In 1980, my oldest sister joined the Navy after graduating from high school. It was an emotional thing for my parents to watch their oldest daughter, not only leave the nest for boot camp, but to eventually leave the country for exotic destinations. The whole military experience was a complete unknown for my parents. It was especially difficult back then because we didn’t have the internet to stay connected. Their only communication with my sister was via letters and a rare overseas phone call to keep in touch.

Now my youngest sister is about to go through the same experience with her oldest son, Tony, who joined the Air Force. He finished community college, but seemed to be undecided what to do next. With our country’s economic troubles, he decided his best option was to join the military and get more education and skills. He heads for boot camp at Lackland Air Force base here in San Antonio at the end of this month.

The military way of life has its own culture and community that most people are not familiar with. I know my sister is worried. She doesn’t know what to expect. The good news is that there are all kinds of resources and information available to her now that weren’t around for my parents when our oldest sister enlisted.

The FAQ on joining the military provides links and phone numbers if your child or loved one is considering enlisting. The Military Home Front, the Consumer Action Handbook military page, and Family Support for Active Military Personnel contain links to information explaining benefits and other important topics.

These private resources have created wonderful communities for parents and loved ones to learn and share experiences among military families:

• Milspouse.org
• Your Soldier Your Army
• Mom’s Field Guide
• Marine Parents
• Today’s Military
• Supporting our Troops
• Navy For Moms

Getting informed about the military and becoming part of the parents-with-military-kids community may help ease some of my sister’s fears. Not everyone has a positive military experience, but I am hopeful that enlisting will be a good experience for Tony. I hope it will help him focus and give him a plan for the future. Do you think enlisting in the military at this time is a good thing or something he will regret?

I’m a runner, and I have a bum knee. Last summer when running hurt so much it brought me to tears, I decided it was time to see the doc. I was sent to physical therapy where I did a bunch of exercises to get things taken care of and off I went when I was fixed.

Except, it turns out I wasn’t so fixed.

So this time when the nagging pain came back, I did a little research. I punched the name of my issue into WebMD, into USA.gov, into every runner’s training resource I could find.

After reading about the symptoms and causes, and running a 5K that left me hobbling around for the rest of the weekend, I finally broke down and called a doctor.

I’m pretty sure he’ll send me for x-rays like last time to make sure nothing is structurally wrong, and then I can only hope for good news.

From what I’ve read it sounds like patellofemoral syndrome (or patellar tracking disorder) takes up to several months to heal. I’m still crossing my fingers that my doc will have some voo-doo magic that will heal me up right quick so I can run a race I’m registered for at the end of March.

I've been pretty lucky that this is the only real medical problem I've ever faced and could easily find information on it. Where do you look for advice and information when you have medical questions or need advice? I'm always interested in hearing about what resources are available.

As for my knee, cross your fingers for me and I’ll keep you posted on how the appointment goes.

When it comes to dealing with medicine, things can get tricky. Can you take one type of med with another? Does name brand vs. generic make a difference? What if you mix an over-the-counter drug with a prescription?

And to top it off, when you see an ad in a magazine or newspaper, it's accompanied by a full page of fine-print information about the medicine. Who has the time, or the vision, to read all that?

After a study conducted by Dartmouth was released this week, you might find it easier to get the information you need about the medicines you see advertised.

"User-friendly boxes" would replace the direct-to-consumer drug ads you currently see. These concise "drug facts boxes" are quite similar to the nutrition facts found on food items. These boxes will include facts not found in the current summaries like:

• The year the drug got approval from the Food and Drug Administration
• How common the side effects were in clinical trials
• The advantages of the drug over older drugs

Would these new boxes be advantageous to you? Would it influence you to ask your doctor for a specific medicine?

Ayer Jake escribió en este blog sobre la transición a la televisión digital. Encuentra a continuación la traducción de su entrada.

View the English-language version of this post

La buena noticia es que el Congreso y el Presidente movieron el plazo límite para la transición a la televisión digital. Las estaciones de televisión con señal analógica tendrán desde hoy 17 de febrero hasta el 12 de junio para hacer este cambio. Esta decisión fue tomada para que aquellos con televisores analógicos con antena tengan tiempo para recibir la señal digital. La mala noticia es que no todas las estaciones esperarán hasta el 12 de junio para terminar sus transmisiones análogas.

La Comisión Federal de Comunicaciones (FCC por su sigla en inglés) reporta que aproximadamente 600 de las 1800 estaciones de alta potencia planean terminar su transmisión analógica el día de hoy así que si tienes una televisión analógica y no tienes una caja convertidora notarás que no podrás ver algunos canales. A principios de la semana pasada la FCC publicó una lista de canales que querían terminar de transmitir en señal analógica hoy. Sin embargo, el viernes pasado la FCC le negó el permiso a 123 de estas estaciones a que hicieran el cambio. La FCC tomó esta medida para asegurarse que la gente que no está preparada para el cambio no pierda el acceso a información de seguridad pública y a las noticias locales. Estas estaciones pueden apelar la decisión de la FCC si certifican que tomarán otras medidas para ofrecerle al público alertas de seguridad y noticias.

Dos terceras partes de los canales continuarán transmitiendo en señal analógica. Para ver si tus canales locales terminarán de transmitir en señal analólogica, revisa la lista de estaciones de la FCC que harán el cambio en o antes del 17 de febrero. Si tu canal local no está en la lista, entonces tu canal local continuará transmitiendo en señal analógica.

Si tienes una televisión analógica y quieres saber como prepararte para el cambio, visita el artículo titulado "Prepárate para el cambio a la televisión digital" y mira el video al final de este blog. ¿Qué piensas sobre la decisión del Gobierno de aplazar la fecha límite? ¿Crees que es necesario aplazar la fecha o no?

The good news is that Congress and the President moved the analog to digital TV signal transition deadline that requires television stations to stop analog broadcast signals from February 17 (tomorrow) to June 12. They did this to give those with analog TVs some time to be able to receive digital signals. The bad news is that not all stations will wait until June 12 to end their analog broadcasts.

The Federal Communications Commission reports that approximately 650 of the 1800 full-power stations plan to end analog broadcasts on February 17, so if you have an analog TV and no converter box you may notice some channels missing.

UPDATE: Last night the FCC released a list of channels that will end analog broadcast on February 17. If you have an analog TV and want to know what you need do to get prepared check out this DTV FAQ, watch the video below or call a DTV call center. What do you think of the government's action to delay the digital TV transition deadline? Do you find it helpful or unnecessary?

On Februray 17th Gov Gab will be turning the keys over to our new substitute blogger Leilani who will post about the DTV transition in Spanish to assist our Spanish readers. Or as she would say: Mañana Gov Gab hará algo un poco distinto y le dará la bienvenida a Leilani, nuestro nuevo blogger substituto, quien presentará información en español sobre este mismo tema - la transición a la televisión digital - para ayudar a nuestros lectores de habla hispana.