Day 18-all CA students must be vaccinated

I am so sick of teaching…

10/18/21. Monday

 Currently, only 65 and older or those who are immuno-compromised are eligible for a booster…oh…and smokers. They’re 2x more likely to get Covid-19 so they’re essentially rewarded for their bad behavior…in the meantime, how about you quit smoking?  The jury is still out on fat people… Rochelle [CDC] continues to deliberate on the efficacy of boosters for the general population. If boosters are so important, why hasn’t the marketing for the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines changed from a “2-dose vaccine” to a “3-dose vaccine?”  Third-world countries are still being encouraged to get their double doses, or at least one dose, with nothing said about the booster.  Is it so the wealthy, white countries can hoard the vaccines for their own people? 

6:00 – L. leaves for her 12-hour day at Otis. 

9:00-9:30 – I’m awake but I stay in bed for transition time until I finally get up. 

9:30-10:00 – I go downstairs to say good morning to the dog.  She went back to sleep after L. left and doesn’t want to get up so I sit next to her on the ottoman and rub her tummy.  I cue her three times to “go outside”, but she doesn’t budge…she’s so spoiled. When she’s finally ready, we head for the patio and I stand around until she’s finished.  Return inside – cheese for her; coffee for me. I go to work which means I enter my office. 

10:00-11:00 – I send a follow-up email to Elite Building Materials regarding my garage doors.  Did Kellie find some options for me? 

-I update course content for this afternoon’s class and create a prompt for the Discussion Board. 

-I check email at College No. 1 and see that several students will not be coming to the F2F section. 

-I check email at College No. 2 and send a lengthy email to the student who told me at the beginning of the semester that he was unable to listen to ANY of my lectures because he must be able, at ALL times, to hear his addled aunt’s cries. Note: I will discover, much later, in the semester that the student is 20 and lives at home with his parents so why is his old and infirm aunt solely his responsibility?  I suspect she is not. 

When the student informed me, in August, that he was unable to listen to the lectures, I responded that because he registered for an ONLINE Asynchronous class, the lectures comprise 75% of the entire course content. Failure to listen to the lectures means he is not “actively participating” or even attending class, and is merely taking ONE 3-minute, 10-question, multiple-choice, chapter review quiz and ONE 3-minute, 10-question, multiple-choice video quiz in order to complete a 3-unit, 16-week class. This is unacceptable.

I gave him an ultimatum (in August); either drop the class and take it when your schedule permits, OR I will drop you myself in the next 24 hours based on your inability to listen to the weekly lectures. 

I know students don’t listen to the lectures – I get it.  BUT, don’t tell me that!  This online s—t only works if we all operate under the (false) pretense that students are completing what I assign. Are you that stupid that you would actually tell an instructor, “I’m not listening to your stuff”? if students start publicly announcing they’re not completing online course content, colleges will start eliminating online classes and make the students (and teachers) to appear in person.  Everyone knows college is a racket and a huge, overpriced scam…isn’t it easier to attend the “scam” in the privacy of your own home instead of being forced to appear at a classroom once a week? 

In August, the student emails me that he and his father have, miraculously, come to a work-around of sorts, where the student gets to take Tuesday off (from taking care of his aunt) to complete his assignments for my class. 

So now, we are midway through the semester and it is clear that the student is not watching any of the documentaries because he is getting Ds and Fs on all of his video quizzes.  This means that not only is he refusing to listen to the audio lectures, he is also not bothering to watch the documentaries. I send a lengthy email informing the student that I am going to drop him in the next 48 hours for his failure to participate in the class. 

11:00-12:00 – I unload the dishwasher and pack my lunch bag for today’s class; then 

12:15-12:45 – I eat some of L.’s leftover rigatoni and watch another episode of Maid. 

12:45-1:15 – Quick shower and I listen to The Daily. Lotion. Make-up. I put on a turtle neck, leggings, and boots. 

1:15-2:30 – Time to go.  I load my bags and school supplies in the car and leave. 

Driving.  I listen to Citations Needed. 

2:30-5:30- Today is an easy day: Lecture, a podcast, and a documentary. There are only 6 students in class - what am I doing here?  the course content is online so why should any of us report to the classroom? This is a tiered lecture hall so it is unclear why my moronic student insists in sitting in the front row, 3 feet from where I’m lecturing, every f—king Monday, possibly exposing me to Delta. The student speaks in a slow, halting voice, and informed me, two months ago, that he has Asspergers., but I think he might be Austistic?  Maybe he’s just an Asshole… 

The 6 students are masked in this class but they are so sloppy about it.  When a student has a question or comment, they pull their masks down so they can infect the entire class.  I never take my mask off, even after the students leave and I have last-minute paperwork to complete.  I don’t know how long the Delta s—t lingers in the air. 

5:30 – 6:00 - Class dismissed and I take attendance. I leave. 

6:00-7:00 – Driving. I listen to Air Talk and eat a salad; hummus and carrots; and apple slices with almond butter. 

7:00-8:00 – Home and I ready the interior and exterior Halloween decorations; sweep the downstairs; put L.’s duvet on her bed; and clean the kitchen so everything is ready for L.’s “mocktail” party with her friends N. and D. 

8:00-9:00 – I watch an episode of Maid.

-L. leaves for Trader Joes to pick up cheese and crackers. 

8:50 – 9:15 – L. returns with N., who is home for a visit from UC San Francisco.

L. makes Sangria for the party. 

9:15-10:00 – I watch another episode of Maid, then go downstairs to try L.’s Sangria and talk to D. and N. The Sangria is very tasty! 

10:00-12:00 – I start another episode of Maid, but accidentally fall asleep. 

12:30-2:00 – Awake and I work on blog posts. 

2:15-3:00 – I do a 30-minute Insanity Max – Tabata Strength workout. 

3:00-3:30 – Downstairs and the dog vomited on the couch.  I change the slipcovers and put them in the washing machine.  Shockingly, L. has cleaned the entire kitchen from top to bottom and I have no kitchen duty! I ready my coffee for tomorrow.

3:30-4:30 – Nighttime routine. Bed. I set my alarm for 8:30.