Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment and Canadian Blood Services is
partnering up to host Ontario’s biggest single blood donor clinic. The goal:
to collect 500 units of blood in one day. That means we need donations from
500 people. It’s happening at the ACC on Monday, June 20, from 10am-7pm.

Why? Because we need to raise awareness and educate. Despite the fact that
50% of the Canadian population can donate, only 3.7% do. In Toronto, only
1.8% donate. Toronto needs to import 50,000 units of blood a year to meet
the needs of patients in this region. So we need Torontonians to step up,
rally together and donate. Because let’s face it – the status of one’s
health can be unpredictable and you never know when you or someone you love
will need it.

Call 1-888-2-DONATE to book an appointment at The Big Save.

Here’s the link and our Facebook page:
www.blood.ca/thebigsave
www.facebook.com/CentralOntarioBlood

… Continue Reading

I finally managed to get my ass out of doors early enough this morning to walk instead of taking the streetcar, and I ran into a giant roadblock.

And that’s not even the worst of it. I initially woke up feeling a bit off  but I attributed that to a lack of sleep. By mid-day, I was suspecting the company pumpkin carving contest (we won!), had done me in. But at three o’clock, I excused myself and went home.

Now I’m panicking. Did I eat any pork recently? Oh my God! I had bacon for breakfast last Saturday! Islam and Judaism had it right all along!

If I’ve got the pork flu, it’s way too late for a vaccination. And one of my cubicle buddies had something unpleasant for the past few days; went down suddenly last night and never made it in this morning. :O

And *gasp* look at the lineups for H1N1 shots this morning!

(big!)

Oh, wait, that’s just the starting spot. I followed the line down the sidewalk at right. It made another tight snaking pattern into an adjacent courtyard in front of Metro Hall, and wound it’s way back out onto the sidewalk.

I took to the sidewalk again and walked to the end of the block, turned around, and started side-stepping in an ill-conceived attempt to montage the line:

(biger!)

In places where people aren’t obviously lined up, they’re just behind something. You can sometimes just make out their cute little heads poking up over bushes.

But most of them may be doomed because there are an awful lot people there and, according to some accounts, clinics are only managing about 20 per hour. People were being turned away in the hundreds yesterday because they hadn’t gotten in by the time the place closed. And, *chuckle*, people are not gonna be happy to hear that now there’s a shortage of the vaccine. Dopey bureaucracy may have killed us all.

It wouldn’t have made any difference for me. Whatever I’ve got has already made itself at home and a shot yesterday would’ve been too late.

All I have left now is a thermometer, electric heating blanket, and Oliver to apply pressure to the sore areas. Luckily I’d splurged recently and now have a healthy collection of tissue boxes (with soothing aloe!) to accompany these small comforts. Dear reader, the snot’s running wild and free tonight!