jQuery blocking events - prevent an event handler from re-triggering until you unblock it

jquery.blocking_events.js

(function($){
	$.fn.blockingEvent = function(eventType, eventHandler){
		var eventId = '_active_'+eventType;
		this.bind(eventType, function(e){
			e.preventDefault();
			$this = $(this);
			if ($this.data(eventId)){
				return false;
			}
			$this.data(eventId, true);
			eventHandler.apply(this, arguments);
		})
		return this;
	};
	$.fn.unblockEvent = function(eventType){
		var eventId = '_active_'+eventType;
		this.data(eventId, false);
		return this;
	};
})(jQuery);

$('a').blockingEvent('click', function(e){
    $(this).empty().append('<div class="loading"></div>');
    // do some stuff
    $(this).unblockEvent('click');
});