Has it been 4 months already? Apparently so. Go the call on Tuesday to say I was eligible as of Friday. They then asked when I'd like to give again. I replied "how about Friday?"

° Only 5 percent of eligible donors across the nation donate blood, but the number of transfusions nationwide increases by 9 percent every year.

° 11 percent of blood donations come from high school blood drives. As a result states are lowering the age limit of blood donations from 18 to 16 with parental permission.

° The need for blood increases during holidays and summer months. People are more apt to be traveling and active during these times and thus are at an increased risk for accidents.

° You burn about 650 calories by donating one pint of blood.

Honestly it confounds me that ~11% of our nation's blood supply comes from people 18 and under. It's one of the "no way" stats. If you're eligible take a look around. You're probably not to far from a donation center ad it generally takes under an hour from walking in to walking out.

If you've got a little extra time, ask if you're eligible for automated collection. It takes a few minutes more, but doubles the collection!

Tags: blood
Current Music: Bleeder - Zombie Girl

You know there's something fun about reading a vampire novel while a machine pumps your blood out of you. Also, there's something weird about the feeling of the machine pumping it back into you.

I did double red which uses a machine to get two donations worth of reds in one sitting. Apparently this is some kinda big deal. No, seriously, they gave me a t-shirt and everything.Really the only reason I did it was because they wanted to give one of the new employees training.So Tawana, that donations for you.Oh, and you want to know the HORRIBLE truth? The only reason I gave blood today, instead of Monday, was because I was hungry and didn't feel like getting money out of the ATM.

Tags: blood
Current Music: Catalonians meets Rico Rodriguez - Part