Among Friends

[VaBelle35]

Andrew Lessman's Immune Factors is the monthly special on HSN this month.

Best price I've ever paid.

[Mominohio]

Never taken a flu shot, and don't intend to in the foreseeable future, but here are some of the things I do to keep germs down during the season.

Stay out of public places during the busiest hours. If you can grocery shop very early in the morning, use the drive through at the bank or pharmacy, do so. The less you are in closed in spaces with many people, the better.

Wipe and clean things like cart handles in the store, avoid door handles when possible, don't use public phones. When out and about for the day, wash hands several time (or sanitize with the liquid hand sanitizer and use some wipes), just to keep the germs down. And I usually go wash my hands in the restaurant AFTER I use the menu, the amount of germs on those isn't something I want on my hands when I start to handle my food. And don't forget to keep your cell phone clean, and not use other's cells if you can possibly avoid it.

Use bleach wipes on your steering wheel of your car and your car keys at least once a week. Think of all the places you come out of, and you handle your car keys and steering wheel right away. If you share your car with others or if you use valet service, even more important.

Get plenty of rest, and eat well. Keep the things on hand that you know work for you when you start to get sick, so you have them for immediate use. We used Zicam for colds, and if taken immediately will usually benefit us greatly, but not if we have to run out for it hours or a day after the symptoms start. This can be anything from cough medicine, to cough drops, just anything you use in times of sickness. I usually take inventory at my house in early October and make a trip to Walmart to restock all these things for the season.

If you share phones, keyboards or even tools at work, with those that are sick or have the sniffles, keep Clorox wipes on hand to sanitize those things (as well as door knobs, restrooms etc.) throughout the day. Yes, I will even sanitize a shared employee restroom if I feel a lot of people are sick at work. Do the same at home on a regular basis, especially when someone is sick at home.

Stay home! This isn't popular, but if you are sick stay home, If your kids are sick, keep them home. If there is a lot of sickness in your particular area (the local news usually lets us know those kind of things) find things to do at home instead of going out for entertainment. If you have to go to work, sure, you have to do that, but the days/hours you don't have to be out and about, don't be.