Day 24 - Governor Newsom reinstates the mask mandate in California

I may have Long Covid…

1/8/22. Saturday 

6:00 – 9:30 – My alarm goes off but I’m so fatigued, I cannot get out of bed. I go back to sleep.

9:30-10:00 – I’m finally awake so I stumble downstairs to greet the animal. My legs are wobbly and I slump into the couch, leaning against the dog and petting her tummy. My voice is gone again. 

I am very upset with myself for not making the bird watching hike.  The group only meets the first two Saturdays of the month and I missed the second Saturday!  Couldn’t I have forced myself to go? What is wrong with me?

When similar incidents like this arise, I just scream that famous line from Terminator I at myself (internally, in my mind). This is the scene when Linda Hamilton yells at “Reece” to get up after he’s injured and immobile, because the Terminator’s metal skeleton is rapidly approaching and the Terminator is going to kill them: “Move it Reece!!  On your feet, soldier!!  On. Your. Feet.!!”  This silent exchange with myself always works…until today. I didn’t have the energy to get out of bed, no matter how much I berated myself.  

-I take the dog outside and sit at my patio table while she goes potty. Return inside and turkey for her.  I make a cup of coffee. 

10:00-11:00 – Can you believe that my artificial Xmas tree is still up?  I haven’t had the energy or strength to take it down. Slowly but surely, I remove the Xmas ornaments, one at a time, taking several breaks.

-I finish storing the ornaments, but I’m too weak to actually take down the tree. I can’t even take a shower, I’m so exhausted.

11:00-1:00 – The most important task I have for today involves recording my Core Class AUDIO Syllabus for College No. 1. Any and all remaining energy I have MUST be directed at making this recording because Spring Semester 2022 starts in just TWO days.  Can you believe that? I have to report to a brick-and-mortar and lecture for three straight hours, in my condition, in TWO days.

-Still in my pajamas, I set up my mic and successfully record the Syllabus. I really have to push my voice out in order to get a decent recording and the effort leaves me incredibly fatigued. I’m not hungry and I don’t eat anything.

-I have a new technique for air dropping audio files ever since L.’s laptop took a dump. NOW, I record on my Ipad, email the audio file to my personal account, download that file to my desktop, then move it into the Canvas shell. This process works and dramatically reduces my reliance on L., so I’m not constantly bugging her for file transfer.

1:00-3:00 – I “course-copied” this class previously into the new Canvas shell and now just need to adjust  due dates for the assignments in every Module. This takes a couple hours, but my Core Class is ready to go - I “publish” the class. 

3:00-5:30 – I start a load of laundry and lie down for awhile. 

6:00-6:45 – I put on my Covid-19 uniform and take the dog for a walk. I don’t bother to bathe today.

-L. surfaces, then leaves for Target to pick up a few things for herself.  I ask if she can pick up some duct tape.

7:00-8:30 – I get my “second wind” so L. and I dismantle the artificial Xmas tree, then tape up the box with duct tape. We also secure and store the two mini-trees flanking our cabinet in their respective boxes. Then, we store everything in our hall closet.

8:30-9:30 – I empty the vacuum canister and vacuum the hall closet. I remove the fake pine garland from both banisters and store, then vacuum the first set of stairs.

-I have two of L.’s mini-cherry size-potatoes that she made in her air frier.

-The Xmas ornaments need to be stored in a container located on a floating shelf in the garage.  This involves the ladder, but I’m out of energy.  I move the Xmas ornaments from the house to the garage and leave them on the workbench. When I feel better, I’ll break out the ladder and move them to the shelves.

9:30-10:30- Blog post.

10:30-12:00 – Anyone who reads this blog knows I’m a night owl.  This is the time of day when I have the most energy and I still have to record the AUDIO Syllabus for Specialty Class 1B because the first day of this class is also Monday, except it starts at 6:00 p.m.

-I record the Syllabus.  Success!  When I play it back, I discover that only the first two minutes were recorded.  Devastating!  I will need to repeat the entire process tomorrow. I feel like crying.

12:00-1:30 – I read Everything I Have.

1:30-2:00 – I do a 15-minute Insanity Max – Ab workout.  This is all I can manage and I’m completely depleted.

2:00-2:30 – Nighttime routine. Bed.