Day 21 - LA County Dept. of Health MANDATES masking indoors

The easiest way to stain concrete? Hire a contractor…the stain was applied today…

8/6/21. Friday

8:00-9:30 – My alarm goes off so I go downstairs to say good morning to the dog. Another early morning for her and I don’t think she likes it, although at least she didn’t poop in the house. I rub her tummy three times, she grabs her toy, and we go outside. The dog goes potty and we return inside: cheese for her; coffee for me. I go upstairs. Still at 101.5.  I see how this works – although I can gain TWO pounds in one day, it takes FOUR days to lose it. I didn’t get the memo on that…but I’m well aware of it now…

Shower and I sit down, lean my head against the tiles, and drink my coffee. Lotion. Covid-19 uniform. Light make-up.  I listen to What a Day.

9:30-10:00 – I leave for my therapy appointment and the contractors are there, applying the stain. Robert says they’ll be done in 30 minutes, but he’ll return tomorrow to seal it. Tomorrow is Saturday, so I wonder if he’s confused…maybe they work on weekends?  He’s a little difficult to understand.

10:00-10:30 – Therapy session. Neither of us mask even though Delta is on the rise…or maybe it’s Lambda? For now, I’ve decided not to mask during my therapy sessions – it’s a personal choice that I’ve made for myself.

10:30-11:00 – Today is errand day, but I don’t have much on my to-do list. I quickly drive over to Goodwill to check out the situation. It’s the same thing as last time – cars are tearing into the parking lot and screeching to a stop as people jump out and run to the “Hard Goods” / “Soft Goods” sections. I notice something this time – there is only ONE small basket for the hard goods and SEVEN for the soft goods, so of course the hard goods is full within 30 minutes.  Is staff deliberately limiting the ‘hard goods’ space so they don’t have to deal with heavy items?  This doesn’t seem fair. I’m able to grab ONE box of books from my trunk and I’m running, too…I slam my box down on top of a box of trophies and start running back to my car to get the last box of books when the same employee from two weeks ago screams at us, “I can’t take any more hard goods, people.  We’re full!” I listen to Slates Spoiler Specials.

Dejected, I walk back to my car and grab my bag of clothes.  There is still plenty of room for the soft goods...seven baskets worth of room, in fact.

10:30-11:00 – Return home and the contractors are gone. The stain looks incredible!

11:00-12:00 – I publish today’s content for my Summer class and respond to a few student emails. Then I scan the papers I’ve finished grading to date, post the grades, and return them to the students (with my comments) via email.

12:00-1:00- Blog posts.

1:00-2:00 – I eat the calamari that L. brought back for me from Botegga yesterday and read All You Can Ever Know.

1:00-4:00 –I FINISH my “Ipad re-curating project”!!!  I listen to two episodes of Fresh Air and Organize 365.

Recall that several weeks ago my Ipad glitched out, became possessed, and deleted the media scroll that I had lovingly cultivated over the past 7 years. L. was able to recreate it except for the last year of material, from May 2020 to May 2021. HOWEVER, L. admonished me for keeping one master scroll of media and told me I should put every media source into separate categories, which I have now done. I have “Books/Websites”; “TV and Film”; “Podcasts” and a separate “To-Do List.” Over the past two months, I went through my media scroll, opened every media source online to see if I was still interested in the item, then logged it under the appropriate category with a short bio and the year of the source. I was also able to partially recreate some of the items I had logged during the ‘year that vanished.’ [May 2020 to May 2021].

Although I was devastated when this tragedy occurred, it resulted in a much cleaner media list, with sources ‘bagged and tagged’ in their respective categories. I’m really happy about it. “When life throws you lemons make lemonade” and all that other positive shit we’re supposed to tell ourselves in the face of adversity.

4:00-5:00 – I peel carrots and a zuchinni, then make a big spinach salad. I boil eggs while I food prep and add an egg and corn to the salad. I read All You Can Ever Know.

5:00-7:00 – There’s a few chores that I have to complete. My full length mirror arrived and it takes forever to unpack it and break down the box for my trash can. I listen to Air Talk - Film Week

-Mom dropped off a brand new white mini-blanket when she was here and it’s the perfect size for my office couch.  I throw the old blanket away and cover the couch with the new one.

-L. has a light bulb out in her room and I do, too, in my bathroom.  I batch-task and change both.

-Although I completely cleared my garage, I still have a few, remaining items that need to be unloaded; specifically, a boogie board, shelving unit, and lounge chair that I paid too much for. I take pictures of these items so I can email them to B. later.  Maybe he has friends who can use them?

-B. found a new upholsterer and my ottoman needs to be repaired.  One of the chair legs on my patio chair broke and I need that repaired, too, so I take pictures of both items so I can email them to B. later. I want to know if he thinks the new upholsterer can repair them. I listen to By the Book – the Currated Closet – while I work.

The bracket I super-glued to the picture frame is dry now so I insert the picture of L. and I from the Mirage poolside cabana, in Vegas, and hang it in my stairwell. 

7:00-8:00 – Grade papers.

8:30-9:00 – I take the dog for a walk. I listen to What Next.

10:30-12:30 – L. makes Blackberry Brioche crackers while I continue grading papers. This is her own recipe as she’s an intuitive chef. L. spreads 20 pita chips with blackberry jam and tops them with bacon and cheese.  These are so good!  L. plates some fruit on the side and we watch the next episode of Married at First Sight while we eat.

12:30-1:00 – Kitchen duty and I ready my coffee for tomorrow

1:30 a.m.–2:30 – I do a 40-minute Insanity–Pylometric workout.

2:30-3:30 – I grade the last essay, then report to my office and scan the remaining papers. I post the grades and return the papers with my comments via email. I also email the pictures I took earlier to B; email an article on the Lambda variant to my Mom; and email a link to a podcast on flying first class to L.  

3:30-4:30 – Nighttime routine. Bed. Papers are finished. “Ipad Re-curating Project” is finished. Garage stain is almost finished.  Great day! I set my alarm.