Everyone has done it: You need some momentum on the treadmill, so you crank up your iPod. Or you turn up your car stereo when you drive by a loud construction site or your favorite song comes on and then forget to turn it back down. It might sound obvious but exposing yourself to loud noises for a prolonged period of time may irreversibly damage your hearing. Your body can hear thanks to hair cells inside your ears that transform sound energy into electrical signals. Those signals get sent to your brain. Excessive sound energy damages those hair cells, eventually causing them to die. Our bodies don't regenerate new hair cells and the louder the noise, the more damage that can be done to them.

Here are a few tips to keep your hearing sharp.

TURN IT DOWN At maximum volume, the average MP3 player blares at an ear-splitting115 decibels. Compare that to the noise a power saw makes at about 110 decibels. The American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery says it only takes 100 decibels of sound for
15 minutes to cause permanent hearing damage. If someone an arm's length away can hear what is coming through your headphones, turn the volume down by at least 30 percent. You can also adjust the volume settings on your computer to 60 percent.

CANCEL OUT THE NOISE If you need to use headphones, noise-canceling headphones are a better option. When you block out background noise, it's easier to focus on what you're listening to. You'll find yourself turning up the volume a lot less. Background noise isn't something people often pay attention to, but a person's risk for hearing loss increases depending on how much background noise they are exposed to.

TAKE A BREAK How long you spend listening to a loud noise may also affect your hearing. Continually listening to loud music or being in a loud environment without ear protection for several hours may increase your risk of damage. Give your ears a break: wear ear protection or ear plugs, try to retreat to a quieter location for a few minutes every hour, and pause your music at least once every 90 minutes.

The main point to remember is that loud noise from any source, whether it's your car stereo or a power tool, for a prolonged period of time, will degenerate your hearing.

Be sure to tune in to Dr. Sanjay Gupta every weekend on HOUSE CALL. You'll find the answers to your medical questions Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 a.m. ET on CNN.

It's been called the "Obama Effect." Our service-promoting president and his wife may may be the cause behind the 234 percent jump in AmeriCorps applications in the past five months (compared to last year's same time frame), Jobs.Change.org says. Of course, it could also be the effect of a high unemployment rate and sense of fear in college graduates.

But if you're looking for a way to give back to your community while earning a living or seeing new places, here are a few opportunities:

Most everyone has heard of the AmeriCorps, one of the largest service organizations for college graduates in the United States. But did you know AmeriCorps has three different programs? Its largest, AmeriCorps State and National, meets "local needs in education, environment, public health and safety, disaster preparedness and response." AmeriCorps VISTA fights poverty across the U.S. And AmeriCrops NCCC draws from the models of the U.S. military and the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s to "strengthen communities and develop leaders."

As this story shows, Teach For America is another service program available to recent graduates. Teach for America places people in low-income school districts to teach for a two-year commitment after a rigorous five-week summer preparation program.

If you'd rather go overseas to explore the world, WorldTeach sends teachers abroad to teach English, math, computer science or HIV/AIDS education in varous countries. The voluntary (read: unpaid) positions are a year-long commitment.

Several religious service organizations exist as well. Avodah: The Jewish Service Corps is a year-long program that "combines Jewish learning with social activism and community building in low-income neighborhoods in New York City and Washington, DC.," according to Idealist.org. And the Amate House develops "men and women rooted in faith, dedicated to service, and committed to building a more just and loving society." Volunteers with Amate House are placed in schools, parishes and social service agenices.

If you're older, Senior Corps is a government program that matches people aged 55+ with volunteer opportunities in their communities. Small stipends for certain programs are available.

To see a longer list of service job opportunities visit Idealist.org.

Tailors like Ryan Taylor - whose clients include Jay Leno and Al Pacino –  will help celebrities look their best, but who's going to help you? With layoffs spreading fear into almost every workplace environment, what you wear can influence everything from the projects you get handed to whether you even need to show up at work the next day. And if you're out job hunting, the outfit you put on is even more crucial.

Quintcareers.com understands your frustration with being judged on your looks. After all, we're taught practically from birth that beauty is on the inside. But the experts there say a nice conservative outfit is a job interview staple.

Should you be judged by what you wear? Perhaps not, but the reality is, of course, that you are judged. Throughout the entire job-seeking process employers use short-cuts - heuristics or rules of thumb - to save time. With cover letters, it's the opening paragraph and a quick scan of your qualifications. With resumes, it is a quick scan of your accomplishments. With the job interview, it's how you're dressed that sets the tone of the interview.

Collegegrad.com agrees:

Remember that stylish is typically not conservative. Conservative is “in” for interviewing. Why? Because you should be doing the talking, not your clothes.

Quintcareers recommends calling the human resources department at your prospective employment office to ask flat-out what the dress code is. Or, if you venture in to pick up an application, take a look around.

Forbes.com says the classic suit is back in fashion for women. Skirt or pant suits on the runway last fall reflected a "back to basics" look.

In the midst of layoffs, unemployment and uncertainty about the future, this may seem like strange timing. But the return of this work staple is actually a surprisingly straightforward response by fashion designers to the financial crisis. Work, after all, is the new luxury.

Here are a few other classic rules to follow, from Collegegrad.com:

• Keep your hairstyle well-groomed and avoid beards if you are a man (or woman!)
• Trim your fingernails, remove any visible body piercings and keep cologne/perfume to a minimum.
• Carry a briefcase or portfolio case - not a purse.
• Dark shoes AND socks for men. Skin color hosiery for women.

Of course, every workplace is different. An expert at Careerbuilder.com said this:

We used to be able to give candidates very explicit instructions on how to dress... Today all of that has changed. The key is knowing what is acceptable in your industry.

We all wish there was a miracle list of the ways to get slim by eating a gianormous bag of potato chips. But if you're willing to put a little bit of work into your diet, here are a few simple ways from SELF.com to eat healthier.

1) If you can't grow it, don't eat it. That doesn't mean getting your hands dirty by digging a new garden. What it does mean is avoiding as many processed foods as possible. SELF explains it like this:

A potato comes from the ground, an egg from a hen. But where did that Pop-tart come from? If your best guess is "aisle 7," pass it up.

2) Laziness will triumph. Sometimes your desire to do nothing more than lounge on the couch can help your diet - that is, if you don't have any unhealthy snacks in your kitchen. So don't buy them OR if you do, put them on a top shelf in the pantry where dragging out the step ladder may just be too much work.

3) Your hips are not a fridge. Repeat this mantra to yourself often. If you make five cups of pasta, eat two. The invention of refrigeration provided us with a method to keep food edible for days! Who knew, right? So save half your dinner and you'll save half the calories.

4) Watching "Top Chef" isn't cooking. And watching the "Barefoot Contessa" is definitely not cooking healthy. If you're following along, fine. But if you're eating an entire pizza while watching Rachael Ray create a 90 calorie salad feast, you're kidding yourself. SELF magazine suggests this:

No need to whip up a seven-course meal, but you can pick up tips [from the shows] about combining flavors and using fresh ingredients.

Check out the SELF Web site for 16 more food rules to live by.

Vacations are fabulous. You wake up late and eat a ton of food. You see new places or reacquaint yourself with old friends. You take time to breathe, relax and if you're lucky, you never, ever think about work.

But what happens when the lazy days are over and you return to the stress and turmoil of your job? We've got a few tips on how to ease yourself back into work:

1. Prepare before you leave. Workbloom.com recommends assigning tasks to colleagues before you jet off on your vacay. This way when you come back, you won't be overwhelmed. And greenliving.suite101.com suggests cleaning your house and desk before you leave. Coming back to a mess can only increase your stress level.  The site also says this:

No doubt you will eat good food during your vacation, so plan a fine dining experience for your return. You might leave a good quality pre-prepared meal, or a menu of a favorite takeout or delivery restaurant.

Consider taking an extra day off work to unwind before returning to the office. Prepare treats for the day, order a book or DVD to greet you when you return, or plan a meal with friends. Seeing friends and enjoying your home are great compensations of the return from vacation, so make the most of these by planning ahead.

Think you're too busy to ever plan ahead? See our special on how to have it all.

2. Take it slow. It's an old trick to come back mid-week, or right before a long weekend. Having a few days off right after your return will help ease you back into the work flow. But you can also keep your calm by tackling tasks one at a time. An article from EHow.com says this:

Work at your own pace. No one expects a whirling dervish on the first day back from vacation, or even the first week back. Take advantage of this fact and work at your own pace until you are up to speed with the rest of the office once again.

The site also suggests taking frequent breaks - either for food, water or fresh air. Plus Helium.com recommends thinning your email out before you arrive in the office. Taking time the night before your return will make the morning seem that much less overwhelming.

For many of us the main curse of returning to work is arriving to an in-box crammed with e-mails. For those people who can access their work e-mails from home, it might be worth devoting an hour or so the previous night to reading some of your backlog of e-mails. Okay, this is slightly eating into the last hours of your holiday but it may be worth it to be able to hit the ground running on the first day back.

3. Plan your next vacation. Whoa, you just got back - don't go asking your boss for more days just yet. But planning a weekend getaway or a day trip to the spa will help you hold on to the blissful feeling just a little bit longer.

With warm weather right around the corner, it's just a matter of time before families head to the water - be that a beach, lake or pool. If you have little ones, keeping them safe by the water is a top concern. I remember battling with by first son about eating the sand at the beach, but that concern would be supplanted when he'd jump up and run toward the waves – invariably doing a head plant into the surf. Kids are often fearless, and knowing how to protect them by the water is a full time job. According to the CDC, drowning is the leading cause of death from injury in children ages 1 to 4. The Mayo Clinic offers some drowning prevention tips to help keep your family safe this summer.

1) Little swimmers. Parents often wonder about the best age to enroll their children in swimming lessons. Unfortunately there is conflicting research on this. As of now, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) doesn't recommend formal lessons before age 4, but the AAP is in the process of updating their policy on drowning prevention. The new guidelines should be released next year. Some swimming organizations offer water survival lessons to children as young as 6 months old. Babies and young children are taught skills to help them roll over and float if they ever find themselves face down in the water. A word of caution: some experts voice concern that early lessons may give parents a false sense of security about their child's swimming ability, leading to less supervision by and in the water. Check with your pediatrician to find out when your child is ready for lessons.

2) Fence it in. Swimming lessons are not enough to prevent accidental drownings. If you have a pool providing protection from the water may be a matter of life and death. Surrounding your pool with a fence is imperative, and make sure your gate has a high latch or an alarm. There are also underwater pool alarms that sound when something hits the water. According to the CDC, most pool drowning in young children occur when the child has been out of a parent’s or caregiver’s sight for less than 5 minutes.

3) On guard. Never leave your child unattended by the pool. If the phone rings, the dryer buzzes or the delivery man arrives, take your child out of the pool and keep him with you until you are ready to focus on him again. And don't leave pool toys in the water between swims: your child may fall in reaching for a toy. Unfortunately more than 85 percent of drownings among children ages 1 to 4 are pool-related.

And finally when your kids get a little older and can swim on their own, make sure they have a buddy and don't swim alone.

Health Minute airs daily on HLN from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET weekdays

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan can seem a million miles away for those of us who don't have a father, mother, sister or son overseas with the military. But on Memorial Day we are reminded of the many who fight on our behalf... and the many that could use our help.

If you are inspired to help our servicemen and women, there are many places you can go to donate and/or volunteer. Here are just a few:

Donate your old cell phone or prepaid calling card to Cell Phones for Soldiers. This program, started in April 2004 by 13-year-old Brittany Bergquist and her 12-year-old brother Robbie, aims to help troops call home.

Sometimes just a simple message of thanks can be enough to brighten a serviceman or woman's day. The U.S. Department of Defense community relations office offers an opportunity to send an online letter to our troops. You can also read messages from abroad in response.

The United States Postal Service offers guidelines on mailing addresses, package restrictions and what types of items will melt in Iraq's 100 degree heat. If you're sending a care package to a loved one, make sure to check that it will be safe during its trip. While most military organizations no longer accept packages to "any soldier," organizations like Homefront Hugs USA will have you adopt one troop member to send packages to directly.

Troops face a lot of downtime in between missions. Their boredom often contributes to a sense of loneliness and homesickness. Books For Soldiers gives you the opportunity to send troops books, DVDs, games and other relief supplies.

Yellow Ribbon America accepts online money donations - something that will take only a few minutes of your time. The organization posts this on its Web site:

The Yellow Ribbon symbolizes our commitment to honoring America’s Military who are proudly serving around the globe, their families, those who are missing in action, and those who have fallen.

Need one more reason to eat healthy? New research shows certain foods may keep your vision crisp and clear. Usually around age 50 is when many people begin noticing a decline in eyesight. In fact nearly ten million Americans experience something known as macular degeneration. It develops when the macula tissue surrounding the retina area in your eye deteriorates causing a blurry, dark blind spot smack dab in the center of your vision.

Experts aren't entirely sure why this occurs but they have pinpointed that foods rich in omege-3 fatty acids may protect your vision. Here are few tips on what the study says are the best foods to eat for eye health:

GOOD FAT: Just one serving of fish a week reduced study participant's risk of macular degeneration by 31 percent. Two servings of nuts equaled a 35 percent decrease and just one tablespoon of olive oil a day seemed to drop your risk of blurry vision in half! The key ingredient was omega-3 fatty acids, the good kind of fat! Here's a tip: the fish with the highest levels of omega-3 are salmon, tuna, mackerel. As for nuts? Walnuts are among the best.

BAD FAT: We all know all 'fat' isn't created equal and here's one more example why: people who consume diets high in trans fat are nearly two times more likely to develop macular degeneration than those who limit their trans fat intake. So stay away from a lot of sweets, processed and fried foods.

Researchers believe foods high in omega-3 fatty acids reduce inflammation in the eye which keeps the arteries and blood vessels healthy. Seems to protect the eye much the same way as a it would protect your heart. You've heard me mention in the past that omega-3 helps lower blood pressure and high cholesterol as well as your risk of heart disease and stroke.

The American Heart Association recommends two servings of omega-3 fatty acid foods a week for a balanced diet. If you don't like fish or nuts – soybeans, tofu and flaxseeds also are great sources of omega-3.

Be sure to tune in to Dr. Sanjay Gupta every weekend on HOUSE CALL. You'll find the answers to your medical questions Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 a.m. ET on CNN.

We've got our sights set on the plastic in your wallet. You'll likely find lower credit limits, higher interest rates, and higher fees than what many have been accustomed to in recent years. But don't jump at those new credit card offer just yet!

President Obama had called on congress to pass credit card reform legislation by Memorial Day. The Senate on Tuesday voted almost unanimously in favor of credit card reform. The bill, expected to be taken up by the house later today, would make it tougher for credit card issuers to raise fees and interest rates starting early next year.  But you might be paying more than you think for your credit card.

We all know the term APR - annual percentage rate - but the number consumers should really be paying attention to is "effective APR."

“An effective APR represents your total cost of credit," explains Greg McBride, a senior financial analyst at bank-rate.com.

"Keep in mind, this may be more than just the interest rate. If you're paying an annual fee, if you incurred a balance transfer fee when transferring the balance to that card… those are costs that will add to the interest rate that you're effectively paying, effectively raising the cost that you pay on that balance.,” says McBride.

Your own effective APR is unique –different from everybody else's. Here's an example of how to calculate your effectiveAPR from Bill Hardekopf at low-cards.com.

Our hypothetical guy - let's call him Tony - applied for a credit card with zero percent APR for one year. He spent $1,000 on the card and decided to make only the minimum payments for that first year.

Later, he took out a $2,000 cash advance - not realizing there was a  fee for that - and that cash advances come with  a much higher interest rate than purchases. Then, Tony missed a couple payments, which triggered two late fee charges. It also triggered a default rate.  And his card rate was raised to 29.9 percent.

He eventually paid off the entire card and closed the account. So this guy ‘Tony’ was tempted by the zero percent introductory offer, but it cost him dearly. Let's add up the total costs to the card:

$75 interest on purchases
+ $379 interest on cash advances
+ $60 cash advance fee
+ $78 late charge fees
So he's spending $592 on all these extra costs... Which makes his effective APR 19.7 percent.

On a card that was supposed to be zero percent APR! So what should consumers be aware of when they're looking to open a new credit card?

Introductory rates, payment schedule, cash advance fees, late fees, and default rates. Those are numbers not even in the fine print, but in the regular print. You really have to sit down and crunch those numbers to determine what is the best card for you.

As we just explained, effective APR doesn't necessarily jive with the APR printed on the credit card offer. And remember, some of these expenses are easily managed. Make your payments on time, keep and eye on your rate schedule, and avoid cash advances whenever possible.

President Barack Obama announced new rules on Tuesday to get the auto industry to make more fuel efficient cars and light trucks. Under current rules, automakers are supposed to manufacture car fleets that average 25 miles per gallon.

That means that some cars in an automaker's "fleet" can have better fuel mileage, while other vehicles - SUVs, mini-vans and the like - come in well below the government mandated average.

Obama's new proposal would toughen fuel efficiency standards to 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016. The automakers seem to be on board, because Obama's new rules propose a federal standard for fuel efficiency standards, taking the bite out of states like California that impose tougher rules than the rest of the country.

Still, the new rules as proposed will push automakers to make and sell more fuel-efficient cars - meaning more compacts, hybrids and the like. The question is will Americans want to buy smaller cars? Here are some things they will have to consider:

1) Cost vs. savings. The White House says all the new rules - including some recently enacted - will increase the price of a car by a total of $1,300 per vehicle; but, that does not factor in the long term savings consumers could see at the gas pump. If more Americans start driving fuel-efficient cars over the long haul, that could ease demand on gasoline and keep prices down.

2) The environment. According to some, the United States consumes up to 10 percent of world oil output just driving their cars and trucks (including big-rigs transporting goods across the country). Obama argues that more fuel efficient cars on the road will make a dent in carbon emission in this country.

3) Energy security. Obama has even couched his tougher rules in national security terms, because America's growing dependence on imported oil has become such a burning issue in Washington.

Obviously, Americans will decide what vehicles suit their needs, and if all the tougher standards do get enacted, they will have to pay more to buy their SUVs.

Still, the U.S. is just playing catch up with the rest of the world. Japan plans to move to the 35.5 miles per gallon car fleet average next year, six years ahead of President Obama's proposal. And, the European Union is pushing for a more ambitious 47 miles per gallon car fleet average by 2012. We're not there yet!

Ali Velshi is CNN’s Chief Business Correspondent