Chasing Clean Air

Bad mood -- too many cars

All I wanted was a bowl of oatmeal.

Drove to Brentwood.

No parking.

Drove to Westwood.

No parking.

No parking.

PARKING.

Ate oatmeal.

Did errands.

Nearly got killed, cut off from female driver on cell phone.

No parking.

No parking.

Fire engine clears road. Cars angrily pull over.

Takes a toll.

Still calming down.

Finally found a parking place.

Life in L.A.

Saturday morning.

Opinions - Everyone's Got One

"I've known you a long time, and I see patterns."

He does?

"I have a Ph.D psychotherapist, a Ph.D business coach, and a men's group that offers me weekly support, and broadens my views," he said. "I have found myself."

I have several friends and family but no professionals. "Wow," I exclaimed. "That's a lot of help you get." How fortunate for him, I thought, he's found himself.

"And I can tell you, Donna, there's something inside of you that has to change."

"There is? What?"

"That's something you'll have to find out for yourself."

What kind of a cliff-hanger is that? "With all your help, you don't want to give me a clue?"

I'd just finished telling my old friend, who I ran into driving parallel on Sepulveda and we pulled over, about my dating life, which includes a new man as of the past few months.

Patterns.

Hmmm.

After a twenty minute conversation, unsure of my relationship pattern or what we were even talking about, my friend honed in like a judgment torpedo.

Attack!

"Chasing clean air is a diversion from reality, and you make the project look real and logical but it's running away."

"From smog and traffic."

Air pollution makes people sick, and I feel better breathing clean air. Simple. I have a space in my life where I can make changes. I am.

"What if Christoper Columbus, Lewis and Clark, and other explorers never left home?"

"We're not talking about them, we're talking about you."

Why?

"What if we never looked beyond the familiar, reaching toward the unknown, to find out what's around the corner?"

If chasing is a pattern of mine, which I don't think it is (I ran a business for years, very contently) I'll keep moving and exploring.

Funny, he's the second man this week, trying to change me. (The other wasn't happy with my hair)

Wonder what the team therapists would say about that?

Carbon Monoxide

POISON!

Carbon Monoxide (CO)!

Mary lies in the hospital-- heart attack, stroke--

Why?

Mary exercised, ate organic leafy vegetables, stopped to smell the flowers, and never smoked a cigarette.

She did everything right, except...

Mary lived by a freeway.

Mary lived on a main artery in a big city.

Mary breathed, among other poisons, carbon monoxide.

Every minute of every day. For years.

CO is a colorless, odorless, and POISONOUS gas produced by motor vehicles.

When carbon is incompletely burned in a vehicle, it produces emissions. When we breathe the emissions, our capacity to circulate oxygen to our organs and tissues are reduced.

Carbon Monoxide (CO) can cause respiratory illness, or exasperate an existing problem. It also causes headaches, including migraines. I had my first after a truck idled its engine at stop light two blocks from home sweet home.

CO is a serious problem for people with heart disease.

Studies show that people living near a major road or freeway are more likely to die prematurely from a cardiovascular event.

The largest CO emissions problem in the United States come from motor vehicles. Other sources: wild fires, wood-burning stoves, incinerators, and industry.

Of the cars on the road, SUVs pollute up to three times more than normal cars.

Don't drive a SUV. Don't drive too much. Move to a rural area. Buy an air purifier. Just a few ideas.

What's in air pollution?

According to the EPA, criteria air pollutants are common in the United States, and they injure health, harm the environment, and cause property damage.

I took this photo on 405 South, passing ExxonMobile's refinery. Cringe.

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U.S. EPA has identified six criteria pollutants: Carbon Monoxide Lead Nitrogen Dioxide (one of several Nitrogen Oxides) Ozone (formed from precursor Volatile Organic Compounds) Particulate Matter Sulfur Dioxide In 1997, EPA established National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for each criteria pollutant, which define the maximum legally allowable concentration. If the NAAQS for a pollutant is exceeded, adverse effects on human health may occur. Los Angeles and other densely populated cities exceed EPA standards, as much as 60 percent! EPA and state agencies monitor area quality to assess compliance with these standards. Areas of the country where air pollution levels persistently exceed the standards may be designated by the U.S. EPA as nonattainment areas. But what's being done? Over the next few days, or week, I'll take a look at each toxin and how it effects our health.

Boulder Isn't Breathing Easy

My research on Boulder has put it in an iffy category regarding air pollution and my desire to consider relocation.  Many people think this is a hip, interesting, beautiful college town with relatively mild weather. Four seasons. Certainly, it's got advantages over Los Angeles. Yet, according to a recent study, certain air pollutants were worse in Boulder than well-known smoggy Denver. The reason, according to the study authors, is the formation of secondary pollutants from chemical reactions caused by sunlight. A greater number of toxins may be formed as pollutants are dispersed by wind and weather patterns along the Front Range. “Because Boulder County sits at the point where the heavily urbanized City of Denver and the rural wilderness of the Rocky Mountains meet, a complex air quality environment is created that can intensify organic trace gases,” said Pam Milmoe, BCPH Air Quality Coordinator. In 1999, www.scorecard.org rated Boulder County in the 10 % worst U.S. Counties for air pollution. The EPA is about to fund a new air pollution study in the area.  Stay tuned. Boulder is nestled in the foothills, where the rolling plains meet the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Centrally located within an hour of Denver, Denver International Airport, Eldora Ski Resort and Rocky Mountain National Park. A few hours from many of Colorado's world-famous ski resorts makes Boulder a popular Colorado destination. Denver/Boulder Metro area air emissions impact not only the air quality of the communities in which people live, but also the Rocky Mountain National Park. The U.S. National Park Service (NPS) has expressed serious concern about visibility degradation, increasing ground-level ozone concentrations, and nitrogen/acidic deposition. The sources of these pollutants are cars and trucks, industrial activities, coal-fired power plants, and agricultural and livestock operations. Twenty years of sampling and monitoring data substantiates the loss of species diversity in mountain lakes and streams, a shift from alpine wildflowers to grasses, and other signs that the pollutant load in the park is greater than the wild ecosystems can sustain. Boulder is also experiencing difficulty with West Nile virus. Reported on Sept. 15th, 55 new cases in past six weeks. So people have to be extra careful at dawn and dusk, and wear bug repellent with DEET. The threat is greatest between mid-April and mid-October. Colorado destination. Age Demographic: 18-24 years 26.4% 25-44 36.9% 45-64 13.7% 65+ 7.9% Median 29 Elevation & Size: 5,430 feet (Denver is 5,280 feet); City of Boulder is 27.8 square miles. Population: 103,673 residents, including 29,000 students at the University of Colorado. Weather: Four distinct seasons and over 300 sunny days a year. (More than San Diego or Miami!) Average 83.3 inches of snowfall a year. Average temperature highs/lows: Spring (March-May) 63/35° F Summer (June-August) 83/55° F Fall (Sept.-Oct.) 72/45° F Winter (Nov.-February) 45/23° F Recreation: Recently rated the "#1 Sports Town in America" by Outside Magazine, offering countless year-round recreational activities. Take advantage of the 200 miles of public hiking and biking trails, approximately 30,000 acres of open space or the Boulder Creek Path, which runs through the middle of town. Arts & Culture: More than 30 art galleries, 4 local museums, 32 movie & stage theaters and many festivals, including the Colorado Shakespeare Festival and the Colorado Music Festival. Dining: More than 300 restaurants featuring local, regional and international cuisine. Accommodations: Approximately 2,000 guestrooms, ranging from rustic cabins to historic Victorian suites. Whether you are staying at one of the cozy Bed & Breakfasts or our largest conference hotel, mountain views and proximity to activities will ensure an unparalleled experience. Sister Cities: Dushanbe, Tajikistan; Jalapa, Nicaragua; Lhasa, Tibet; Mante, Mexico; Yamagata, Japan; Yateras, Cuba

L.A. Still Stinks

Yesterday sucked breathing L.A. Sucking dirty emissions from cars, feeling stuffed from smog.

A velvety black sheath of toxic chemicals hung over the Hollywood Sign as I drove to Beverly Hills to get my hair cut and semi-something color. I'm told my color will fade, wish smog would.

I parked my car at a meter where sludge from sewer had spilled over onto street. I had to step in it in order to put money in the meter, and my open-toed sandals sunk in. Yuk. Pew. Gross. Just how I wanted to smell on the occasion of my second time in a Beverly Hills salon.

When I stopped by Fernando's work later in day, some idiot idled his Jaguar's engine and I breathed what felt like a bag of poison into my lungs.

For the second time in a day, I wondered why my regrouping in L.A. was taking so long.

Familiarity.

Relationships.

And I got an infection needing antibiotics, which made me sleepy 24 hours a day.

As I breathed the Jaguar's exhaust, I was on the phone with Felice, who told me Rabbi Wolpe was diagnosed with cancer. He's 48 years young. And I wish him the best and a speedy recovery.

As I've mentioned in this blog, people living in L.A. have a 30% greater chance of getting cancer than the national average, with the exception of New York, as a direct result from breathing the air.

Without going into details, I've had my share of hard-knocks when it comes to health, and, therefore, am conditioned to want to work for good health.

Back to the business of chasing clean air. Next Colorado.