Donating blood

[magid]

I had had an appointment to give blood yesterday, but the drive was canceled due to an outbreak of measles. There don't seem to be any convenient drives for a while, but if I go to the donor center, conveniently located near work, I can give there. The catch is that apparently they don't do regular donations there, focusing instead on platelet donations and double red cell donations. They're new, I think; only a few places offer them. Because it's more (360 mL rather than the usual 220 mL of red blood cells), there are different rules: men must be at least 61 inches tall and weigh at least 150 pounds, while women have to be at least 65 inches tall and weigh at least 175 pounds. I hadn't known that given the same height and weight, a woman will (on average, yadda yadda) have less blood than a man, so the minimum requirements are higher to make sure there's enough blood. There's also a 16-week minimum wait before giving again.


Bonus track: Huh. Apparently I'm a quirkyalone.