Wednesday – November 10 at 11am: Don’t ya panic if you are driving around Silicon Valley listening to KQED (88.5), Oldies (103.7), or home watching “The Young And The Restless” on CBS 5 and the programming is interrupted.

This will be the first ever nation wide test of the Emergency Alert System conducted by the FCC and FEMA. We are told that the test should last approximately three-and-a-half-minutes or 30 seconds (?). The test will be seen on all local cable and satellite TV stations, and heard on the radio as well. Officials want to make sure that if a national alert is ever needed the system will work as planned.

If you have Xfinity and the test lasts for more than five minutes, please do not call the doctor.

* Power-cycle your cable box by unplugging the power cord from the outlet.
* Wait thirty seconds and then plug it back in.

Note: DVR recordings during the test will be interrupted and may even be lost.

National Suicide Hotline

I attended Opening Night of Spring Awakening on September 7, and after the show my guest and I discussed the themes of suicide portrayed in the story.  One character commits suicide after being kicked out of school, knowing his family was going to reject him and that he had lost any hope of obtaining a higher education or even earning a living.  Another character contemplates suicide after the accidental death of his lover.  My guest and I discussed the issues in the ways that people who would never consider suicide often do…  “There’s no reason for it,” “Things will always get better,” “It’s a silly solution…”

But as I was formulating my show review the next morning, I found out that a woman on the periphery of my friend circle had killed herself the night of the show.  This woman was only tangentially connected to me; I had never met her, I only knew of her.  But it brought home the obvious fact:  Suicide still happens.  For whatever reason, whether we think there was a good enough reason, it doesn’t matter, it still happens.  And it affects a large circle of people who are left in the death’s wake.

My show partner had mentioned the night before that at her university there was on average one student a semester who managed to take their life during finals.  I had had my own struggles with the idea when I suffered from a broken heart as a teen.  And of course bullying in high school, whether because of sexual identity or any sort of “otherness”, has raised awareness of suicide among today’s teens.  But it is just as common in adults.  Suicide ranks as the Number 3 cause of death for ages TEN through 29.  It happens, and it happens more often than we would like to think.

If you need help, or are concerned for someone who might need help, there are several places you can turn to:

Suicide and Crisis Hot Line, 1-855-278-4204 (Toll-free).  A live counselor always answers this Toll-Free hotline 24-hours per day.

What can I do to help someone who may be suicidal?

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline:  Comprehensive help site

Suicide and Crisis Services:  Santa Clara County, also provides a cost-free drop-in Survivors of Suicide Support Group (SOS) for adults who have lost a loved one to suicide

Hot lines and Warm Lines for Teens

To Write Love On Her Arms:  Comprehensive site with links to many different help sites, discussions, events, etc.

No one ever wants to get the call that a friend or family member has been in a cycling accident and “the paramedics are on the way”.  Trust me, I know from experience. Just about every cycling friend I know has been to the hospital this year.  Almost none of these accidents have involved cars.  Every single one has involved a helmet secured firmly to a head – which saved their lives.

Another life saved

It can be difficult to believe that a waffle-holed piece of Styrofoam can actually save a life, but it certainly does.  Less than 90 days ago a friend of mine crashed in a bike race, an extraordinary circumstance, but an accident which broke her neck, several ribs, and separated her shoulder.  It also cracked her helmet.  What was not cracked was her skull.  She was back to work in a couple weeks, though still sore and hating her neck brace – but she was alive.  Today another friend was coming out of a downhill turn on a solo ride when a cat ran in front of her.  She hit the cat and does not remember much else, but I have no words for how frightening it is to receive that phone call.  “The paramedics are on the way,” and “They don’t know which hospital they’re taking her to, because of the head trauma.”

My friend, the owner of the pictured helmet, was released from Regional Medical Center today after a four hour stay, with “only” a concussion, road rash on half her body, and bruised and swollen knuckles, thighs, and face.  But do you see her helmet?  Her skull would not have survived that.

Wear a helmet.  Make sure your kids wear a helmet.  Make sure your friends and loved ones wear a helmet, no matter what age.  It’s not just a law.  It’s common sense, and it will save your life.

Youth Bicycle Helmet law: Minors

Make sure you are alerted when a loved one is in an accident: Road ID

This Saturday, May 14, Stamp Out Hunger Letter Carriers Food Drive is in its 19th year to combat hunger and the largest single-day food drive for food banks in the Bay Area.

This food drive raises food to help Bay Area Food Banks ready themselves for summer, when emergency food requests increase dramatically.

Residents, who wish to participate, place a bag of non-perishable food items like canned tuna, peanut butter, soup, canned vegetables and fruits, dry beans and pasta, rice or cereal by their mailbox before mail delivery on Saturday, May 14, 2011. Letter carriers will collect the donations and deliver them to local food banks, then distributed to hungry people in the community.

Food bags also accepted at your local post office.

In Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, the food will be donated to Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties.

Other Bay Area food banks include:

San Francisco Food Bank

Alameda County Community Food Bank

Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano

This weekend we turn our clocks back an hour as we return to Standard Time, Sunday morning 2:00 am.

Does this mean we get to spend an extra hour at our favorite bar? No, bars actually stop serving alcohol at 1:59 am, one minute before the clocks are set back one hour.

This is also a good time to change the batteries in your smoke detectors.

With extended Daylight Saving Time we will soon be springing forward again, see the chart below.

Profile of Time - Salvador Dali

With the rainy overcast days, it is not readily noticeable that the days are getting longer; however, Daylight Saving Time is here!

In 2009, Daylight Saving Time begins March 8 (Second Sunday in March) and ends November 1 (First Sunday in November).

Saturday night before hitting the hay, move your clocks forward one hour. Many devices will do this automatically at 2:00 am; however, there are those that you may not think of setting, like your digital camera.