I Went For A Walk And Found A Quarter

I took my 22-month-old son for a walk yesterday since I finally managed to put on my tennis shoes without causing my broken toe an excessive amount of pain. I haven't been for a walk in about a month and it was nice to get out.

As I was crossing a street on my way home, I noticed a quarter laying in the middle of the road. I usually pass up change that I see on the ground. You don't know where it's been. Technically, you generally don't know where money has been anyway. I decided, what the heck, I'm going to pick it up. Money is tight and every little bit helps. I used my thumb and index finger on my right hand to pick the quarter up. Since I didn't take any hand sanitizer or wipes with me, I just didn't use those fingers until I got home. I pushed the stroller with my left hand and right palm. I drank my water with my left hand only. I even took these pictures with my left hand.

As soon as I got home, I got a sanitizing wipe and wiped my hand, the quarter, and the cup holder where I had put it. Maybe I'm wierd, but at least I have one clean quarter in my purse and I didn't spread any germs to my son, the stroller, my water bottle, or my cell phone which I used as a camera.

Car Craziness!!

We have had quite the time these last couple of weeks! As I said in my previous post, we had problems with our 2001 Chevy Venture on our trip to Oregon. It's still running hot so it can't be driven very far. My husband recently fixed a 1995 Ford Windstar with a bad transmission.We were trying to sell it but hadn't had any luck so far. I recently started a paper route and needed something to drive, so I drove the Windstar. It ran perfectly fine for me but when I calculated the gas mileage, it was terrible. Half of my earnings from the paper route would go to gas, so we reduced the price and sold this van last Saturday and decided to buy a small, more efficient car. When we were out on a test drive, we just happened to see the Windstar we just sold along the side of the road with the hood up. The odds of us happening by when they were way out on the opposite side of town from where we live have got to be slim! We stopped and my husband asked them what was going on with the van. It had actually developed an engine knock in the short time since these people bought it from us! My husband did the right thing and gave them their money back. He drove it to the junkyard today.

We shopped around for a small, efficient, reasonably priced car. You can't test drive a car and not touch anything. We test drove several different cars over the past several days. Since we don't know who the previous owners were or how clean they are, we were careful about sanitizing our hands after each test drive. We also don't know who else may have driven these cars. The car salesmen always shake your hand too. We settled on this 2009 Toyota Corolla that we purchased from a dealership about 60 miles south of where we live. It has been detailed of course, but I doubt it was sanitized. I will sanitize it tomorrow. I'm too tired tonight. The craziest thing is, when we were driving home on the freeway we saw the Windstar that we just junked being towed in the other direction! It's wierd how we keep seeing that van everywhere!

A Trip To Oregon

We took a trip to Portland, Oregon this past weekend. Our Chevy Venture minivan wasn't doing very well in the 106 degree heat in Idaho and started having problems.

We left our van in Idaho and rented a Kia Sedona. Since it's a rental that who knows how many other people have driven, naturally the steering wheel had to be wiped.

Once we crossed the border into Oregon, we stopped at a small town to fill-up. When my husband put the gas pump into the gas tank, a man came running over and said, "You can't fill up your own vehicle here. It's the law!" We thought it was the wierdest law we've ever heard of but at least we didn't have to handle dirty gas pumps the entire time we were in Oregon.

The main reason for our trip was for a luncheon and tour at the University of Western States Chiropractic College where my daughter wants to go after she finishes her degree at USU. It sounds like a really good school. Since there is a lot of hands-on learning there, I was happy to see hand sanitizer everywhere on campus!

We stayed at the Airport Comfort Suites in Portland. The rooms were clean and really nice. The service was absolutely excellent!

I did not, however, give my 21-month-old son a bath. I just can't bring myself to put a child in a hotel bathtub. I took him in the shower with me.

The hotel served a good breakfast. The only thing missing was hand sanitizer. There are a lot of people from a lot of different places there handling the utensils. I was as careful as I could be about not touching any food until I got back to my room and sanitized my hands.

My husband wanted to go see Astoria, OR because one of his favorite movies, "Kindergarten Cop" was filmed there. We saw the elementary school where most of the movie was set. Then we went up to the Astoria Column which has a 360 degree panoramic view of the area.

We had to go up 164 winding steps to the top of the column. It was quite a workout! I usually try not to touch public hand rails, but all the winding was making me dizzy. That's what the hand sanitizer is there for!

After we left Astoria, we went down the coast to Seaside and spent a few hours at the beach. My kids have never been to the ocean before. I don't know that I would have swam in the ocean if that had been an option. I prefer a chlorinated pool. It was only about 60 degrees there and the water was freezing. Just getting my feet wet was enough.

The kids enjoyed playing in the sand and looking for shells. I couldn't deny them their fun, even if it is dirt. We rinsed the sand off the best we could at a water spout near the parking lot. Then we all sanitized our hands. The two youngest kids needed a change of clothes as well. I don't know for sure how he did it, but Riley even had sand in his diaper!

A Government Employee Who Is Careful About Spreading Germs!

Today I took my 16-year-old daughter to get her driver's license. After waiting for a very long time for our number to be called, we finally went up to the counter to take care of business. The lady that was helping us felt a sneeze coming on and quickly grabbed a tissue to sneeze into. She covered the sneeze really well with the tissue. After throwing the tissue away, she rubbed some hand sanitizer on her hands before touching anything else. How refreshing!! It's rare but wonderful to find someone who is actually careful about spreading germs around! I thanked her for what she did. It made my day!!

Hands Free Soap Dispenser: A Great Idea For The Home!!

Lysol has recently come out with a hands free, motion sensing hand soap dispenser. I think this is great! It is priced reasonably well at about $20. This is something that I plan to put in my kitchen for sure. Often times, when preparing a meal, I end up handling raw meat or raw eggs. I am hesitant to touch the hand soap pump knowing that I am putting germs on it as I touch it but I really have no other choice. I do put the pump in the dishwasher from time to time to be sanitized. ONLY the pump can go in the dishwasher. I put the bottom part that holds the soap in the dishwasher once and it melted. That part has to be washed by hand.

If you are concerned about germs on the faucet handle, it should be sanitized at least weekly if not more often. If you have a handle that can be turned on with your arm when your hands are dirty, then do that. If you don't, then either ask someone to turn the water on for you or get a paper towel or napkin out before you get your hands dirty. Then you can use it to turn the water on and then throw it away.

My bathroom faucets can also be turned on with my wrist or arm. If you have to use your hands, you can always grab a small piece of toilet paper to turn the water on. Again, faucet handles should be sanitized often anyway.

My Eventful Saturday

My husband and I along with two of our kids spent the day in Salt Lake City on Saturday. First of all, we dropped my mom off at the airport. It was nice to have her visit. I told her to read the travel tips page of my website before getting on an airplane to come visit us. She didn't, but I told her about it while she was here. She made it home safely and, hopefully, germ free.

My dad also flew out here with my mom, but he had to leave a few days before she did for work. He had a cold during his visit and I had to tell him to stop coughing on his hand and touching everything. He has a copy of my book, so I thought he would know better. He was a good sport about it. I did take a sanitizing wipe and wipe all the light switches, doorknobs, etc.

After we left the airport, my husband wanted to test drive this car that he found online that is located in Salt Lake. Since it is an older car and was rather dirty inside, we sanitized our hands really well after the test drive. If he ends up buying this car, it will be thoroughly cleaned inside.

The next thing on the agenda was lunch. It was around 2:00 in the afternoon and we were hungry. We decided the best place to go was a local all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant since we were headed for the Real Salt Lake soccer game at 7:00. This normally wouldn't be my first choice but we wanted a rather large meal to tide us over until after the game. The food was okay. I was a little disappointed because they don't have any of my favorite dishes anymore. I was happy to see hand sanitizer placed around all of the serving areas.

After we pigged out on food, we hung around a mall until time to go to the game. We found our seats and I noticed a lady sitting in the next section cleaning her seat off with a wipe. I love it when I see a fellow germaphobe. It warms my heart. I must confess, I don't wipe seats unless they are really gross. Instead, I change my clothes when I get home and wash the clothes I was wearing. The game was really fun. Real Salt Lake won 4 to 1. I have a lot of fun watching sports when I'm there in person, but watching it on TV gets boring for me.

Antibacterial Soap Vs. Regular Soap

Is antibacterial soap better than regular soap? According to the FDA, it is no better. All of the antibacterial products on the market today are creating more superbugs. I have personally dealt with the superbug MRSA and it terrifies me. I mostly use regular, liquid soap. I do occasionally buy antibacterial soap because it does give me an extra sense of security but I have not had any problems using regular soap. As long as you wash your hands thoroughly for as long as it takes to sing the alphabet song in your head, you should be fine. I do not use bar soap because it can harbor bacteria, although it is better than nothing.

No self-respecting germaphobe like me goes anywhere without hand sanitizer or antibacterial hand wipes. I carry both. Hand sanitizer is good but there are some messes that just need to be wiped off. The bottom line? Be careful, stay clean and avoid touching things as much as you possibly can.

New Hand Sanitizer That Moisturizes!!

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http://www.goldbondultimate.com/.

Our Weekend Getaway

My husband and I spent the night at a hotel last night for a little Valentine's Day get away, which we have never done before. We did take our 1-year -old though. He's too young to leave overnight. We used a local get away package that includes dinner at a local restaurant. We decided to upgrade to a jacuzzi suite just for fun. The dinner was great. No worries there.

The hotel room overall seemed pretty clean, however I did notice some areas that needed improvement. I had planned to run bleach through the jetted tub before using it, but it was so small it wasn't worth bothering with. Also, the shower was over the jetted tub, which is gross for a hotel room. My husband filled the tub and ran the jets just out of curiosity and you wouldn't believe the disgusting crap that came out of it. The upgrade wasn't worth it. A public use jetted tub is just too gross.

I also noticed that the faucet handles had a lot of ridges that were filled with soap scum and who knows how many germs. The hotel is older and the faucets have not been changed. I used a towel or tissue to turn the water on and off.

I brought my own hair dryer so I wouldn't have to touch theirs. I never walk on hotel room carpet barefoot. I also always make sure to fold the sheet over the blanket because the blankets don't get washed. The bedspread was put on the floor and not used at all.

The hotel breakfast was decent, but nothing spectacular. They served powdered eggs and the usual continental breakfast items. The milk was sour, which I didn't realize until I took a drink. I noticed they had a big bottle of hand sanitizer next to the food which I was glad to see since I was touching the serving utensils.

Overall, it was a fun weekend. I enjoyed getting away from most of the kids for one night and spending time with my husband.

For more hotel room germophobe tips, order my book from any of the links on my website: http://www.howtobeagermophobe.com/.