Day 23 - LA County Dept. of Health mandates indoor masking

A work day today…

8/8/21. Sunday.

9:30 – 10:00 -Today’s a work day and it sucks!

I get dressed in my Covid-19 uniform, wash my face, and go downstairs to say good morning to the dog. I weigh 100 today.

The dog’s still asleep on the couch, but at least I’m not waking her up at some ungodly hour. There’s no poop in the house so that’s a good thing. I rub her tummy three times, she grabs her toy, and we go outside…where I step in dog shit on the way out!  Apparently, the dog pooped on the floor mat directly outside the door. I drag the mat to the Astroturf and hose it down, then spray my shoes.  I can’t get the dog poop out of the treads, so I take a tooth pick and scrape it out and spray again.

That was my morning.

I don’t know if the dog went potty or not. Return inside and I give her cheese.

10:00-10:30 – Kitchen duty and I make my coffee.

10:30-11:00 - L. bought more gourmet cookies the other day so I try one, but I don’t like this batch and give it to the dog. I have the last sugar-puff-pastry that L. brought me from Botegga for breakfast and read All You Can Ever Know.

11:00-3:00 – I vow to catch up on 5 days of blog posts…and I do!  Unfortunately, it takes me 4 hours.

3:00-4:00 – I make a spinach salad and add carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, cheese, corn, and EVOO.  I also heat up the noodles I brought home from Presto Pasta last Wednesday. I read All You Can Ever Know.

4:00-4:30 – I need to replace my two exterior garage doors, now that the floor is done, so I scroll through some sample doors at Home Depot and select a few choices for L. to review.

4:30-6:30 – I check email at College No. 1 and spend the next two hours going down the rabbit hole, where I learn the following:

1. Specialty Class #2 was canceled because I didn’t have the numbers. The Associate Dean instructed me to email the seven students who enrolled and refer them to my male colleague’s class to help shore up his numbers. What about my numbers? Oh well. I’m secretly relieved that I don’t have to teach this class; however, at the same time, I’m in the midst of trying to obtain “my 36-month highest salary” so this is a slight hit when it comes to my future retirement.

2. Masking is required on campus.

3. College No. 1’s President spearheaded the new “hybrid” model that we’re rolling out in a week, but provided no training on the dual-camera set-up.  Apparently, based on the emails I’ve been reading, my union is apoplectic and faculty is up in arms over having to teach 20 students, face-to-face in the classroom, while simultaneously teaching 20 students online, via Zoom.

Faculty was forced to attend a 6-week Distance Education training this year where we learned how to teach online, through Canvas, even though this mode of teaching was being phased out at the exact moment we were mandated to take the training.  Typical.

Midway through the course, which I completed, teachers began asking the instructors about the new  hybrid model that they were forced to teach and if they could provide a tutorial as to how to operate the equipment. It seems that our President informed staff, a mere TWO weeks before Summer session began, that instructors would be teaching online and in the class, simultaneously, without providing any instructions as to how to do this.  Nobody knew what to do OR how to operate the equipment – how do you lecture to a room full of students while  Zooming simultaneously with online students?

Unfortunately, when the Distance Education instructors were asked for a tutorial, they said it wasn’t their Department. I was actually present during this conversation [via Zoom] and thought this response  was ridiculous. Uh…YOU’RE teaching a class addressing online instruction, but will not tell us how to convey the content to the students? Since I didn’t have any summer classes scheduled at College No. 1,  I blew the whole thing off.

But now it’s Fall Semester and EVERYONE has to teach via the hybrid model. One WEEK before school starts, our Department started reaching out to teachers and providing them with dates/times for dual-camera training.  So, if you can’t make the training this week, you’re SOL. Our union tried to shut the hybrid model down, but they don’t have any juice [we’re an open shop].  The only thing they could negotiate was a stipend for teachers IF 1) they attend a hybrid training; AND 2) are teaching hybrid classes [you have to do both]. The amount of the stipend was never mentioned which leads me to believe it’s paltry. I should mention that the situation is so contentious, the President’s negotiating team locked our Union representatives out of the room prior to the meeting and refused to let them in. Our Union lost their s—t over that one.

I don’t care about any of this and I’m not going to attend more redundant training for a crappy bonus. ALL of my lectures are pre-recorded with accompanying Google slides so my online students can download/listen to the “Poli-Sci Podcast” while I’m lecturing to my face-to-face students. I’m not doing Zoom.  If I can somehow, by the grace of God, simply log into a computer I can access everything from the Canvas shell and I’m good to go.

The worse part, honestly, is that College No. 1 refuses to adopt the Asynchronous model, where students are allowed to go at their own pace, which is best for EVERYONE. So, we all have to suit up and show up, from 7:00-10:00 p.m., every Thursday, for my Core Class, and 2:30-5:30, every Monday, for Specialty Class 1A.

4. Our publisher’s out with the new 13th edition for my Core Class and, per our contract with them, we HAVE to use it.  Guess what?  It’s not ready. “Due to Covid-19” the new edition won’t be available until 8/22/21, when our semester starts on 8/16/21.  That’s the new thing now – whenever there’s a problem, any problem, simply say, “Covid.” How is Covid-19 affecting the publishing industry? The kicker is this – although there are tons of 12th edition used books available for the students, we’re forbidden to use them…because if we do, the publisher won’t make any money.  See what a racket this is? We’re mandated to assign the new edition even when it doesn’t exist.

5. Lastly, our enrollment at College No. 1 is so low Admissions and Records came out with an email blast encouraging teachers to sign up for classes, “because it’s never too late to learn something new.” I thought, “You have got to be f—king kidding me.” Instructors signing up for classes? To learn what, exactly? How screwed up this college is?

If I had any doubts about retiring from this gig, they’ve been dispelled. I would quit this college right now if I could, but I just keep repeating the same mantra, over and over: “36 months…36 months.”

6:30-7:30 – I tighten up the syllabus for my Core Class and prepare my background music so I can record the AUDIO Syllabus.

7:30-8:00 – I take the dog for a walk.

8:00-8:30 – I have a piece of almond butter toast for a snack.

8:30-10:00 – I record the AUDIO Syllabus for my Core Class.

10:00-12:30 – I update all the content, including due dates for every assignment, in Canvas. This took longer than expected, but this course is now ready for Fall Semester. Home Page – check. Introductory Video – check. Syllabus – check. AUDIO Syllabus – check. Modules updated with course content – check.

I’ll do the same for Specialty Class 1A tomorrow.

12:30 – 1:00 - I have some grapes and read All You Can Ever Know. Where did the day go?

1:00-1:20 – I do a 15-minute Insanity – Cardio Abs workout.

1:30-2:00 – I do 25 minutes of a 40-minute Insanity – Pure Cardio – before I abort.  My legs feel like lead and won’t move.

2:00-3:00 – Nighttime routine. Bed.