Friday, 30Jul10, New York City, NY
Blood fact: “Four main red blood cell types: A,B,AB, and O. Each can be positive or negative for the Rh factor. AB is the universal recipient; O negative is the universal donor of red blood cells.”
Today I woke up in the W Hotel … Times Square … on the 50th floor listening to sirens and the noises of the big city … Wow!
I want to thank Keith H from the New York Blood Center for helping me get here (by cell phone)
Today he will meet me at 0930 hrs and we will go to the scheduled blood drives.
I’ll check in with you later today when I upload the pictures … until then.
What an incredible day in New York City … and … at the New York Blood Center.
A special “thank you” to Keith, Janice, Michelle, Diallo, Sebrina, Vivian, Novellette and many others whom I talked to while walking around and touring the NYBC blood center.
On the way to the Union Square mobile coach blood drive … Keith and I had lunch at the Cafe Fresco … a Turkey Cuban sandwich and fruit salad … Ummm good
Thank you to the many donors who were there … donating and who took the time to speak with me and gave me the opportunity to say “thank you” for their life of generosity! (Donors like: Ralph, Carol, Ralph F. Jr, Lauren, James M., George R., Bruce D., Ryan B., Dhuha, Marie P. Gladys F. and many others who came to NYBC with the intent to make a difference!)
After the blood drive … we took a cab back to the W (in New York cabbies are a way of life) and I checked out, picked up my truck, bike and luggage and then drove to Paramus, NJ … and checked into the Crown Plaza hotel.(A very nice place with the Bonefish Grill in the same building, so if you’re ever in Paramus, NJ, try it! A special thanks to Karen Ferriday for all of her help …)
After checking in … I decided to add some new addresses to my Garmin … and … lo and behold … my little Garmin died! (Can you believe that?)
Yet it helped take me out of NY safely without getting lost too many times and then it died in NJ. (Lucky for me there was a Best Buy close by and I was able to replace the unit … however, now I have to re-enter all the addresses of the ABC stops I will be making this week … Oops! (Shucks, Darn…. yata, yata)
Once again it was a great day in New York City … meeting, greeting, and thanking staff and donors, and then walking through and around Union Square Farmers Market … what an interesting place with lots of fresh organic vegetables, fruit, etc.
The best part of NYC for me was the opportunity to say thank you to all the donors … because in my mind each donor represents one of the 110 donors who saved my life!
I was surprised at what a nice sleepy bedroom community Paramus, NJ, appears to be… I’ll let you know more tomorrow.