Day 23 - Governor Newsom reinstates the mask mandate in California

L. and I went to Nobu today…

1/7/22. Friday. 

7:00-7:30 – I sleep off and on and wake up congested, stiff, and exhausted. I have difficulty getting out of bed since I’ve been sick and it continues to take a full 2 hours to get there. This involves lying in bed and drinking coffee until the caffeine kicks in. After having Omicron, I absolutely canNOT function without coffee. Even after my first cup of coffee, I still need to sit in the shower for long periods of time to loosen up my congestion and help with my body aches. My eyes also ache when I wake up in the morning so we can add that to my long list of symptoms. I’ve been “icing” them in the shower. All of this sounds like “Long Covid” to me. 

I go downstairs, take the dog out, heat up my coffee, and return upstairs.  I lie down and slowly drink my coffee. 

9:00-9:30 – I’m suddenly hit with terrible anxiety regarding College No. 2. I’m assigned to a new high school class and Spring Semester 2022 for College No. 2 begins in February. BUT, what if I was supposed to report to the high school in January, when the students return after winter break? What if the high school’s Administration have been trying to reach me all of this time and I haven’t responded? I go downstairs to check email at College No. 2 and discover that everything is fine. 

10:30-12:00 – I continue transcribing my AUDIO Syllabus. 

12:00-1:00 – I weigh myself and am shocked to see that I weigh a mere 92 pounds!  I have no idea when I lost all of this weight. Shower. Lotion. I wear black leggings, a gray turtleneck, black-and-white blazer, a necklace, and gray beanie. I’m shaky, nauseous, and I don’t feel well. I have no appetite, but realize I should eat something so I have a little more of L.’s Cinnamon Toast Crunch, but it makes me feel worse. 

1:15-2:30 – I drive to NOBU, in Malibu, to meet L. for our 3:00 reservation. I debated not going because I didn’t think I could make the drive AND I’m confused with regard to the extent of my social responsibility.

-The CDC has asked the American people to quarantine for 5 days when sick and return to work with no test required. The State of California has asked Californians to quarantine for 10 days. These are arbitrary dates that are not based on science, similar to 6 feet of social distancing, which was then changed to 3 feet in the classroom, in order to justify packing in the kids so the teacher’s do NOT get used to a reduced class size, as class size has been a point of contention for the past 50 years.

At this point in time, nobody social distances so it’s no longer a point of discussion.  Today is Day 8 since I’ve had Omicron...and the same for L.  I’m symptomatic, but am I contagious? L. is also symptomatic and has a slight cough and nasal congestion. I’m about to have dinner in a crowded, open-air restaurant. Will I infect people?  Will she?

-I take the Malibu route on the way to Nobu and note for the first time the Malibu National Park as I drive by. I feel nauseous and shaky, but I make it to the restaurant. 

2:30-I’m early, but staff is able to seat me so I order Miso soup and a 2-piece tuna sashimi. Although my voice is returning, I’m still having trouble projecting and have to repeat myself every time I speak to the waiter.

3:00–5:00-L. arrives from her day spent with her friend, C., at the Cat Café. It’s the first time L. and I have seen each other in 7 days as we’ve maintained and upheld a strict quarantine in our house. I have no appetite, but sashimi sounds palatable and it’s a good place to start with regard to increasing my caloric intake. I order yellow fin and salmon and L. orders fried okra and two pieces of sashimi on a potato chip.  I eat one of the potato chip pieces. We order sparkling water. Although the sashimi is very good, everything is lackluster because I have no appetite. I also order the tempura lobster and it’s…good. I can’t help but wonder how this food would taste if I had never been sick.  

I haven’t spoken to L. in what seems like forever and she tells me her “origin story” regarding how she contracted Omicron: 

L. spent New Years Eve at her boyfriend’s (T) house, which he rents with his brother, and another couple. The couple is named O. & E.  When L. arrives at the house, she encounters E. (female) in the kitchen who immediately tells L. that she and O. are sick and were tested, after waiting in a drive-thru line for 3 hours.  O.’s test came back positive for Covid, but E. tested negative. L. noted that both O. & E. were coughing constantly and it was obvious they both had Omicron even though E. tested negative.  

L. told me that their conversation lasted approximately 30 seconds, at which point, upon hearing that O. tested positive and E. tested negative, she and her boyfriend, T., spent the rest of New Years Eve in his bedroom. Several hours later, L. comes down to the kitchen to get water – no one is around – then goes back into T.’s room. 13 hours after her 30-second encounter with E., L. is sick. 

I’m full, but L. wants to order dessert.  She gets a passion fruit pudding and I get a hazel nut cookie that turns out to be several pieces of cookie mixed in with some ice cream concoction. It’s…okay. 

5:00-7:00 – L. and I leave in our separate cars.  Traffic is so horrible, it takes me 2 hours to get home. 

7:00-8:30 – Home and I continue transcribing my AUDIO syllabus until I finally finish.  

8:30-9:00 – I recorded a 2-minute PSA [Public Service Announcement] that needs to be air-dropped, but when I bring it to L., she informs me that she spilled a glass of water on her laptop which caused it to short out. Her laptop is dead and she is using an old Ipad, currently, which prevents her from dragging my audio file into my Canvas shell.  Through brainstorming, we come up with a work-around, where I can record an AUDIO file on MY Ipad then upload it myself, as a “File” into the Canvas shell. I try this experiment and – shocker! – it actually works. 

9:00-12:00 – I’m sick of working on my class so I convert to more physical work. I’ve been too sick to put away Xmas decorations [other than in the garage] and all of the interior Xmas decorations are still up.  Slowly but surely, I break everything down and organize the Xmas decorations in the hall closet. 

12:00-1:30 – Kitchen duty and I also clean up the flowers that L. received from her boyfriend. It takes a long time to do the dishes.

1:30-2:00 – Nighttime routine. Bed. I set my alarm for 6:00 so I can make my bird watching group hike.