Blood Donor Card

Just got my new Red Cross donor card last Saturday and I was amused by what I saw. They did change the content of the card. Let me mention the salient differences:

Instead of "Donor's Membership Card", the card is now called "Blood Donation Card". That's a bit of a letdown considering that the first title appealed to some people's sense of belonging.

Also, the old slogan "A gift of blood is a gift of life" is now replaced by "Every blood donor is a hero". The emphasis now is with the person, not the actual gift. In addition, the qualifications to be a hero just got lower.

The message in the back flap also got tweaked:

Old: This donor membership card when presented will give priority to the holder to receive blood for transfusion purposes, as long as public support for the Red Cross Blood Services permits adequate stock of blood for distribution. This does not, however, exempt the holder from paying the cost of blood processing. This card should be presented every time a blood donation is made.

New: Blood donation is totally a voluntary activity. The PRC tests and processes blood donations to ensure blood safety. We prioritize our donors in times of blood needs. Every blood unit corresponds to a blood processing fee. We recognize your valuable contribution and heroism. Thank you for savings lives. (signed) Richard J. Gordon, Chairman and CEO

The new message is less verbose yet more complete. I just wonder why Red Cross deemed it necessary to have Dick Gordon advertise himself.

Headaches

Great. Not only did I inherit my mother's IQ, I also inherited her propensity for headaches.

Last Friday, my head was throbbing so hard I felt so weak. Then on Saturday, the same thing happened: a crushing, mind-blowing, excruciating migraine to cap off a very long day.

I've tried to deduce the possible causes of these incidents. Maybe I lacked sleep, maybe I stayed out too long in the sun or perhaps I need new glasses.

Regardless, I shudder at the thought of going through another episode again.  But, come to think of it,  this is probably the price of being smart. Hehe.

Manicure II

Can I get HIV from manicure wounds?

That's the thought that kept running through my mind as the manicurist worked on my nails. Several fingers were already bleeding because the manicurist was too eager to snip off my cuticles.

I have to insist that my fear is well-founded. The tools used by the manicurist are not artifacts of good hygiene; they've been used every day without being subjected to a bath of antibacterial solution. Also, they've been used to manicure the nails of clients from all walks of life and I shudder at the thought of one of these clients harboring some dreaded STD and unaware that he or she could pass it to me.

Temporary anxiety. Such is the price of vanity, I presume.

Redefining Religion

This post was borne out of a conversation with Feb, a colleague. She had said that she believed in God but she didn't believe in religion. 

The stand is interesting because it's somehow predicated on a common but limited view of what religion is, a view that Thomas Moore had debunked in his essay "Religion". In place of this view, he opted for a more transcendent definition of religion, a definition worthy of the immense power that religion had wielded over humanity in the course of our history.

In the essay, he says: 

Many people today assume that the word religion refers to an institution - an organization weighed down by outmoded authoritarianism and irrelevant traditions. With this definition, they can argue against religion quite easily. But their idea of religion is a straw man, a caricature, or a bad personal experience generalized into an indictment of religion as a whole...

Let me suggest a definition of religion I think might satisfy our desire for personal spiritual experience and yet appropriately go beyond it. Religion is an attitude of reverence and a method of connecting to the mysteries that we find in our world and in ourselves (emphasis supplied)...

I've chosen the words in my definition carefully. The word "reverence" (quotes supplied) refers to awe and honor. Its root refers to watchfulness. Religion is a way of regarding the world and everything in it. Basically, to be religious is to be capable of awe and respect, two qualities that usually disappear when secularism begins to dominate...

I refer to religion also as a method. This is an ancient idea found in many traditions: that religion shows us how to be reverent. What worries me most about a spiritual movement that separates itself from religious traditions is that its methods will be personal and ephemeral. We have much to learn from traditions about sacrifice, ritual, prayer, atonement, healing, and many other basic elements in the spiritual life...

In my definition, I use the word "connecting"  (quotes supplied) because one meaning of the Latin re-ligare (from which the word religion is derived) is "to connect". Re-ligion is like a ligature. Religion allows us to be in touch with the great mysteries of our lives: illness, birth, death, love, failure, creativity, meaning. The fully secular person is disconnected in this way and therefore might feel lost and aimless...

Do Not Buy HP

Do not buy HP products. If you can buy a printer from another company, do it.

Last January, our 2-year old printer/scanner/fax machine in the office broke down. We sent over a technician to examine it and he concluded that the scanner was indeed broken. Some piece of motor disintegrated inside the machine. Unfortunately, the technician also told us that it can no longer be repaired. The broken part was irreplaceable because HP had ceased manufacturing that part.

Undeterred, I had the machine sent to an HP service affiliate. I paid the requisite Php 300.00 diagnostic/inspection fee and crossed my fingers. After several days, someone from the repair shop called and reiterated what the technician told us before: there were no spare parts available anywhere in the world to replace the broken motor.

So now we have a printer with a useless scanner.

Moral of the story: do not buy HP.