off to bleed...

Received a phone call from the local blood bank at Stanford... they have a patient with an aneurism and need donors (especially O-positive, like mine). So I'm off to bleed... nearly reached 6 gallons cumulatively over the past 20 years. But in the not-so-distant future I'll be permanently deferred, due to cumulative time spent outside of the US (last months' trip pushed me nearly to 5 months, and permanent deferral happens at 6 months). But at least I'll have contributed what I could, when I could.

[Update: never mind the restrictions, I should be able to continue donating for awhile. The guidelines have changed: instead of a cumulative 6 months abroad, it is now either 5 years total abroad *or* three cumulative months in the UK.]