Family | Michael R Lewis, ASJA

August 14, 2013January 3, 2024

Living with Superbugs, Viruses & Bacteria

Newspapers and television news reports have shrieked the appearance of new “superbugs” and the dangers they pose for humanity. “Deadly Superbug Scare: Flesh-Eating Germ in 31 of 63 State Hospitals” headlined the “Boston Herald” on March 7, 2013. ABC News Chief Health and Medical Editor Dr. Richard Besser proclaimed earlier on a March 6th newscast that “bacteria that start in hospitals often find their way out into the community. That would be a nightmare scenario.”

On March 11, the “Atlantic Wire” reported that public health officials in the United States and Great Britain were concerned about a potentially catastrophic threat to human health due to a spike in the appearance of the drug-resistant bacteria carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE). According to Dame Sally Davies, the United Kingdom’s chief medical officer, “If tough measures are not taken to restrict the use of antibodies and no new ones are discovered, we will find ourselves in a health system not dissimilar to the early 19th century at some point.”

Is it time to run for cover, avoid contact with other human beings, and prepare for Armageddon? Read more . . .

August 14, 2013January 3, 2024

Life Insurance – How Much Do You Need?

Many people’s first experience with life insurance is when a friend or acquaintance gets an insurance license. In my case, a college friend, recently hired by a major insurance company, contacted me to buy a $10,000 policy. He reached out to several other friends as well, and many of us signed on the dotted line.

Though this isn’t the ideal way to buy life insurance, it is, nonetheless, the way by which most people acquire it: They don’t buy life insurance – it is sold to them.

How to Prepare When Making a Career Change

Many people dream of a new career earning more money doing the things they love. In fact, labor surveys suggest that four out of five people are unhappy in their careers and want to make a change. We Americans are optimistic with a tendency to accept that the “grass is always greener” on the other side of the fence. Yet few people actually pursue a career change voluntarily. Why? Because age, high income, and debt lock many into their current jobs or fields, making it that much harder to change.

If you desire to make a clean break from your current career and start anew – be it for more pay, personal satisfaction, or a better balance between your personal and work life – prepare yourself for a more difficult transition than seeking a similar job with a new employer. It’s unlikely that you will replicate your current salary or benefits in the beginning of a new career, while it is likely that you’ll need to invest in training or education to be hired. You may even be forced to relocate.

But these and other obstacles needn’t hold you back from your goals. However, they do require preparation in order to surmount. Read more . . .

August 14, 2013January 3, 2024

Moving Back Home – How to Make It Work

At some point in your life, you have likely heard the phrase, “You can’t go home again.” However, as popular as the saying may be, it’s entirely wrong: Millions of young adults are moving back home to live with their parents, sometimes with children of their own.

According to a 2011 Pew Research Center Report, the country is now experiencing “the largest increase in the number of Americans living in multi-generational households in modern history.” More than 10% of all households (11.9 million) include members of multiple generations, the majority of which were an adult child living with a parent. The number of children returning home has become so commonplace that they have earned the appellations “baby gloomers” and “boomerangs.” One of every four young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 indicated that they had returned to live in their parents’ house after being independent; one in five of those between the ages of 25 and 34 reported the same.