Gallon Pin
After work today, I donated blood at the Puget Sound Blood Center in Bellevue. I had been drinking water all day in preperation. The attendant who gave me the medical interview, however, told me that its more important how much I drink the day before. Oh well.
I have now donated 10 pints at the PSBC and a few more with Red Cross and Intermountain Healthcare down in Utah. Since 8 pints is a gallon, the attendant asked me if I had my gallon pin yet. I told her no, I did not, so I got one after the donation.
Since the early times, I have been timing my donations, but with two months between each visit, I found that I could not always remember how long I took. I know I have done better than six minutes, but I have never broken five, so that is my goal. I started recording the times and dates in my palm pilot the last time I went, and at that time I donated in 6:15. Today was worse, I hit 7:08. I was kinda unhappy that the attendant took so long to get the bag down on the hanger; think that hurt my time. I think next time I will have to coach the attendant on how to help me get a better time. (FYI: I tme from the moment they pull the stopper off of the tube until the bag falls due to weight.)
As always, I felt quite good after the donation. I had some “Cougar Mountain” cookies afterwards which were yummy in the tummy as well. Then I came home, got surround sound Power DVD working, and slipped in Gladiator, which I picked up at Target a week or so ago.