Already you’re confused.  Maybe you knew one of my challenges was to give blood.  Maybe you figured out I gave blood today based on the red and white sticker.  Maybe you even recognised me in the top left picture but you’re all still sat there thinking “What on earth is that middle picture meant to be?  Some kinda anemic pipe cleaner?  An albino Twilget?  Seriously what is that thing?”  That people, is my arm.

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Iarrived at Penkhull Church and filled out a form to say that I don’t have the aids/ put out for money.  Then Gingell, Baines and I sat and waited for our turn.  Gingell went first and once again it turned out she didn’t have couldn’t give blood.  Baines went next, then it was my turn.

After the nurse had pricked my finger my blood droplet raced to the bottom of the test tube in a bid to prove that my iron count was high enough to donate (I should hope so, I had a Frankie and Benny’s steak for breakfast).  She checked to make sure that I wouldn’t be flying any planes or mining any mines anytime soon and then it was time to donate.

I lay down on the bed, had my blood pressure taken and then they jabbed a needle in my arm.  Gingell came and kept me company and provided moral support (thanks).  Moral support along the lines of “Ooh look, it’s spurting everywhere” and “It’d be funny if you passed out.”  After I had been drained of a pint of unnecessary blood I got to sit up and everyone asked me if I was okay (I’m fine, I normally look this pale).  This was followed by a drink (lemon squash, very good), a biscuit (varied selection, TUC biscuits were particularly tasty), a sticker (see above) and one of those novelty bug things people used to have in their offices back in the nineties (there’s something odd about a furry blood drop).

While this has turned out well for me (I even get a free malaria test), completing a challenge has thrown the very structure of this blog into chaos, I’ve been forced to create a subpage called Completed Challenges.  I’ve put a link to it on the main Challenges page, hopefully I can start to fill it up sometime soon.

Be sure to have a read of Baines’ blog, she has written about the same experience (I never said I was original).