So I am in line at the deli counter …they are a bit backed up….

The deli dude takes my order, and begins slicing meat for me.

Next deli dude comes up and asks “who’s next”?

Behind me is a chick, about 22 years old, 5’6 maybe a 125 lbs, blonde….she is wearing either a short tee shirt or a long crop top, (white) and her…say 34 C …bra (pink) is peeking out from under. She is fairly toned and fit. Wearing short short shorts (tattered and faded denim) with her panties (pink) are peeking out the top of the shorts and the worn parts on her backside. She is wearing 6″ platform heels (Pink) with sparkly straps. Legs  are toned as well as her midriff. Holding a pink sparkly phone with a black leather purse with sparkly clasp…

The deli dude asks again. “Who’s next”?

I pointed “That would be Tiffani here”

“How did you know my name was Tiffani?” She smiled at me…

“It was either that, or Diamond” I replied.

Dude behind her broke up.

“I don’t get the joke” she said with a frown.

“Coulda been Jasmine” he said. I shook my head…”Tiffani with an I and heart over the I” I said.

She still didn’t get it.

He explained…. I was right.

She was pissed. Didn’t find it funny.,..At. All.

Nothing like dressing the part.

When it comes to marriage.

Simply a contract rand recording the fact that two (or more?) people are married …

Like this.

Nothing else.

Whoda thunk that ALABAMA of all places would be so “progressive” ?

I mean…Alabama…..Bible belt and all that. But really, the bill is pretty close to what I think should be the State’s entire involvement….just a recording of the fact that the parties are engaged in a marriage- like relationship. No other involvement. inheritance and next of kin and all that Just the legalities as to

So I go (again) to give a directed donation of a pint of blood for a young man my niece goes to school with who is a cancer patient.

Gotta drive to the Hospital where he is being treated , which is 50 miles away.

No big deal.

I get there, along with my brother and dad (giving blood has always been a family thing….we have competitions as to who can give the fastest (slowest buys lunch) and such folderol, but hey, it makes the donation fun….)

Anyway, we get there, fill out the requisite forms, give them to the phlebotomists, they do the requisite finger stick and then it is time.

Now, the phlebotomist I had today was a know it all. SHE was the expert…I suggested one vein in my arm, but she knew better. Ok, hey, just stick me.

Now, I’ve given just under 10 gallons at blood drives over the years….. I generally know by now what works and what doesn’t….I mean, really I know which veins flow well (and which ones don’t) and how my blood reacts when entering the needles and such.

As I said to the lady who reviewed my paperwork…”This ain’t my first Rodeo”

But I know nothing when it comes to giving blood. Not a bit. I’m not a trained phlebotomist.

Nope. really, since I am untrained, I know nothing.

Ask the woman who attempted to draw the pint of blood. She is the expert.

So, she sticks me and the flow is poor. Moves the needle, and no improvement. no surprise there, the vein, while easily visible, is only slightly larger than the needle.

Goes to the OTHER ARM, where, since I had just given a blood sample the previous week there, couldn’t use the big vein in the crook of my elbow (why she wouldn’t use that BIG vein in my left arm to begin with I don’t know). so she chose the same small vein higher up on the right arm. Which, if you cut it in half with a dull knife, wouldn’t bleed much or for long little tiny vein . …. But she knows best…..

Was flowing freely for about 3 minutes and was about half done…bag half full. say 250 ml’s maybe a bit more (full bag is a half liter) She decides to re-position the needle. I suggested that there was no hurry as I would have to wait for my dad and brother anyway and that moving the needle might well make the flow be reduced, not increased, as THAT vein was pretty small and the current flow was about max….besides, I clot fairly easily and quickly, and if she stopped the flow my blood would clot almost instantly in the needle. I know this, since it has happened before. (It ain’t my first Rodeo) You can stab me with a fork and I stop bleeding almost as soon as you withdraw the eating utensil from my skin. I clot like Wolverine.

She’s the “expert”…a “trained phelbotomist”. Knows better. so she moved the needle, flow stopped and my blood clogged the tubes.

Half a bag full. No more. Full.Stop…. We.Are.Done.

Can’t try again. Period. Policy, you know….

Policy is that all that blood, 250+ cc’s of blood gets thrown out. . And 2 hours of my time….wasted.

The kid doesn’t get that sorely needed 500ml’s of blood, and I can’t try again for at least 60 days.

Jesus, I hate experts.

Especially “trained” experts.

Because it would be as effective, really.

National Gun Violence Day

I mean, really, all the marches, all the rallies, all the Vigils, etc won’t make a single bit of difference.

It isn’t the guns that are killing people.

It is other people killing people.

In Chicago, where this originated, it was, specifically, black people killing other black people.

Vigils won’t change that. Orange shirts won’t change that.

Unless and until people start calling the police and testifying and working with police to change the neighborhoods, it ain’t gonna change.

Name names, not “Sumdood”….”I dint see nuffin”

Orange Shirts on one day are a waste of time.

But, like other Liberal Symbols, it make some people feel good….even if it is pointless.

It won’t mean diddly to the people who are the problem….Won’t affect them, won’t change them, and all those shirts won’t save a single life….The people that are the problem aren’t listening.

And unless we get rid of Nationalized Health Care, and go back to Private Insurance,  it’ll get worse and the system goes broke because so many aren’t paying at all….

Last year the Royal College of Surgeons warned that elderly people are being denied life-saving operations because of age discrimination within the NHS.

Britain’s model of Free Health Care is a shining example of why Socialism Doesn’t Work….. Canada’s is about 15 years behind them, and how long will it take us to catch up?