Day 26 - LA County moves into yellow tier

I patch over 20 holes…

5/28/21. Friday.

8:00 – 8:30 - B. says he’ll be here between 10:00 and 11:00 so I set my alarm for 8:00, but lay in bed for a few extra minutes.  I go downstairs to greet the animal. She’s asleep, so I wake her up by rubbing her tummy three times.  She grabs her toy and we go outside. After running around the yard and chasing birds, the dog finally goes potty. Return inside and salmon salad for her; coffee for me.  I go upstairs. I weigh 97.5 pounds today.

8:30-9:30 – I sit in the shower, lean my head against the tiles, drink my coffee, and listen to Organize 365. Lotion. Covid-19 uniform. Light make-up.

9:45 –10:30 -  I put walnuts and chocolate chips in a sandwich bag for snacking and leave for Sprouts so I can pick up a few missing items for a quiche I’m making. I buy mint, eggs, onions, lemons, and champagne. Continue listening to Organize 365.

10:45 – Home. B. texts that he will be here at 11:00.

-L. comes downstairs extremely upset about her Final project. She had to create a life-size self portrait and she did some really interesting things with, what looks like, wallpaper samples that she printed out at Fed Ex/Kinkos.  She cut out the “wallpaper patterns” and inserted them into the clothes she is wearing in the self-portrait. L. works diligently into the night, past the 1:00 a.m. hour, finally finishing at 6:00 a.m. this morning. Unfortunately, L. has work at 1:00 and she has not slept.

So,  L. thought the project was due at 11:00 a.m. today, when class starts, but, to her horror, she discovered it was actually due at midnight, yesterday.  Devastated, exhausted, and crying, L. emailed her teacher and asked if she could still submit the assignment.

I have a lot of compassion and empathy for L. at this moment and I’m certain her instructor will accept the assignment.  L. and I problem-solve and I ask a series of questions: What is this assignment worth? 20%.  What do you currently have in the class? An A.

L. is a good student and has submitted all previous assignments on time.  If I were her instructor, the first think I would do is check the grade book for L.’s assignments to see if she regularly turns them in.  If I had a student like L., I would accept the assignment with a partial deduction for late work, which means it is likely L. will still get an A in the class.  However, if the teacher rejects the assignment entirely – L. missed the deadline – her grade will likely drop to a low B/high C…not the end of the world. Who cares?

I’m confident L.’s teacher will accept the Final project without penalty, but encourage L. to follow-up with a second email to the one she just sent, with an Attachment of the actual project, so the teacher knows it’s done, because L. was unable to submit in Canvas. I reassure L. that everything is going to work out and she stops crying. I also encourage her to call off sick from work – she’s in no condition to work in just 2 hours.

11:00 – 11:30 - B. arrives and we talk politics in the garage for awhile. I’ve already marked where I want the screws to go with nail polish on my garden walls so I show him the locations. He starts the project.

11:30-11:40 – I dice an onion.

-B. knocks on the door and requests something he can rest his knees on.  Hmmm…not sure if I have anything, but I go upstairs and bring down several rolled towels.  I have knee pads, but am not sure if they’ll fit him.  The knee pads work!

11:40-11:50 – I dice two garlic cloves, then start sautéing the onions and garlic.

-B. shoots a couple of screws into the wall and then asks me to check the placement of the screws. Looks great!

11:50-12:10 – I grate a zucchini and take out the frozen pie crust so I can thaw it out.

12:10 – 12:20 – The project is going much smoother than I anticipated. I step outside to my backyard and mark 5 more places with nail polish for additional screws.

12:20-12:30 – Onions and garlic are done.  I mix in the zucchini and place everything in a colander.

12:30-12:40 – I step outside and ask B. if he can place 5 more screws in the other section of the yard. He agrees and will let me know when he’s done with the current wall.

12:40-12:50 – I mix 4 eggs and almond milk together.

12:50 -1:00 – B. knocks on the door and says he’s ready to place the remaining 5 screws. I go outside and show him the nail polish marks. Part I of the project looks great!

1:00-1:10 – I put the onions, garlic, and zucchini in the pie crust and cover with the milk and egg mixture.

-B. knocks on the window and asks if I can show him where the outlet is for the drop cord.  The outlet is somewhat hidden behind my potted plant, so I go outside and show him.

1:10-1:20 – I chop a block of feta cheese into small chunks, then place on top of the quiche. Salt and pepper.

B. knocks on the window and asks if I want him to replace the washer on the macramé mirror that he hung a few months ago.  Yes!  I go outside and we discuss the placement.

1:20-1:40 – I put the quiche in the oven and get to work on the dishes.  It looks like a bomb went off in here.

B. knocks on the door and says that he is done!  The screws are placed!  Yay!  I step out and survey the main wall-it’s perfect. I go upstairs and put away the towels [B. didn’t use them after all] and secure my kneepads [B. did use those – they seemed to work].

1:40-1:50 – I set aside some of the egg-milk mixture, onions, garlic, and feta cheese and scramble some eggs for myself.

1:50-2:00 – B. is done storing his equipment and knocks on the door signaling that he’s finished.  I put the dog outside, let B. in, and offer him a beer. The quiche is almost done.

2:00-2:10 – I finish the dishes and pull the quiche out of the oven.  I give B. a piece and start eating the scrambled eggs that I just made.

2:10-2:20 – B. likes the quiche and would like another beer – it’s a hot day! – so I prepare a second slice and pour another beer for B. My scrambled eggs are just ok – I give half of them to the dog.

2:20-3:45 – B. and I talk politics. He leaves.

3:45 – 5:00 – I cut a slice of the quiche, take it upstairs, and read What We Carry. I am absolutely exhausted.

-I check in on L. regarding her Final project. After L. emailed her project to the teacher, she responded saying how much she liked L.’s project and her decision to insert patterns into the clothing on her self-portrait.  There was no discussion that the assignment was late.  At the scheduled Zoom meeting (11:00 a.m.), each student had to present their project.  L. presented and said the students liked it! and spent 20 minutes discussing her innovative work (wallpaper patterns). Way to turn the day around, L.!  Good job! BTW - L. also called in sick.

5:00 – 7:00 – I go downstairs and do some personal admin. I check my Verizon account then place my monthly Wine.com order. I watch a You Tube video on filling holes so I know what to purchase at Home Depot, then update my to-do list.  I check email to see if the “hose pot” I ordered is ready for pick-up then locate my Home Depot receipt for a mop I’m returning.  I have new assignments in my French Cinema class so I check the due dates.

7:00-8:15 – I take the dog for a walk.

8:30 – 9:45 – Home Depot. I return the mop and pick up the hose pot. Then, I buy another paint roller, another can of Behr white paint, a small hose for the other side of the house, putty, a putty knife, and a storage container. I listen to Today Explained and PBS Newshour. Starting to get a little sick of this store.

9:45-10:15 – Home and I, somehow, am able to lug the heavy ceramic hose pot to the back yard and put the 50-foot hose inside.  There’s a hole in the back of the pot where you can attach the hose to the faucet and then the hose just stays in the pot.  Much better than having an annoying caddy. I listen to Slate’s Spoiler Special.

I hook up the new hose I bought to the other side of the house.  The length is fine, but now I need another hose pot.

I have two bites of L.’s brown rice and chicken dish, then a few bites of quiche.

10:15-11:30 – I patch all the holes on the right side of the garage with the putty I just purchased. Even though I hosed down most of this section a couple of days ago, there are still spider webs in the corner and a live spider actually falls out of one as I’m clearing the corners with a broom and I have to kill it. Quite frankly, it’s disgusting!  The word of the week: “filthy-dirty.” I listen to The Turning.

11:30 – 11:45 – Kitchen duty.  There is not much to do tonight, since I did everything this morning.

11:45-1:00 – I go to work.

I report to my office and finish L.’s speech. I hate assignments like this, so I alternate working on the speech with updating the Syllabus for my Summer class, making sure to incorporate the Course Objectives and SLOs that my evaluator emailed to me. I also look at Home Depot interior doors.  I need to replace the two interior doors in the garage.

I finish the speech.

1:00-2:30 – I watch the last film [1997] of the semester for my French Cinema class - Le Vie in Rose – and take notes. The film is about a 7-year-old boy who thinks he’s a girl and likes to wear dresses. The family is ostracized by the community, the father loses his job, and they are forced to move to a low income area, all because the neighborhood can’t handle the fact that a little boy wants to be a little girl.

2:30-2:45 – I finish the References section of L.’s speech, print out a hard copy, then email her the template. I take the dog out.

2:45-3:30 – Night time routine. I listen to Filmweek on Airtalk. Bed. No work out today.