GABIT attendees thread

[JanSam]

Hadn't even thought of that! Here it refers to the folks that go door to door peddling products and seeking donations (and who knows if half of them are legit). I would NEVER discourage you from my door.

Even if she brings her weather with her??

[NZNeep]

First, get healthy! That is not a good record young lady.

I also give blood. At one point I was being rejected at intake more than I was passed due to low iron levels. Got that straighted out and back to giving regularly. Heck, it is worth it just for the entertaining questions they ask!

My sister once had to answer one of the questions (we call it ticking the naughty boxes) with "um, I think he was Argentinian?" 0_o

[rderoch]

Even if she brings her weather with her??

Might have to rethink this.

[NZNeep]

Might have to rethink this.

Have you seen how crazy we are about snow over here? This winter it snowed for the first time our capital city for the first time in something like 100 years. Everyone went nuts- the hill suburbs had to do things like dig their cars out from snow drifts and they did gleefully because of the novelty Can't get the link at work, but if you go to youtube and type in snow Cuba Street Wellington you will see a beautiful video showing the delight of Kiwis, some who have never seen snow before- and it wasn't even landing

So um, yes please

[lame moose (mocha)]

speaking of TimTams...i was wandering thru Target and found TIMtams on the shelf-chocolate cream. it's the ones made by pepperidge farm. i've never seen them a store anywhere before. bought a box, even tho i really prefer the dark chocolate ones.

[Celandine]

Might have to rethink this.

How can Canadian and Michigan weather be any different? You did weather the Blizzard of '10 this past Feb didnt you? I'd say you're quite a hardy soul yourself.

[Tittamiire]

Talking of donating time and money. I've always volunteered my time. When I was a child my mother volunteered our time for things (as well as her own) and it was just a habit I got into. As an adolescent I started volunteering in my own right and it just got so incorporated into my life that I can't imagine not doing it at all. It waxes and wanes throughout the year (especially now I am studying full time as well as working full time), but there's always something.

I also give blood. At one point I was being rejected at intake more than I was passed due to low iron levels. Got that straighted out and back to giving regularly. Heck, it is worth it just for the entertaining questions they ask!

I always find the questions entertaining too. I spent a lot of time being rejected for low iron levels, grazes they were worried might be infected, weighing too little etc, but I've a much better track record for recent years and recently signed up to donate stem cells as well. Hee...warm fuzzy feelings abound.

[ames]

I do find being repeatedly rejected for low iron very dejecting. I'm the only one in my immediate family who qualifies medically to donate, and while my iron is on the low side of acceptable for personal ... erm ... use?... it's classed as too low to donate. I've been hauled in to speak to the nurse I don't know how many times about what dietary changes to make but that's always a challenge when you're prepping meals for three, the other two of whom are on medically-dictated diets that don't mesh with yours. Well TBF Dad's dietary restrictions align not too poorly, but Mom's on the exact opposite of what I'm supposed to be eating to increase my iron...and theirs don't mesh well to each other on some points either. Sigh ... who'd have thought eating healthier would be such a headache, eh?

However, I've digressed. Then again, this is ME, so ... yeah. Where was I? Right - donating blood. I've tried, but there's only so much rejection this chick can handle before the message gets drummed in! Please don't get me started on bone marrow, etc. I can feel my blood pressure rising just thinking about that topic (in regards to my personal experience - I think it's an excellent venture in general)! I do have to supress giggles on the rare occassions I manage to pass the iron level testing and get to the questions though ... I got such funny looks when I had to relate why it was I was on injection steroids, or when I was eating beef in England ...and then there's the sex questions. I love pointing out I wasn't even alive let alone sexually active in X timeframe

[NZNeep]

Oh, once they tapped at my arm a bit... stared at my non existent veins and said "yeah... we're not that desperate." That evening on TV there was an ad about how much blood they needed to reach demand and they needed more donors NOW. Sigh

At least they still gave me my blood cookie.

[Skydiver]

I take iron pills regularly to keep my iron up. That's teh only way I can regularly donate. ANd yeah, I have sucky veins. I'll even tell the phlebotomist 'it's there, it's tiny and it's deep...get it right and i'm done in 5 minutes, get it wrong and it likely won't make it', and i get this 'this is our job hon' look from some. Then I get the good ones that know I'm not being a smart ass, i know my arm better than they do and I want this to work. And if they do it right, it will. Just listen to me.

I too get frustrated with the 'we're so desperate for blood' then get the phlebotomists that don't seem to care if they make it work or have this 'you're too difficult, go away' attitude. I had one literally pull the needle out of my arm after I complained that it hurt...well in her effort to go deep enough she'd gone through the vein, so yeah a needle digging into my muscle hurt. the bruise i got from that one hurt for days.

They tried to use me for the platlets since I had really good ones one time, but my veins just can't take it. Got a huge bruise from that one too. what I think happened is that the staff get bonus points for recruiting. So they tried to recruit me to get the points, but anyone with any sense would know that, while my platelets are great, my veins aren't so i'm not a good candidate.

but for every icky experience, I've also had plenty of good ones.

[dipsofjazz]

I began giving blood as soon as I was old enough, and was a plasmapheresis donor for years. This meant I donated every four weeks. Since you're wired up to a machine to do this, you could have tea and biscuits during the process. We would get the most wonderful bran scones to eat if we wanted, and the nurses would joke that this was the only reason we donated.

[Skydiver]

I'm not tall enough to qualify for the machine, even if my veins could handle it.

It's amazing how much the restrictions vary from place to place.

[Nolamom]

We have regular blood drives at the high school where I work. In fact, our school is the top donor in South Texas in number of pints per year. Our ROTC organizes it and they do a terrific job. We have another scheduled for Monday when we come back from Thanksgiving break. It's nice because we can give during our conference period right there at school!

[SamJackShipLover]

Just reading about giving blood makes me dizzy ... hehe.

The local animal shelter isn't a good option in my case. I happen to know they literally have tons of money (most of it from when people die and leave their money to them). So, though I'm sure they would like more, it doesn't feel like the right way to go.

I'm now considering Brooke Hospital for Animals (though, the Ducth one). But first looking into something more local.

I really admire everyone here! Especially the ones who actually give their time .. giving money is easy in a way (especially when you don't have to worry about money).
You're all an inspiring bunch

[EH-T]

Even if she brings her weather with her??

Might have to rethink this.

I'll have you know our weather is just fine. I am still biking to work.

speaking of TimTams...i was wandering thru Target and found TIMtams on the shelf-chocolate cream. it's the ones made by pepperidge farm. i've never seen them a store anywhere before. bought a box, even tho i really prefer the dark chocolate ones.

LOL. Were we?

Talking of donating time and money. I've always volunteered my time. When I was a child my mother volunteered our time for things (as well as her own) and it was just a habit I got into. As an adolescent I started volunteering in my own right and it just got so incorporated into my life that I can't imagine not doing it at all. It waxes and wanes throughout the year (especially now I am studying full time as well as working full time), but there's always something.



I always find the questions entertaining too. I spent a lot of time being rejected for low iron levels, grazes they were worried might be infected, weighing too little etc, but I've a much better track record for recent years and recently signed up to donate stem cells as well. Hee...warm fuzzy feelings abound.

My parents volunteered their time too which taught us to do the same. Lots of options for volunteering. Can't wait until I retire so I have even more time to do it.

I do find being repeatedly rejected for low iron very dejecting. I'm the only one in my immediate family who qualifies medically to donate, and while my iron is on the low side of acceptable for personal ... erm ... use?... it's classed as too low to donate. I've been hauled in to speak to the nurse I don't know how many times about what dietary changes to make but that's always a challenge when you're prepping meals for three, the other two of whom are on medically-dictated diets that don't mesh with yours. Well TBF Dad's dietary restrictions align not too poorly, but Mom's on the exact opposite of what I'm supposed to be eating to increase my iron...and theirs don't mesh well to each other on some points either. Sigh ... who'd have thought eating healthier would be such a headache, eh?

However, I've digressed. Then again, this is ME, so ... yeah. Where was I? Right - donating blood. I've tried, but there's only so much rejection this chick can handle before the message gets drummed in! Please don't get me started on bone marrow, etc. I can feel my blood pressure rising just thinking about that topic (in regards to my personal experience - I think it's an excellent venture in general)! I do have to supress giggles on the rare occassions I manage to pass the iron level testing and get to the questions though ... I got such funny looks when I had to relate why it was I was on injection steroids, or when I was eating beef in England ...and then there's the sex questions. I love pointing out I wasn't even alive let alone sexually active in X timeframe

I think everyone on this thread needs to eat more spinach!

Oh, once they tapped at my arm a bit... stared at my non existent veins and said "yeah... we're not that desperate." That evening on TV there was an ad about how much blood they needed to reach demand and they needed more donors NOW. Sigh

At least they still gave me my blood cookie.

They always have trouble finding my veins and when they do the blood comes out very slowly, I'm always getting the red light on the machine. I donate with a friend and last time we "raced". He was done in 6minutes and it took me 13.

I take iron pills regularly to keep my iron up. That's teh only way I can regularly donate. ANd yeah, I have sucky veins. I'll even tell the phlebotomist 'it's there, it's tiny and it's deep...get it right and i'm done in 5 minutes, get it wrong and it likely won't make it', and i get this 'this is our job hon' look from some. Then I get the good ones that know I'm not being a smart ass, i know my arm better than they do and I want this to work. And if they do it right, it will. Just listen to me.

I too get frustrated with the 'we're so desperate for blood' then get the phlebotomists that don't seem to care if they make it work or have this 'you're too difficult, go away' attitude. I had one literally pull the needle out of my arm after I complained that it hurt...well in her effort to go deep enough she'd gone through the vein, so yeah a needle digging into my muscle hurt. the bruise i got from that one hurt for days.

They tried to use me for the platlets since I had really good ones one time, but my veins just can't take it. Got a huge bruise from that one too. what I think happened is that the staff get bonus points for recruiting. So they tried to recruit me to get the points, but anyone with any sense would know that, while my platelets are great, my veins aren't so i'm not a good candidate.

but for every icky experience, I've also had plenty of good ones.

Interesting. Here, they will not let you donate if you are on iron pills.





Given all the recent charity talk, this seemed timely. I saw a show last night on which people compete for money to be donated to the charity of their choice. One of the hosts said this:

What you do for yourself dies with you. What you do for others lives on.