Give blood. Save lives. (Get burgers.)

Join us this Thursday in Grand Central Terminal for one of the greatest blood drives in New York. In Vanderbilt... http://t.co/HQRfkkxoEX

— NY Blood Center (@NYBloodCenter) April 12, 2015

Some people carbo load for running marathons. I have to broccoli, beef, and kale-load to give blood. You read about what happened when I tried to buy beef and broccoli to eat this week. Luckily my purchase of kale salads was much more uneventful.1 of these bowls can last 2 days. There's a LOT of chopped kale in there.

Then, of course, I scratched my arms all to heck while I was trying to pull down climbing hops at the office.

(These, but after drying up and being dead vines all through the winter. They scratch when dried out.)

Please note how you can see my blue veins in that above picture.

I had a 7pm appointment and at that hour the rush was over.

Those chairs shouldn't be empty.

But it was good for me. I had lots of techs helping out.

And I needed them.

Also, to note, Grand Central does not photograph well on my iTouch.

As you can see from my finger-prick, I'm a bleeder. I thought there wasn't going to be an issue.

Before:

During:

FINALLY

My poor techs felt bad about how much they had to dig for a vein. It's the same arm I usually use, but it took two different techs to finally find a vein. And what seems like 7 minutes of poking around. They kept apologizing. I kept looking in the opposite direction and breathing deeply. It didn't "hurt," it was just super uncomfortable, especially with how high they had the pressure cuff on. You shouldn't have tingly fingers. Just saying.

Once a line was found, everything went quickly. (And with no bruises, surprisingly.) And then, look at all the snacks! They were great.

But, with 3 bottles of cranberry juice and 2 bags of popchips. ... I over did it.

I KNOW!

I knew I was getting a burger on the way home, but I felt like I was starving ... until I wasn't.

Usually after I give blood, I wanna eat a cow, but this time I ate too many chips to finish my

 @shakeshack SmokeShack. Which was a shame.

I think I need to get another burger. Even cold, the next day, for lunch, it was good, but it's better with ShackSauce dripping down your arm or using fries to clean it up.

Yummmm.


SmokeShack:
Cheeseburger topped with applewood smoked bacon, cherry peppers, and ShakeSauce 

Soon.

Anyway, give blood. Save lives.
Don't do it for the ShakeShack.

But it's as good a reason as any.

This post was NOT brought to you by ShakeShack. But it should have been.

Retroblogging: Island Hopping August 2013

It only took a year, but I finally got to go to Island Burgers in Hell's Kitchen. It was also the only "real" Island Hopping that I managed to do this summer - despite having a long list that carried over from last year. (And now will carry over until NEXT year.)

In mid-August, Cynthia and I mourned the conclusion of "our" summer (we're on an academic calendar) by heading down to Island Burgers for a leisurely dinner and lots of catching up.

The burgers may seem pricey ($12+), but they are delicious. If you, like me, are off of ground beef, all of the burgers can be substituted with grilled chicken sandwiches (churascos). I was so full - I had to work it all off by walking across town to the train, and even then, I didn't need food until lunch the next day.

 Me: BOURBON STREET – blackened, bacon, jack, bayou mayo, sautéed onions on sourdough*

Cynthia: HIPPO – curried sour cream, bacon, cheddar, guacamole, sautéed onions, scallions on pita

 Both: ONION RINGS

* I always have to ask, there was no Bourbon in the recipe.
Also, the Jack? It was pepper jack cheese. I sometimes need to check it's not  Jack Daniel's.