An Ongoing Mess

the baffling papple:

Summer sees both a drop off in donations and, at least for our trauma center, a spike in traumas. Trauma centers across the US are in danger of running out of blood for our trauma patients TODAY, which is very scary but, unlike much of the other scary national news coming across our screens these days, is something you can help fix immediately and directly.

Blood donation is relatively easy and provides an immediate impact to people in your community -- or even farther! The coolest thing the Red Cross does is tell you where your donations end up. My last donation got shipped from Utah all the way to the University of Philadelphia. (Enjoy my B+ vibes, Philly.)

Also, you get snacks and sometimes gift cards and free swag. If you squeeze a visit in by July 31, you can get a free Fandango movie ticket. (They're doing Hello Kitty swag in September and you bet your ass I already have appointments.)

If you're new to donating, some tips:

Drink plenty of water the night before and before your appointment. The more water, the more plump your veins are and the faster your goes.

Women often get deferred because of low iron levels. Over-the-counter iron supplements a few days before a donation will help boost your count, as will eating iron rich foods. (Cheerios are always my go-to iron boosters.) Don't schedule donations when you're menstruating.

If you are deferred for low iron or vital signs issues, you can try again within 24 hours.

If you've had a tattoo or piercing in the last three months, you will be deferred until a full three months have passed.

Don't donate on an empty stomach. Dehydration and low blood sugar contribution to fainting and dizzy spells.

After donating, don't exercise for 24 hours. You'll likely notice a dip in your tolerance for a few days after a donation as your system adjusts.

If you don't like needles, look away when they poke you and don't look at the donation site. They usually cover the needle during the donation process.

The initial poke does hurt, but the rest of the donation should be painless. If you feel burning, stinging, or any other abnormal sensation from the entry site, tell a phlebotomist and they'll help you out.

If you're like me and you have difficult veins, you can still give! Being hydrated, doing arm curls, and having an electrolyte drink can help plump your veins up. Ask for the most experienced phlebotomist on the floor to draw your blood. They're less likely to dig around or miss on a difficult vein.

While the majority of blood donations have zero issues, bad donations do happen. Sometimes it's a bad draw, an equipment issue, or your body just not cooperating; it sucks and it's not fun, but you'll usually come out of it with a bruise and know how you can make your experience better. Please don't give up because of one bad experience.

in 1999, an italian named giancarlo pasquini released a europop song under the alias dave rogers called Deja Vu. this song was picked up as the theme song for the above anime. it in turn became a meme, a shorthand for drifting and Cool Moves as a concept.

in 1983, air canada flight 143, a full sized 767, ran out of fuel halfway to edmonton, alberta. this is not something you want to have happen to a huge airplane. the flight chose to try and make an emergency landing at a nearby decomissioned airforce base (as they were falling fast and could not make it to a proper airport), where they ran into a second problem: they were falling out of the sky at 500 feet per mile, but reached gimli (the base in question) while still too high to safely land. normally a plane would just do a big loop-de-loop to lose altitude, but they had maybe three minutes of airtime left before they hit the ground: not enough time to make any kind of circle. the pilot, therefore, decided to execute a side slip to lose speed and altitude. this is Not a move you want to do with a massive 767, because airplanes are not built for that and if you screw it up that plane is hitting the ground at a high speed at a weird angle and breaking into a million pieces. nevertheless, the captain tried it... and succeeded. the plane landed perfectly, and there were no major injuries! (a couple of people did get minor injuries when evacuating the plane after.) he did it so well, in fact, that the plane was refueled, flown out of gimli a couple days later, and continued to fly for another 20 years with the nickname "Gimli Glider."

what is a side-slip, you ask?

it's drifting.

the guy goddamn drifted his 767.

in 2008, the tv show Mayday: Air Disaster featured the gimli glider with full reenactments as an episode on season five of their show.

and so, in conclusion, the thing i have been giggling to myself about all weekend:

men just love to run their fucking mouth about what women do or do not want without even once considering consulting any actual women on the matter

I was goalie so I didn't have to, because of the armour, but it's also why I refused to play any other position, or any other sport.

They did it to netballers and basketballers too, which was even worse bc their whole sport involves jumping.

edit: you guys are losing comment privelege + ive had an abortion so go suck my fat cock

This is because so many of us are carriers for tay-sachs, aka the incurable neurodegenerative disease that kills before age four.

I would also point out that requiring someone to have an acceptable reason for their abortion means that you are requiring them to disclose the reason for their abortion, no matter how personal and painful it is.

as long as you smile and nod, people are satisfied. it’s just to show that you are nice and there with good intentions. we’re small in a big world and have to rely on other people to be decent to us. so we do our little human dance to each other to say, “i’m not here to hurt you. here’s something we have in common, like the weather or sports or itchy sweaters, so we both know we’re on the same team. we both agree on a basic fact, like that it is rainy or that being itchy is uncomfortable, and this proves we can get along. i’m being light-hearted and non-threatening right now.”

small talk isn’t to get to know a person. it’s just a greeting to affirm you’re buddies in the universe.

Instead of a cutesie reference to film censorship it was an explicit statement of defiance of Maryland's criminalization gay sex, which was not repealed until 2002. This wasn't a guy saying "Oh they can't put what I do in the movies according to a completely voluntary industry code" he was saying "The State of Maryland wants to put me in jail for being gay and having gay sex."