Blood

After seeing the title you may expect a bloody story related with murders or some very old vampire living among us. However, I am going to write about something perhaps less interesting but much more important in my humble opinion.
A few days ago, I was driving around in the nearest town to where I live and I saw a coach parked in front of the council. It was CTG's coach (CTG stands for Centro de Transfusión de Galicia). I was not very busy at the time so I decided to park my car and to make a good action. When I entered the coach, I realized that there weren't anybody inside but the doctor and two nurses. That was perfect because I didn't have to wait in order to make the donation.
The doctor asked me to enter in his tiny office and to answer some questions (always the same) about my health and life habits. When the doctor finished to check if I met all requirements, he sent me to talk with one of the nurses who made a little cut in one of my fingers and tested my blood to see if my level of iron in it was ok. Everything was fine with my iron, in fact, I should stay away from magnets (I am joking). After that, the donation started and it took me a while to fill the bag with my blood, almost 10 minutes. I drank a bottle of water during the process to recover the fluids my body was losing as soon as possible, and another one after finishing the donation. I also ate something.
In about half an hour of my time I made a blood donation. That is all I needed in order to help someone who needs it and, at the same time, I feel happy being able to help.

Groundhog day

Yesterday, I was watching the news on TV and they were talking about Groundhog day. I had heard about this day before but this year I decided to investigate a little bit to know more about this holiday in the United States and Canada on 2nd February.
There are several theories about its origin but where there is no doubt is about where is the largest celebration. This one takes place in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. It is a very popular tradition and now it is well-known in part because of a movie released in 1993 whose title was "Groundhog day" starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell.
The basic idea about this tradition depends on the behavior of a real groundhog called Punxsutawney Phil, the true weather forecaster if we believe its neighbors in Punxsutawney. Apparently, if the weather is cloudy when Phil goes out its burrow and it can't see its shadow, then it will go back to continue sleeping at home for at least six more week and that will be the time that winter-like weather will continue outside. On the contrary, if when Phil steps out his burrow the sun is shining in the sky (it can see its shadow on the ground) then winter is coming to an end soon.
I thought that we had strange ways to make weather forecasts using small rooster toys and saying that bad weather is coming when some body part is aching. However, I have changed my mind and now I think we are not strange people, we are just different. In my opinion, these traditions make TV weather forecasters more reliable and, believe me, I am not a big fan of them. Anyway, if you have a doubt, you can find a groundhog and ask it.