Day 10 of LAUSD vaccine mandate

Happy Hour at Larsons…

9/19/21. Sunday

7:30 –8:00 -  I’m up and I get dressed quickly. I wash my face and brush my teeth. As you know, I’m transforming the garage into an art studio for L. and part of that involves installing two light panels on the garage wall in order to simulate windows – hopefully with a dimmer switch.  Chris, the electrician, is coming this morning to do the job.

-I say good morning to the dog, rub her tummy quickly, and we go outside so she can go potty. I water a few of my potted plants until she’s finished and then we go inside.  American cheese for her, coffee for me.

8:00-8:30 – “Chris” the electrician, arrives right on time. Alas, he is not here to actually do the job.  Somehow, I misunderstood…although I don’t think I misunderstood anything. I’ve been dealing with contractors for the past 4 months and they determine when the job will be completed, even when the homeowner has had a conversation with the contractor about the details.

I play along with Chris and pretend that he was only here to “assess” the project. You have to…because it is extremely difficult to get any home improvement project done post Covid-19 and it’s not “post” Covid-19, really…it’s Team Covid-Delta.  Any homeowner trying to complete a project is at the mercy of the contractor…we all know this. I’m extremely nice to these people because I’m dependent on them. Most of the time I feel like screaming in frustration.

Chris says a fake window frame is needed so he can place the light panel in the shell.  He refers me to “one of his guys” because for all contractors it’s always “one of my guys” who can do…something. Chris says “Frank” can construct the fake window frame and gives me his contact information. In essence, I will not see Chris again for quite some time.

I will say out of all the contractors I’ve been working with, he seems the nicest…very kind.  I learn from B. that Chris is/was a single Dad with full custody of his child and raising her under those circumstances was difficult.

I text Frank immediately. Spoiler Alert:  I will not hear from Frank for three days.

8:30-2:00 – L. bought curtain rods for the three windows in her room and she needed somebody to install them so I call Cesar, another contractor, and he is scheduled to arrive at 9:00 to do this small job. Spoiler Alert: he never arrives.

-I get started on tomorrow’s lecture for Specialty Class 1A. My evaluator will be sitting in class tomorrow, from 2:30-3:00, and lecture has to be pristine. I listen to my 90-minute pre-recorded lecture and ensure that the Google slides that L. designed line up.  The beginning and ending of lecture is outdated because I’m talking about “sheltering in place” and “quarantining”, which happened in 2020, so L. will need to splice it. In fact, this was one of the first lectures I made after school was shut down. The content, however, is still sound. It’s likely my evaluator will listen to my pre-recorded lectures since he has access to my Canvas shells so this particular lecture needs to be updated right away.

-Cesar texts that he is tied up on another job and is going to be late.

-I have to make a few changes to the Chapter Review Quiz to ensure it coincides with the Google slides – the questions are out of order – and I also have to design three new questions so the Chapter Review Quiz better represents the material. Then, there’s the Discussion Board and the Home Page for this week’s Module – these things have to be tweeked, too.

-The Midterm is in two weeks, so I open it and ensure that the questions on the Midterm reflect the questions from Chapters 2 through 6.

-L. leaves for her private student’s art lesson, followed by work at the studio.  She will be gone most of the day.

-I’m ready for my 30-minute evaluation.

-I switch to my highschoolers and update the Attendance for last week. Then, I check emails at both colleges and respond to several students.

2:00-4:00 – I fry up a package of turkey bacon, cut up some tomatoes, and make scrambled eggs. Then, I stir in diced apples, walnuts, and honey into a tub of Greek plain yogurt, which should last me for the week. After, I defrost a gluten-free English muffin and make an egg sandwich McMuffin.  Kitchen duty and I ready my lunch bag and coffee for tomorrow morning.

-Cesar texts that he can’t make it today, but will come tomorrow at 10:00.  great. That means I need to wake up by 8:30 tomorrow.

4:00-5:00 – Blog post

5:30-6:00 – L. returns and splices my lecture. Then, we air drop it into Canvas.

6:30-7:30 – Shower. Lotion. I put on jeans and a blouse and full make-up.

7:30-9:30 – B. picks me up and we go to Happy Hour at Larsons. They offer no champagne at Happy Hour prices and the one glass of wine I order is $9.00! Additionally, there is a pianist who is just awful.  He is belting out the music [no mask! We’re indoors and singing is one of the worst activities you can do in this era of Covid/Delta] and totally out-of-tune. We can’t talk, he’s so loud, and we’re not even sitting near him.

9:30-11:00 – B. drives me home and we have Cocktail Hour at my house. B. leaves. I start reading Work Won’t Love You Back when suddenly…

11:00-2:30 –…it’s 2:30.  I fell asleep in my chair…again.

2:30 – 3:30 – I log today’s activities.  Then, nighttime routine. Bed. I set my alarm for 8:00.