Day 3 of LAUSD’s vaccine mandate!

My Alarm Security System is not working…

9/12/21. SUNDAY

9:00 – L. is teaching a “private” (art lesson), then has a full day at work. She takes the dog out.

9:30-12:00 – Blog posts and I read Work Won’t Love You Back while I drink my coffee and have a donut.

12:00-1:30 – Shower. Wash hair. Lotion. Covid-19 uniform. I leave my shingles alone and don’t bother covering the lesions with band-aids today. I listen to Best Laid Plans.

1:30-2:30 – I strip my bed and wash all of the bedding. Then, I vacuum the sides of my bedroom floor and my bathroom floor and listen to Casefile.

2:30-3:30 – I eat a quick wrap: a slice of deli turkey, cottage cheese, and tomato rolled in a piece of Romaine lettuce and watch The Defeated, a series that B. recommended.

3:30-4:30 – L. returns from work and we talk about her day. On Sunday, L. teaches a group of SPED kids who are absolutely terrible.  She’s received no training in how to teach art to special needs children so the fact that the entire class is SPED is ridiculous. This job is crushing her little spirit and I think she needs to quit.

5:00-6:00 – BevMo is having their ‘BOGO for a nickel’ sale, so of course I have to pick up some new bottles of champagne.  I eat some chocolate chips for a snack and listen to a new podcast called Hurry Slowly while I’m shopping.

6:00-7:00 – After BevMo, I drive across town to CVS to buy batteries for the alarm sensor above the front door and large band-aids to cover my Shingles lesions. I listen to more Hurry Slowly.; then

7:00-7:30 – return home and put away my champagne purchases.

7:30-8:15 – I take the dog for a walk and then start a load of laundry. I listen to Film Week.

8:15-9:30 – I have my leftover fish and chickpea salad from The Little Door and watch another episode of The Defeated.

9:30-10:00 – I ordered ceiling light panels a few days ago in the hope that I can hang them on the wall in the garage and simulate fake windows for L.’s “art studio.” They arrived, so I unpack one and lean it against the wall for L. to see. She approves the panel.

10:00-11:30 – I spend this time working on my home security system. For the past several weeks, the alarm system has indicated that the battery is low at “Station 10”, which happens to be the front door; however, L. and I were still able to arm it at night.  Two days ago, the system refused to arm and now the error message reads “Check 10.”  I’m assuming that the batteries are finally out of juice, so I bought new batteries this evening. I pull the ladder out of the garage and replace the batteries in the main alarm sensor above the front door. Nothing.

The batteries in my smoke detector also went out, coincidentally.  Thinking that maybe the security alarm and smoke detector are connected, I also replace the batteries in the smoke detector. Nothing.

I go online and enter the home security system rabbit hole. I find an old manual for my unit and try to figure out the problem.  If the batteries are replaced, why can’t I set the alarm?  The chime for the front door also doesn’t work. I read a lot of information about home security systems – BTW, my system is not monitored – and slowly form the opinion that, perhaps, the battery in the tiny square sensor above the door – the sensor that is triggered every time the door is open and closed – is dead. I’ve spent way too much time on this project and now I won’t be going to bed until after 1:00 a.m. What’s new?

I take a break and hang my laundry.

11:30-12:00 – The workout shorts I ordered from Walmart don’t fit so I will have to return them (sigh).

12:00-1:00 – I do a 45-minute Insanity-Pure Cardio workout and recover.  

1:00-2:00 – I do some food prep and peel and chop carrots and celery, then pack my lunch bag for tomorrow. Kitchen duty, but there is not much to do. I listen to Crime Junkie.

2:00-3:00 – I water my plants and listen to Convicted: Across Borders. This podcast features a series of vignettes involving American citizens who are arrested and convicted of crimes they did NOT commit in foreign countries like Abu Dhabi and Nicaragua. So disturbing…

3:00-3:30 – I review course content for my Asynchronous class at College No. 2, then “publish” next week’s module.

3:30-4:00 – I listen to Pop Culture Happy Hour and make my bed with my newly washed bedding.

4:00-5:00 – Nighttime routine. Bed.