Day 21-BA5 takes the lead

Hiked the Newhall Pass trail today…911 was called.

7/13/22. Tuesday

6:00-6:15-My alarm goes off and I’m up, but I lie in bed for transition time.

6:15-6:30-After 15 minutes, the dog and I go downstairs and out to the patio so she can go potty. Cheese for her, coffee for me.

6:30-6:50-Return upstairs and I listen to The Daily while I take out my braids.

6:50-7:30-Shower. Lotion. Light make-up. Athletic Housewife attire: I wear my new teal leggings, gray T-back tank top, and my new hiking shoes. I make a packet of oatmeal, even though I have almost no appetite, and leave.

7:30-7:55-I drive to the Church of the Nazarene (hiking location) where the Newhall Pass trail begins. I’m not feeling well. I don’t know if this is due to jet lag, or a lack of sleep from last night, or because I have BA5… Whatever the reason, I’m very fatigued. Sarah is not here today.

8:00-9:30-At first the hike goes well. I’m in the front and I successfully stay on trail until the end point. Renee, the hiking group’s coordinator, hasn’t hiked this trail before and is in the back with the rest of the group, as we wait for them to catch up. The trail ends at a steep hill and none of us are sure where to go from here, as we’re waiting for Renee and the group to catch up.

One of the women, Julie, decides to climb up the hill. Julie is an older female who, in the past, has bragged about being a LAPD officer and a reservist - she did a tour in Afghanistan. All of this is questionable, because she’s fat. She’s also gay. Really? You’re an LAPD officer? What is your current assignment? The desk? And what could you possibly have done in Afghanistan? As B. likes to say, “A legend in her own mind.”

Anyway, Julie gets the bright idea to climb the hill directly in front of us. The trail has disappeared and the mountain is so steep, she has to scramble up the side on all fours, like a dog, shouting, “Come on everyone. Lets go!” as she paves the way for disaster. Although I’m half-way up the mountain, behind this a—hole, I discover that the soil is too loose so I abort the attempt because the last thing I need is an injury. Julie makes it to the top and sits down, saying “I’m just hanging out” while we wait for Renee and the rest of the group to arrive. This happens within the next 5 minutes and Renee instructs us to “backtrack.” We go back the way we came, with Julie following our route from above, at the top of the hill she just climbed, but sitting down again a few minutes later.

Spoiler Alert: This isn’t apparent right now, but the hiking group learns later, over the next week, that “Fat, gay Julie” has become tachycardic and is unable to slow her own heartbeat as a result of her stupid bravado and poor choices. Two of the hiking group members are nurses and recognize Julie might be in distress, so they follow behind her, reach her location where she is sitting, “just hanging out”, and identify and diagnose “tachycardia.” 911 is called. A helicopter eventually arrives, pulls Julie off the mountain, and takes her to the hospital where she will remain for observation for the next two days. We never see Julie again, to which I say, good riddance.

We reach a fork in the trail - I am now at the back of the pack - and this fork also leads to a steep incline. A few of the ladies hike up this hill, but most of us continue walking back to the Church of the Nazarene’s parking lot.

This is when I meet Karen, a retired teacher. She taught elementary school at a private Christian school until she decided to become a resource specialist (perhaps it was a SPED teacher??). At some point, she ended up teaching English, but the workload became too intense because there were sooo many papers to grade. Currently, Karen takes two classes with Renee - her strength class, which meets at Renee’s home gym weekly, and Renee’s cardio walking group. Today’s hike happens to be Karen’s make-up after she fell while walking the paseo behind her house, and exacerbated her previously sprained foot.

Karen has two children post college-age: a) a daughter who went to CSUN, majored in English Literature, and taught for awhile; and b) a son who is a reporter for a Texas affiliate TV station but is leaving for a PR job at Chick File because he wants to do something “more positive.” Uh…more positive? The Chick File franchise supports the “Christian Right” and has an anti-gay agenda, as evidenced by comments attributed to their disgusting CEO. The gay community has been boycotting Chick File for years…I share their sentiment as this company is truly appalling, but it’s too hard to pass up their chicken tenders, so I still go through the drive-thru on occasion [I know, I’m a hypocrite], BUT at least I’m not going to WORK for them. I keep my opinions to myself, however. Karen’s family is a MAGA family…

Spoiler Alert: I never see “Karen” again.

-We arrive at the parking lot and I notice there’s an ambulance, several fire trucks, and a helicopter converging on scene. I see an EMT looking at the trail we just finished walking and wonder if somebody in the group fell ??? I have no way of knowing and there’s nothing I can do at the moment.

9:30-10:00-I drive home

-I pull into the driveway as L. and T. leave to get coffee

10:00-12:30 - I check email at College No. 1, then post content for both classes and respond to a few students.

Life Admin

-I check my bank accounts and make sure everything is in order

-I place a Wine.com order

-I make a credit card payment

-I reserve a ticket for nest weekend’s Huntington summer stroll.

-I schedule an appointment for my yearly glaucoma checkup

-I text Mom to see how she’s feeling and she reports that she tested positive for Covid. She ended up at the ER and has started taking Paxlovid. OMG! Poor Mom! I text L. that grandma has Covid. This is not a surprise as we suspected Mom contracted Covid on the ship. HOWEVER, with my Mom’s diagnosis confirmed, L. and I suspect we have contracted BA5 as well. Both of us feel sub-par. I have a sore throat and am incredibly fatigued; L. is tired, nauseous, and has diarrhea. Neither of us have an appetite.

12:30-2:30-I ask L. for the third time to email me the pictures she took on our vacation and she finally sends them. I spend this time curating and deleting the bad pictures. Then, I upload the best pictures to my computer, using Walgreens’ software, edit the content, and place my order. I listen to Best of Both Worlds while I make the edits.

-I half-heartedly pick at the remainder of my pork and rice and eat part of an infused orange chocolate bar.

-L. leaves for lunch with her friends, N. and J.

2:30-5:00-I try to change the light bulbs in the ceiling fan, in my study, but realize they’re the wrong wattage.

-I’m exhausted, so I take a break and watch an episode of “This is Going to Hurt.” After it’s over, I take a nap.

5:00-5:30-I have a few more bites of the pork and rice, then give the rest to the dog.

5:30-6:30-bullet journal

-L. surfaces and, together, we make the executive decision to quarantine, away from each other, within the house. This ain’t our first rodeo…we’ve quarantined from each other before. At this point, though, it’s unclear which one of us has Covid. L. is feeling better, while I am feeling worse. There’s a slim chance L. doesn’t have it, which means being exposed to me could put her at risk, as I’m certain I’m infected - I feel like shit. L. does the responsible thing and leaves for dinner with her friend A. [if this sounds like sarcasm, that’s because it is].

6:30-8:30-Bullet journal

8:30-9:00-I go to Walgreens to pick up the pictures I ordered. I mask because I’m responsible.

9:00-10:00-I watch more episodes from This is Going to Hurt.

-I review my final invoice from Norwegian - Escape. Everything appears to be in order.

-I check my schedule at College No. 1. for the upcoming Fall Semester. Enrollment is up for my fully online course but there is no way I’m going to make Enrollment on my F2F Core Class from 7:00-10:00 pm. Can’t say I care, as I never wanted a F2F class in the first place.

Recall that there is some extortion occurring regarding the Fall Schedule. My Acting Dean and my Acting Chair told me, in no uncertain terms, that the only way I would be allowed to teach a fully online course is if I agreed to also teach a F2F class, under the 50% rule, set by the College President who is old, out-of-touch, and retiring in 2 months: “If you teach one online class, you have to teach one F2F class.” When I pointed out that retired Dr. R has ONE online class and NO F2F classes, both responded that if you only teach ONE online class, the 50% rule doesn’t apply. Says who? No matter, though, because I have a plan. Specialty Class 1A was converted to an online class under the fake parameters that my Chair and Dean set for ME, but there is no way in hell enough students will sign up for the F2F Core Class that they are forcing me to teach. Students want ONLINE classes, not a weekly F2F class that meets from 7:00-10:00 pm…in the long run, my objective will still be achieved, which is NO F2F CLASSES.

10:00-12:00-I’m really under the weather and feel like I have the flu. I finally finish the fast food History 101 episode I tried watching yesterday for the next time I see Sarah. When that ends, I switch to another episode of This is Going to Hurt, while I bullet journal.

-I pull my clothes out of the washing machine, then hang the items. I take pictures of the outfits because, as stated earlier, I’m preparing a Master packing list of what to take when I travel in the future, so I never have to encounter packing stress again.

12:00-2:30-I continue watching This is Going to Hurt from my chair, but I keep falling asleep. The dog seems confused that I’m still awake.

2:30-4:30-I continue napping.

4:30-5:15-Nighttime routine. Bed. My internal clock is f—ked up and I don’t feel well.