Donating blood: Your travel history says yes or no

by Jamie Rhein on

When I went to the library yesterday morning I wasn’t planning on donating blood, but there was a sweet older American Red Cross volunteer with lovely white hair that looks like spun sugar. She was so happy thinking that I had come to sign up when I walked towards her. I was actually on my way to meet with my writing group, but I didn’t want to disappoint her and promised I’d donate before I left. “Oh, you came back,” she said after I re-appeared to sign up on her sign-up sheet when my meeting was over.

Call me co-dependent, but there I was in the blood donation room running through the list of questions about my whereabouts to see if I could give blood or not. Sadly, I haven’t donated blood since I was in the Peace Corps. First, I couldn’t. After living in a country with malaria you’re supposed to wait for a few years. Now the wait is three years. Back when I was in the Peace Corps, I think it was longer. I kept trotting back to Africa each time my donation window appeared. With Mali, Senegal and The Gambia in my distant past, those weren’t a concern yesterday. Nigeria was a red flag.

Anyone who has lived in Nigeria since 1977 can’t donate blood. I have traveled there, but since it was only for 6 weeks I was given the all clear. (The other countries that have similar restrictions are: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Niger.) There is a form of HIV called Type O in these countries that blood screening can’t detect, thus the restriction.

Also on the list of concern are European countries. If you’ve been in European countries of a cumulative time of 5 months since January 1, 1980, you also can’t donate blood. There are more restrictions if you’ve lived or traveled in the United Kingdom. The restrictions are due to Mad Cow disease.

Looking at all the restrictions, it doesn’t take much for world travelers to get bumped off acceptable donor status. As more people travel, I wonder how much this will have an impact on blood supply? I’m glad I was able to add my pint since Asia, where I’ve lived and traveled the most, has an all clear. (See eligibility guidelines to see if you can donate.)

Climate change may alter wine-growing regions

by Catherine Bodry on

As the world climate warms up, vineyards are feeling the heat: harvests are earlier, wines are coarser and have a higher alcohol content and lower acidity. Why would that be any big deal, you ask? Well, for one, wine as we know it would change — especially the finer ones.

Former Vice President Al Gore addressed wine experts at the Second International Congress on Wine and Climate Change, arguing that “if the temperature rises two or three degrees (Centigrade), we could manage to see Bordeaux remain as Bordeaux, Rioja as Rioja, Burgundy as Burgundy. But if it goes up five or six degrees, we must face up to huge problems, and the changes will be hard.”

Some of the changes we’re likely to see if that temperature rise occurs are the types of wines grown in specific regions — think Champagne in the Champagne region in France. French Champagne producers have reportedly bought land in Sussex and Kent, England in preparation for warmer temperatures (does that mean we’ll have to start calling French Champagne “Sussex”?).

The conference-goers’ expert verdicts on wines affected by climate change should be out soon. Until then, enjoy that Bordeaux while it lasts.

When in Rome, do what the Romans didn’t do.

by Grant Martin on

I’ve been putting off travel to Italy for a while now for a number of reasons. While the country is rich in culture, history and gastronomic adventure, I guess I always had the feeling that it was a little too over-the-top. Too many tourists, to much Eurotrash, and generally filthy; granted, I still wanted to go, it just wasn’t at the top of my list.

Taking advantage of a secret 275$ fare sale to Rome this month was my chance to investigate these notions first hand. And to my delight, most of the negative ideas that I held about Romans and Italians were proven false. Yes, I only got a small sampling over a long weekend in Rome, but I think that many of these observations hold true for the country year round:

  • Men didn’t whistle at women. I walked around with my friend Ered for the the better part of three days and didn’t notice anyone whistle or stare. No, she’s not an ugly cow.
  • Save for the subway cars, the city is fairly clean. I’m particularly impressed with the condition of the archaeological remains, namely the Roman Forum, where I didn’t see an ounce of trash on the premises.
  • Not everyone was wearing D&G. In fact, most Italians appeared to dress as pleasantly as any other city dweller. Prada et al do make their appearance just outside of the Spanish Steps, but hey, every big city’s got em.
  • There are WAY fewer euro-mullets than I was expecting. I saw less than a dozen the entire time I was there.
  • Leather is not as ubiquitous as one would think. You always hear someone bragging about their “Italian leather so and so”, but it doesn’t just fall from the sky there. Only a few shops presented themselves as I wandered around the city.

Maybe Italy’s stereotypes aren’t as perverse as I had originally thought. Or maybe when tourist season kicks up people get crazy and the euro-mullets come out of hiding. As it stands right now though, Rome is definitely a place that I would like to visit again.

Car running on compressed air is almost here

by Iva Skoch on

A French inventor has promised that he will start selling a car that runs on compressed air within a year, BBC reports. The concept, OneCAT, will be a five-seater with a glass-fiber body, weighing just 350kg and could cost just over $5000. More importantly, it will produce no emissions at all in town.

It will be driven by compressed air stored in carbon-fiber tanks. The tanks can be filled with air from a compressor in just three minutes, which is much quicker than a battery car or it can be plugged into the mains for four hours and an on-board compressor will do the job.

It isn’t exactly a beautiful piece of machinery, but it is what’s on the inside that counts, say the French (probably for the first time ever).

Irish politician proposes switch to right-hand driving

by Anna Brones on

Driving on the left side of the road while traveling in countries like the United Kingdom and Australia can be difficult, even dangerous, for travelers used to sticking to the right side. The difficulties of those travelers, as well as an influx in immigration from other European countries, are making Ireland debate switching to right-hand driving.

Last week Donnie Cassidy, a senior Irish politician, proposed to move towards a right-hand driving system in order to ease life for travelers, but also for Irish citizens who like to travel abroad. “I know when I go to America it takes me five or six days to adjust,” said Cassidy.

The motoring body AA responded by saying that the idea was completely ridiculous. But the idea is not as crazy as it seems; Sweden switched to right-hand driving in 1967 to align with the rest of Europe.

Even if the proposal doesn’t pass, Cassidy still wants to make things a little easier on travelers from countries that drive on the right hand side of the road by respecting a 80 kilometer per hour speed limit instead of the normal 120 kilometers for Irish drivers.