Day 28 - LA County Dept. of Health mandates indoor masking

My computer died today…

8/13/21. Friday the 13th

9:00 –10:00 -  I’m awake but I don’t get out of bed until 9:30. Downstairs to say good morning to the dog and she’s asleep on the couch. She rolls over on her back and I rub her tummy three times. Then, she grabs her tennis ball and we go outside. The dog goes potty and we return inside: cheese for her, coffee for me.

I call See Spot Go and leave a message requesting a date/time for a window-washing quote. Then, I have a few apple slices with almond butter and read a Money Diary.

10:00–11:00 – The Final for my Summer session class closed last night at midnight so I need to tally the scores and then post Summer session grades.  I enter my office and go to work…

Except when I try to turn on my computer, nothing happens!!!  I press the ON button repeatedly, but it’s dead! I actually start praying while I press the ON button it’s not working. In a panic, I run upstairs and wake up L.  She’s extremely irritated but comes downstairs and starts troubleshooting the issue, pulling cords out of sockets, pressing the power button on and off, etc…, but nothing works. L. calls my ex and he walks her through several things she’s already done, but still nothing works.

I’m getting more and more anxious.  I can’t believe this is happening, especially when the first day of school at College #1 is on Monday!  I have class prep and so much work to do…My ex says he thinks the power grid is fried, whatever that means. What about my data?  My Adjunct work is saved on a thumb drive, but what about everything else?

11:00 – 12:00 - L. can’t fix the computer – it won’t turn on. She says quietly, “You need to buy a new computer.” I put my head in my hands and cry like a child, sobbing in front of my 19-year-old.  I am in absolute shock. L. pats me on the back and says it will be okay.  Through my tears, I ask her to call B. because I remember some sort of computer problem he had and a friend of a friend recommended a guy who does something?

L. calls B. and he later tells me that he can hear me crying in the background. L. tells B. that I’m having a nervous breakdown because my computer died and does he know anybody who fixes computers? B. does and he says he’ll call L. back right away with the information. L. tells me to go take a shower and I hear her tell B. “Make sure you give me the information. I’m handling this.” 

I cry in the shower…but at the same time consider how I can still complete all of the things I need to do without getting fired. I have a janky Aspire Netbook that’s 10 years old and slow; an Ipad mini; and L. has an apple laptop and an Iphone. My most important documents are saved on a flash drive. Course content for all of my classes is on Canvas, which I can access through my colleges. My blog is on a website. Working is still…doable…but difficult.  I know where everything is on my computer, but that’s gone now.

Shower. Covid-19 uniform. Lotion.

L. reports to my room and tells me “Guy” will be here in the next 30 minutes to pick up my computer. Who’s Guy? L. says he fixes computers and he’s going to a) either fix my computer; or b) pull the hard drive out and transfer the data to a new computer. I don’t think he’ll be able to do either – my computer is so old – and I start crying again.  “I don’t think I can do this”, I say as I’m crying. L. brusquely says, “Yes, you can.  We survived a pandemic AND you learned to teach online. You can do this.” I need to lie down.

12:00-12:30 – Guy arrives, he and L. have a discussion, and he leaves with my computer. L. leaves for work, but sets up her laptop for me to use while she’s gone. L. says we will go to Best Buy around 5:00, after she gets off work, to buy a computer. I’m so overwhelmed…a new computer?  How will I learn to work that?

12:30-1:00 – I lie in bed, doing nothing. Did I mention I’m hemorrhaging money this month?

1:00-3:00…but I have to get up because…you know…the show must go on.  There are still things that need to be done.  L.’s laptop is downstairs in my office, but I’ve never used an apple product before and it’s intimidating; however, all I really need to do is check my email at both colleges. I’m able to locate the Google Chrome button on L.’s computer and I log in to College #1 and College #2 without incident.

I want to email a student the syllabus, but it’s on my flash drive and L.’s laptop doesn’t have a USB port to insert my flash drive…so that’s a problem…BUT the Syllabus is on Canvas and the student can access it that way. I guess, in general, there are workarounds for everything.

I successfully order my champagne from Wine.com

I successfully order an 8’ by 8’ mural for the garage/L.’s art studio.

Feeling somewhat emboldened, I try to remove L.’s TV from her wall – she doesn’t want it anymore – but it won’t budge. Guess I’ll have to ask B. for help on that task.

3:00-3:30 – I have some of L.’s soup from the other day.

3:30-4:30 – I drive to Home Depot so I can get this door installation project started, but the elusive “Vince” is nowhere to be found. I check the spray paint aisle again, then leave.

4:45-5:30 – Even though I pressured-washed the front door last night, it’s still filthy. I fill a bucket with water and dish soap, stand on my step stool, and wash the entire door with a rag.

L. returns from work.

5:45-7:00 – L. and I go to Best Buy to get a computer. An employee from the Geek Squad is on the floor and he is sooo nice and helpful.  I need to walk out of the store with a computer, today, but the cheapest computers are not in stock, of course, “due to Covid”, whatever that means, so I have to go two models up.  This one is in stock and costs $1300.  Throughout this entire exchange, L. screen shots the specs of the computers we’re considering buying to “Guy” and he gives a thumbs-up/thumbs-down. Finally, I leave Best Buy with a Dell Inspiron. I have absolutely no idea how to set it up.

7:00 – 7:40- Home and I grab my overnight bag and drive to B.’s house – we’re having “tent time” tonight, which means we’re going camping, i.e., sleeping in a tent in his backyard. Today has been so draining - I’m sure I won’t be good company tonight.

7:40 – 9:00 - Arrive and B. bought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and my favorite walnut brownie from Lady Di’s. This was such a nice gesture and now I feel much better. Cocktail hour and B. and I talk politics.

9:00-11:00 – Dinner is salad, salmon, and rice – it’s very good.

12:00-1:00 – Nighttime routine. We crawl into the tent and go to bed. I’m sleeping in a sleeping bag, on top of my air mattress.

3:00-4:00 – It actually starts raining!  California is in the middle of a drought so this is great! The rain hitting the top of the tent wakes me up, but B. says the tent is waterproof so I go back to sleep.