Donors and dogs

I went with some friends to donate blood on Saturday and I can say without hesitation that it was the sketchiest medical experience I've ever encountered. A friend is convinced we've donated blood to the black market and based on what we saw, it could appear to be that way (although I do believe the operation they were running was legitimate).

First of all, we were told to report to 5th and Pike Street in downtown Seattle. This is the heart of downtown and we expected their trademark Bloodmobile to be parked on the street. We met up at 5th and Pike and wandered around for a bit – no Bloodmobile. No signs either. Nothing to signify that a blood drive would be occurring at all. One of the buildings at 5th and Pike currently houses the BODIES Exhibit, which is a museum-type exhibition about the human body – featuring actual human bodies. We approached their ticket booth hoping someone could perhaps point us in the right direction. As we got closer to the booth, we started to see flyers inside the booth that said there was indeed a blood drive on January 23 but gave no instruction as to where it was located, but that if you registered and donated then you would receive a discount on a ticket to the BODIES Exhibit. We asked a few employees about the blood drive but couldn’t get any definite information until someone ushered us inside the building and said the donation center was downstairs. Downstairs? In the basement of an exhibition center featuring real but dead human bodies? Something about this just doesn’t feel quite right…

At this point we had about 12-13 of us waiting for further instructions and corralled inside the entry to the BODIES Exhibit. We could look in and see some of the exhibits – one of the bodies held a tennis racquet and was tossing up a tennis ball as if to serve. Finally, a representative from the Puget Sound Blood Center approached us and said that they only had four beds and weren’t equipped to handle such a large group so late in the afternoon. They said they could take four of us immediately but the rest of the group would have to visit one of their other donation centers. We decided that Luke, Julia, Melanie and I would stay and the rest would find another place to donate.

We followed the representative through part of the exhibit, down a flight of stairs and through a concrete and black curtain lined hallway. There were others in line in front of us, so we had a moment to chat with each other and say things like “Where are we?? This does not seem right… definitely the sketchiest blood donation place I’ve ever been to!” Luke and I peered around the corner of the hallway into the room where everything was set up, and saw a dog laying on the floor. A dog? In a blood donation center? We later learned that he was a service dog of one of the employees, but still. Isn’t that some kind of health code violation? Then the poor nurse couldn’t find my vein and I had to endure a needle rummaging around inside my arm (although, to be honest, this has happened before and Saturday’s experience didn’t even compare to the bruising I experienced from my prior encounter with the needle). When Melanie and I had finished, we had been there for a full three hours and were definitely ready to get out of the dingy, concrete, fluorescent-lit basement and into the sunlight outside. I won’t be giving blood again any time soon (at least for 56 days) but you can sure bet it will be in an actual clinic next time!

Midweek Tidbits

Congratulations on making it to Wednesday! As promised, a new batch of Midweek Tidbits.

• Yes I know, Bill Gates is everywhere. He's the new darling of social media. See what's going on in his head (and the Gates Foundation) at his personal Web site.
• Have you ever opened your pantry/refrigerator, sighed and said "There's nothing to eat!" Supercook will solve your problems! Simply enter your ingredients (i.e. chicken, black beans) into the Web site and it will search other recipe Web sites and return recipes you can make with those ingredients. It's a great site when you don't want to hit up the grocery store.
• Read about one man's attempt to catch the man who stole his iPhone. Mildly entertaining and chock full of graphics - all the information you'll ever need to track down a thief.
• Follow Apple's unveiling of (what everyone thinks is) their newest gadget, the tablet, here. From the article: "Rumor has it that [Steve] Jobs has even said the tablet 'will be the most important thing I've ever done.'" The event takes place today.

We fought the law...

completely by accident, we swear!

My friend Alissa and I met up Monday night for some beer and conversation at one of my favorite Seattle hangouts, Third Place Pub. The pub resides in the basement of Third Place Books, and its wooden walls and windowless interior lend it a sort of rustic ski lodge appeal. Perhaps this is because nearly everyone I see there is wearing a thick, woolly sweater.

Alissa and I met over four years ago on a bus to Whidbey Island for an SPU-related retreat. We were both new editors for The Falcon, SPU’s student newspaper, and the year that followed would be filled with newsprint, late nights and what probably amounted to gallons upon gallons of coffee. While we still nurse coffee addictions, Third Place offers none of the sort so we chatted over a pear cider and a Mac and Jack's, catching up on each other's lives even though we see each other at church every Sunday.

We were so engrossed in conversation that when the time came to leave, we set down our glasses, put on our jackets and headed out - and completely forgot to pay our tab! We didn't even notice until we were in the car and on our way to I-5. I was on the phone with Mark and told him I'd be there soon because I was taking Alissa home, and then Alissa and I realized at the same time that we had forgotten something, and a very important something at that! Mark was privy to a chorus of "OH NO! HOW EMBARRASSING!" before I said I wouldn't be home as soon as I thought because we had to go make things right.

We nervously re-entered the pub to a smiling bartender who just said, "I was so confused... I thought maybe they'd paid earlier?" We apologized up and down and said we'd never do it again. And now Alissa and I have a shared experience called "Remember that time when we stiffed the bartender?"

Midweek Tidbits

Welcome back to Midweek Tidbits! Feel free to share these with your friends and check back next Wednesday for more distractions. Happy Wednesday all.

• If you're like me, then you know at least one person who is allergic to gluten and must navigate the world of food labels and wheat substitutes. Gluten-Free Girl blogs about her experience and shares recipes from her gluten-free life.
• You can now follow Bill Gates on Twitter. Everything you ever wanted...
• Ever marvel at the versatility of Morgan Freeman? This handy flowchart shows how trusty ol' Morgan has played about every role in the book.
• The Muppets take on Queen and sing "Bohemian Rhapsody".
• Finally, check out One Day's Wages, a Seattle non-profit working to end global poverty. It's simple: donate what you would earn in one day, keeping in mind that nearly 3 billion people live on less than $2/day.

Pass the dish soap

I don’t normally post work-related items on here, but I thought this was too good to pass up. The dishwasher at our office is around 18 years old and is just about to kick the bucket. For months we’ve had to re-wash everything that goes through the dishwasher because either the soap won’t rinse off or food is still stuck on the dishes. Money has been tight on the company, so the purchasing of a new dishwasher has been repeatedly postponed despite frequent appeals.

Last Friday was the tipping point for our office manager. It took just one more dirty spoon before she lost her composure, emptied the cupboards and silverware drawer into the sink and hand-washed everything. Hands practically still dripping, she e-mailed the rest of the office telling us that the dishwasher is officially DEAD and we will all need to wash our dishes by hand from here on out. The new hand-washing rule was in force for about five hours until one of the partners of the company e-mailed the office and announced he had bought a new dishwasher and it would be here within a week.

Nothing like a little threat of MANUAL LABOR to get the wheels turning around here.

Countdown to Hawaii

We will officially be leaving for Hawaii in 84 days! We got our plane tickets yesterday and I can't wait to finally step on a sandy Hawaiian beach for the first time. I need to make myself a reading list so when we get there, all I'll have to do is set down my chair, pull out a book and sip an icy drink. The hope of Hawaii is going to get me through the darkness (and dampness) of our Seattle winter!

Midweek Tidbits

Greetings! As a new Wednesday feature, I want to introduce "Midweek Tidbits". I will do my absolute best each Wednesday to post some links that I find entertaining to help get you through hump day! Because once we get through Wednesday, it's all downhill from there.

• Can't get enough Jackie Chan? Word has it that the star is writing a musical about his life. And if that doesn't sound entertaining, I don't know what does.
• We all know what happens when Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, and Helena Bonham Carter collaborate on a movie: weirdness occurs on a bizarre and grand scale. Think "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", "The Corpse Bride" or "Sweeney Todd". The trio are reunited once more in Disney's "Alice in Wonderland", and the list of songs from the movie soundtrack were revealed yesterday. Notably, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals cover Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit". Trippy, to say the least.
• The fugly blog is one of my favorite time-wasters and has become a familiar reference in our apartment. The writers of the blog post pictures of celebrities wearing crazy/weird/ill-fitting/inappropriate outfits and then write about them. I visit the blog less for the pictures and more for the hilarious critiques and suggestions. Even Mark recognizes the blog's draw. We were channel surfing the other night and landed on the People's Choice Awards, and this came out of Mark's mouth regarding a presenter's dress: "Ugh, that'll probably be on the fugly blog tomorrow." And sure enough, it was. Hey, someone's got to tell it like it is.
• Another time-waster (as if we need more): Failbook. Mark and I spent WAY too much time on this site last night. Failbook works the same way as the fail blog, only it posts status updates/conversations from Facebook walls (user-submitted). Some of the posts are pretty inappropriate, but there are some real gems in there.