Day 20 - Governor Newsom reinstates the mask mandate in California

The Omicron Chronicles…still sick…

1/4/22. Tuesday 

1:00-8:00-I sleep on my stomach, off and on, and continue listening to podcast host Lisa Woodruff.  At 8:00 a.m., I wake up again, with a headache and swollen eyes. I take two Advil and try to go back to sleep. 

10:00-10:30 – I’m up. I take the stairs, one step at a time, and make a cup of coffee with my last Dark Roast Keurig cup. I stagger out to the patio so the dog can go potty, but I’m unable to stand while I wait for her to finish – I have to sit down so I pull a chair out from my patio table and drink my coffee. I know this is hyperbolic, but I feel like I’m going to die. My body aches. I have no energy and I can’t stop coughing. I don’t feel good and the dog keeps jumping on my stomach, the patio chairs, the patio table.  When she almost knocks over my coffee, I shove her, hard, to the ground. So much for “my only friend.” I can’t deal with her behavior right now. 

10:30-12:30 – It’s hard to believe, but I’m back in the classroom in just 6 days. SIX days. Nothing is done and I haven’t checked email in weeks. I drag myself to my office, open my email, and go through 99 entries.  Most of the emails are junk, but my Academic Chair, K., emailed me yesterday to inform me that my Thursday class was canceled due to low enrollment. I expected this, but I push back against it, even though I don’t particularly care, and roll over on my two male colleagues. I reply: 

“Is it possible that you can give me an Asynchronous Online class for that spot?  The students prefer these classes but the only instructors allowed to teach Asynchronous classes are Dr. R. and Z. Dr. R. never completed the mandatory DE training and I have seniority over Z.” 

See.. Dr. R. retired, came back as a RA [retired annuitant], and had the juice to get a fully online, ongoing assignment for years, without question, which is bulls—t. K., my Department Chair, keeps giving him these classes because “Dr. R. has always taught online.”  I’ve worked around 30 jobs and throughout my entire career have heard that exact phrase: “Oh, we’ve always done it like that” OR “Oh, that’s just Ed. He’s always like that” usually in response to a discriminatory or sexual harassment complaint. 

And Z., you ask? He lives in San Francisco and should have never been hired in the first place. He was hired a few years ago and has had the luxury of teaching exclusively online ever since.  

So, as it stands, only two MEN in my Dept. are allowed to teach Asynchronous Online classes…

Maybe it’s because I’ve reached my boiling point or maybe it’s because I think I’m going to die, but I call these motherf—kers out. 

My Chair responds immediately, saying that he’ll talk to the Dean about Dr. R’s lack of DE training.  Guess what?  My Dept. doesn’t have a Dean right now so I know this is a lie.  The Dean we just hired backed out right before her start date, probably because she got wind of how fucked up this Dept. is. THEN, K., the Chair, says it’s too late for me to “bump” other adjuncts and their assignments. Really?  You told me yesterday that my class wouldn’t run…was I actually supposed to start “bumping” prior to hearing that my class was canceled? AND, I’m not trying to “bump” anyone…I just want you to convert my current class to an Asynchronous class because it will fill within minutes. The students prefer these classes over F2F and why do only TWO MEN have the honor of teaching this type of class? 

I thank him for his time and ask if he can tell me the “appropriate” time frame for bumping?  He responds three days later and tells me to contact my [completely ineffective, open-shop] Union for that information. 

12:30-1:30 – B. calls.  He doesn’t ask if I need anything, but DOES offer to take me to see his doctor for a Covid test. What’s the point, though?  US Covid tests are wildly inaccurate and what if I do have a positive outcome? I’m already quarantining and I can’t get a booster. It should be noted that L.’s friends are “dropping like flies”:  Be. got the booster 2 weeks ago and contracted Omicron a few days later; K. got the Moderna booster and was sick for days after - she’s not sure if it was from Omicron or the booster; D. waited in line for over an hour and got boosted, only to discover that he contracted Omicron while waiting in line to get boosted. He was very sick for days and is now plagued by a horrible smell, similar to rancid meat, that follows him everywhere. 

I mention to B that L.’s friends have been maintaining a food vigil, dropping off meals consistently, every few hours.  In desperation, I ask B. for a Starbucks coffee…I don’t have the energy to make it to the drive thru…AND I also ask B. for a box of Dark Roast K-cups.  The only thing keeping me upright is strong coffee and I’m out of my strongest K-cups.

B. and I then proceed to have a discussion about the two Tully K-cups he gave me the other day, when I was at his house.  Did I like that flavor/brand?  If yes, B. says that maybe he can just bring some of those over instead of stopping at Costco.  Was the flavor dark roast, he asks? [He’s not at home]. I can’t recall if they were dark roast or not… 

I did, in fact, like the Tully cups that B. gave me as a sample, but even though I liked the flavor, if they were NOT dark roast, I want something stronger. I have long since used the Tully samples and thrown them away.  I put B. on hold and stagger outside to my trash can, pull one of the bags out, and sift through the trash for the used K-cups that B. gave me when I was at his house, to determine whether or not they were dark roast. The trash is disgusting and there is dog poop in it. After sifting through most of it, I realize that the two used K-cups were actually in the other trash bag that Waste Management picked up yesterday. I’m having difficulty thinking straight…this is actually a syndrome referred to as “Covid Fog.” 

I return to the phone and tell B. that the two Tully K-cups were in the other trash bag that was retrieved by Waste Management on Monday. I can’t recall if they were dark roast, but ask B. if he can check the box, himself, when he gets home? 

Maybe I’m dying…but if I am, then my “dying wish” is for a strong cup of coffee from Starbucks…just one…HOWEVER, it would be nice to be able to make multiple cups of strong coffee over the coming days, too.  

-L. called off sick and her supervisor told her that, in accordance with the CDC new, revised, 5-day quarantining guidelines, L. needs to return to work tomorrow. L. refused.  I didn’t know anything about this exchange until my Mom called and told me about it. To help L. [even though she never asked for my help or even told me about this issue],  I research CAL-OSHA guidelines and discover that quarantining time under CA state law is still 10 days, even though the CDC says it’s 5 days.  I print out the CAL-OSHA guidelines and slip them under L.’s door. 

-B. arrives with dark roast Keurig cups, a Starbucks coffee, and he has thoughtfully brought a big container of Kroger chicken soup from Costco.  Hurray! He leaves both items at the front door. The Starbucks coffee is. so. good. 

1:30-2:30 – L. actually texts me that she is feeling “100% better.” She has no fever and no chills…just a stuffy nose. I wish that was me. 

2:30-4:30 – Blog posts. 

4:30-5:30 – I have a few bites of B.’s chicken soup and I’m starting to feel better…this feeling is similar to a switch being flipped.  I’m a little concerned…patients who contracted “OG Covid” frequently felt much better in the middle of their illness right before they sustained the “Covid Crash”, and DIED.  Also, studies have shown that people diagnosed with long-term illnesses become increasingly restless right before they pass, sometimes getting up and walking around when they haven’t previously, as if they’re trying to escape. Maybe they’re trying to escape death. 

Other than explosive diarrhea [another Omicron symptom], I’m feeling better. 

I text L. that I’m suddenly feeling better and she said she felt the same way yesterday. Last night, at 8:30 p.m., L. said she started cleaning her room, wiping down surfaces with vinegar, and rearranging her bathroom cabinet. 

-L. leaves to drop off a gift for a friend and to stop by Starbucks. She brings back a Peppermint Hot Chocolate for me. 

5:30-6:00 – I put on a pair of yoga pants and a sweat shirt and take the dog for a walk. 

6:00-10:00 – I don’t know how long I’ll have this “second wind” or the next time I’m going to be incapacitated so I remove the Xmas ornaments from the Xmas tree in the garage and two neon lights that I hung in a small section of the wall. 

-I rearrange the benches and the work bench, then;

-I purge several items from the three baskets that I’ve had bolted into the wall for the past several years and put the items into my trunk for Goodwill. 

-I hammer nails into a small section of the wall, near the baskets, and hang my saw, hacksaw, and leaf blower.

-I grab heavy books from my office and put them on the rug under L.’s easel because the corners are curling up. 

The dog is with me the entire time.  She notices my patio pillows on the floor, near the bench [I brought them in from the patio when the rains started], walks over to one of them, and nonchalantly pees on it, RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!! She doesn’t seem to think she’s done anything wrong!! I throw it in the washing machine. 

10:00-11:00 – I clean and sweep the kitchen, put away the paper towels I ordered, and fill the dog’s water dispenser. I fold and put away towels, a table cloth, and napkins, then go outside and put the newly washed pillowcases on three of my patio pillows.  The washing machine cycle is over, so I pull out the wet patio pillow and put it on top of my trash can outside, so it can dry.

-I have a few pieces of Sugarfina candy along the way. 

Throughout all of this, I think, “Yeah!  I beat Omicron. My body did it. I’m going to make it!” but I’m still concerned about the Covid crash, even though I haven’t heard about that phenom for about a year. I can’t help wondering, “Is this what’s happening to me right now?”  

-I take the dog out and lock up. 

11:00-1:00 – I work on my bullet journal and listen to True Crime Garage. I’m still afraid to go to sleep, because I’m still afraid I won’t wake up. 

1:00-3:00 – I fall asleep in my chair. 

4:00 – Nighttime routine and I lie down in the prone position, on top of my electric blanket.  I continue listening to podcaster Lisa Woodruff…