Like so many others, I’m a little down with a cold this week. It came on slowly so I was in denial for a while, but it’s now clear that my naturally sultry voice sounds like I gained an extra Y chromosome and my fair skin is just a shade lighter than pasty. Luverne schools missed 100 students Tuesday due to illnesses, and workplaces all around us are without employees. Unfortunately, it’s usually those closest to us and our own behavior that are to blame for getting sick.Being around smokers increases non-smokers’ risk of getting a cold, and their symptoms will probably be worse and last longer.Being close to people we care about when they’re sick also makes us vulnerable.In my case, my immune system could be worn out from fending off germs from my own workspace. A University of Arizona study concluded that the average office desk harbors 20,961 germs per square inch, which is 400 times more bacteria than the average toilet seat.Telephones have 25,127 germs in an average square inch on the receiver, and desktops have 20,961 germs. Keyboards were found to support 3,295 germs per square inch with another 1,676 on the mouse. Toilet seats have just 49 germs. For those of you who have a cold, or feel one coming on, it’s not too late. I am fortunate to work with Lori Ehde, who hears a sneeze and quickly offers a sample from her baggie of Echinacea capsules, like a pusher on a street corner. The herb is reported to boost immune systems.Other remedies that could work include:obananas, which soothe upset stomachsobell peppers, loaded with vitamin Coblueberries, which curb diarrhea and have a natural aspirin that lowers fevers and helps with aches and painsocarrots, which are full of beta-caroteneochili peppers, which can open sinusesomustard and horseradish, which both break up mucus in air passagesoonion, which may help clear bronchitis and other infectionsotea, black or green, which contains a natural antibioticGood luck with these and any other free advice you get on your cold or flu symptoms.I’m going to hope for the best as I continue my work from the Tollefson Publishing girls’ room, since it has fewer germs than my desk and infectious friends.