I've just got back from a very enjoyable break to see the New Year in with Andy, Sharon & little Laura and although I don't usually do the whole New Year thing, it was nice to get away for a couple of days.
So back to the first witter of the year. I'll spare you the tale of how I managed to ruin a completely good set of specs, despite my not feeling overly drunk when I eventually turned in. I say that, but my head the next morning gave a tell-tale clue to the 20-odd bottles of various real ales we managed to put away between 5pm and 3 the next morning.
The nearest Vision Express to where I was staying couldn't repair rimless glasses so I resorted to driving home this afternoon wearing prescription sunglasses. As luck would have it the sun actually shone so I didn't look the monumental tosser the occasion might have warranted.
Anyway, with eye test appointment arranged back in Grimsby for tomorrow, I set off for home then suddenly remembered there was a blood donor session in the neighbouring village. I had to miss the last session at my usual venue as I was out of town that day, but knowing they are always desperate for donations this time of year, I took the chance of just dropping in.
They do operate an optional appointment system now that helps them to organise staffing but you can never be sure how many impromptu donors will show up so sometimes you may need to wait a little beyond your appointment time.
For the first time in my 25 years as a blood donor, I felt truly embarrassed tonight as people started complaining that they "had better things to do than wait around all afternoon" and left without giving a donation. Worse still, they made a point of doing so with raised voices to the poor nurses who were clearly busy enough trying their best to reduce waiting times for the more patient among us.
Where the hell do these morons get off? Before the appointment system, it was perfectly acceptable to wait around for as long as it took, but now they can give an indication of when you might be donating, apparently it's supposed to be exact to the minute. Worse still, what is ever going to be achieved by shouting at the poor nurses? I'm pretty certain they all have places they would much rather be.
Please don't let any of this put you off though. I was less than an hour from getting out of the car to getting back in again, a pint of blood lighter (well, about 470ml actually); a small price to pay for the proud claim that it may save someones life. I make no apology for promoting this at any opportunity so please click on Billy's image below where you can find out more, or better still, see where the next session is near you...
3 comments:
Happy New Year Seany!
Cheers for that.
I've had a quick look and found several venues for me to attend over the next month. Time to give a pint back for a change.
Can you donate blood when you're "full of ale"?
For the record, there was a good 36 hour gap between any ale consumption and my blood donation.
Long gone are the days when they take my donations directly into an empty keg :o)
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