Straight Talk: Events, yellow dots, gas prices and more Published Aug. 17, 2011 By Col. Stacy L. Yike 66th Air Base Group commander HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. -- Lots of fantastic events are happening on base in the next few days. Are you ready? Friday night is a patio party at the Minuteman Commons with beer tasting plus the rolling stogies. Don't miss it! Saturday is the dog show, for all our best behaved pooches. Then Monday is the big day for the Electronic Systems Center Showcase. Families: this is for you! We want you to come see this event from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Aero Club Hangar. Walk through a Joint STARS aircraft and learn about all the wicked, cool stuff we do here at ESC. That way you can brag about what your spouse does. Also, Monday the lunch program resumes at the commons. Come check out what our new caterer has to offer. In order to catch up on some of my mail, you get a three-for-one deal today on questions and answers. Have you ever heard of the yellow dot program for motorist? One reader sent in information about a program where you carry critical medical information in your vehicle that would be vital to emergency responders if you had a crash. It is called the "yellow dot" program because you put a yellow dot sticker on your car window so the responders know to look for this information. Massachusetts has this program, but I am thinking you could carry critical medical information in a yellow envelope marked "Medical Information" and the responders might get the hint regardless of your state. Thanks for submitting the great information. Three questions were submitted this week on gas prices alone. It must be all that summer driving! AAFES establishes gas prices by conducting daily surveys within a ten mile radius of the base and matches the lowest credit card price they find. Their regulations only require a weekly survey, but the Hanscom team wants to ensure the lowest possible prices for you. They welcome your input on this important issue. You can stop by the gas station anytime and identify a gas station where you saw lower prices. If it is a credit card price within a ten miles radius, AAFES will check it out and change our prices as needed. Remember, every time you purchase from AAFES, money goes back into the Hanscom morale, welfare and recreation fund for events like Summer Bash, the base picnic and the fireworks on Sept. 8. Thirdly, I received some feedback last week from a reader who finds my Straight Talk column "agonizingly painful to read," discussing seemingly trivial issues. I do apologize to the readers who find the column agonizing and trivial. My original goal a year ago was to develop a forum where I could more easily learn about the concerns of all 8,000 people who come through the gates of Hanscom every day. And a place where you could get answers to questions that have plagued you during your time at Hanscom and that your direct leadership cannot control. I will admit that some of our readers go a bit overboard in detailing their particular concern (I spend as much time on the one-line questions as I do on the three-page questions, honest!), but I just call that poetic license. Yes, the comments are screened. I read them all. Most are not anonymous; I just don't print the names. So, over to you Team Hanscom: leave a message on the Straight Talk website or 66th Air Base Group commander's Facebook page and let me know if you prefer questions and answers or a more traditional Straight Talk where I share leadership messages and inspirational pep talks. I look forward to your comments. Have a great week and be safe!