I managed to donate blood for the first time in about 16 years. Before we moved to FL, my fiancee donated platelets, plasma, and red blood cells every 2 weeks. (It's a rotating schedule, but platelets can be done every 2 weeks, with the others mixed in as they can be.) After we moved back, she started up again. She's been poking me to donate too (at least whole blood, which is what most people think of when they think of "donating blood.")
I hate needles and am a very difficult stick. I've also had a tough time being able to donate over the years (either because I couldn't find a place or I was under deferral). I finally screwed up my courage and agreed to go with her. Last night when we were talking about it, a friend of ours asked if he could come along.
In what I consider to be an irony, my fiancee could not actually donate (her iron was too low). Our friend and I could donate, though. I only did whole blood, which took about 10 minutes from start to finish. Our friend did the "donate everything," which took about 2.5 hours. (Part of that was because they had to restart him because the machine messed up.)
We all have appointments in 2 weeks to go again, and next time, I am going to try the "donate everything."