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soc_puppet[Content note: Blood donation, mention of institutionalized homophobia]
I dunno if blood donation requires a content note, but I figured: Better safe than sorry. Anyway!
Had an appointment to donate today. I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but quarterly is totally working for me 100% better (50% better? 66% better? I'd have to do the math, but considerably better) than bimonthly. For the first time in ages, I was confident enough to schedule my next appointment before getting my iron level checked, and it totally paid off! I didn't have to remind anyone that I still needed to register for next time while I was eating cookies, nor did I have to reschedule for a mere two weeks away because I'd missed iron count. I believe I may be raving about going quarterly for a while now.
Oh! I completely forgot to mention it while I was there, or at all until now, but the question about whether I'd ever had sex with a penis-owner who had also had sex with a penis-owner was no longer in the questionnaire! I mean, I can still totally skip over every single question asking if I'd had sex in the last twelve months, let alone ever, but the fact that that particular question is no longer a potential deferral issue is totally awesome. (The fact that it was in the questionnaire in the first place was def. bullshit, especially in this day and age, but I suppose that's one reason it's gone.)
I also attended with my very first e-reader! Half-Price Books had a half-off-your-most-expensive-item coupon that was good yesterday, and they had an old Kindle whose sticker price was ~$45 USD. As a result of cleaning off my bookshelves somewhat, I ended up with $29 USD for what I turned in and even had a couple of bucks left over after deciding to get the Kindle ♥ I mention my e-reader because I now finally had something I could do with one hand while the other was busy squeezing a stress ball on-and-off to help pump blood more quickly. The clinic has a television they keep going, but honestly, the show they had on just didn't interest me. Being able to read something was pretty fantastic.
One of the best things? Today I donated my 24th pint at this particular clinic, bringing my total donations up to three gallons! I am super proud. In addition to the t-shirt the clinic gives away to all gallon donors (galloneers?), they were giving a different t-shirt to every donor as part of a summer campaign, which meant I left the clinic with two t-shirts instead of one, as well as a "I donated 3 gallons!" window decal and pin. I haven't put the window decal up, but the pin is adorning my hat band in a little cluster with my 1 gallon and 2 gallon pins ♥
The donation itself took a little longer than usual, but considering all that I left with, as well as the chocolate-with-M&Ms cookies available after? Soooo worth it. Totes looking forward to the first Monday in October (my next appointment time).
I dunno if blood donation requires a content note, but I figured: Better safe than sorry. Anyway!
Had an appointment to donate today. I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but quarterly is totally working for me 100% better (50% better? 66% better? I'd have to do the math, but considerably better) than bimonthly. For the first time in ages, I was confident enough to schedule my next appointment before getting my iron level checked, and it totally paid off! I didn't have to remind anyone that I still needed to register for next time while I was eating cookies, nor did I have to reschedule for a mere two weeks away because I'd missed iron count. I believe I may be raving about going quarterly for a while now.
Oh! I completely forgot to mention it while I was there, or at all until now, but the question about whether I'd ever had sex with a penis-owner who had also had sex with a penis-owner was no longer in the questionnaire! I mean, I can still totally skip over every single question asking if I'd had sex in the last twelve months, let alone ever, but the fact that that particular question is no longer a potential deferral issue is totally awesome. (The fact that it was in the questionnaire in the first place was def. bullshit, especially in this day and age, but I suppose that's one reason it's gone.)
I also attended with my very first e-reader! Half-Price Books had a half-off-your-most-expensive-item coupon that was good yesterday, and they had an old Kindle whose sticker price was ~$45 USD. As a result of cleaning off my bookshelves somewhat, I ended up with $29 USD for what I turned in and even had a couple of bucks left over after deciding to get the Kindle ♥ I mention my e-reader because I now finally had something I could do with one hand while the other was busy squeezing a stress ball on-and-off to help pump blood more quickly. The clinic has a television they keep going, but honestly, the show they had on just didn't interest me. Being able to read something was pretty fantastic.
One of the best things? Today I donated my 24th pint at this particular clinic, bringing my total donations up to three gallons! I am super proud. In addition to the t-shirt the clinic gives away to all gallon donors (galloneers?), they were giving a different t-shirt to every donor as part of a summer campaign, which meant I left the clinic with two t-shirts instead of one, as well as a "I donated 3 gallons!" window decal and pin. I haven't put the window decal up, but the pin is adorning my hat band in a little cluster with my 1 gallon and 2 gallon pins ♥
The donation itself took a little longer than usual, but considering all that I left with, as well as the chocolate-with-M&Ms cookies available after? Soooo worth it. Totes looking forward to the first Monday in October (my next appointment time).
no subject
Date: 2013-07-09 03:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-07-09 05:20 am (UTC)I'm really liking that it's a book I can actually read with only one hand (without straining it from holding the pages open or having difficulty turning said pages), as well as the fact that I can now take epic long fanfics with me EVERYWHERE. Getting actual books on there may take me a while (I have a few, but they're all PDF because I have very little money - BTW, what's the file extension that I want for Kindle, anyhow?), but I am looking forward to it. I anticipate finding great joy in it over its time with me.
OH! I will mention that whoever had it before/the staff at HPB didn't bother to delete (all?) the books that were already on it, though they're not all books that I would actually (re-)read. I've been deliberately avoiding The Hunger Games, I'm not sure how I feel about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory now that I know the Oompa Loompas were originally supposed to be African pygmies, and I don't usually go in for non-fiction, whether or not it's about pirates, but The Wizard of Oz I might give another go-through. And then add the rest of the series, just so I can have read all of them. Because yes.
no subject
Date: 2013-07-09 05:31 am (UTC)Kindle uses .mobi! And you can find free ebooks on Amazon as well as a few other sites, although the free options tend to be limited. There are free options out on the internet for converting your ebooks if you get the wrong file type, so you don't have to worry too much about things if the title you want isn't offered as a .mobi file.
I have a similar issue. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with all these Halo titles. It doesn't feel right to delete a book, even though I know perfectly well that it's not the same as tossing a physical book into the trash.
no subject
Date: 2013-07-09 05:49 am (UTC)Excellent, thank you! I know I can pick some up off of Gutenberg at the very least, and my mother the librarian extolled the virtues of our local library's electronic collection at the very least. Oh, and I have the Baen Free Library bookmarked, though it took me way too long to remember where. I'd love any other suggestions/recs you might have, though!
So far I've backed them up on my laptop, and may yet back them up farther elsewhere. But yeah; I am totally with you on the reluctance to delete books (though mine may have more to do with my packrat tendencies).
no subject
Date: 2013-07-09 06:00 am (UTC)Thank you for reminding me that Baen Free Library exists. This opens a whole new line of book hunting for me!