Day 21 - Mask mandate RESCINDED. We do NOT need to wear masks.

Finished this book today…

In the coming weeks, Moderna is expected to seek emergency use FDA authorization to provide its lower dose vaccine for children from 6 months to 6 years old. The dosage is 1/4th of the adult dosage – 25 micrograms vs. 100 micrograms. Their study reveals that for kids 6 months to 2 years, there is around 44% protection and for children 2 to 6 years, 38% protection. That’s an F. With results that low, why bother to vaccinate your kids at all?   

And by the way…why doesn’t “the Science” titrate the dose for women? Over time, the data is shaking out that women have had stronger reactions to the vaccine than men.  Here’s a math word problem for you... B is 6’1” and weighs 220 pounds; L. is 5’4” and weighs 115. Each of them received a 100 microgram dose of Pfizer. In keeping with our “math word problem”, who do you think was sicker? B. went to Costco, took a 4-mile walk, and reviewed some personal paperwork after his first dose. He watched TV and called it a day. Within 2 hours of receiving her first dose, L. was holed up in bed for the next two days, fatigued and feverish. She missed work and school. 

It’s the same with car accidents. The first seatbelt was introduced in 1959 by Volvo.  “The Science” couldn’t figure out why 73% of women were more likely than men to be injured in a car crash, even when both wore seatbelts. Finally, after 60 years, a 2018 study revealed that crash-test dummies are typically models of an average man…ergo, the seatbelt specifications are designed for men, not women. Yep…it’s a head-scratcher. 

So , Big Pharma will titrate the medication for little kids, but when it comes to titrating medication for women (and I’m not just referring to the Covid vaccine…google Ambien doses vs. men and women for that tragic history…) nobody cares. See, if little kids die, it’s “bad ops” [as in “photo ops”]. When women die, nobody cares. Why are we routinely discounted? Why does our society hate women so much?

3/24/22. Thursday 

4:45-5:00 – My alarm goes off.

5:00-5:15 – I go downstairs to warm up my coffee and grab a bag of ice. The dog is asleep so I tiptoe past her and put my coffee in the microwave. You might have noticed by now that as soon as the microwave starts up, the dog staggers over and this happens today. L. says that doesn’t happen with her – the dog watches L. from the couch and doesn’t move. 

5:15-6:10 – Shower. I sit in the shower, drink my coffee, and ice my eyes. I listen to Marketplace Morning and Be Wealthy and Smart. Lotion. I put on a “Sexy Librarian” outfit, load all of my bags in the car, and I’m out the door by 6:15.  Upright and caffeinated.

6:15-7:15 – Driving. Traffic is horrible.  I listen to Organize 365 and put my make-up on in the car. I eat half a donut…this is a leftover from patio coffee at B.’s house yesterday.

7:15-7:40 – I park and review this morning’s lecture while eating the overnight oats I made last night.

7:45-8:00 – I walk to the office, take my temperature, and sign in [“Temperature Normal!”]. Then, I walk to Mr. G’s classroom.

8:00-9:30 – HVAC still isn’t repaired and it’s already warm in the classroom, although it’s not ungodly because it’s still early, and I have the industrial fans going.  God, poor Mr. G!  How can he teach in this for 6 hours, every day?

Class is in session. It’s a straight lecture covering two chapters today. As Mr. G. is leaving, I tell him I won’t be there on Tuesday and give him my lesson plans, which consist of a pre-recorded lecture and the accompanying Google slides. He agrees to take his prep period in the classroom instead of the break room.  I’m hoping he prefers that and he doesn’t have to do a thing…the kids will just be sitting there, listening to the lecture on their phones. The students and I practice downloading Audio Lecture – Chapter 8 and opening the slides on their phones, so Mr. G doesn’t have any issues.

9:30-9:45 – I drop off Attendance and walk to my car.

10:00-11:00 – Driving. Traffic is horrible. I eat my barbecue chicken in the car and listen to By The Book.

11:00-12:00 – I bring in all of my bags, put everything away, and clean out my lunch bag. Kitchen duty and I ready my coffee for tomorrow. L. is here after working her 4:30-10:00 shift at her new job, “The Club.” L. likes working there so far and goes on to say how productive she was today, after her 4:30 a.m. shift ended. She ran to Target, purchased a novelty drink, and was heading up to her room to eat lunch and take a nap before one of her last shifts at the Art Studio.

-I report to my office and email the Syllabus and the Chapter 5 Review Quiz to one of my highschoolers.

12:00-1:00 – I finish What Color is Monday?

This is a memoir, written by a mother who has five children, one of whom, Jack, is autistic. Of note is the fact that the book is written in real time, when Carrie Cariello is in the thick of childrearing, so it’s not a backwards glance at the past, nor does it provide pages and pages of 20/20 hindsight introspection. Most of these types of memoirs have an arc, i.e., struggle, lessons learned, positive outcome, but because Carrie is writing as her life unfolds, the reader is in the dark, just like Carrie, about Jack’s future.   In other words, it is unclear what Jack will become.  

Carrie references the trials and tribulations of having an autistic child, in addition to Jack’s interaction with her other four “normal” children.  Having said that, this book is comical and I laughed out loud several times, which I rarely do. For starters, Carrie can’t seem to stop getting pregnant.  Just when she seems to be debating whether or not she should have another child, the debate is over because she’s pregnant again. She gives birth to five children in rapid succession (Jack is Number 2) and becomes pregnant, yet again, right before her husband’s scheduled vasectomy. All of Carrie’s babies are huge – a whopping 9 pounds. Her last baby weighs in at 10 pounds! – and all are vaginal births. Although this memoir is primarily about Jack and raising an autistic child, Carrie has plenty of anecdotes about each child, that are just…super funny.  For example: 

“…ten pound, four-ounce, Henry bulldozed his way out of my body and into the world – the equivalent of a human meatball. My water broke at four in the morning. I’m pretty sure Henry punched it open.” 

“Rose requested in her raspy, endearing, I-drank-a-case-of Jack Daniels-and-its-time-for-another-cigarette-voice, to text her father”

But she also has anecdotes about Jack that are hilarious.  Don’t get me wrong, raising this kid is hard.  He has constant tantrums and shits himself all the time.  But, he’s funny too.  For example, as an autistic child, he’s extremely abrupt and says things like: 

“Get me my breakfast now!”  

“Don’t you dare pack more of those white cookies!” as Carrie is putting the school lunches together. 

“Help. I’m lost! My mother has left me”, when Carrie refused to buy Jack the markers he wanted at the store they were at;  

When Carrie took all five kids to the YMCA for swimming, Jack yelled at another mother in the locker room, “You go in there to change! So we don’t see your PRIVATES! I don’t want to see your PRIVATES!” 

“That man is really, really BLACK!” 

Jack tries to connect with people by discussing radios, cars, and birthdates and in this anecdote, he’s trying to connect with a contractor who is working on the family’s front porch:

“Jack wanted to know every last detail about every radio Texas Mike has ever owned, why he drove a Subaru Legacy, and his mother. How old was she? Jack wanted to know, Had she died yet?” ; and 

“At age 5, he started asking everyone the color of their shampoo.” 

“Instead of asking when’s someone’s birthday was, he would point his finger in their face and bark, ‘What kind of car do you drive?’ “ 

“Last summer we enjoyed a beautiful day at the beach although Jack spent a fair amount of time shouting things like “I hate you” at the seagulls flying overhead”; and 

Jack hates dogs.  The family were staying at a hotel that allows dogs when Jack caught sight of a brown dog with his owner at check-in. “…he immediately channeled his anxiety into bossy mode and went barreling up to the desk, actually bowling people out of the way to get to the manager.  With his pointer finger raised high above his head, he brayed in her face: “HELLO-O! There’s a DOG in here! Dogs are NOT ALLOWED in HOTELS!” 

“He’s been known to bray out, ‘In the name of the FATHER, SON and HOLY SPIRIT’ before he digs into his corn dog and fries at a restaurant. 

Carrie forced Jack to attend his First Communion: “Meanwhile he screamed things like ‘I hate church!’ and, inexplicably, ‘I want to die my hair red!’ He said he was blind and walked in with his eyes closed, claiming ‘I can’t see anyone! They’re not here! It’s canceled!’ Then he hid under the piano.” 

Carrie’s husband suggested the entire family enroll in karate and Carrie resisted for some time until eventually giving in because she didn’t want to wear the gi: “I am not a fashionista by any means, but I do understand what flatters a 5’9”-inch, 38-year-old woman who has birthed more than 40 pounds of people. And an entire outfit of monochrome white ain’t it.” Jack took one glance at me and shouted, “You look WEIRD!” 

Highly recommend this book. 

1:00-2:45 – I do a 30-minute Insanity Max – Cardio workout.

2:45-3:45 – I read the Nature Fix.

3:45-4:45 – I text L. to see if’s she’s around to walk the dog with me, but she texts back that she’s at work so I take the dog for a walk by myself. I listen to Organize 365. During our walk, a dog, off-leash, crosses the street and tries to make friends. My dog goes ape shit and starts snarling and lunging at this cute little dog. The dog is so apoplectic, that she slips out of her harness and starts running around the street.  It’s a chaotic mess!  This is why I gave up on dog parks.

5:00-5:15 – I eat some cheese and crackers.

6:00-9:30 – Blog posts and I listen to Air Talk.

9:30-12:30 – I update my budget expenditures for January, February, and March, using my online BofA and Chase statements as a guide since I rarely receive receipts for online purchases. I listen to L’s recommended podcast, Conviction – it’s pretty good.

-I delete a few hundred emails in keeping with my personal email, culling project.

12:30-1:00 – I put a few items in my lunch bag and ready my coffee.

1:00-1:45 – Nighttime routine. Bed. I set my alarm for 8:00.