I gave blood approx. once every 56 days for years - from the time I entered college (1990) until about 1997. In 1997, they said that since I lived in the UK in 1992, I was banned for life from donating.

The thing I find interesting about blood donation is that although I frequently see news reports about shortages, I rarely if ever see an actual blood drive taking place. I work in a major downtown area - in a high-rise building - where you would think they'd set up shop at least once every 2 months. Haven't seen the Bloodmobile out doing its thing in ages though. Even if I was eligible to donate, I probably would only do it once a year - that's about how often I inadvertently stumble across a blood drive in process.

In the early '90's - in college - blood drives were everywhere. You saw them weekly if not more.