Weird places you frequent, and why

[Khan]

Since I'm heavier, I think they pay me $25 for the first donation in a week and $30 for the second, or something like that. I don't really do it for the money. They change the pay structure pretty frequently. I haven't been in a while because I got busy with work and school.

So I meant to ask, is my plasma really going anywhere useful?

Also, is it safe? It seems to be but there's also a bunch of semi-seedy characters that come in to give, so it feels a little weird. Also, nobody else I know does it for extra cash, but it seems a pretty easy way to earn some.

2Cor521

It's safe as long as they use clean needles. I sold plasma years ago. Now I donate blood.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

So I meant to ask, is my plasma really going anywhere useful?

Donating is safe (unless the guy in the next chair mugs you on the way home). The plasma is used for extraction of antibodies (gamma globulin type stuff), albumin, and other blood products. All that stuff is screened for hepatitis, AIDS, etc. before being sterilized and distributed.

 

[justin]

Wait a sec, $55/wk for giving away a little plasma? $55 x 52 x 2 = $5720 per year (if DW does it too). This might be a good FIRE supplement

After researching it, it sounds like work at 1.5 hours per donation session.

 

[Elderdude]

www.columbuswashboard.com/festival.htm

In the picture, I'm the guy with the large tie and washtub bass at the far right. Logan is a beautiful little town, nestled in the Hocking Hills. Our band has been hired to play there for five out of the six years the festival has been running. We are one of only a few wonderful groups who perform there including the Juggarnauts from Kentucky, a group out of Cincinati, The Buffalo Ridge Jazz Band, and a plethora of washboard players from all over the world. The festival is free and family oriented. Not much in the way of hotel/motel accomodations but lots of B and B's, vacation cabins, and camp sites but if you want to attend the three day festival, June 15th thru the 17th, for more than a day make reservations soon.

 

[wildcat]

Where Drives through the country in the Deep South.

Why Some of those places look like they haven't been touched since the Civil War, almost appear to have been forgotten in time. Kind of a unique experience when you regularly see the advances of modern day life.

 

[donheff]

Where: Congressional Cemetery approximately 3 times a week

Why: It is supported by dog owners who can let their dogs run off the leash

 

[tangomonster]

Where: a Korean supermarket (I'm not Korean)

Why: cheap produce
great food court (all Korean booths)
supplies for Asian cooking
interesting people shop there

 

[Dreamer]

Elderdude,

You sure have brought back some memories. We used to live in Columbus OH and we rode our motorcycle to Old Man's Cave in Hocking Hills and would go hiking there with friends. As a matter of fact, we wrecked our motorcycle there approximately 30 years ago and I have not been on one since that time.

The festival looks like something fun to do. I don't know if we will make it this year or not, but if we do, I will stop by and say hi.

Dreamer

 

[Elderdude]

Dreamer,
Wife and I love the parks in Hocking Hills. We've taken most of the hikes to Conklins Hollow, Ash Cave, Rockbridge, Cantwell Cliffs, etc. After the washboard festival we head to Columbus for a gig with their jazz club on Sunday night and sightseeing for a couple of days before flying back to Sacramento. I'm with the Boondockers, in case you can make it.

 

[audreyh1]

I have visited Sewage Treatment Plants many times in the past few decade!

Peeeeeuuuuwww!

But any birder worth his/her salt won't pass up these great birding spots just because of a little odor!

Of course we always hear the great tales of when some van full of birders lost traction and started to slide into one of the settling ponds!!!

Audrey

 

[SecondCor521]

Wait a sec, $55/wk for giving away a little plasma? $55 x 52 x 2 = $5720 per year (if DW does it too). This might be a good FIRE supplement

After researching it, it sounds like work at 1.5 hours per donation session.

That sounds about right. If you drink a lot of water before and/or you're female, it goes faster.

2Cor521

 

[dex]

Since I'm heavier, I think they pay me $25 for the first donation in a week and $30 for the second, or something like that. I don't really do it for the money. They change the pay structure pretty frequently. I haven't been in a while because I got busy with work and school.

So I meant to ask, is my plasma really going anywhere useful?

Also, is it safe? It seems to be but there's also a bunch of semi-seedy characters that come in to give, so it feels a little weird. Also, nobody else I know does it for extra cash, but it seems a pretty easy way to earn some.

2Cor521

I wonder if there is any physical benefit to the doner that gives blood?

 

[Goonie]

I have visited Sewage Treatment Plants many times in the past few decade!

Peeeeeuuuuwww!

But any birder worth his/her salt won't pass up these great birding spots just because of a little odor!

Of course we always hear the great tales of when some van full of birders lost traction and started to slide into one of the settling ponds!!!

Audrey

I've w*rked at one for 31 years....FIRE'ing in 2 weeks! Normally a properly operating plant won't stink! Normally if it stinks....it's not operating/or being operated correctly.

I've had a magnificent view of bald eagles from our plant for several years. We can walk up to within 15-20 feet of them, and they just kind of look at us like "oh, it's just you guys again....Good Morning." It is soooooo cool!!!

Also see pelicans, egrets, great blue herons, ducks and geese of all sorts, gulls, cardinals, owls, hawks, and on and on and on!! It is a great birding site!!!

 

[Khan]

I wonder if there is any physical benefit to the doner that gives blood?

Some men (and women after menopause) are susceptible to hemochromatosis ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemochromatosis ) an overload of iron in the blood.

 

[CyclingInvestor]

When I am cycling out in the middle of nowhere, I sometimes come
across cemetaries that are miles (or dozens of miles) from anything
else. I often stop at these for breaks, and just look around at the
headstones, and enjoy the solitude.

 

[justin]

Sometimes I'll drive out of my way to see new roads that just opened. Just to check out their features and see what they look like. To admire the "beauty" of them.

I'm a transportation engineer so it is interesting to see the end product of years or decades of planning. No one ever notices a well-designed transportation facility. The only time people notice is if there are problems (safety issues, noise, congestion, etc.).

 

[grumpy]

Weirdest place I frequent is the basement of a home a 100 mile round trip from where I live. Every two weeks I make the trek for an acupuncture treatment for my aching back. When I lived in Maryland my family doctor referred me to "Dr Betty" and "Dr Phillip". They are an elderly husband and wife team of Chinese acupunturists and herbalists who speak very little English. He was an orthopedic surgeon in China before they were imprisoned by the communists. After coming to the US they set up a clinic in their basement and I am one of the few non-Chinese speakers they treat. Dr. Betty is so skilled that the language barrier is not a problem. She doesn't need to ask where my pain is, she can locate it simply by touch. I now live in Virginia and I have tried acupuncture practitioners here but none of their treatments is as effective as theirs. The basement is filled with the exotic smells of the various herbs they prepare themselves and there is usually Chinese music playing. They chat with each other and their other patients in Chinese. Their assistant, who recently arrived from China speaks no English at all. She gives me a very vigorous massage after the needles are removed. The treatments cost $55 (no insurance coverage) but I find them worth the cost and time involved.

Grumpy

 

[Martha]

Where? Dan's Feed Bin. They sell animal feed, pet supplies, gardening supplies, and the like.

Why? I buy seed etc. from there but will go just to smell the smell of fertilizer and feed. I love going up and down the dirty wood isles looking at farm stuff.

Where? Trailer parks in the south.

Why? I love these little communities with no pretentions. Everyone is friendly. Everyone seems able to make their trailer of ticky tack not look the same. My inlaws lived in one in Florida and I miss strolling around the park.

 

[flipstress]

I have visited Sewage Treatment Plants many times in the past few decade!

BF is an avid birder, and the local sewage treatment plant was one of our earlier dating locations.

Our romance blossomed at Poo-poo Ponds.

It took a few outings for me to relax while birding, in general (not just at the treatment plant). I remember thinking about other chores and tasks to do instead of "wasting time" tramping about spying on birds, but after a while, nature would cast her spell, and even if we don't always see lots of birds, being out gazing at the trees, plants, leaves, flowers, skies, butterflies, dragonflies, and other critters became refreshing.

 

[LOL!]

Weirdest place I frequent is the basement of a home a 100 mile round trip from where I live. .... I now live in Virginia and I have tried acupuncture practitioners here but none of their treatments is as effective as theirs. .... She gives me a very vigorous massage after the needles are removed. The treatments cost $55 (no insurance coverage) but I find them worth the cost and time involved.

Grumpy

It's the 100 mile round-trip drive that is doing the trick, not the needles. Or maybe it's the $55 lighter wallet ... a slight shift in wallet placement during the before/after drive is all important

 

[Glo]

Elderdude: thanks for the heads up on the festival. I love the Hocking Hills area. We live in Columbus. See you at the festival!!

 

[Elderdude]

Glo,
I don't have a schedule yet but we usually do 4 shows over the 3 days. Come by and say hello. My wife usually is around somewhere, she loves Logan and the folks there. In fact, most of the guys in the band bring their wives or significant others along with them. See you in June.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

where: city alleys & old waterfronts

why: mystery & history

this is where you see how things work. storefronts are just for window shoppers. but walk behind the retail and you get a sense of a town. back entrances, unswept, ill-kept, civilization in the raw.

this fascination started in my youth. later when my parents took me around the state to visit colleges they couldn't believe i spent all my film photographing dumpsters. on last autumn's leaf peeping trip to the blue ridge mountains, my natural urge was to avoid all those too many asheville tourists and walk instead behind the scenes. i found wonderful graffiti, interesting infrastructure. i even came across the filming of a commercial back there, something probably no other tourist got to see.

this last week was a little frustrating because a friend who loves to shop accompanied me on my roadtrip. so i had to spend most of my time not even window shopping but actually going inside the stores instead of behind them. even after five days of that, i still have no idea what my friend or anyone would find of interest in there.

 

[txdakini]

My workplace! There's hardly anything wierder for a ENTP to do than work for an engineering company. Why: pension and retiree medical. 5 months and counting!

 

[tryan]

where: The Dam Diner

http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/Townshend.Dam.Diner.802-874-4107

Why: Love a good greasy spoon; besides, where else can you get 2 meals of food for $4 :