Small Talk: 90 Words Per Minute

[mamadrama]

Re: my post about growing up and my dad hving an outhouse

This is my dad's house. I took the kids up there during Thanksgiving to show them. Nobody has lived in it for 10 years, and it looks like something out of HOARDERS, but here it is. The porch has been removed, but it otherwise looks a lot like it did when I was growing up.A bathroom was added in 1989 when I was 9. The only heat was from a wood burning stove. It was so dark in the mountains that we all slept with flashlights in case we needed the bathroom.

[Gobi]

1 minute ago, mamadrama said:

Re: my post about growing up and my dad hving an outhouse

This is my dad's house. I took the kids up there during Thanksgiving to show them. Nobody has lived in it for 10 years, and it looks like something out of HOARDERS, but here it is. The porch has been removed, but it otherwise looks a lot like it did when I was growing up.A bathroom was added in 1989 when I was 9. The only heat was from a wood burning stove. It was so dark in the mountains that we all slept with flashlights in case we needed the bathroom.

Needs a lick of paint.

[mamadrama]

5 minutes ago, Gobi said:

Needs a lick of paint.

And maybe some new steps. That would probably help. 😊

[blubld43]

47 minutes ago, mamadrama said:

Re: my post about growing up and my dad hving an outhouse

This is my dad's house. I took the kids up there during Thanksgiving to show them. Nobody has lived in it for 10 years, and it looks like something out of HOARDERS, but here it is. The porch has been removed, but it otherwise looks a lot like it did when I was growing up.A bathroom was added in 1989 when I was 9. The only heat was from a wood burning stove. It was so dark in the mountains that we all slept with flashlights in case we needed the bathroom.

Those photos remind me of Jeanette Walls' book, "The Glass Castle", when they lived in WV. Thanks for sharing.

[mamadrama]

5 minutes ago, blubld43 said:

Those photos remind me of Jeanette Walls' book, "The Glass Castle", when they lived in WV. Thanks for sharing.

When I read that book I cried because it felt like someone finally understood my life. She is amazing. (And the movie wasn't bad.)

[Rt66vintage]

22 minutes ago, blubld43 said:

Those photos remind me of Jeanette Walls' book, "The Glass Castle", when they lived in WV. Thanks for sharing.

That's one of my favorite books, thanks for the reminder. Currently reading Jackie Oh! by Kitty Kelley. 

[mamadrama]

9 hours ago, Frozendiva said:

I gave some advice to some young girls in their 20s when I was in my early 30s. They really had no plans for their lives - just work temp or whatever until Mr. Moneybags came along. They would then get the nice mansion and the lifestyle they felt they deserved/were entitled to. The life goal was to be a housewife.

I told them to get a marketable job skill - in case life threw a curveball or two - they couldn't rely on the millionaire. He could lose his job, get sick, dump them for someone else, be abusive, make them earn every cent they got, etc., or worse. To never prostitute yourself to him. Have a bank account of your own as an escape route.

For some, Mr. Moneybags (at least the kind and very generous man) never came along. They dodged a real bullet.

I think that's an excellent idea and it's something I tell my daughter, too. Never willingly put yourself in a situation in which you're dependent upon another person for your complete livelihood. I had a friend who was a nanny for a Pakistani couple and they wanted to take her on a vacation back to Pakistan with them. They were a lovely couple, she'd known them for a while, and she didn't have a lot of money. They were going to pay for everything and she'd be staying with their family while they were there. She and I got into a fight because I said I wouldn't do it. I told her that the idea was nice, who doesn't want someone paying all their expenses to go abroad, but they would've been in total control on that trip. If it had been me, and if I'd wanted to go, I would've thanked them for their offer but I would've purchased the airfare myself and would've held onto my ticket. I'm not super paranoid, but retaining SOME autonomy is good. 

In this couple that I referenced in the other post (you know, Grangela and Mukuhl), there have been some things written online about how the young woman has grand ideas of being a professional in the medical field. I believe there were some classes that were taken, or at least some that were signed up for in a community college kind of thing, but I got the impression that this was more along the lines of a fantasy. The general education of this person is not great. It wouldn't be up to the standards of most of the western world. I think that now that she is in a place with more stability, she feels like the world has opened up a bit more and now she wants to try things that weren't possibilities when she was younger. In that sense, I feel like she is more along the lines of Syngin and his smorgasbord of career options. It's like living your whole life being told "you can't do this", "we don't have money for that", "you can't be a (whatever)" and then suddenly you're faced with a future in which those things ARE possibilities so now you want to do them all.

[Mrs. Hanson]

@mamadrama, my younger son drove home from Virginia from his NASA internship in August and said WV was stunning.   Thank you for sharing the photos of the house.

[blubld43]

3 hours ago, Rt66vintage said:

That's one of my favorite books, thanks for the reminder. Currently reading Jackie Oh! by Kitty Kelley. 

That's almost spooky, I just downloaded that book, Jackie O, last night!

Now I want to re-read The Glass Castle. Very interesting to read your experiences @mamadrama!

[Mu Shu]

On 10/19/2019 at 9:11 AM, watchingtvaddict said:

GUYS! I live in Korea and looking for a new apartment and just found one where bidets are STANDARD!!! I get a bidet when I rent an apartment. Its a new build, too so no one has used the toilet before!!! Jihoon would be so happy! 

(I had to make the image small so apologies if it looks weird 😑)

You will be twenty one century people!

[JennyMominFL]

I lived in Cross Lanes WVa for a year when I was 10.. 1979-80

[mamadrama]

5 hours ago, Mu Shu said:

You will be twenty one century people!

With very clean anal. 

26 minutes ago, JennyMominFL said:

I lived in Cross Lanes WVa for a year when I was 10.. 1979-80

I don't actually live in WV. Right across the border for a long time (all our utilities came from out of there) but I've never lived there. 

[mamadrama]

Ha ha, now that I've shared a picture of Dad's house...Here's a view from our farm. I don't want you all to think that my life is basically trash heaps and rotten boards...

[Christina]

There is a Celebrity Christmas Party going down and Trashley and Tom are one of the celebrities. I don't know the others, at all, but I'm taking offense at the word celebrity being used here:

[HunterHunted]

1 hour ago, Christina said:

There is a Celebrity Christmas Party going down and Trashley and Tom are one of the celebrities. I don't know the others, at all, but I'm taking offense at the word celebrity being used here:

Angelina is from Jersey Shore. She was on the first 2 seasons and made guest appearances on the later season. She used to call herself the Kim Kardashian of the Jersey Shore, which prompted everyone to clown her.

Jennifer and Dolores are Real Housewives of New Jersey. Jennifer's husband is a plastic surgeon and they have an enormous tacky house in Paramus. Dolores lives with her boyfriend who is a doctor and her ex-husband who she co-owns a gym with. Her ex is a bodybuilder and recently disbarred attorney.

And Helen Hoey who lists Below Deck as her show is technically correct because she's been on Below Deck, a Bravo show about the crew of various super yachts. However, Helen is not a cast member of Below Deck. Helen and her husband paid $40K to charter the yacht for 3 days on season 6 and again on season 7. Below Deck guests get a 50% discount on the price of a charter. Helen makes lingerie and sexual aids. She sexually harassed the season 6 chef and tipped the season 7 chef with a pair of thong underwear with stimulating pearls. Season 7 Helen's friend Brandy was so drunk, high, and dehydrated that she started convulsing with alcohol poisoning almost as soon as she got on the yacht because the only water she'd had for a week was ice in her cocktails. Brandy was violently and dangerously ill for 2 of the 3 days of the charter. Helen and their other friends rolled their eyes. If the rest of these reality tv folks aren't truly famous and are wannabe celebrities, then Helen is a wannabe among wannabes.

[Frozendiva]

14 hours ago, mamadrama said:

I think that's an excellent idea and it's something I tell my daughter, too. Never willingly put yourself in a situation in which you're dependent upon another person for your complete livelihood. I had a friend who was a nanny for a Pakistani couple and they wanted to take her on a vacation back to Pakistan with them. They were a lovely couple, she'd known them for a while, and she didn't have a lot of money. They were going to pay for everything and she'd be staying with their family while they were there. She and I got into a fight because I said I wouldn't do it. I told her that the idea was nice, who doesn't want someone paying all their expenses to go abroad, but they would've been in total control on that trip. If it had been me, and if I'd wanted to go, I would've thanked them for their offer but I would've purchased the airfare myself and would've held onto my ticket. I'm not super paranoid, but retaining SOME autonomy is good. 

In this couple that I referenced in the other post (you know, Grangela and Mukuhl), there have been some things written online about how the young woman has grand ideas of being a professional in the medical field. I believe there were some classes that were taken, or at least some that were signed up for in a community college kind of thing, but I got the impression that this was more along the lines of a fantasy. The general education of this person is not great. It wouldn't be up to the standards of most of the western world. I think that now that she is in a place with more stability, she feels like the world has opened up a bit more and now she wants to try things that weren't possibilities when she was younger. In that sense, I feel like she is more along the lines of Syngin and his smorgasbord of career options. It's like living your whole life being told "you can't do this", "we don't have money for that", "you can't be a (whatever)" and then suddenly you're faced with a future in which those things ARE possibilities so now you want to do them all.

Do encourage your daughter to not rely on anyone for her livelihood. My cousin's neighbor was not encourage to work, has no education, and checked out of life to take care of he daddy for a decade when he had his heart attack. Maybe it seemed noble, maybe she thought he would die in a year or two. She found herself with no job skills, no education, no real work experience - at 45 years old. I was supposed to fix that. Sorry, girl. She wailed about finding herself a prince so she, at 45, would not have to face the horror of getting a job.

It can be a challenge to get your education up to international standards. Med school is not easy and you need really good grades for the first two years of your science degree to get in at that point, and it is a long, tough haul. Which you need support from everyone around you. It is a fantasy unless you do have the real support of your friends and family. It depends on how much you want it. As you get older, school and education is a third or lower priority in your life - you have a job, family, etc. and it is hard to find even 10 hours a week to do a part-time grad program. You do have more possibilities with a change in life circumstance, but it also depends on the variables in your life. Getting the academic English language skills if necessary, having the support of your spouse for your highest good, and making the effort to do so when faced with a lot of other distractions and commitments. Good for Mykull though.

[blubld43]

Dying laughing.

[RealReality]

On 12/10/2019 at 4:55 AM, mamadrama said:

Re: my post about growing up and my dad hving an outhouse

This is my dad's house. I took the kids up there during Thanksgiving to show them. Nobody has lived in it for 10 years, and it looks like something out of HOARDERS, but here it is. The porch has been removed, but it otherwise looks a lot like it did when I was growing up.A bathroom was added in 1989 when I was 9. The only heat was from a wood burning stove. It was so dark in the mountains that we all slept with flashlights in case we needed the bathroom.

That would go for about a million and a half in Berkeley.  LOL

Anyways, it looks like it was once a beautiful house....and it still has a haunting sort of charm set by those gloomy trees. 

[mamadrama]

18 hours ago, Frozendiva said:

It can be a challenge to get your education up to international standards. 

My husband has a BA and MA from the University of Wales and an MA from Oxford. None of those were sufficient enough for him to sign up as a substitute here in my state (despite our sub and teacher shortage). While you don't have to have a degree at ALL to be a sub, only a certain number of college credit hours in any subject, since none of his degrees were from American universities they didn't qualify. (The qualifications say you have to have X number of hours from an accredited American institution).  In order for him to be a sub here he has to pay a company around $1,000 to take his British degrees and more or less transfer them over to the American system. Meanwhile, a girl down the road is a substitute teacher and all she has are 15 hours from an online for-profit school that was eventually closed down for offering fraudulent diplomas. 

Ironically, he did get a job teaching Anthropology at one of our state's biggest universities. So he can teach college-level courses, he just can't fill in for half a day at our daughter's elementary school. 

[Mrs. Hanson]

On 12/10/2019 at 11:05 PM, Frozendiva said:

Do encourage your daughter to not rely on anyone for her livelihood.

Come sit with me.  I only have sons and yes I encourage their studies but if I did have a daughter I would have DRUMMED it into her head that no, you can't get married at 19 with no marketable skills - nursing, teaching, pipe fitter, electrician, cosmetologist*.....SOMETHING!  My kids were taught, from a young age so it would not be a surprise, that when you graduate high school (and that was not a choice, lol) you WILL go to college, go to community college, attend a trade/technical school. work full time, work part time and attend school or join the military or you can move out.  I was NOT having an unemployed person sleeping in until 2pm and not being engaged in SOMETHING meaningful.  And I tossed in:  "Don't bother doing nothing and living with either grandma.  They won't have it either."  

*= I had my makeup and hair done recently for a wedding - $30 for the hair and $80 for the makeup!  That is serious money, especially the makeup.  Not a bad career choice!

Edited December 12, 2019 by Mrs. Hanson

[blubld43]

11 hours ago, Mrs. Hanson said:

*= I had my makeup and hair done recently for a wedding - $30 for the hair and $80 for the makeup!  That is serious money, especially the makeup.  Not a bad career choice!

Same, in September! The makeup was 75 plus 10 tip, and they did the entire bridal party, bride, mom of bride, etc. Very profitable Saturday!

The hair was more though, that was 75 as well.

[watchingtvaddict]

1 hour ago, blubld43 said:

Same, in September! The makeup was 75 plus 10 tip, and they did the entire bridal party, bride, mom of bride, etc. Very profitable Saturday!

The hair was more though, that was 75 as well.

That’s so cheap for hair! I spend a minimum of 80 every time I go to the salon. I don’t know what it would be if I ever had an event. When I get hair treatments I spend around 200... my husband and coworkers are always stunned when I tell them how much hair costs for women. 

[RealReality]

On 12/10/2019 at 5:34 PM, Christina said:

There is a Celebrity Christmas Party going down and Trashley and Tom are one of the celebrities. I don't know the others, at all, but I'm taking offense at the word celebrity being used here:

LOL, when the guy who got kicked off BIP for fighting over a pinata is your headliner.  Also, one of these people is a children's book author.. .what is she doing there?!?! LOL

[Mrs. Hanson]

34 minutes ago, watchingtvaddict said:

That’s so cheap for hair! I spend a minimum of 80 every time I go to the salon. I don’t know what it would be if I ever had an event. When I get hair treatments I spend around 200... my husband and coworkers are always stunned when I tell them how much hair costs for women. 

I don't want to get too off topic but I go to a cosmetology school.  Color and highlights - $50.  A salon would be well north of $100 plus tipping.  My $30 special event hair was a wash, blowout and curling it.  I love having my hair done!!!

[mamadrama]

53 minutes ago, Mrs. Hanson said:

I don't want to get too off topic but I go to a cosmetology school.  Color and highlights - $50.  A salon would be well north of $100 plus tipping.  My $30 special event hair was a wash, blowout and curling it.  I love having my hair done!!!

Same. I pay $55 for my coloring (bleaching), cut, shampoo, and style. I don't think I've ever paid over $60 for hair stuff. 

[Christina]

For all of your Christmas gift giving - from Reddit I'm not sure if the circled person is clear, but it's Jesse!

Also, as poorly as Anna is coming off online in general, her honey products are getting rave reviews. Personally, I think they, like everyone else on this season, is acting for airtime and don't think she's as bad as she is coming across. I hope I'm right for the kids' sake, but won't be too surprised if I'm not.

Beauty and the Bees Honey

[mamadrama]

1 hour ago, Christina said:

For all of your Christmas gift giving - from Reddit I'm not sure if the circled person is clear, but it's Jesse!

Also, as poorly as Anna is coming off online in general, her honey products are getting rave reviews. Personally, I think they, like everyone else on this season, is acting for airtime and don't think she's as bad as she is coming across. I hope I'm right for the kids' sake, but won't be too surprised if I'm not.

Beauty and the Bees Honey

I don't give her a pass even if she IS acting. There's not enough publicity in the world, and my livelihood depends on my publicity, to get me to pretend that my kids' existence needs to be hidden. 

[RealReality]

6 hours ago, mamadrama said:

I don't give her a pass even if she IS acting. There's not enough publicity in the world, and my livelihood depends on my publicity, to get me to pretend that my kids' existence needs to be hidden. 

I agree.  There is plenty of honey out there, so if I have a yen for fancy honey I'm sure I can find another retailer who doesn't need to publicly demean and embarrass their kids as part of an overarching sales strategy.  

Is a cameo from Pauly shore only double the price of one from Jesse?  This pricing structure is strange.  And LOL @ paying $600 for Chris Harrison?  Maybe Keith Morrison!

[Christina]

When I first heard about this new TLC show (Hot and Heavy slated to begin January 7) it was in a post on FB about how horrible TLC is to embarrass people and promote obesity. That person received a ton of responses for watching 90DF and Real Housewives. I didn't actually think it was real because I thought they would be promoting it, but found it on TLC's IG account

Does anyone remember the very short lived show, which I think was on TLC but may have been WeTV or Bravo, about older women and much younger men? It played out it's short episode run because there was too many obviously fake couples and the realest one was a woman who was only about fifteen years older and in her 40s. so the only real relationship just wasn't trashy enough. The background on all those couples came out pretty quickly and nearly all of them were wannabe actors who were after their 15 minutes of fame.

I expect this will be the same. Not trashy fun, just a bunch of people put in situations to be laughed at and hurt. Like sMothered, I suspect the initial reviews were not great and that's why they are burning it off without much advertisement. In my opinion, the ads for sMothered is what hurt that show. They were so obnoxious with one woman screeching constantly. People who watched it all seemed to like it, they just didn't have many viewers. 

[Drogo]

Small Talk isn't a topic for discussing the show. Take further show/cast discussion to the appropriate thread.

[blubld43]

Dying laughing over this

[RealReality]

@Floatingbison - hey, I didn't get to respond to you before the live chat closed.  I buy plain pysillium husk and I definately put it in a glass of Crystal light.  Its hard to drink in plain water (for me).  It also comes in capsules but I've never tried it and I think it's more expensive.

[Christina]

I'm not gonna lie. I have never watched any Kardashian (I didn't even know there were four kids) show but would watch this if it was real. The family needs an au pair or maid, right? Sister wife? 

[Christina]

I hope this loads in the window, but if it doesn't, and I won't know until I submit it, click on the box to go to Reddit where someone took a few minutes of their day to create an awesome digital Happy Holidays card. It might autoplay. 

 

[blubld43]

29 minutes ago, Christina said:

I hope this loads in the window, but if it doesn't, and I won't know until I submit it, click on the box to go to Reddit where someone took a few minutes of their day to create an awesome digital Happy Holidays card. It might autoplay. 

 

Omg that's hilarious! Darcy dancing away, wearing her cry face the whole time, I am dying!

[Gobi]

"Merry Cthulhumas and Happy Nyarlathotep Eve!" Mike.

[Christina]

On 12/19/2019 at 8:05 AM, blubld43 said:

Omg that's hilarious! Darcy dancing away, wearing her cry face the whole time, I am dying!

That was my favorite part, too. Just killer.

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 12/14/2019 at 7:48 AM, blubld43 said:

Dying laughing over this

"Everytime" isn't a word. 

[Baltimore Betty]

On 12/10/2019 at 6:22 PM, mamadrama said:

Ha ha, now that I've shared a picture of Dad's house...Here's a view from our farm. I don't want you all to think that my life is basically trash heaps and rotten boards...

I am so jealous!  The farm where I ride has trails to ride with amazing views, I'd give anything to wake up each day with a view like that, I only get it in small doses.

[Frozendiva]

Looking forward to some prime birthday snark tonight.

[JennyMominFL]

Some saw this in the live thread but I did not want to go OT  and say more. I got to meet Nicko McBrain from Iron Maiden and have dinner with him. He is the friend of a friend. My friend Frazer Hines, a British actor who was a companion on Doctor Who and many other things, is a member of the entertainment society the Grand Order of the Water Rats. Nicko is also a member so they have been friends for years.

Below is a photo that includes Frazer and Nicko. Frazer is on one end, my husband on the other

Yes I am wearing a cold shoulder!

Edited December 30, 2019 by JennyMominFL

[RealReality]

10 hours ago, JennyMominFL said:

Some saw this in the live thread but I did not want to go OT  and say more. I got to meet Nicko McBrain from Iron Maiden and have dinner with him. He is the friend of a friend. My friend Frazer Hines, a British actor who was a companion on Doctor Who and many other things, is a member of the entertainment society the Grand Order of the Water Rats. Nicko is also a member so they have been friends for years.

Below is a photo that includes Frazer and Nicko. Frazer is on one end, my husband on the other

Yes I am wearing a cold shoulder!

Looks like you had great fun!  Tiffany may have worn it first, but you wore it better!

[Mrs. Hanson]

@mamadrama - I believe two of the tho most beautiful places in the United States are upper New York state and West Virginia.   And Iive in Minnesota, which has some of the craziest most beautiful sunsets and lakes, ever, so.....yes that is a statement!!!

[Maybeitsme]

I gotta tell you all about this Spotify,  it’s amazing and free! Well you can pay if you want, but my son showed me last night and you can pick and choose anything from anytime and make your own playlist. I’ve been playing music full blast while cleaning up/ taking Christmas decorations down today 

not gonna lie I don’t feel 24 but I cleaned up like back in the day and to the same music.  Only I didn’t use an album cover as dust pan 😁

[TwirlyGirly]

Nevermind. Wrong topic!

Edited January 1, 2020 by TwirlyGirly

[watchingtvaddict]

Happy New Year from Korea everyone! 

[blubld43]

10 hours ago, watchingtvaddict said:

Happy New Year from Korea everyone! 

Happy New Year! May the snark be rich, and the couples be dumpster fires!

[Christina]

Well, my 2020 is starting off horribly. I have two autoimmune disorders that like to set each other off, and ended up being admitted to the hospital when my red blood count dropped really low and my white blood count skyrocketed. This is typically only for three to five days and my system resets itself. This time, however, a new resident decided I had a condition that I don't have and gave me a medicine that didn't play well with the others. So, I had to be transported to a hospital in Columbus, Ohio, because the local hospital didn't have the ability to treat me. 

I wanted to go to Nationwide Children's Hospital to see Dr. Tsao but I'm not a child and I don't have muscular dystrophy, so that was a no go. What a blow I was dealt. 😢 

Now on to my soapbox. One of the reasons I needed to be transported is because the local hospital could not get enough blood to give me a blood product. By the time the blood could be received from a bank and turned into the medicine, it could very well been too late. The local hospital also could not take a direct donation for some reason, which sounded like they needed to be a certain level trauma center or have certain accreditation they didn't have since they usually transferred people who needed that type of care. 

When I was fourteen and my sister was sixteen, one of her friends was seriously injured in a car accident and required blood. Going against her was that her family were Jehovah's Witnesses and did not consent to the transfusion and everyone was military causing an even bigger shortage of possible donors because travel to certain areas excluded you from eligibility since the prion that causes mad cow disease can lay dormant for many years. From that experience, I donated regularly as soon as I could and had received my two-gallon pin shortly before becoming too anemic to donate any longer. My sister is over five gallons to date. 

Here in the US, the requirements are:

Quote

To give blood you must:

• Be in general good health.
• Be at least 17 years old. (If you are 16 you can donate with a CBC consent form signed by your parent). There is no upper age limit as long as you have no health restrictions.
• Be at least 5' 4" tall and weigh at least 110 pounds. If you are under 5' 4" you will need to weigh more than 110 pounds to safely donate.
• Have a photo ID. (It's helpful to also have your CBC Donor ID card).
• Before donating you should:
• Get a good night's sleep.
• Eat a nourishing meal.
• Drink plenty of fluids.

You may not be allowed to give blood if, 

• Hepatitis after age 11.
• IV drug use (even one time).
• Anyone with symptoms or laboratory evidence of AIDS or who are considered to have an increased risk for contracting AIDS.
• Malaria (permanent deferral).
• Anyone who has spent more than three months in the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Channel Islands or Isle of Man, Gibraltar, or the Falkland Islands) from 1980 through 1996, or who have received beef insulin since 1980.
• Since 1980, anyone who has spent five or more years in Europe (including the U.K.).
• Anyone who has spent six months or more associated with military bases in Europe from 1980 through 1996.

There are also temporary reason why you may not be able to donate, and can be found here.

My mother, sister, son and I are all O-, which allows them to give me a direct donation when needed, so I'm quite blessed on that front. Except, we never know when that will be and with the exception of Mom, they give routinely. 

Under the spoiler tab, used to save room on the page, is 56 facts about giving blood, including these:

Quote

• 5 million Americans will a need blood transfusion each year.
• Someone needs blood every two seconds.
• Only 37 percent of the U.S. population is eligible to donate blood - less than 10 percent do annually.**
• About one in seven people entering a hospital need blood.
• One pint of blood can save up to three lives
• If all blood donors gave three times a year, blood shortages would be a rare event. (The current average is about two.).
• If only one more percent of all Americans would give blood, blood shortages would disappear for the foreseeable future.

The rest are under this tab

Spoiler

Blood Facts

It’s a fact… you must wait 56 days between whole blood donations. Now here are 56 other facts about giving blood:

1. 4.5 million Americans will a need blood transfusion each year.
2. 43,000 pints: amount of donated blood used each day in the U.S. and Canada.
3. Someone needs blood every two seconds.
4. Only 37 percent of the U.S. population is eligible to donate blood - less than 10 percent do annually.**
5. About one in seven people entering a hospital need blood.
6. One pint of blood can save up to three lives.
7. Healthy adults who are at least 17 years old, and at least 110 pounds may donate about a pint of blood - the most common form of donation - every 56 days, or every two months. Females receive 53 percent of blood transfusions; males receive 47 percent.
8. 94 percent of blood donors are registered voters.
9. Four main red blood cell types: A, B, AB and O. Each can be positive or negative for the Rh factor. AB is the universal recipient; O negative is the universal donor of red blood cells.
10. Dr. Karl Landsteiner first identified the major human blood groups - A, B, AB and O - in 1901.
11. One unit of blood can be separated into several components: red blood cells, plasma, platelets and cryoprecipitate.
12. Red blood cells carry oxygen to the body's organs and tissues.
13. Red blood cells live about 120 days in the circulatory system.
14. Platelets promote blood clotting and give those with leukemia and other cancers a chance to live.
15. Plasma is a pale yellow mixture of water, proteins and salts.
16. Plasma, which is 90 percent water, makes up 55 percent of blood volume.
17. Healthy bone marrow makes a constant supply of red cells, plasma and platelets.
18. Blood or plasma that comes from people who have been paid for it cannot be used to human transfusion.
19. Granulocytes, a type of white blood cell, roll along blood vessel walls in search of bacteria to engulf and destroy.
20. White cells are the body's primary defense against infection.
21. Apheresis is a special kind of blood donation that allows a donor to give specific blood components, such as platelets.
22. Forty-two days: how long most donated red blood cells can be stored.
23. Five days: how long most donated platelets can be stored.
24. One year: how long frozen plasma can be stored.
25. Much of today's medical care depends on a steady supply of blood from healthy donors.
26. Three pints: the average whole blood and red blood cell transfusion.*
27. Children being treated for cancer, premature infants and children having heart surgery need blood and platelets from donors of all types, especially type O.
28. Anemic patients need blood transfusions to increase their red blood cell levels.
29. Cancer, transplant and trauma patients, and patients undergoing open-heart surgery may require platelet transfusions to survive.
30. Sickle cell disease is an inherited disease that affects more than 80,000 people in the United States, 98 percent of whom are of African descent.
31. Many patients with severe sickle cell disease receive blood transfusions every month.
32. A patient could be forced to pass up a lifesaving organ, if compatible blood is not available to support the transplant.
33. Thirteen tests (11 for infectious diseases) are performed on each unit of donated blood.
34. Seventeen percent of non-donors cite "never thought about it" as the main reason for not giving, while 15 percent say they're too busy.
35. The number one reason blood donors say they give is because they "want to help others."
36. Shortages of all blood types happen during the summer and winter holidays.
37. Blood centers often run short of types O and B red blood cells.
38. The rarest blood type is the one not on the shelf when it's needed by a patient.
39. There is no substitute for human blood.
40. If all blood donors gave three times a year, blood shortages would be a rare event. (The current average is about two.).
41. If only one more percent of all Americans would give blood, blood shortages would disappear for the foreseeable future.
42. 46.5 gallons: amount of blood you could donate if you begin at age 17 and donate every 56 days until you reach 79 years old.
43. Four easy steps to donate blood: medical history, quick physical, donation and snacks.
44. The actual blood donation usually takes about 10 minutes. The entire process - from the time you sign in to the time you leave - takes about an hour.
45. After donating blood, you replace the fluid in hours and the red blood cells within four weeks. It takes eight weeks to restore the iron lost after donating.
46. You cannot get AIDS or any other infectious disease by donating blood.
47. 10 pints: amount of blood in the body of an average adult.
48. One unit of whole blood is roughly the equivalent of one pint.
49. Blood makes up about seven percent of your body's weight.
50. A newborn baby has about one cup of blood in his body.
51. Giving blood will not decrease your strength.
52. Any company, community organization, place of worship or individual may contact their local community blood center to host a blood drive.
53. Blood drives hosted by companies, schools, places of worship and civic organizations supply roughly half of all blood donations across the U.S.
54. People who donate blood are volunteers and are not paid for their donation.
55. 500,000: the number of Americans who donated blood in the days following the September 11 attacks.
56. Blood donation. It's about an hour of your time. It's About Life.

*Source: The 2007 Nationwide Blood Collection and Utilization Survey Report, Department of Health & Human Services.
**W Riley, et al. The United States' potential blood donor pool: estimating the prevalence of donor-exclusion factors on the pool of potential donors. Transfusion 2007.

There are reasons that people choose to not donate, such as religion and political and I have no desire to tell them they are wrong for doing so. During a time period when heterosexual women were the fastest growing demographic to acquire HIV, gay men were excluded from donation, including direct donation at the agreement of the recipient, because they were considered too high risk. As far as I know that is still a restriction for donation. That restriction, along with a lifetime restriction for anyone who admits to have been or used a sex worker in their lifetime, has caused some people to write the American Red Cross off until they catch up to medical science when it comes to their exclusion policies. 

For those who can give blood and have no religious or personal reasons for not doing so, I'm standing on my soapbox to encourage you to do so. The website linked above has the studies showing the potential donor-exclusion factors on the pool of potential donors, and it does look like they are facing the fact the exclusions may be overkill. It doesn't sound like anything has changed, however. 

Blood donation is one of those things that people know about peripherally, but it doesn't really resonate with them until someone close is affected by the need. 

Steps off soapbox to take a nap. Ten days in the hospital and I feel like I haven't slept in a month. Goodness, it's exhausting.

 

[Frozendiva]

Thanks for the information!

Canadian rules are similar. Because I spent time in the UK during those years, I am ineligible to donate.

[Drogo]

Love you guys- be good to your new moderator. :)