Day 34 - Los Angeles lifts its vaccine mandate. A vax card is no longer needed.

There’s a massive substitute teacher shortage and the National Guard is filling in…but NOT at my high school.

“Step right up and get your variant here!!” We’ve got the following “31 Omicron flavors”: 1) BA1 in January!; 2) followed by BA2!; 3) and currently BA2.12.1;!!! with 4) BA4 and BA5 strains in South Africa close behind and gaining on BA2.12.1!!

So far, the newest variants are  primarily affecting people who did NOT contract Omicron in January. Those people must have been hiding under a rock because, at one point, 800,000 people a day were falling out. What happened to the Greek alphabet designation? We’ve been stuck on Omicron for all of 2022.

Once you’ve had Omicron, or the vaccine, antibodies disappear after 3 or 4 months, but here’s something interesting…Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, whom I like and respect (also, he’s HOT) says you do NOT get MORE antibodies when you get a second booster. HOWEVER, the second booster increases the efficacy of the T-cells and B-cells, which is rarely discussed.

B-cells produce Omicron antibodies. T-cells, on the other hand, are similar to “The Terminator.”  They go on “seek and destroy” missions, killing our own cells if they detect even a whiff of the Omicron virus. In other words, our T-cells represent NYPD and their “stop and frisk” policy, except when it comes to our bodies, our T-cells changed the policy to “stop, frisk, and kill.”  Oh…wait…”stop, frisk, and kill” IS the current NYPD motto currently, so our T-cells AND the NYPD have identical mission statements…but I digress.

Dr. Peter Chin-Hong also says it’s not the number of ‘jabs’ you get; it’s the sequence. Three is probably the magic number, but the number, per se, doesn’t matter so much as when the vaccines are administered. If you hit the body with a 1-2 punch [2-dose Pfizer or Moderna], then get a booster to “remind” the body to keep producing antibodies a few months later, this “reminder” or “note to self [er, T-cells]” keeps them going for almost a year, even if the antibodies are out to lunch after just 3-months. “We don’t need no stinkin’ antibodies…”  Unfortunately, everybody’s hung up on the antibody count when it’s the T-cells that truly matter.

5/3/22. Tuesday

5:00-5:15-My alarm goes off but I lie in bed for transition time.

5:15-5:30-I go downstairs to warm up my coffee and the dog is fast asleep. You know the drill…as soon as the microwave starts, she staggers off the couch to say good morning. She stands up and leans against my legs for cuddles and kisses so I oblige and we go outside. I stand around until she goes potty, then return inside. Coffee for me; cheese for her. I grab a bag of ice and go upstairs.

5:30-6:15-Shower. I sit in the shower, drink my coffee, and ice my eyes, while listening to The Daily. Lotion. I put on a silk-screen, abstract print, T-shirt and black pants. I grab all of my bags and I’m out the door by 6:15.

6:15-7:30-As usual, traffic is horrible at the 405/101 interchange, but light until I hit that section. Maybe CSUN is on summer break and it’s causing a reduction in the traffic pattern. I put my makeup on in the car and listen to Best of Both Worlds.

7:30-7:45-Arrive and I eat overnight oats in the car and review lecture [Part I] for today.

7:45-8:00-Sign in at the office - “Temperature normal!” (this is starting to feel very redundant to me…why am I still signing in as a guest? And why am I still taking my temperature every day when nobody else is? I walk to Mr. Gonzalez’ class.

8:00-9:30-Today is a straight lecture, divided in half by a 3-minute Schoolhouse Rock video. Remember I’m Just a Bill? Well, that’s what I’m showing today…

-At 8:30, a bunch of assholes from the Physics class abruptly show up to MY classroom.

Subs quit en masse all over the country after learning that nobody gave a shit whether they lived or died (same as teachers) during the pandemic. See, nobody can designate subs as “essential workers” because they’re “contract employees.” They simply refused to show, which I find hilarious, especially since I used to be a sub. We weren’t paid enough to begin with…and you still expect subs to report to work, teach the regular brats virtually AND F2F, for $50-80 a day, when a 6-hour stint in the classroom might kill us? I hated subbing in the Before Times…I’m certainly not going to do it now. Risk my life for these little germ bags? Even when Covid didn’t exist, I routinely came home sick… any way, I digress.

Take a gander at how high schools are handling the lack of subs in 2022….

Here goes:

Today, the Physics teacher put a sign on the outside of his door for his students that read, “I’m not here today. Please report to Mr. Gonzalez’ classroom.” Uh…the absent teacher is a Physics instructor and Mr. Gonzalez teaches Economics! Plus, 8:00-9:30 is Mr. Gonzalez’ prep time - he’s not even in the classroom…I am. Can you believe that? The principal should step in and teach that class! So, at 8:30, 25 ‘thugs’ report to MY college class, where my sensitive, little Juniors are actively engaged in my lesson plan, and proceed to disrupt my class with their sense of entitlement and loud voices. No.

Most of the students are black and hispanic males, 6 ft tall, and ready to graduate. In other words, they’re men. [Where are the women in this Physics class? Haven’t we come further with STEM? How disappointing!] It’s amazing that these assholes actually qualified to take Physics, they look so stupid. These grown men are pouring into my classroom so I call the office and politely tell the secretary to get them out of here. She’s so nice and asks me to put her on Speaker, at which point she tells all of them to “Report to the office.” Now!” She whispers, “Are they leaving?” because, in all honesty, at this age, they’re allowing teachers and administrators to control them…I mean these boys are grown men and they’re huge. I whisper back, “Yes…they’re leaving. Thank you!”

9:30- Class dismissed, but I take the time to talk to C., the only student who has an F in the class. I talk to C about her F, in private, outside the classroom, and suggest she drop. I do NOT shame her in any way because…ok…I’ll admit it…I care.

I really like this student and I’ve given her several opportunities to redo assignments where she scored Ds and Fs previously, but she didn’t bother resubmitting them. I also told her to re-submit the Extra Credit assignment [she got a 0 on her original submission because she didn’t follow the directions and also submitted the assignment in “Chaucer, Old-English, Cursive” font, which made it impossible to read]. I hate to see a high schooler go down and I want her to be successful. My class is typically their first taste of college…if the students find my class too stressful, what if they’re too intimidated or afraid to go to a real college? I don’t want them to give up before they’ve even started.

C. says she’ll submit everything in two days and asks if she can give me a hug. Of course!

9:30-11:00-I turn in the Attendance and walk to my car. Traffic is horrible. I eat my salad and a leftover Lara Bar in the car and listen to The Waves and What Next. I also have one of the Hawaiian chocolates that L.’s Dad gifted me.

-I call Candy from Striders and leave a message asking where we’re meeting on Thursday. I’m not familiar with the location.

11:00-11:30- Back in town and I get gas; then it’s onto;

12:00-12:18-BevMo; and then to;

12:20-12:52- Home Goods, where I buy a frame for one of Lexi’s art projects.

1:00-1:30 - Finally, I stop by Home Depot to get Venus fly traps and potting soil. I also pick up a pair of pliers because mine are missing. I have no idea where they went, but think that L. is responsible.

2:00-2:30-Home and I bring in all of my bags. I check email at College No. 2 and respond to a heartfelt email from T., my other highschooler who is getting a low C in the class. He writes that he’s sorry he hasn’t been doing well in the class, wants to get a good grade, and will try really hard. I respond with an encouraging email telling him what he needs to do to improve his grade and ending with “You can do it!” T. is graduating in mere weeks and enlisting in the Marines…he has completely checked out of this class and I get it. Thank you for your service, T. It is appreciated.

2:30-3:30- I unpack everything then it’s time for kitchen duty. I ready my coffee and lunch bag for tomorrow. Then, I superglue brackets to the back of 2 frames I purchased at Home Goods so I can hang L.’s work in the studio.

3:30-4:00-I walk the dog then collapse.

4:15-6:30-I take a nap; then

7:00-8:00- read the Curated Closet and Women in the Picture.

8:00-9:30 - blog post.

10:00-10:30-I watch my new Insanity Asylum DVD to see what to expect. I need to order a collapsible ladder (for floor moves) and a jump rope before I can follow along. In the interim, I’ll have to stick with the regular Insanity Max.

10:30-11:30- I do a 10-min Ab workout and a 30-min Insanity Max - Friday Fight.

11:30-12:00-I check email to see if any students from College No. 1 have complaints about their final semester grades and respond to a few of them.

Life Admin

-I write another $250 check for B. for our upcoming South Dakota trip.

-I write my monthly $150 check to my 457 retirement account.

12:00-1:00 - Nighttime routine. Bed.