I indeed did a blood-draw today, leaving early from work to make a 4:15 appointment at Red Cross next to Emanuel. Finding my vein was a surprising hassle -- was it hiding? -- but once the phlebotamist pricked it (a process I don't watch; I saw that exactly once, and that was enough) a pint of blood flowed out of me into the proper bag and vials, no problems. I felt pretty good afterwards, and feel pretty good now. Wearing my "Be nice to me, I gave blood today!" sticker, I walked to NE MLK to get a bus, figuring I'd try to get dinner at Grendel's. Hadn't been there for awhile.
Unfortunately, the cafe was closing. I immediately asked the guy behind the counter if he was still making sandwiches; he wasn't. Figuring that I'd go down to maybe the Doug Fir for dinner instead, I decided to get a pastry for the road. Two dollars for a slice cranberry bread, a dollar tip, and I went over to the computer desk for some computer time...
But then the special thing happened: the employee offered to let me have some of the day's soup, for free; he was going to dump out the unused portion, but what was left was still hot. I asked what soup it was: it was a spicy chicken-and-corn chowder. And that sounded good. He spooned up a coffee cup's worth of it and left it on the desk for me. I thanked him.
I had been craving soup. And that's actually the first time I've had soup at the place; I usually go to Grendel's for David Loftus's Storytime For Adults readings (like this one), held at 7:30 p.m. when the soup's long gone. And that gratis soup went down warmly and nicely.
And I doubt the employee even knows I'm a semi-regular there (usually I see the quiet David Morse-looking guy who I think is the owner). The employee did it because it was a nice gesture. Good on him!
***
I covered a fair amount of ground today: I woke up at my parents' home in Dundee before 5:30 a.m., to have time to drive into Portland for work. By the time I was nearing the Ross Island Bridge approach off of 99W I decided that I'd have time to stop at home, which was good; I did so, dropping off gifts and clothes, and then using a bus, the tram and my feet to make it to work in plenty of time. (Oh, and I brought the remaining third of our family's Christmas chocolate cake, and left it for people to sample.) I'm lucky the office was quiet and calm, though I had to resist the urge to put down my head on the desk and take a nap!
Tonight, finally (after a while), I'll have an early bedtime. Should be nooooooooo problem.