Day 2-California Reopening Plan-Phase 2.5 for LA County
Getting ready for the appraiser…
These sectors of the economy are allowed to reopen everywhere in the state, without an “attestation” from the Governor, as long as the county says it’s okay, [See my blog, Day 1 of Phase 3]: retail (for curbside pickup), childcare facilities, offices where people can't telework, car washes, pet groomers, landscapers and outdoor museums (where are these, exactly? Zoos?). Strangely, my HOA deemed our gardening crew as “essential” in March so the landscapers never stopped. Although LA County got a “regional variance” yesterday for malls and community pools to open, the Towncenter Mall remains closed.
6:30 - …and I’m up. I feel terrible and incredibly sleep-deprived. I listen to The Daily. I vacuum my room and the stair landing.
7:00-8:00-I take the dog out and give her cheese. The paint has dried on the ceiling and the water stain is completely gone! I can’t believe it! I make an apple-crumb cake because I read that a house shows better if the aroma from a baked good is in the air. Apparently, it does something to the psyche.
8:00-8:45 – I put the dog outside and stage the house. I bring out the couch throw pillows and a lace runner for our ottoman. We can’t keep throw pillows on our couches as the dog destroys them – we only bring them out for company, after the dog is secured. I go outside and power-wash some spider webs from under the eaves. I take a small bottle of Simple Green and spray a few areas of the backyard in an attempt to eradicate any smells. I turn every light on and open all the blinds and curtains. I also open the doors to every room so the appraiser can easily move throughout the house.
8:45-9:15 – I shower and get dressed. I wake up L. at 9:00.
9:30 – 10:30 - The appraiser arrives, gloved and masked. He’s very nice and practices social distancing. L. and I are also masked. I tell I him I won’t hover and L. and I sit on our bar stools, talking, while he conducts the appraisal. I tell him the dog is in the garage and to let me know when he’s ready to go in there. I can hear the appraiser moving throughout the house, then he exits to the backyard. When he is finished, he says, “I have only one question. Who’s the artist?” I point to L. and say, “My daughter.” He says, “Incredible!” It was very nice.
One thing I should mention is in the space between the top of my kitchen cabinets and the ceiling are a series of charcoal portraits that L. has drawn over the years, different sizes of male and female faces…oh, and one bird. Charcoal is her favorite medium and periodically she’ll do a sketch - then, I frame it and throw it on top of the cabinets. There are 11 portraits and, by now, they run the length of the cabinetry. L. is a wonderful artist, but we see the portraits every day and, to us, they’re somewhat commonplace. To a guest, her work is probably pretty striking.
Having a child who’s an artist has been great! Do you know I haven’t bought a single piece of art in 12 years? I just frame L’s projects and hang them throughout the house.
As the appraiser was leaving, he turned to me and said, “You have a lovely home.” I was really, really happy to hear that! L. and I wipe down all the door knobs with Clorox wipes, then I take my coffee and a piece of the crumb cake outside, to enjoy on my patio. It’s too sweet, but at least it smelled good.
10:30-11:30 – I return the house to normal, which to us means ‘austere’ because of the dog. The throw pillows from the couches are stored and my Ralph Lauren velvet green loveseat is re-wrapped in white seat covers. I turn off all the lights and close most of the blinds.
11:30-1:50 p.m. – I go back to bed.
1:50 – I have French at 2:00 and decide to skip…but, I rationalize that I will be working on pharmacy audits anyway [see Day 1-Phase 3 entry], so I might as well Zoom in while I’m doing some state job work. I skip the first 30 minutes of class as I don’t want to attend the breakout sessions and enter class at 2:30. We take turns reading excerpts from various books and I check email from my state job and both colleges during the readings.
One of my college students from College #1 sent me an email asking if he could complete some of the video quizzes he missed. The last day of school for Monday classes was 5/18/20. It is now 5/28/20 and I electronically posted final, semester grades to Admissions and Records last week. No.
Two of my high school students are whining about incomplete assignments, so I reset the quizzes for them.
5:00-7:00-French literature ends so I check my email from the college I attend to see if ‘Madame’ approved my paper topic for the paper that’s due next week. There is no email from ‘Madame’ and when I check grades I’m shocked to see that I have three missing assignments. I legitimately turned in the 5/13/20 assignment, but attached it to an email instead of submitting it on Canvas. Could that be the problem? Last week’s homework was my presentation, but apparently I was also supposed to submit a short essay on a French work. I convert the notes from my PP presentation on Driss Chraibi into an essay and submit it late. I give up on today’s assignment – forget it.
7:00-8:00-I move outside and continue working on the pharmacy audits. There are six patients in this case. I have champagne.
8:00-8:30 – I eat a piece of L.’s quiche from forever ago, then clean the kitchen and make my coffee for tomorrow. Even though I had a nap today, I’m exhausted. I listen to True Crime Garage.
8:30- 10:00 – I rent a 1994 movie starring Michael Keaton – The Paper – because an author I’m reading said the movie resonates with the state of journalism today, in 2020. Not really. I don’t like the movie and fall asleep throughout – I’m sorry I spent $3.99 on the rental.
10:00-12:00 a.m. – I watch two episodes of Bosch.
12:30-2:00 – I take a shower and wash my hair. I braid it before bed and listen to Air Talk. Bed time.