Day 22 - California Reopening Plan - Phase 3

Teaching in the age of Covid-19; a typical, synchronous Zoom class…

The NBA is going to hold the remainder of the season at Disneyland. The league is referring to Disneyland as a “protective bubble” that will magically protect the players and everyone else from contracting Covid-19. However, people will be continuously breaching the “bubble”, like hotel maids, repairmen, journalists, etc. The NBA looked to the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] for guidance, but found the Korean protocol so strict, they gave up.

8:00-8:30- I take the dog out and give her cheese. No accidents today. I alternate between my Hydroflask and coffee and listen to The Daily and The Best of Both Worlds (for something light).

9:00-10:00 - Shower and wear a professional shirt on top, yoga pants on the bottom. Full hair and make-up, complete with jewelry accessories. I have a Zoom meeting with College No. 2 at 10:00, regarding the Duel Enrollment program. Presumably, this is when I will find out if I’ll be teaching Poli Sci 101 at the private Catholic high school in the Fall.

10:30 - 11:30 - I Zoom in with the video option, so everyone can see my face. 35 people attend and within the first 15 minutes, not one person speaks to me, so I “go dark”, meaning everyone else will see a black screen with my name written in white. No one seems to notice. At least 15 other people have also gone dark - I put on make-up for nothing.

I don’t really learn anything at the meeting, other than that several classes were canceled, like engineering, dancing, etc. But, Poli Sci 101 is a core class and hard to eliminate - it still appears to be on the books. Long story short, I don’t know if I’m teaching at the high school in the Fall and this Zoom meeting was largely a waste of my time. If I am teaching, I will be working from 8:00-9:30, Wednesday and Friday (allegedly).

The teaching buzz words in the era of Covid-19 are now “asynchronous” and “synchronous.” If your class is synchronous, that means it must meet at the time it is listed, i.e., there are no other options, so I would have to conduct class, even if it’s remotely, from 8:00-9:30. Although nobody will specifically state the obvious, this is largely due to federal funding which is based on the number of students who attend class. Apparently, federal funding is closely tied to a synchronous model.

If your class is asynchronous, you are not expected to “suit up and show up” at the time the class is listed. You can deploy your material outside of classroom hours, but this seems to affect federal funding negatively - it is unclear how. In times of emergency (Covid-19) ALL classes are allowed to be asynchronous. But, we’re no longer in emergency mode right now as America has largely dismissed Covid-19 so there is a push for classes to be synchronous. Gotta get that federal funding. Of course, I want all my classes to be asynchronous so I am not held to a set schedule. It is rumored that the high schools are more open to an asynchronous model - the college itself, not so much.

11:15 - 12:00 - I leave for my therapy appointment. It goes well. L. leaves with R. to go to his music studio to watch his band practice.

12:00-12:30 - I decide to use my Starbucks gift card that my boss gave me for my birthday and for the first time since Covid-19, I go through the drive thru. It’s odd. My coffee is handed to me inside a cardboard box - I’m supposed to take it out of the box and put it in my car. I also ordered an egg/sausage biscuit and that’s also in it’s own cardboard box, which, like my coffee, I’m supposed to pluck out. I can’t figure out how this configuration is supposed to work. Is this so the EMPLOYEE is not infected by me if he were to hand me the items? Or is this supposed to protect ME by making me think he is not handling my food? Either way, it’s stupid, but the biscuit is remarkably good and I do enjoy the coffee.

12:30-3:30 - I drive to the Plum Canyon park so I can sit at a picnic table and look at the view. I eat the biscuit on the way, but I have coffee left when I arrive. I settle in at one of the numerous picnic tables, under a huge gazebo, and read Elena Vanishing. I’m next to a Filipino mother with two little kids who are quite loud and rowdy, but I don’t really mind. I put my earbuds in and read my book. I listen to Market Place.

-At 3:30, a creepy white guy, in sunglasses (he’s not a transient - he’s a pedophile) sits down on a bench next to the Filipino Mom. He actually tries to engage a 3/4 year-old little boy in conversation. When that doesn’t work, he says to the Mom, “How old is the little guy?” Disgusted, I immediately leave. Godspeed Filipino Mom.

4:00 - 5:00 - Home and I start getting the patio ready as B. will be coming over to eat the Mexican food he bought for dinner. I’m not hungry, but can’t afford the Mexican food anyway. There is a lot to do…I sweep everything and water all my plants, then pick the leaves out of the red rock flower bed. I clean the fountain and turn on the white lights, then scrub the table with dish washing soap, where he’ll be eating.

5:00 - 6:45 - B. calls and says he wants to come over, but I convince him to come between 6:30 and 7:00, thinking it will be cooler then. He agrees so I have time to make a Minestrone soup, using food items that would have gone bad in the next few days, while L. and I are in Sedona. I finish the soup, clean the kitchen, and sweep. L. and R. are at the Heritage Park, watching Toy Story.

6:45 - 10:00 - B. arrives and we sit outside, in the backyard, while he eats dinner at my patio table. He brings the ‘fixings’ for Margaritas and makes me one. After, we go upstairs and watch the first two episodes of Love After Lockup, Season One.

10:00 - 11:30 - B. leaves and I have some of my Minestrone soup - it’s quite tasty. L. returns home and we also watch Love After Lockup, but season TWO. Today, we learn that the black inmate and his white girlfriend of six years (they have a 2-year-old together) are already married! They got married in a prison ceremony in October 2017 and he proposed to his black girlfriend two months later, even though he was already married. We also learn that his black girlfriend has given him approximately $12,000 in the short time she has known him. OMG! L. and I scream at the TV.

12:30 - 1:30 - I do some light packing and my night time ritual. Then bed.