sjmulder

I got a teddy bird and a puzzle! Worth it.

I do in fact sit down for an hour once or twice a month to give plasma without compensation and many other people do so as well, given that it’s illegal to be paid for blood or plasma here in the Netherlands, but I can see why paying people a bit would help.

The reason people can’t get paid for it here is to avoid perverse incentives, mainly people donating when they shouldn’t, lying on the form or to the doctor to pass the pre-donation check.

I wouldn’t mind it for that reason. The Red Cross do good work that need to be financed.

Here in the Netherlands they do that by contracting out volunteers for first aid services to events like fairs and runs. The volunteer donates their time, gets trained for free, the Red Cross gets paid by the organiser and makes money for their mission and an small army of experienced first aid people and EMTs to help out when disaster strikes.

I’m such a volunteer and it’s a great distraction from my normal job. I also get to use my skills outside of the Red Cross, e.g. as an action medic at protests.

Cool sidenote: there’s this network any CPR certified person can join to get alerted by emergency dispatch when CPR is needed close to your home or work. This has helped massively to get CPR started within 6 minutes mostly anywhere in the country, even when ambulances can’t get there that quickly.

I donate plasma regularly - at least once per month. It’s illegal to pay people for blood or plasma here in the Netherlands so I’m just in it for the good feels. I also like the downtime and relaxed chatting and joking with the people who work there.

When you try to call the Red Cross to ask why you failed the first aid exam 😄

“U bent verkeerd verbonden” (for calls)

“U heeft het verkeerde nummer” (generic)

Just got started with Final Fantasy XVI and liking it so far. I don't usually play games like this and the graphics and and detail are just amazing - except for the running animation, it's so gamey, it takes me out of the setting.

New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe and I’m loving it. People might have been tired of the presentation but Nintendo fans ought tot look beyond that - it has great level design, difficulty, secrets and a super tough challenge mode that’ll keep me busy for a while.

Super Mario Odyssey, wrapping up the moons 4 years after finishing. Not sure if that’s for me, but giving it a chance.

Very excited for this! Playroom was such a delight and I can't wait to get more of it. (Now please can we get Sackboy 2 ☺️)

Okami! Please, more!

“So!”

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