Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Ramblings...

This has been one of those days where I've sat down a half-dozen times to write something, only to get two sentences down before thinking about something else. Which means there are a half-dozen saved drafts waiting for completion.

I'll be fighting for time to complete them, as I'm about to begin an eight day stretch of working beginning tomorrow, including my first Sunday opening in a long time.

I gave blood today. If you do this once they hunt you down when the clock strikes twelve on your first day eligible again. I give what's called "double red." This means they take my blood out, separate all the components, and keep the red blood cells while they put the plasma and platelets back in. It takes longer than actually giving blood, but the time between when you can give again is also longer. I like people to think I'm more of a saint for giving "double red," but it's really so they are only calling me three times a year instead of six.

I guess now is as good a time as any to share a secret that perhaps only one other person who reads my blog knows about... In college I used to donate plasma. But "donate" really is just a kind word for "sell." Sometimes whether or not I paid bills for a month depended on whether or not I could make it to the plasma "donation" center. They give you money for this. Two times a week, something like fifteen or twenty bucks a pop. It was nice having cash in my pocket, but I usually walked out feeling like a prostitute. If you ever want to see the underbelly of society, visit one of these places.

Not much else to talk about. It's a busy week coming up with Mother's Day and Baylor graduation. I'll try to get some stuff posted in the next few days.

Later...

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

that's pathetic! thanks for not mentioning my name. bg

Anonymous said...

My brother used to "donate" plasma because they gave him a free chicken sandwich coupon along with the $15 or whatever they gave at the time.

Anonymous said...

I used to give plasma in college, too! Just for one year, though...I have bad veins and those people really gave me some bruised up arms a few times, thus I couldn't get the guts to go back the next year after a summer off. I have scars from it, do you? I remember going home one summer and running into a guy I hadn't talked to in a while, I told him that I was getting over a drug habit and showed my scars and he believed me! Not good, not good. At the Waco center, they had all these extra deals so you could make money...including playing BINGO while your plasma was being sucked out. If you won BINGO, you got more money. It was awesome. Recently, I've found myself feeling financially strained and have thought about trying to find another Plasma center...it really is good money!

Unknown said...

We'll be back at UBC this Sunday to lead worship. Looking forward to seeing you again!

Unknown said...

gave it every week the first year we were married...how sad is this- we use to give on fridays so that we would have money to go out on a date.