Dive all Winter - Don't get the Flu!

Old Salt to Divers
I guess it's time for my annual warning on how NOT to catch the FLU.

Note: There’s nothing I hate worse than to miss a dive because of the FLU!
Would you like to dive all winter?
Following are a couple of things I’ve learned over the 50 years of commercial diving that have kept me able to answer the calls at 2 A M on a cold winter night, of a tug with a leaking barge in tow, or a hauser rope wrapped around their wheel or,
most important, a spearfishing dive while I was off work on the weekend.
We all know how hard it is to dive with a bad cough, cold or the flu.
NIP IT IN THE BUD! And I don’t mean your beer.
I’m a Diver, not a Doctor, and these are just my experiences being passed on to our diving community.
Have a great winter, Ray

Ray Odor Diving Service
2527 E.149th. Ave.,Lutz,FL33559
e- fishship@tampabay.rr.com
Ph.813-971-3368 Fax 813-364-6367
Web- www.spearfishing.cc


Cough: A little scratch that makes you cough is an indication of bigger things to come.
If I have to cough more than five times in a short period of time, day or night, I have a small, personal bottle of cough syrup next to my bed. Use whatever has worked best for you. Don’t wait till morning, take less than 1/3 teaspoon full. Kill the buggers before they multiply! If it starts up again, take another tiny shot, you haven’t even had a full dose yet. The only thing worse than having to cough heavy at 60 ft is having to do it at 100ft.

Cold: Listen carefully. We all know we can catch a cold by someone coughing right at us, or swapping slobber at the drive in. What we don’t realize is, during cold or rainy weather, the mucus that forms in your sinuses’ is to stop your breathing cold air in towards your brain. That same nose full of mucus is filled with hair follicles that filter out and hold bacteria. When we suck it in and swallow, we are delivering that same bacteria straight to our digestive system. Your body protects you by rejecting the bacteria, either downward or upward, to cleanse your system. You now have the FLU! WHAT CAN I DO???
As an old “cracker” I tell my buddies” DON’T SWALLER NO SNOT.” I don’t care if it’s the middle of the night. Spit it in a kleneex or go to the bathroom, but, “DON’T SWALLER NO SNOT.” That same mucus is delivering all those bacteria to your digestive system. Note, you won’t hear any of this from the medical community, but I haven’t had a case of the flu for over 40 years. I hope this gives you hundreds of hours more dive time this winter, and remember, your resolution form now on is,
“DON’T SWALLER NO SNOT.”
Always tell yourself, “If it is to be, it’s up to me”