Good to the Last Drop
I feel great today. I was handed a project yesterday that I think will be a lot of fun. The client set the price, and it was a more than generous sum. So that's good. To fill in between the winds of fortune, I've begun to donate plasma. It's not as bad as it sounds, and while I don't enjoy the process while it's happening, I like the overall experience. Before they could tap a vein I had to answer lots of questions, mostly to assure them that my blood was not tainted with AIDS or hepatitus. I got to sit in a little room with a physician, while she asked me to answer yes or no about whether I was recently incarcerated or lived in various obscure countries, or ever had sex with a guy or gal that might have had AIDS, or with a gal who had sex with a guy in jail or if I had recently had sex for money, and on and on -- a surprising number of combinations of sexual situations! I wanted to say, "Are you kidding?" to the whole thing, but I dutifully answered. All of that was OK, but she wanted me to eat food and drink lots of water before I tried it, so I spent that day drinking big glasses of tap water. The next morning I made myself some eggs and toast, and soon I was "stuck" and the fluids were flowing out of and back into me. I'm a regular now, and there's a sort of charm and good humor about the folks there which I find enjoyable. The only thing I don't like is having to pump my hand at the required intervals. It's always been very easy for me to remain absolutely motionless for stretches of time, which I would prefer to do. I can read a book with my free hand, but I can't do my crossword puzzles of course. When I have the use of two hands, I often do them, and almost invariably come across the word "eke," which is defined in various creative ways, such as "donating plasma to make ends meet" (just kidding). All in all, it's sort of like using a very slow and somewhat uncomfortable ATM Machine, but I'm happy it's there and they've told me they need the plasma and appreciate it. They're welcome to it, as far as I'm concerned.