Help Save a Life

Today (June 14th 2026) is World Blood Donor Day.  A few hours of your life can save the life of someone else in need.  Please consider signing up to donate.

My work place had been having blood drives for a while before I realized there's and app for that.  Because of course there is.  What isn't there an app for.  So, I downloaded the Red Cross Blood Donor app.  

As someone who donates on a semi regular basis I find the app rather helpful.  You can put in a zip code and find the nearest places you can donate and make an appointment right there on the app.  It will tell you your blood type (I'm AB+), keep track of how much blood you have donated and tell you when you can safely donate again.  You can also fill out your Rapid Pass, which is a bunch of questions that you have to answer before you can give blood.  It saves you time when you get there if you have already done this.  If you have never donated before, these questions can get
rather personal, but I think you can understand why.

Until the app I had only donated whole blood, but as I explored the app I decided I should donate platelets and plasma some times as well.  I did a little research (just to be clear, all on the internet, I didn't ask a medical professional, so don't quote me) and came to the conclusion that I might be able to help more people that way.  But I must warn you, platelet donation does take longer (about 2 hours) and there are two needles involved.  

I donate because it makes me feel good to know I'm helping others.  But there are
other rewards.  The app has virtual badges you can collect to encourage you to come back.  Donation centers also have swag sometimes.  I have a collection of shirts, but they give out other things sometimes too: sunglasses, socks, backpacks and such.  If you have the app you get points for each donation that you can use to get even more swag: hats, tote bags, camp chairs, thermos bottles, or of you are like me -more shirts.  And after so many donations you get a milestone pin.

I encourage all those who can to donate.  It does your heart good.  And you get free cookies and juice. But, one more warning, there is always a platelet or blood shortage so once you donate you will get calls and texts and emails asking you to come back.  Lots of them.  But that is a small price to pay for the good you could do.

My Latest App Obsession

 

I tend to get obsessed with things.  I download something on my phone and it is everything for a while.  My latest obsession is Treat.  It is all about sending food to dogs in shelters.  Being an animal lover, I downloaded it right away.

When you first log on you are given a list of shelters across the country.  When you pick your shelter, you are given a list of a few dogs at that shelter and you get to pick again.  Then the virtual version of your dog is sent around a track.  You roll a die and he runs.  If he lands on the treat spot several times he earns a treat.  If he lands on the bowls of food or the game spots he earns kibbles toward meals.

The games can earn you kibbles faster.  You can pick your dog's picture out of a pack, teach your dog a trick or pick the healthiest snack (hint: it is not the avocado) among other things.

Is it free? Yes.  Do they try to get you to spend money? Of course.  The only thing you can do for free is send the treats you earn.  If you want to send the meals it will cost you $5.96 a month.  But that is for all the meals you can earn for as many dogs as you want to help.  I did that one.  That may make me a sucker but I couldn't look at the cute little faces of the dogs and not want to help.  You can also remote foster a dog and buy more rolls of the die.  

My favorite part is when I open the app and they tell me dogs have been adopted.  Then they show me pictures of all the adopted dogs.  it warms my heart to see the dogs who have found homes, even if they are not dogs I have been sending food.  

I feel a sense of satisfaction every time I earn food for a dog.  I makes me happy.

If you like animals, give it a try.  But be warned, it can become an addiction.

Fighting Food Waste, And Getting Some Good Deals

I play a lot of games on my phone.  Which means I watch a lot of adds on my phone.  One of those adds was for an app called Too Good To Go.  It is all about fighting food waste.  I would like to say that is why I was interested.  But it isn't.  I was interested because I could get some good deals on all sorts of food.

The idea is all sorts of businesses that sell food - cafes, markets, restaurants - have food that does not sell and will soon have to be thrown out.  So instead of throwing it out, the businesses would rather sell it at a discount.  They put some goodies together for you and you get say, $12 of food for $5.  Different places have different prices and different amounts of food.  The trick is you never really know what you are going to get.  You may have an idea.  If you go to a pizza place you will probably get pizza.  But what kind of pizza is a mystery.  This is the part my husband does not get.  He does not understand buying something when you don't really know what it is you are paying for.  I think that is part of the fun.  Of course, sometimes you might be disappointed, or get something you don't really like.  But thems the risks.

The other catch is that you have a limited window in which to pick it up.  Some of the times are not the most convenient.  But that's understandable.  You don't want to sell it on Too Good To Go while there is still a chance someone will buy it at full price.  For two of my orders the place was actually closed when I went to pick up my food.  One of them hung my food on the door and the other one had their front grate pulled half way down but the guy inside saw me and brought my food out to me.  

I have had mostly good experiences with this app.  The very first time I tried to order something I reserved it at 7:00 AM to pick up at 3:00 PM.  About five minutes later I got a message saying my order had been canceled because they wouldn't have enough food left over for me.  So I struck out the first time.  And the only other bad experience was I showed up and they were not expecting me and had nothing ready to give me.  They had to scramble around to put something together since I had already paid.  I have my doubts that I saved any food that day but at least I didn't leave empty handed.  

Some of the things I have gotten from this app include:

I made three trips to Savenor's Market.  The first time it was all produce and a loaf of bread.  The second time it was some produce, a loaf of bread, some fresh pasta and some BBQ pulled chicken.  The third time it was some produce, a loaf of bread, some soup and some yogurt.  The food was all tasty.  Some of the produce had to be used right away and was a little banged up.  For example the outer leaves of the Brussel sprouts had to be peeled off.  But I did use it all.

I went to Render Coffee and got six bagels for $3.29.

I went to Herrera's Mexican Grill and got a chicken burrito.  It was rather small and had a lot of beans but it was very tasty.

I went to Finagle a Bagel and got 17(!) bagels for $4.99.

I went to Red Apple Farm and got a bag of yummy apple cider donuts.  I think some of them were rejects because they were not donut shaped so they couldn't sell them but they taste great so I didn't care.

South End Food Emporium is where they were not expecting me and threw something together.  What I ended up with was a loaf of bread and a bottle of orange juice.  I will give them another try before I write them off.  The people working there seemed surprised there was nothing waiting for me.  So maybe it was just a miscommunication somewhere.

APM Coffee was where a bag was left hanging on the handle of the door.  I'm still not sure how I feel about that.  But the selection of breads and bagels I got were good.

At Otto pizza I got three rather large slices of pizza.  A margarita and two bacon, mashed potato and chives (it works).

The Daily  gave me a bag of pastries.  Apple turnovers and such.

I like this service.  It is obviously not for picky eater or people with food allergies.  But I have gotten some good deals and a lot of good food. I will keep using it.  And if I wasn't so lazy that I didn't want to leave the house after I got home for the day I would probably use it a whole lot more.  But 9:00 PM pick up times are too late for me.  Download it.  See what offers are in your area.  I'm sure you'll find something that interests you.