Today was my day for a platelet donation. It was also a day the Blood Center opens at 11 AM, so I got some little stuff done before heading out.

There were three other people donating platelets, and I recognized one of them for sure, and another sort of.

A little after 1 a state trooper came in. At first I thought he was just using the place for a pit stop, but he returned shortly and stripped down to his t-shirt (above the belt.) The adjacent "couch" held his duty belt, shirt, bullet-proof vest, and probably a couple of other things. He had never donated before and was trying to act cool. At that point there were three people donating one kind of blood or another that were DEFINITELY past 60. And female. Turns out a trooper from another unit needs blood donations and so the guys (and gals) have been asked to donate. He survived the procedure quite well. I was impressed with the attitude of the staff--the act of donating is no big deal, but it's okay to be a bit nervous. They were chatting with him the whole time and it was over fairly quickly. I hope he continues to donate--there are times when there is no substitute for blood.

With one thing and another I got home about 2ish. All the trash had been collected and I had a cat waiting for me. I had a bit of lunch, then a short sinking spell. I didn't think YK would be by today, and he wasn't, so I had a halfway decent nap.

I had "loaded" the ice chest with raccoon biscuits, and the critters came early. Five kids and Mama. They come right up on the top step, but scampered a safe distance when I open the door. They've learned where the food is going to land.

A bit later I found two of the kids on the front porch, eating the cat kibble. And Stripe was calmly sitting in one of the chairs. I guess I need to refill the cat kibble dishes.

Tomorrow I'll try again for the chiropractor appointment I didn't get to last week.