Day 16 - LA County moves into yellow tier

L. gets her second dose of the Pfizer vaccine…

5/18/21. Tuesday

9:30-10:00 – Up and I go downstairs to say good morning to the animal. I thought she was still asleep, but she must have woken previously because there is poop near the front door.  I rub her tummy three times, she grabs her toy, and we go outside.  She does her business and we return inside: cold-cuts from the 2-week-old charcuterie box for her and coffee for me.  I go upstairs.

10:00-11:30 – I eat a gourmet strawberry cupcake and finish Consent.

This is a book about a pedophile disguised as a distinguished French author.  The author, Vanessa, describes her “relationship” with G. when she was 13 and he was 50.  Her mother condones the affair (rape) and so do their sick literary friends.  Not only is G. a pedophile, he frequently writes about his child conquests – boys AND girls (no child is safe from his victimization) – and he publishes at least two memoirs detailing his “relationship” [it’s really just repeated rape] with Vanessa, going so far as to  publish the love letters she wrote to him when she was 14.  The “relationship” goes on for 2 to 3 years and is completely disgusting.  Nobody does anything to help Vanessa since G. is a “brilliant” author and she winds up being mentally f—ked up the rest of her life, although she eventually marries, has kids, and writes this book.  G. is 83, still alive, but has receded into oblivion, completely forgotten.  This memoir is absolutely tragic – G. is a criminal and should be incarcerated and Vanessa’s mother is an idiot.  Highly recommend.

11:30-12:15 – The Huntington Library is opening up for Summer Night Member Strolls.  The catch is you can only get tickets for this event today, at 12:00.  In fact, the only time you can get tickets for ANY activity at the Huntington, even for a regular visit, is every other Tuesday, at 12:00 p.m.  I log in and I’m put in a “Waiting Room” queue. At exactly 12:00, a message tells me to wait and I learn that there are 690 people in the queue, each of whom were assigned a number, like when you take a number at the DMV and stand in line for hours.  After 15 minutes, I’m directed to the “Ticket Section” and I’m able to reserve 2 tickets for the Member stroll on 5/27/21.

12:15 – 12:45 – I talk to B.

12:45 – 1:45 – Shower. Lotion. Covid-19 uniform. Almost no make-up. I listen to The Daily.

1:45 – 2:10 - L. leaves to pick up a Panera mobile order and quickly returns. I heat up my Mexican food from B.’s house on Saturday and L. and I eat lunch together.

2:10-2:45 – L. and I leave for her second dose of the Pfizer vaccine at Walgreens. Because she got the first dose here and had no reaction, L. is told to leave as soon as the Pharm Tech administers the jab;  she doesn’t have to wait the requisite 15 minutes.

L. has a Color Theory Zoom class and logs in at 2:30.  I drive L.’s car home, just in case she has an allergic reaction.

2:45-5:45 – I sit with L. in her room and attend the Zoom meeting with her.  All the students display their works of art as they relate to this week’s assignment. The teacher calls on most of the students for input on the displayed work of the moment, but never calls on L. for feedback.  The Zoom meeting is 3 hours and every student presents their creation EXCEPT L.; her teacher doesn’t bother to call on her and allow her to present her piece. L. is the only student he skips which means she just sat through a 3-hour class for nothing.  The shame of it is, L.’s  work was better than all the other students and nobody got to see it. 

L. says her teacher makes her go last every Zoom meeting. Today, however, he didn’t even bother to call on her.  What an asshole!  

Note: Last week, L. received notice from her College that she is the Valedictorian.  She was invited to submit a speech for graduation ceremonies, but wasn’t interested.

6:00-7:30 – L. has lots of homework and gets started on her assignments. I go through our linen cabinet and purge blankets and sheets we don’t need, so I can move our boxes of books from the garage to the cabinet. I free up a significant amount of space and bring in the books, one box at a time. I also spend more time working in the garage, purging and re-organizing items.

7:30 – 8:00 – I have 6 pita crackers with hummus.

8:00-8:45 – I take the dog for a walk and eat a dark-chocolate covered marshmallow.  I listen to Fresh Air.

8:45-10:00 – Gardening.  I sweep the patio and trim several plants.

10:00-11:00- Kitchen duty and I also trim the flowers in my vases.  Refill dog food and water dispensers  and wash my old high school cheer leading megaphone as I try to figure out where to store it. Prepare my coffee for tomorrow morning.

L. is not feeling well.  She says her “skin hurts” and she feels “exhausted.”  I fetch her special, expensive water and give her an Advil.

11:00-12:00 – Blog posts.

12:00-12:20 – I take the dog outside and she refuses to go potty because she is too busy tracking the rat’s scent.  The rat emerges and ends up in my vines – this is so gross!  I watch it run along the top of the wall and I’m repulsed. I start the “potty process” with the dog all over again and she finally goes.

12:20-1:00 – I’ve almost reached my Ipad storage limit so I cull the podcast episodes and delete those that I’m not interested in hearing.

1:00-2:00 – I eat another dark-chocolate covered marshmallow and do an Insanity – Cardio and Power Resistance workout.

2:00-2:30 – Recover.  I have a glass of champagne and update today’s events for my blog post. I listen to What a Day.

2:30-3:30 – Nighttime routine. Bed