What do you want to do when you grow up? I have a couple of high school seniors graduating this year and a couple of kids in the military who are home now and starting their civilian lives. It got me interested in job growth, otherwise known as "How to get your teenagers to leave the house and pay their own bills."

I didn't really see a great discussion of the possibilities for EMTs and paramedics on the web, so I wrote EMT and Paramedic Jobs: Where Can EMTs and Paramedics Work and How Much Do They Make?.

I also wanted to share a new piece on seizure symptoms. We've always had How to Treat Seizures, but now there's a good discussion on how to recognize seizures.

What do you want to see at About.com First Aid? I haven't asked in quite a while, but I do like to have input from readers. Share your thoughts in the comments below.

I don't live too far from Tulare, the county where the feds found Mad Cow Disease in a really old dairy cow. In fact, I grew up on a dairy in California and we raised Holsteins, the breed of the stricken bovine in Tulare. I'm a little sad that we found a Mad Cow here, because only happy cows are supposed to live in California.

Since it's almost in my backyard, I've been paying attention to the news about this California cow that had bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), otherwise known as Mad Cow Disease. I wanted to know exactly what to -- or whether to -- worry about it.

Here's what I found out: BSE is probably (strong scientific evidence) related to Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, what scientists think is the human version of Mad Cow. You could call it Mad Human, but Rush Limbaugh already claimed that title.

There are two types of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease: classic and variant. The classic version isn't related to Mad Cow at all and it generally afflicts much older people than the variant version. Indeed, Classic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease is less aggressive all the way around.

All of these diseases, Mad Cow and both types of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, are related to genetic mutations of certain types of protein. Since the proteins aren't alive, they can't be killed. Mad Cow beef can't be decontaminated.

Focusing on the variant version, I found a few points important:

• The relationship between Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease and Mad Cow Disease isn't a sure thing yet, but the evidence is very strong.
• The incubation period for Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease can be years, meaning you don't get physically sick until long after consuming the contaminated burger or steak, maybe 10 years.
• Cows can be carriers before they show any signs of Mad Cow.
• The United States tests only 12% of all beef!
• Lastly, and this is important because I still like steak, you aren't very likely to contract Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease even after eating a Mad Cow.

The human version comes on with dementia and loss of coordination. For it to be Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, it needs to be folks younger than 55 and it will progress much faster than the classic version. In many cases, a solid diagnosis isn't made until an autopsy can be performed.

One other important point I should make: this California cow didn't have the same form of Mad Cow that struck the British beef supply in the late 80's and early 90's. This cow had something else, and scientists don't know if it's related to Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease at all.

I simply refuse to live in fear. I'm going to eat what I want and enjoy life. I eat less beef these days anyway, just as a matter of getting older and paying my own bills. When I was growing up, the cheapest thing we could have at home was beef. Since we owned the cows already, we just had to pay the butcher to package it up. We always had a freezer full of steaks, burgers and roasts.

Maybe that's why I keep forgetting where I put my keys.

• Mad Cow Disease

"Push hard. Push Fast."

Keep that in mind if you go to the Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas. It's known for its "Bypass Burgers" and "Flatliner Fries." Unfiltered cigarettes are available for purchase as well as milkshakes made with butterfat, which don't even sound appetizing to me.

Two people have collapsed there in the last two months, according to a story by Eric Pfeiffer author of the Yahoo! News blog The Sideshow.

I'm one of those people who think we should enjoy life, including doing things that maybe aren't the healthiest choices all the time. I've certainly had a burger or two (we grilled some pretty bomb turkey burgers last night, but I usually go for all beef). I also like trampolines, skiing, and beer.

On the other hand, I'm not of the belief that we should flaunt our choices in the Grim Reaper's face and dare to be done in. Plus, I'm ready if things go wrong to jump in and start pumping on a chest: CPR that is.

100 times a minute; right in the middle; 2 inches down and all the way up.

If you're going to tempt fate with 2 pounds of ground beef, charred, seasoned with lots of salt and glued together with oozing, melted cheese, I recommend taking a CPR class in the near future. You can't fix your own cardiac arrest, but if you hang around long enough in a place which serves grub like that, you'll probably get a chance to use your training.

About 2 times a second; keep pumping while somebody else calls 911.

If you choose to take your chances and nobody around you knows how to do CPR, well, what happens in Vegas really might just stay in Vegas after all.

It's been an emotional week here at home. A deputy sheriff and a locksmith were shot and killed when they approached an apartment to evict its occupant last week. The last 9 days were reserved for mourning.

There's a weird combination of pride and sorrow that you get when you participate in such a thing. Pride at the men and women who do what we do -- help others for a living. There are several versions of that calling, but I think law enforcement, fire service and emergency medical service are the three industries who identify the closest with one another. We all have communications personnel who are at the other end of those 911 calls and we all have duties that are time sensitive and require rapid responses.

The sorrow comes from losing a friend. When one of us is killed in the line of duty, the others are quick to show honor and respect. It feels right.

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