Day 23 - Mask mandate RESCINDED. We do NOT need to wear masks.

Bike ride today…

3/26/22. Saturday 

8:00-8:30 – My alarm goes off, but I lie in bed for transition time.

8:30-8:45 – I go downstairs to say good morning to the animal.  She’s still asleep on the couch, but rolls over so I can rub her tummy. I try to coax her to go outside but she just lays there. Finally, she slowly rolls to her feet, jumps off the couch, and grabs her toy.  Neither of us are morning people/dogs/mammals (???). I store the hand towels and start a mini load for towels and my oven mits.

8:45-9:00 – I clean my counters and mirrors, then scrub my toilet.

9:00-10:00 – I sit in my shower, drink my coffee, and put ice on my eyes, while listening to PBS News Segments. Lotion. I’m going biking so I wear my LuLu Lemon leggings and a sports bra, put my hair in a pony tail, and add light make-up.

10:00-12:15 – B. arrives and we go for a 2-hour bike ride throughout several sections of Santa Clarita. We explore some new paseos and make it up a steep incline to the very end of the paseo. I put a photo of the paseo’s end at the top of the blog.

12:30-1:45 – B. and I go to Wolfcreek for lunch. B. gets an Angus Grass-fed burger and I get the tomato soup/grilled cheese combo. We both have their draft blonde beer, which is very good.

1:45-4:00 – Return home and B. and I sit outside, at my patio table, and talk politics. I water a few of my plants while we’re talking. B. leaves.

4:30-6:30 – I take a nap because I’m always exhausted after strenuous activity. “Long” Covid?  Perhaps it’s “Medium” Covid? Am I just old? Who the hell knows…

6:45-7:45 – I take the dog for a walk and listen to Suspect, a podcast referral from B. It’s good.

7:45-8:30 – I get a coffee from Starbucks, sit in the parking lot, and read The Nature Fix.

8:30-8:45 – Home and L. surfaces.

8:45-9:30 – L. spent one of her last days at the art studio. When her shift ended, she went to her new job at The Club, and closed with her boss.

While working at the Art Studio, her previous supervisor, La, refused to speak with L. and this silent treatment continued for several hours. As L. was the only employee who worked weekends, there’s been a mad dash from Corporate to get coverage for L.’s upcoming weekends. L.’s co-workers report that K. and A. [Corporate] asked them to work weekends and L.’s fellow co-workers, collectively, said no. 

L.’s good friend and co-worker, C., is an art teacher and also does the social media for the art studio. Prior to yesterday, C. was prohibited from working more than 40 hours a week between both jobs…otherwise, according to HR, anything over 40 hours would be considered overtime and this company hates paying overtime. However, in the wake of L. leaving, C. is now given the green light to work continuously and ceaselessly, having learned from Corporate that the number of hours she works for the week, between her two jobs, are now separate and distinct, and will count as straight time and NOT overtime.  This means that if C. works 40 hours as an Art Teacher while at the same time clocking in 40 hours updating the studio’s website in her Social Media capacity, she will NOT accrue overtime. Uh…I don’t think so. According to the California Employment Development Department, anything over 40 hours is overtime, no matter what capacity you’re working.  What a racket! 

So while C. was earnestly explaining to K. and A. that she couldn’t possibly cover  L.’s weekend shifts because it would result in OT (something she’s been consistently reminded of throughout the past year), Corporate flipped the script and said C. can now work up to 80 hours a week without penalty to the company [40 hours between each job].  

C. still refused to work weekends. 

K. and A. then contacted a former supervisor, P., who left two years ago to have children and be a stay-at-home mom.  P. was never appreciated during her employment and left because K. and A. refused to give her a modified schedule after she had her first child, insisting that P. work weekends. This is NOT the case for L.’s current supervisor, La, who recently gave birth and works just ONE 2-hour shift on Saturdays. 

 I speculate that La is giving L. the silent treatment because K. and A. put the screws to La and are probably insisting she work weekends, so La is furious at L. for quitting this gig…but, come on!  It’s not personal.  Can you really expect a 20-year-old to work every, single weekend? You might remember that K. and A. accused L. of taking off too much time [she asked for a couple of weekends off] and forbade her from requesting time off for the rest of 2022. This is a ridiculous mandate for any employee so why, as a supervisor, take your anger out on staff? Your anger is misdirected, La.  You should be focusing on K. and A. and the untenable environment they’ve created for the employees who work at their studios. 

T. shows up within minutes of L. returning from work and the two of them leave again for more house sitting. 

9:30-11:00 – bullet journal and I listen to the Suspect podcast.

11:00-11:30 – I read The Nature Fix

11:30-2:00 – Blog post

2:00-3:00 – I upload my blog posts and finish listening to Suspect

3:00-3:30 – Nighttime routine. Bed.