The shrill blaring of the alarm drills into your brain and jolts you out of your restless sleep. With eyes heavy as lead, you drag your aching body to work. Nowadays, with half the people gone, you have to go flat out or risk being downsized next – but your incompetent boss doesn’t really care. You stay late, then there’s a traffic jam, heavy rain, and more bad news on the radio. Getting home is no relief – usually when you see your spouse it’s one big fight – mostly about money. The kids are a worry too – and thinking about work keeps you from sleeping, again.

Sounds like a bad dream? Maybe. But parts of it are reality for many people today.

Investing in pandemic planning not only benefits worker health, it can positively affect a company’s financial survival as well.

This is according to new research from the Schulich School of Business entitled, Making a Case for Investing in Pandemic Preparedness, which studies the micro-economic impact of an influenza pandemic on individual companies.

There are some things people shouldn’t mind paying a few dollars more for, and according to Jeff Tyson, an expert with the site How Stuff Works.com, a decent pair of sun glasses is one of them. Tyson says there is definitely a difference between a $200 pair of Ray Bans and those cheap $9 knockoffs for sale at the checkout counter of your local gas station...