rob vincent dot net

I gave blood yesterday, and it was my first time donating via apheresis instead of just giving whole blood. It was pretty fascinating..

WARNING: Don't click any of the links in this post if you're not into the sight of blood or medical equipment. They're photos of blood donation.

Apheresis is the process of drawing out blood, separating out the parts they want to keep (in this case red cells and platelets,) and returning the rest of it back to the donor along with some saline solution.

They tapped a vein with a line that, instead of leading to a normal blood bag, led to a machine that looked like nothing more than the bastard child of a Mr. Coffee and an ATM. The machine then drew blood as normal for a while.

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Then, the interesting bit.. it gave me this clear stuff back, reportedly my plasma and white cells, with a dash of saline added. It was a strange feeling, and I'm pretty sure I had the taste of plastic in the back of my mouth.

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It cycled like this, drawing and replacing, about four times. Apparently, this allowed me to basically donate double the good stuff I normally would have. It was a really interesting experience, and the blood bank people say it's the wave of the future.

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I took one last pic of the gadget when all was finished, because I am a nerd.

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I, for one, welcome our new robot vampire overlords.

Gentlemen... behold!

The burger dog!!!

You can't stop the grok, can't stop the grok

Swiped from Katie..

So, here's how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, etc).
2. Put it on shuffle.
3. Press play.
4. For every question type the song that's playing.
5. When you go to a new question press the next button.

Ready? GO!

Opening Credits:
Radiohead - Paranoid Android

Waking Up:
Insane Clown Posse, Twiztid, & Kottonmouth King - Pumpkin Carvers (Yeah, waking up in the morning is when I'm at my most homicidal...)

Falling In Love:
A piano arrangement of Pachelbel's Canon in D. (Really!)

Fight Song:
Art of Noise - Slip of the Tongue

Breaking Up:
REO Speedwagon - Wherever You're Goin' (It's Alright) (Pfft!)

Make-up:
Information Society - "Made to be Broken"

Life's Okay:
Cowboy Bebop - Knockin' on Heaven's Door Original Soundtrack - Time to know - Be waltz.mp3

Mental Breakdown:
Go Home Productions - PiLs, Thrills & Britneyache (HAHAHAHA, it fits...)

Driving:
The JAMs - King Boy's Dream

Flashback:
They Might Be Giants - Piece of Dirt

Happy Dance:
FFVIII Soundtrack - Nobuo Uematsu - Mods de Chocobo (What else??)

Regretting:
Information Society - Where Would I Be Without IBM?

Final Battle:
The Kleptones - 24 Hours - 1-08 - 1150 Closer To The Boxer (WTF?)

Death Scene:
Stone Temple Pilots - Silver Gun Superman (Hmmm..)

Make-Out Scene:
Don Henley - Everybody Knows (BAHAHAhahahaha..)

Ending Credits:
Mix Master Mike - Invisibl Skratch Skilz ("B-B-Bitch, it's curtains!" Hah!)

In case you or anyone you know is looking for a place in the Washington DC area, I'd like to point out that a great friend of mine who lives in a great place is looking for a roomie.

I'd totally go for it myself, were I willing to move to DC instead of just crashing there while doing the tourist thing.