Day 21 - LA County Dept. of Health mandates indoor masking and OUTDOOR masking at large events

At Coffee and Plants today…

9/4/21. Sunday.

The Mu variant is making an appearance, completely bypassing Lamda.  Part of the reason for this is the WHO labeled Mu a “variant of interest” which moved it to the top of the lame-stream media feed. I have a theory about this…I believe the WHO chose not to label vaccine-resistant Lamda as a “variant of interest” because they didn’t want to cause wide-spread panic across the globe; HOWEVER, when Mu, another vaccine-resistant variant emerged right after Lamda, the WHO pulled its head out of its ass and made the executive decision to slap the correct label on Mu. 

Similar to my nearly constant references to “the artist formerly known as Prince” on this blog and a nod to the stupidity of labeling the strains with letters from a Greek alphabet that we’ve never used before, Mu is “formerly known as the variant from Columbia”, but is now found in all of our states, although, you guessed it, LA COUNTY has the highest number of Mu cases thus far.  Are you surprised? LAX, one of the most heavily-traveled airports in the world, sits in the “City of the (Covid-infested) Angels” and there are no Covid-19 screening kiosks or even basic questionnaires [at least that I’m aware of] for travelers to fill out before they’re released into our community and/or public transport. This is in sharp contrast to the UK, who just issued a travel ban forbidding dirty Americans from traveling across the pond.  Meanwhile, here in America, “give us your tired, your poor, your infected Covid masses…struggling to breathe…” so LA County’s infection rates can go up exponentially.

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9:00 – L. leaves for her “private” art lesson at the home of one of her students. Her shift at the art studio starts at 11:00.

9:00-9:30 – I go downstairs to say good morning to the animal and see that the dog pooped next to the front door.  I’m not sure what triggered this…she hasn’t pooped in the house in several weeks. I point at the dog s—t then at the dog and tell her “That’s a no-no!”, but she thinks I’m playing…or maybe she’s choosing to deliberately ignore me. We go outside and I water a few of my plants while she goes potty. Return inside and pieces of turkey burger for her; coffee for me.  I go upstairs.

9:30-11:00 – Shower. Wash hair. Lotion. Maxi dress and light make-up. I listen to The Waves.

11:30 – 12:30 – L. recommended a new coffee place in Pasadena so I’m going to try it out.  I leave for Coffee and Plants. I listen to Citations Needed, specifically the episode entitled “How ‘Most Livable Cities’ lists Center on Upwardly Mobile White Professionals.” Traffic is wide open.

12:30-3:00 – Coffee and Plants is tucked away in an alley and difficult to find.  I park the car and set out on foot, walking around until I find it. L. gave me verbal directions which were helpful. I arrive and discover that this is an incredibly tiny coffee house.  It seats 4, but the seating is one long booth against a back wall and 4 tiny tables, about 2 feet apart. All the tables are occupied. There is seating outside, but it’s extremely hot today…I think it’s 105… I order an ice tea and the avocado toast and these items cost me around $20.  Additionally, I’m told the avocado toast won’t be ready for 10 minutes and I’m supposed to wait inside, until it’s ready. Staff behind the counter are masking but none of the patrons are because they’re eating. Everyone who comes in to place an order is masked. I stand around, waiting in this cramped, 1-room coffee house, with only one open door for ventilation.

Two parents, their dog, and their baby leave and I grab the table and wait for my toast.  I pull out my Netbook and start working on a blog post, but I’m hinked up because the white male next to me looks like a dirty frat boy and it’s obvious he’s been sitting here for some time.  In fact, the other two tables are also occupied by 20-something males – usually the biggest carriers of Covid, although most of the time the least affected – and there is no turnover going on.  They’ve been camped out here for some time.

When my avocado toast is ready, I leave. I sat inside for a little over 15 minutes and even that small amount of time was 15 minutes too long. I move outside to a tiny patio table with an umbrella – it barely holds my Netbook, tea, and toast but it will have to do. It’s extremely hot, but at least I’m in a maxi-dress. The tea is exceptional and the avocado toast is quite good.

I work on a blog post.

3:00-4:00 – Time to go. I leave, walk to the parking garage, and take off.

Driving. I listen to Westcork. Traffic is fine.

4:00-5:30 – Home. I feel drained after sitting outside in the heat for several hours so I take a nap.

5:30-7:00 – I watch two more episodes of White Lotus and eat my leftover avocado toast.

7:00-7:30 – I take the dog for a walk and listen to Case File; then

7:30-8:30 – Blog posts.

8:30-10:00 – I read a Money Diary then do a 1-hr Insanity – Max Plyo Circuit workout.

10:00-12:00 – I log onto Canvas and create the next 6 weeks of Discussion Boards – every Wednesday AND Friday - for my highschoolers, listening to Labyrinth while I work.

1:00-2:00 – Nighttime routine. Bed.