New pod brings Blood Bank of Delmarva to the people

Readers of this column know this space primarily serves as a way for me to write about the random things that catch my attention while I’m driving around.

That’s the case for the mobile pod being used right now by the Blood Bank of Delmarva for a month-long blood drive at Tanger Outlets.

I saw it being installed early last week. I spoke with Tony Prado, communication specialist for Blood Bank of Delmarva, about the pod earlier this week.

About the size of a semi-truck trailer, Prado said the state-of-the-art pod has everything that’s needed to successfully conduct a blood drive – a donor screening area, beds and a small café. Critically, he said, it’s temperature controlled.

“It’s the first time for the facility to be used in Delaware,” said Prado. “It’s the talk of the town in Rehoboth.”

The Blood Bank of Delmarva merged with New York Blood Center in 2017. Prado said the pod debuted in New York earlier this year, before spending some time in New England. Next, he said, it will be down in the outlets in Ocean City, Md.

There are a limited number of donor centers, he said, and data shows if people have too far to drive, they won’t donate. This pod allows the Blood Bank of Delmarva to set up closer to where people are, he said.

Jesse Latham was the Blood Bank of Delmarva’s supervisor on hand the day I stopped by. He’s been doing this for 23 years, he said.

“I’ve seen a lot of changes,” he said, while laughing and skillfully getting the needle into the vein of Sam Eisener’s right arm on the first try. “From paperwork to this, it’s not bad. I’ll take it.”

Be careful about what you’re buying when on vacation

A few weekends ago, the family and I went to Rehoboth Beach. The wife and kids were looking over the racks of stuff outside during the Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber’s annual sidewalk sale. I was taking pictures for an assignment.

At one point, the three of them walked into one of the souvenir shops along Rehoboth Avenue. A short time later, my wife came out and showed me a photo she took of a shelf full of Tervis-style coffee mugs that read Orchard Beach, Maine, on them.

The thing is, and the reason my wife showed me the photo, is that I grew up in that area of Maine. The town is called Old Orchard Beach. It’s basically Maine’s version of Dewey Beach, but with French Canadians in Speedos.

Amused that a local store might be selling a mistake from another store, I checked it out. Sure enough, on a shelf at eye level, were a bunch of the mugs.

I asked the employee if he knew where the mug was from. He looked at me with an are-you-kidding face and said he just stocks the shelves. An understandable response.

It doesn’t bother me at all that the mugs are being sold. It’s a business owner not wanting to throw away inventory that’s otherwise in good shape except for a glaring mistake. It just reminds me to be careful about the mementos I buy when I travel.

Jokes of the Week

I’ve got two jokes this week. Both time sensitive. The first is about jazz because the Rehoboth Beach Jazz Fest and True Blue Jazz Festival are taking place this weekend. The second is about Halloween and was submitted by reader Michael on behalf of his neighbor’s grandson Owen. I want to encourage submitted jokes. As always, send jokes to cflood@capegazette.com.

Q: What’s the difference between a rock guitarist and a jazz guitarist?

A: The rock guitarist plays three chords for 1,000 people, the jazz guitarists plays 1,000 chords for three people.

Q: What kind of dog does Dracula have?

A: A bloodhound.