2002-09-26 - 11:15 p.m.

Blood, Comics and Chess

Yesterday, amid the hubbub, I went to the Red Cross to give blood. It's been a long, LONG time since I've donated blood, maybe over twenty years.

Part of the reason that I haven't donated in the last few years is that I was under the impression you couldn't donate if you were diabetic. Actually, that isn't true. So long as your diabetes is under control, there should be no problem with donating. Until recently I couldn't make that claim, but for the last two weeks my blood sugar has been under 150, so it should be okay.

But what is motivating me to donate now? Protein Power has a chapter that talks about how many people have too much iron in their bodies, and people with insulin problems are especially prone to this syndrome. I'm pretty sure I have it, because I have these orange stains on my legs. I had no idea what they were, until my doctor told me that my body was sweating out iron, and it was staining my skin. Help! I'm rusting!

Luckily there is an easy way to lower your iron level - donate blood. So it helps them, and it helps me.

There was a chapter of the American Red Cross at a local strip mall, so I made an appointment and went there.

I know for sure that I haven't donated blood for a while because I don't remember the application process being anywhere near as detailed the last time I donated as it is now. There are all sorts of questions on the you have to fill out, mainly having to do with travel and sex. One of my favorites was "Have you paid anyone to have sex with you since 1977?" I was thinking of answering "Does dinner and a movie count?" But it doesn't pay to be a smart-ass while filling out official forms.

The thing that bothered me about this is that you could lie like a rug on the form, and they'd never know unless they tested every pint of blood.

The last thing they have you do, after you'd filled out the form, is answer a final question: "do you want us to use your blood?" The translation of this question is: "If you were lying to us on one of the previous questions, please don't let us make someone sick by using your blood." This last one is done using some arcane labeling system so nobody knows whether you answered yes or no until you are long gone.

It wasn't too bad an experience, but it took much longer than I thought: about an hour and a half. All of the forms definitely made the process longer.

One thing I was relieved about: I didn't faint. Back when I was regularly donating blood in high school and college, I used to faint roughly every other time I gave blood. I'd be sitting at the little table drinking my orange juice, and suddenly everything would get dark. Obviously I'm due to faint the NEXT time I give blood.

I'm not sure whether this had anything to do with how I felt today. This was just one of those days where I had a hard time putting all the pieces together. I had to put my chess column together, and it seemed to be going very slowly, and I was getting frustrated. Again, I don't think I was eating enough.

Finally I finished, and got the completed column into my editor at the paper.

A few days ago I had gotten a letter in the mail, talking about an auction that was going to be happening later today, and the main feature of it was a rather large collection of comics, about 15,000 pieces.

I was curious what the collection was, and since the auction was actually in Frown Town I decided to go check it out.

Even though it was in a part of town I was familiar with, it took me quite a while to find it. The auction site was in a grungy little warehouse that looked like it was a garage. Only a tiny sign saying "auction today" finally alerted me to where it was.

When I read about it, I was pretty sure that it was mainly a collection of crap from the 1990s and 1980s. There wouldn't be much point in auctioning off stuff like that. You'd be lucky if you could get someone to take the whole lot for three cents a book.

When I walked in and looked at it, I suppressed a groan. It actually wasn't a collection of crap. It looked to be mainly centered in the seventies and early eighties, but I don't think there were more than a few books printed prior to 1970.

I would have considered actually staying and making a few bids, but the people running the auction insisted on either a letter from a bank or a $200 deposit before they would let you register. That sort of turned me off. Also, I saw the other people examining the comics. They looked like mainly out-of-town dealers that I didn't recognize, except for one guy who I knew was a jerk. Did I really want to spend my evening battling these dorks for a bunch of comics that I wasn't THAT interested in? Do I really need to spend more money on comic back issues now? No, I do not. So I left.

Instead, I spent the rest of the evening playing in a small tournament at the Frown Town Chess Club. It was played at the time control of game in 20 minutes, and I don't tend to do well at fast time controls like that. I actually did okay, and most importantly I didn't feel that there was a cabbage in my skull instead of a brain. I did have a problem with the fast time control, but it wasn't anything I could handle, and I seemed to be able to blitz pretty well.

My first game was against Richard, the club president. It was one of our typical blowouts. I don't think he's won a rated game from me, ever. I won some material and then blitzed it out to a win.

My second game was more of a challenge. My opponent was a bearded fellow rated about 200 points below me that I'd never seen before. He played one of those faceless queen pawn openings, and I was definitely worse on about move twelve. However the tables turned and as the pieces came off I won one pawn, and then another. I was fearfully short of time when I missed a finesse that cost me a piece. I kept blitzing and the guy traded his extra piece off for my two pawns, even though he really didn't have to. The game was drawn shortly after that.

My last round game was against Bill, the veteran club player that I lost to in this entry. Playing black I won a pawn, but fell behind on the clock. I had an advantage, but it wasn't enough to win as we started blitzing. He time advantage evaporated, and when I looked up next both our flags were down, making the game a draw. Someone who'd been watching the game pointed out that his flag fell first. If I had noticed it, I would have won the game, but such things only count if one of the players themselves notices during the game.

Bill was the only player with two points going into the game, so he finished first with 2� while I tied for second with 2-1. Oh well.

However, I consider this result to be encouraging meaning that the low carb diet actually IS clearing up my foggy brain. Perhaps in the next couple weeks I'll give it a REAL test.