Posted by don't pollute, a member of the Palo Alto High School community, on Oct 1, 2012 at 10:03 am

Please reduce your pollution on Spare The Air Days to protect all our kids health. Thank you.

Posted by Dr. Ura Knutz, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Oct 1, 2012 at 11:59 am

Bay Area Air Quality Management District issues "Spare the Air" Days like candy to kids. What a farce! With over 100 micro-climates in the Bay Area Region, BAAQMD doesn't have the technology or intelligence to decipher what areas will be effected by stagnant air and instead chooses to ignorantly employ the most simple air model for a whole region. What's sad is that the media follows along like lemmings and doesn't bother to challenge any information issued by this questionable government agency that neither provides intelligent or accountable information. What a pity!

Posted by Wife of M.D., a member of the Palo Alto High School community, on Oct 1, 2012 at 12:06 pm

Thanks for your humorous posting, Dr. Knutz.

Does anyone even change their ways on Spare the Air Days? I doubt it. My kids still have P.E. and sports after school. Plus, the air quality only affects those with health issues, not the general population. More unneccessary government spending.

Posted by torn, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Oct 1, 2012 at 12:20 pm

So I guess it's good for the air that I took my bike to work today, but bad for me because I'm supposed to limit my outdoor activity...

Posted by don't pollute, a member of the Palo Alto High School community, on Oct 1, 2012 at 12:37 pm

These alerts are for the whole Bay Area, not just for your neighborhood. Your pollution is affecting other Bay Area cities even if it is not directly affecting you. Don't be selfish.

Posted by Hmmm, a resident of East Palo Alto, on Oct 2, 2012 at 9:46 am

Wife of MD - my family honors it whenever we can. This last weekend, it meant not grilling outdoors. For me it meant rescheduling trips requiring driving to a better day. But still - family drove in from out of town & kids' sports schedules remained the same.

What do others do? On these hot days, our fans, microwave & fridge get a workout, but we avoid grilling outdoors, using the dryer & the stove. We close up our house early in the morning & water plants at night.

Posted by Anon., a resident of the Crescent Park neighborhood, on Oct 2, 2012 at 1:03 pm

> Dr. Ura Knutz

Sorry, but that really sounds like a fake name?

And yes, mine's fake too, but I'm not claiming to be a doctor either.

Also not many ideas offered as to another way to deal with pollution.

Posted by Resident, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Oct 2, 2012 at 3:12 pm

This is a very funny thread.

Doctor You are nuts!!! :)

Unfortunately, if I could on these hot days I would sit beside a pool, drinking cool lemonade and taking the occasional swim to cool off. As I said if I could, I would. But life goes on. Very few of us can change our plans at such short notice when a spare the air day comes along.

Now, perhaps they could make July 4th next year a day when we can all take off and sit by the pool, make it a spare the air day too!