be there.)
Eventually the supervisor apologetically told me that they HAD to have that third vial, and I could either just let them discard the blood or let them stick a SECOND needle in my OTHER arm to get blood for that. *sigh* After all this, I wasn't about to have them throw the blood out, so they got their vial (which, naturally, took several tries and hurt much worse than the entire pint with the big needle had) and I eventually walked out with two fingers bandaged and tourniquet bandages around BOTH elbows and a well earned sticker telling everyone to be nice to me! Poor ACat waited for me very patiently, and we briefly wandered the church's sale then decided to get more solid food than the Red Cross's free juice and cookies.
We went off to Hops for absolutely fantastic steaks, and we lucked out with a very cute, very chatty waitress who spontaneously brought us a takehome box of the world's best honey crossoints because she saw our donation stickers. (She might have guessed first by our eating - I drank 5 glasses of water, and we went through food like famine was coming!) Needless to say, she got a nice tip. :)
We indulged a little further with a stop at a used bookstore and got away relatively cheaply but enjoyed talking to the friendly folks who work there. It's a particularly social bunch of bookstore folks, and I find that used book store workers tend to be remarkably fond of chatting about books to begin with. After that we agreed that we were about worn out and we'd earned it, so we came home to digest and rest. I swapped out laundry and fell over to sleep for about an hour and a half and woke feeling MUCH better!
On the whole, an intersting and pleasant weekend, and only about half way through! (Gotta catch up on the groceries and housework tomorrow, though. *sigh*)
Giving Blood Made Easy
Date: 2003-10-18 07:01 pm (UTC)I haven't had a bad experience at the Red Cross since I started drinking I'd guess a total of a quart of water before heading out the door.
Congratulations on the waitress giving you the freebees. Nobody has ever paid any attention to my "be nice to me" stickers (self-pitying whimper).
Peter Alway