In the last few months we’ve all been inundated with tips on how to avoid catching the swine flu, or the H1N1 influenza.

Wash your hands.

Sneeze into the crook of your arm instead of into your hands.

Avoid touching your face.

Now the folks at the nonprofit Maryland Children’s Oral Health Institute have collaborated with Valley Dental Pediatrics in Owings Mills to create a visual reference on keeping your toothbrush free of germs, called Project Clean Toothbrush: Important Tips to Help Prevent the Spread of Flu Germs (pdf).

It seems to make sense that if germs on your hands could wind up entering your system, then germs on your toothbrush have an even bigger chance of landing in your throat, courtesy of your twice-daily hygiene routine.

Here’s the drill (sorry, couldn’t resist the dental reference) on keeping your toothbrush germ-free:

1. Wash your hands before and after touching your toothbrush

2. Wash your toothbrush before and after every use. Start with hot water to soften the bristles and remove food particles, rub your finger over the bristles to get the rest of the gunk out, then run cold water over the bristles to regain firmness and possibly limit germ growth.

3. Disinfect your toothbrush daily in antibacterial mouthwash for 30 seconds.

Other germ killing options:

-Store your toothbrush in a hydrogen peroxide/water mix (1 tsp of peroxide to 1 cup of water); change mix daily

-Soak your toothbrush in vinegar once a week– but I’m thinking this could taste really gross with toothpaste next time you brush

-Use denture cleanser to sanitize your toothbrush

-And, the granddaddy of toothbrush cleaning methods, deep clean your toothbrush by securing it in the silverware rack the next time you run your dishwasher

A few more tips:

-Avoid side-by-side toothbrush storage; multiple toothbrushes should be kept inches apart

-Keep your toothbrush as far away from the toilet as possible to cut down on airborne bacteria from waste reaching your toothbrush. Always flush with the lid closed.

-Use toothpaste from a pump dispenser to avoid contact between the germs that might lurk on the toothpaste dispenser and the toothbrush

-Toss your toothbrush when you get sick.

It sounds like a lot of work to stay clear of the flu – regular or swine – but it beats trying to find the vaccine.

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I got a chat message on Facebook this morning from one of my FB friends, with whom I hadn’t spoken in, oh, three years.

I guess that’s not unbelievably unusual, but I had friended the guy a while back, and those types of conversations usually happen within minutes of friending someone. You know … what have you been up to for the last 25 years of your life?

Anyway, within 30 seconds, my “friend” was telling me that he was stuck in London, where he had been mugged at gunpoint last night. And he really needed my help.

You really don’t need to be Elliott Stabler (for all you Law and Order SVU fans) to figure out where this was going.

He wanted me to send him money.

Evidently, this scam has been around for a while. While I was chatting with my “friend,” I googled “facebook” “chat” and “scam” and this was the first result.

Then, when I asked my friend how he knew me, he again asked for money, cursed me and blocked me from the page.

Anybody else have this experience?

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Is anyone following this Baltimore Celebrity Smackdown tournament The Baltimore Sun is running? I have to say, as a sports fan, I’m a little disturbed at some of the results so far.

Most of the celebrities are media personalities, sports heroes or politicians. In round one, Oriole Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson pounded Gov. Martin O’Malley, 92.7 percent to 7.3 percent and Raven Ray Lewis easily handled Wheel of Fortune’s Pat Sajak, 77 to 23. But Oriole Brian Roberts lost out to former Gov. William Schaefer and Raven Todd Heap was overtaken by radio personality JoJo Girard.

And in round two, our beloved Cal Ripkin Jr. is losing to WWE diva Stacy Keibler in a landslide, 75.2 percent to 24.8 as of Friday afternoon. The beating has even caught Sports Illustrated’s attention.

Of course this is by no means scientific. And I seriously doubt anyone’s legacy (from Ripken to O’Malley) will be affected by losing early on (we still have three more rounds to go). Just because the Iron Man is about to lose to a former Ravens cheerleader does not mean that Baltimore isn’t still a great sports town. I hope.

In fact the only thing really significant about this tournament is the amount of traffic it is driving to The Sun’s Web site. I’m imagining the Web editors over there gleefully watching the number of votes tick up — along with their online viwership. And that’s what we call a smart business move.

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For the first time in a while, I’ve been hearing ads for Laurel Park on the radio as I drive in to work this week. This particular round of spots is promoting the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash this Saturday and it really does makes me glad for horse racing that the track owners are spending the money for some real advertising.

With that said, the ad is just plain weird. It tells a short father-son story about an afternoon at Laurel Park. But the way it’s told and the low timbre of the voiceover makes me think I’m listening to a horse racing version of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” only without the violins.

I was also so distracted by the odd voice that I only caught what the commercial was actually about the second time I heard it. And I still don’t really get the point of the story…if there was one. It kind of rambles for a bit, then ends abruptly. I always like a good “and the moral of the story is…” kind of ending. This is definitely not an example of that.

Anyway, check out Laurel Park’s Facebook page to hear the ad (posted on its homepage in the left column). Is this doing a good job of appealing to a younger audience? You be the judge.

I’ll just say this: compare this ad to the Charles Town Races & Slots song (…they’re right down the road, where the action is hot!) and it’s like night and day in terms of appeal and memorability.

Laurel Park’s ad was produced by Elevation, a marketing company in Washington, D.C. The Leffler Agency in Baltimore is still the track’s agency of record and did the media buys for the ad.

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Delmarva Power & Light Co. mucked up efforts to hold a public hearing last week on its plans to increase rates for distributing electricity, and now it has to pay to fix it.

The Public Service Commission requires companies to hold hearings to publicly air their intentions and allow customers to say what they will about the utility’s plans in most major cases.

The companies have to notify customers of the hearings through advertisements in general circulation newspapers and submit proof that the ads were published to the PSC on or before the date of the hearing.

Well, Delmarva did as it was supposed to and published the ads, but did not provide a copy to the PSC before its hearings. At the Oct. 15 hearing, the PSC said it discovered that Delmarva had “inadvertently” failed to mention in its ads what exactly it would discuss at the public hearings. Oops.

Now, according to an order from the PSC issued today, Delmarva is on the hook for three additional public hearings, and it can’t pass the cost along to its ratepayers as utilities usually do. Delmarva has to pay expenses for a court reporter and travel expenses for PSC officials and staff members from the Office of the People’s Counsel to attend the hearings.

No idea how much all of that would cost, but Delmarva will foot the entire bill.

The company also has to put a notice of the hearings on the home page of its Web site with all of the relevant details available without clicking on a link.

And, once again, it has to publish notice of the hearings in newspapers — hopefully this time with all of the necessary info — as well as provide proof of publication to the PSC. The only problem is that the company isn’t required to send a copy of the ad to regulators before it runs to make sure they got it right.

The fault here is obviously with Delmarva for failing to tell customers why they were holding the hearings, but doesn’t it seem like it would make more sense for the PSC to make the company send over copies of the ads before they run in order to avoid another redo?

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The National Retail Federation’s most recent survey has found that more than two-thirds of consumers say the economy will affect their spending this holiday season.

The survey, conducted by BIGresearch, also estimates individual spending this season will drop 3.2 percent to about $683. The trends this year will see more consumers searching out sales and using coupons, according to the survey. About one-third of Americans also said they planned to use last year’s holiday decorations.

In essence, these trends aren’t much of a change from last year. It’s just that this season, retailers have more advance warning and have time to adjust their inventories accordingly. As NRF’s September Port Tracker report notes, traffic to the nation’s ports has scaled back to levels not seen since 2003.

“While last holiday season was filled with chaotic confusion, adjusting to uncertainty has now become routine for many Americans,” NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin said in a statement. “This holiday season will be a bit of a dance between retailers and shoppers, with each group feeling the other out to understand how things have changed and how they must adapt.”

The NRF also recently predicted a 1 percent drop in total spending this November and December to $437.6 billion.

Makes you think — last year’s post-holiday sale season was marked by extreme discounts because retailers were left with more inventory to dump than usual after Dec. 25. With more time to plan correctly, could we see less drastic measures for this year’s post-holiday sales?

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Seems Nationals fans in Washington can’t even bear to watch their team on television. According to the Washington Business Journal, D.C. is the only television market where the home team played second fiddle to an out-of-town team this year…and guess which team that was, O’s fans?

That’s right — Orioles games on MASN drew a 0.67 rating and 16,000 homes in D.C. this season compared with the Nationals’ 0.60 rating and 14,000 homes.

Ouch. Like we don’t have enough reason to pity the Nationals: Attendance fell by about 500,000 to 1.8 million, they fired their manager halfway through the season, they posted a major league worst 59-103 record this year, lost 102 games last year, and the team’s general manager resigned in May amidst a player scandal.

I’m not saying the Orioles were anything to write home about this year (attendance dipped by about 43,000 to 1.9 million, they put up a 64-98 record this year and fans were embittered after yet another free agent prospect  — Mark Teixeira — was lured away by more money). But it’s always nice when you don’t have to look too far to find someone who’s worse off than you are.

Here’s what MASN spokesman Todd Webster had to say to the WBJ:

“The Nationals continue to grow strong roots and build a passionate fan base, but the Baltimore-Washington region is really one large mega-market, where support for both teams transcends traditional boundaries.”

Interesting how the two cities can be one or two markets, depending on what’s convenient. The truth is, the Orioles have been outdrawing the Nationals in D.C. since at least July. Maybe D.C., with all its transplant residents, just can’t support its own baseball team after all?

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Shhhhh! It’s a surprise.

Well, not anymore. The Progressive Maryland Education Fund and its friends are holding a “surprise birthday party” for Mayo Shattuck III, Constellation Energy’s chief executive on Wednesday, his 55th birthday.

I’m doubting there will be cake and party hats. This birthday party will also serve as a news conference to ask the attorney general’s office to cancel the $33 million retirement payment Shattuck is eligible to receive upon his 55th birthday once he leaves the company.

AG Doug Gansler took up review of the issue in June after Sen. Jamie Raskin, D-Mongtomgery, and Sen. James Brochin, D-Baltimore County, requested an inquiry on the basis that Constellation’s subsidiary, Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. is a “public utility.”

Constellation says only the company’s shareholders and board of directors can determine pay for its CEO. Shattuck did take a pay cut in 2008, earning $7.8 million in compensation, compared to $15.3 million in 2007.

Progressive Maryland, a nonprofit that monitors economic issues that affect working families, will try to enter Constellation’s hq to give Shattuck a “very different birthday present than the $33 million golden parachute he was hoping for.”

Who’s got a good guess on what it could be?

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It seems like a good problem to have but managing millions of dollars can come around to bite a pro football player in the tush.

That’s why the NFL Players’ Association has called upon Financial Finesse to help players out with planning ahead for their future without football.

“With no guarantees in NFL contracts and the potential for a 2011 lock out, we want to make sure our members are prepared for injury or anything that cripples their career,” said DeMaurice Smith, the NFLPA executive director. “We’d also like them to transition from football to a lifetime of financial security and independence — something that is possible only with smart financial planning.”

Financial Finesse is based in California and the NFLPA is in Washington, D.C.

I have written about this topic before and focused on pro baseball players, but saving money for the future can be an even tougher concept for football players.

As financial adviser Joe Geier told me then, football players are drafted and go straight to the NFL with a lot of money at a young age — many go from living it up in college to living it up in the league but with a mush bigger expense account.

Baseball players can be a little more worn down by the time they arrive in the majors. Most are drafted, spend a few years in the minors getting paid a pittance and have the chance to calm down a bit before they’re called up. While they are certainly capable of blowing through paychecks when they finally do get their millions, the problem is more prevalent in the NFL (and the NBA for the same reasons).

While much of the spending is for toys like a big house, cars, etc., another large part of players’ spending goes toward taking care of their family members. That plus taxes, and these guys aren’t as insanely wealthy as it might seem. (They’re just semi-crazy wealthy.)

I go back and forth between feeling sympathetic for players — mostly for the ones who don’t get their jerseys sold in stores but who protect the guy that makes 10 times as much as him — and thinking it shouldn’t be that hard to save money when you’re still paid a premium by anyone else’s standards.

What do you think?

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After all the questions in the media about whether Orioles manager Dave Trembley needs to go, this came down late Friday from the organization:

“The Orioles today announced that they have exercised their option for the 2010 season on the contract of Manager Dave Trembley.

“This season is Trembley’s 25th in professional baseball. He won two league titles and earned Manager of the Year awards in three leagues in 20 years managing in the minor leagues before joining the Orioles as bullpen coach and field coordinator in 2007.”

Since this summer, Trembley has been on thin ice for his management of the team and the young squad’s needless errors.

So who’s responsible for Trembley staying? Owner Peter Angelos? GM Andy MacPhail? The O’s also won last night, snapping a 13-game losing streak.

Is this a sign that the team is or isn’t moving past the days of mismanagement that has plagued it during the Angelos era? Do you agree with the decision?

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