Why I'm not bothering with a flu shot this year.

I'm staying home sick today.  While I am, in fact, sick, this also allows me to prepare a bit for the arrival of my sister-in-law Michelle, who is visiting us for the weekend.  For the occasion, I went out and bought some toilet bowl cleaner.  I hope she understands what a rare privilege she will be enjoying.

Anyway, since this particular toilet bowl cleaner is made by the good people at Clorox, its main selling point is its germ-fighting abilities.  Frankly, (please pardon this coarse pun) I could give two shits about its germ-fighting abilities -- I just want our toilets to be clean enough that they don't look like they belong in the Kingdom of the Swamp People.  But this toilet bowl cleaner wants to kill germs anyway.  Fine.

In big, bold letters, the bottle proclaims, "DISINFECTS -- KILLS 99.9% OF GERMS."  Unbelievably, in even larger bold letters, right above it, it says, "KILLS FLU VIRUS."

My dog will be overjoyed to know that I have made her secondary source of drinking water flu-free.  I'm not sure how long the flu virus can survive inside a toilet bowl, but if you're coming into direct and regular contact with the surface of the inside of your toilet, you deserve to catch the flu anyway.