Just a chime....or??

[westgrandboulevard]

I just take multivitamins [[for the over 50s), cod liver oil capsules, and hope for the best....

[Jerry Oz]

I'd be fine if people would either wash their nasty hands or not make use of my phone at work after failing to wash their nasty hands. I go out of my way to keep my hands clean and try to avoid contagions but darn it if people on second shift don't decide that with 50 telephones available, mine is the one that they want to use.

[westgrandboulevard]

Surgical gloves could make it harder to lift the receiver - and a face mask muffles the voice - so it's a tricky situation

[Jerry Oz]

I'm going to start locking my receiver in my desk drawer when I leave for the evening. I know it's extreme, but it beats fighting another cold.

[westgrandboulevard]

Isn't there a wipe you could use, which would kill bacteria?

[moe]

Yeah, like a Clorox/Lysol wipe?

[westgrandboulevard]

Yes, whatever Moe said [[???!)......or maybe a powerful spray, which would kill your nasty colleagues?

[Jerry Oz]

It's like the head of the Hydra. For every one that I dispatch, two more will pop up, more intent than ever to use my phone. Serves me right for not investing in cellular, I'd suppose...

[westgrandboulevard]

Obviously, an in-demand phone. Perhaps they feel that, by using your phone, they will be on some sort of hotline, and will get the right answers. A backhanded sort of compliment, perhaps....

[moe]

Or..............perhaps they just want to annoy you.........

[westgrandboulevard]

Clearly, it works....

[Jerry Oz]

I'm going to buy some rubber cement, roll it up until it looks like a booger and put it on the ear piece of my phone. I'll know the contaminated culprit when I come in the next day and he/she suddenly stops whispering in the corner and gives me a disgusted look...

Nah, scratch that... With my luck, there will be another booger or two on the phone and I'll be sick in another way. Lysol it is!

[144man]

If you overdo the antiseptics, you'll never build up any resistance.

[westgrandboulevard]

The image is forming in my mind of Beatrice Lillie, as Mrs Mears, in 'Thoroughly Modern Millie'......

[moe]

Fake blood, Jerry

[westgrandboulevard]

Probably your idea of locking it in a drawer when you're not in attendance, is the best....

[Jerry Oz]

Fake blood, Jerry

Fake blood. I like it... Keep it coming, y'all!

[westgrandboulevard]

Electric fence around your own working area - ?

Guard dog?

Medication for leprosy left prominently on your desk?

[moe]

Fake poop [[yes, I've seen it!!)

[Jerry Oz]

I like everything but the fake poop. If I do that, they might think that it's real and start leaving their own since I apparently sanction it. That would only make it worse...

[westgrandboulevard]

My goodness, it's definitely the law of the jungle where you work!

[Jerry Oz]

I might be exaggerating just a bit...

Not about mysterious beings who contaminate my phone, which I'm convinced has happened, but they really aren't bad people [[for the most part).

[westgrandboulevard]

Well, yes, you could be exaggerating just a bit...

Do you use their phones?

[Jerry Oz]

Not at all. That would certainly court disaster. I should complain about people who don't wash their hands after sneezing and coughing into them [[to say the least about those who don't wash them after using the bathroom). Nasty, nasty, nasty.

[moe]

There should be a sign that goes on when one comes out of the restroom and you DON'T wash your hands. Ohhhh

[Jerry Oz]

Nasty, nasty, nasty... I keep mental note of men that I know who do that and I always make sure to shake a few chips out of a freshly opened bag at pot lucks because they are always eager to grab the tongs first or dig into the bag or bowl. As if I want to eat chips touched by those fingers or grab the tongs after they... Ewwwwww!!!!

[144man]

Once, when my nephew was very young, I asked him if he had washed his hands after he had come out of the restroom. He replied he didn't have to as he had licked them clean. Yuk!

[westgrandboulevard]

Licking is good enough for cats - and look where their feet sometimes take them.

Just saying

[moe]

I don't even want to think about it westgrand!!

[Jerry Oz]

144man's nephew reminded me of this: One of my mom's favorite stories from my childhood was when I was knocking on the door while begging my dad to let me in to pee. "Do you have dry pockets?", my Pops asked with his normal sarcasm.

"Yes", I replied. "But they have holes in them!"

[westgrandboulevard]

Holy water.....bless this house....

[moe]

Amen to this one, westgrand!!

[Jerry Oz]

Did we just go to church?! I should have worn a tie or something nicer than what I have on...

[moe]

God will understand, Jerry.........

[Jerry Oz]

I'm not so sure... I also have a hole in my left sock...

[westgrandboulevard]

Oh darn it.....

[Jerry Oz]

[moe]

And I see you, too!

[westgrandboulevard]

Get off my property......

[Jerry Oz]

Well, excuse me! I thought that i was on your cloud...

[westgrandboulevard]

Did you get that the right way round...?

[Jerry Oz]

I probably didn't. I'm just a mess lately...

[westgrandboulevard]

Me too. Don't know what's worse. Just keep going, and tell myself everything is OK - or admit it's not OK, and then risk feeling even worse about it......

p.s. we discussed the time difference between UK & US a few weeks back. Our clocks went back over two weekends back, and I think yours changed this past weekend? I notice that the time on SDF still reads GMT -5 . i.e. It's 11.21pm here in UK, and 6.21pm there.....

[Jerry Oz]

Yes, we changed this past weekend. The television was surprisingly bereft of reminders, BTW. Guess who only remembered after he showed up at church an hour before everybody else?

[westgrandboulevard]

That's a lot of extra prayer-time!

[144man]

Some people need it!

[westgrandboulevard]

It keeps them off the street.....

[Jerry Oz]

I went over to my Mom and Dad's house, which was not far away. Mom gave me a ride to church and that was nice [[Dad didn't feel well and stayed home). It all turned out fairly well with the extra time with them.

[westgrandboulevard]

That can go onto the worksheet as one hour family time, then. Quite appropriate, for a Sunday.

[Jerry Oz]

Ah, Sunday is my favorite day of the week. I get to spend time alone with them and I feel like I am still 12 years old instead of 51. The older I get, the more I appreciate every moment and want to do all that I can to make their lives brighter. I dread tomorrow, so I'm more than happy to live today. At the risk of sounding like I'm overdoing it, I'm also blessed to have you guys to help me escape some of the regular and all-too-predictable headaches I encounter these days.