So while it’s the end of February and I expect a few sniffles at this time of year, I hate being sick and (almost) every year I manage to fight off the germie-germs that go round and round, especially in an enclosed office environment or on public transportation. Victory is mine so far this season!!! I’m not OCD but I’m addicted to Purell, I have 4 bottles of the stuff, one for work, one for my car, one for my bag, and one at home. Yes I even use Purell at home, strangely I like the smell.

Anywhoo, besides Purell, I pop in some vitamin C every time I feel a twinge and the shot to my immune system seems to do the trick. Another tip…when I start to feel a cold coming on I drink a large glass of very hot water with the juice of half a lemon or an orange…don’t know why, but it works!

Some obvious, but often overlooked tips for staying healthy here:

Don’t touch your eyes, nose, or mouth. Once you have germs on your hands, the areas more susceptible for contamination are by touching your nose or mouth (or touching your food and putting it in your mouth) and rubbing your eyes. We all do this more often than we realize, and it is the fastest way to infecting yourself.

Wash your hands. It seems simple, but the best thing to do is wash your hands frequently. You and the office sickie are both touching the same stuff: the door knob, water cooler and drinking fountains, the coffeepot handle, the doughnuts in the break room, the copy machine and fax machine buttons, and they are getting their germy hands all over the place. If you use someone’s keyboard or mouse, they likely have not cleaned it since touching their mouth or blowing their nose with a tissue and then touching the mouse again with the same hand. GROSS! Use a hand sanitizer or keep wipes at your desk after exposure, especially before eating any food (candy, snacks, or your lunch). Research indicates that washing your hands when exposed to a contagious sick person is different than normal cleaning up; when you have been exposed to germs, wash between the finger webbing and fingernails, and to rinse hold your palms straight down and let the water rinse down your hands dripping off your fingers to maximize germ-fighting.

[via Associated Content.com]

Of course if you do come down with a cold, you can save some dough on Kleenex at Shoplet.com

I’d love to hear some of your cold-fighting tips! Stay healthy!

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Growing up I don’t think I ever recognized tax season. Our tax man Neil would always come over to our house once a year, after dinner and that was the only time of year we ever saw him. Past age 18, my knowledge of tax season and what a pain it is has continually increased until this year when I am so over this whole tax thing. Working at 2 different places in one year doesn’t sound that complicated but add in the fact that I’ve moved to a new state and all the sudden it is a mad panic. I was frantically looking for my W2 a few days ago and my roommate said that “sometimes the mail man just doesn’t deliver the mail at our apartment.” So where does it go. Is Newman my mailman? Anyways.. in light of my new favorite, once a year task, I thought I’d pull together some good stuff for tax season.

Responsible Stuff

Tips to Help Organize Tax Preparation

Guide to a Stress Free Tax Season

Now on to the more entertaining, laugh so you feel better stuff.

Dave Barry reports some great changes for this tax season:

• Taxpayers filing the standard Form 1040 will no longer be required to calculate line 43(b), Adjusted Gross Prehensile Net Income, which the IRS recently acknowledged was, quote, “a prank.”

• To help stimulate the economy, the Imaginary Child Tax Credit has been increased to eleventeen jillion willion dollars.

• Taxpayers who report income derived from eating sheep eyeballs on the TV show “Fear Factor” will be deported, as specified in the National Gene Pool Recovery Act.

• Taxpayers who do not itemize their deductions may now file their tax returns via Etch A Sketch.

Read on..

Did I mention the Shoplet Tax Center is up? So if you need to get stuff done for your boss or for your own company check out what we’ve got at Shoplet.com:

• Calculators
• File Cabinets
• File Folders
• Ink & Toners
• Office Essentials
• Paper & Pads
• Shredders
• Storage Boxes
• Tax Forms

Share your love (hate) for taxes below! And let us know if you have any good tips. Thanks!

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This time of year is rough. It’s usually pretty cold and bleak outside and really you just want to lay in your bed all morning. Why not liven things up a bit?

1.Wanna Buy Something For My Kid’s School Sale?
First send out an email, letting every know what your child is selling, when you will be collecting money, and what it is for. Make sure to say something like “it’s just a couple of dollars and it would mean so much to her.” As deadline approaches, corner people in the breakroom, restroom, in the elevator, or at their cars to ask them one on one if they would like to purchase complimentary nuts or wrapping paper or whatever you’re selling. Pretty soon you’ll notice that people tend to avoid you or walk faster when you start talking to them.

2. Dress up Day
In order to generate a happy buzz around the office, declare that next Wednesday is ‘Dress Like an Eighties Rock Star Day.’ Sample Email for HR:

Dear Team:

As you know, Wednesday is ‘Dress Like an Eighties Rock Star Day’ again here at IdioCorp, and once again, the team with the best costumes wins free pizza from the Westside High School Cafeteria and a KISS trophy. Please do NOT even think about wearing some lame zebra t-shirt and jeans and pretend like you are trying. I want to see some real TEAM SPIRIT this year and THIS MEANS YOU! Let’s show all the teams here that we are the hottest, most hair-spray-addicted eighties rock stars ever! Let’s show them that Team Andrejiewski Rocks!

PS–Anyone arriving for work Wednesday wearing appropriate office attire will be sent home. I’m not kidding. Don’t embarrass me again this year or you’ll be sorry for a long, long time.

3. Be Possessive
Everything in the office is now yours. Refer to your cubicle as “MY Office” or the fax machine as “MY Fax Machine.” Even refer to your boss as “MY boss” when talking to other coworkers. Possessive pronouns make you sound like you’re in 4th grade, claiming your skateboard.

4. iPhone Trick
Trick those coworkers that love their iPhone and have the standard ringtone/text message sound. Go to Annoy Phone in a new tab so that you can click on the sound and change tabs really fast so they can’t see it’s you. And only do it enough to be annoying, not to make them suspicious. Sometimes you should just let it ring once which would make them feel like they keep losing reception or have a faulty phone and need to return it.

5. Copy Your Boss

Whether your boss is a male or female, copy their outfits and where them the next day (as much as is reasonable and professional.) If asked where you got your shirt or pants or skirt, say you borrowed it from your roommate or oh this old thing? I’ve had this forever.

6. Get in the elevator and pretend to hold the door open for invisible people.
7.Arrive at a meeting late, say you’re sorry, but you didn’t have time for lunch, and you’re going to be nibbling during the meeting. During the meeting eat entire raw potatoes.
8.Hang mistletoe over your desk.
9.Drop a pen and wait for someone to pick it up. When they do, scream “That’s Mine!!!”
10. Answer every phone call on speakerphone and act like you are doing something (like rearranging papers, typing, brushing your hair) that doesn’t allow you to actually hold the phone.

Alright so get started. I think we’ll make this a weekly tradition. So look forward to our favorite ideas to liven up your office each week!

Thanks to pgrundy. Please add the way you annoy people at your office (or the way they annoy you..which can be flip flopped to get them back) in the comments below and we’ll post them next week!

>>Head over to Part 2

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Let’s all remember to eat lots of fruits and vegetables every day. Especially ones with writing on them by Sarah King. She makes fruit look real good.

So after you eat your fruit, you can drink as many of these as you want:

Sorry, I promise I will start blogging about more legit things tomorrow. But if Diet Coke with Bacon really exists let me know.

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I don’t know what the weather is like wherever you are, but here in New York it is a beautiful day.  Sadly, we are at work which leaves me to dream about what I would like to be doing in this nice weather. Tennis kept coming up in my mind until I found this delightful game.

If you’re a nerd and love Scrabble, check out the new lawn scrabble. Old shelves are used to hold the tiles, wood plaques for the letters, and pavers for the board (with the appropriate bonus squares painted of course.) This has opened up a whole new world for me! What if you made lawn Boggle?

Anyways, sorry to all those who have to work today and to those that have to head back to work tomorrow. Promise that we’ve got some good stuff coming up to keep you entertained. Have a great day!

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