Blood Donation

I gave blood for the first time today; it was a good feeling to do a little something for others. It actually put me in a better mood knowing that my blood might save a life. My blood might allow a husband to kiss his wife good morning, or a mother to hug her child. It wasn’t anything to spectacular; I registered in their system, answered a few questions, and then lay back while they prepared me. You don’t even really feel it, just don’t look if it makes you queasy.

My advise? Drink lots of water before hand, get yourself nice and hydrated, it’ll make the process happen faster. This one person next to me was there for 20 minutes, drank coffee that day. I drank water, I was there 5 minutes 20 seconds. Now, you may vary, depending on who knows what…

Anyone have any experiences they want to share with blood donation? This was my first time ever, and I’d love to hear your experiences.

If you want to learn more about blood donation or become a donor:

In Canada: http://www.bloodservices.ca/

In U.S.A: http://www.redcross.org/donate/give/

Calgary > Powell River > Comox Road Trip

Well now....

I'm going to be taking a much needed vacation soon, something that I desperately need. I'll be heading out with my girlfriend, who shall be named "GF" in order to keep some sort of anonymity online.

This will be the second road trip that GF and I have taken, last one being a trip to visit my best friend in Regina, Saskatchewan. This time, we're taking our own car rather than a rental, and that means maintenance time. Gotta be sure that clunker is up to par, and not going to leave us stranded in the mountains. I'm hoping that I'll be able to blog a bit as I go from day to day, but that's only if we're anywhere near a computer with an internet connection. Part of our plan is to camp for a few days prior to the visits that are the purpose of the trip. You see, this will be the first time that GF meets my parents. Yes, we've been dating two years and I have come to think of GF's family as a second family, but she has yet to meet mine. Primarily because of where they are located, and partially because I'm still getting adjusted to actually having good relations, and contact with my family.

I'm planning out the idea of taking the scenic route to Powell River, this way we both get to see scenery that neither of us have seen before, and then perhaps spend a few days camping along the Powell Forest Canoe Route. I've only just heard about it, but it sounds like my version of heaven.

More to come on that later as we travel! Going to be a while yet, and the blog may not complete the trip until we get back home as the areas we're off to, we won't quite have a readily available internet connection!