Day 38-Governor Newsom reinstates the mask mandate in California

B. and I did the Goat Hike today…

 1/22/22. Saturday 

-L. leaves for work

9:30-10:00 – I have a headache so I take two Advil and wait for it to take effect.

10:00-10:30 – Up and I go downstairs to say good morning to the animal. She’s asleep on her little blanket, so I sit next to her for kisses and cuddles and rub her tummy until she is ready to go outside. Eventually, she grabs her toy and we head for the patio. I survey my yard and wait for her to go potty…my plants look a bit neglected…I need to handle this soon.

10:30-11:30 – Back to bed and I take out my braids while listening to What Next.

11:30-12:45 – Shower. Lotion. Hiking uniform. Make-up. I listen to Market Place and Be Wealthy and Smart.

12:45-2:00 – B. arrives and we drive to the Goat Hike. Previously, I reserved this for L. and I, but she is unable to attend after her Supervisor had a meeting with L., accusing her of taking too much time off.   

In order to provide some context, L.’s co-worker, C., who only works Mon-Fri, calls in sick approximately 25% of her scheduled hours, annually; HOWEVER, these are week days and relatively easy to cover so C. is not penalized.   

Unfortunately, L. has cornered weekends at the Art Studio. The American worker is notorious for hating to work on weekends [interjection here: people tell themselves “stories” – does the “weekend” HAVE to constitute Saturday and Sunday?  Why not create a “weekend” that works best for your personal schedule? I’ve always found this collective refusal by American workers to work weekends odd.  If you’re a commuter, traffic is usually better on Saturdays and Sundays; there is typically less consumer “foot traffic” in govt. agencies on Saturdays and Sundays so more time to get your work done; and F2F staff in the brick-and-mortar office is reduced, leaving time for more “deep work”, without the constant interruption of co-workers]. 

In L.’s case, she can only work  weekends because she’s at College during the week so, essentially, L. is always working - either at college or at the Studio – and truly has no time off for herself.  Her personal/social life has to be scheduled in “pockets of time” around work and college.  As a result, L. has OCCASIONALLY requested a Saturday off here and there…i.e., her BIRTHDAY; T., her boyfriend, had tickets for Disneyland on a Sunday; a reservation at Nobu…but NOBODY will cover her shift.

In all instances, and I’ve been in the workforce since I was 16, the supervisor is responsible for coverage.   Not here.  L. is forced to find her own coverage, which results in going outside the Santa Clarita- Art Studio to the other studios in the franchise, begging employees she doesn’t know nor has never met, to cover a shift at an Art Studio 30 miles away. This is the supervisor’s responsibility AND it’s SOP [standard operating procedure] for the supervisor to step in and provide the coverage personally, if no employees are available. But L.’s supervisor refuses to cover L.’s shift on the rare occasion that L. asks for time off because even her supervisor doesn’t want to work weekends. 

In typical worker exploitation, the owners of this company [Management] told L.’s supervisor to have a meet-and-confer with L. and blame L. for what is actually an inherent scheduling problem that Management refuses to address.  L. is accused of taking too much time off. Ridiculous!

Anyway, L. was unable to make the Goat Hike, so I gave the ticket to B. 

2:00-4:00 – B. and I arrive at what appears to be a National Forest. The goat keepers are there with the goats on leash – B. holds the leash of one of the goats and the goat is surprisingly strong. We set out on trail to hike to a waterfall with the goats bounding all around us, off leash.  This isn’t really so much of a trail as it is a creek bed with water running in places, which means it’s somewhat treacherous, walking through mini boulders and rocks, in a creek bed, whether it’s dry or wet. 

Damn goats…these goats aren’t baby goats. They’re full grown adults, bossy, and they push people around.  I weigh 95 on a good day so any time a goat brushes past me, I’m knocked out of my space a few inches, which can pose a problem when you’re hiking through a  creek bed.  On the way to the waterfall, I leap over a section of the creek, but I don’t quite make it to the creek’s edge.  My right shoe is completely submerged in water and my foot is wet the rest of the day. As my right foot enters the creek, I smash my left knee on one of the boulders that I’m trying to jump across. I’m on my feet within a half-second…in fact, B. never sees any of this transpire and I don’t say anything, I’m so embarrassed. I think this incident was read as a “stumble” and it didn’t register for the people on the hike, IF they saw anything at all.  I keep moving. When all is said and done, B. and I make it to the waterfall and it’s beautiful! 

We hike back the way we came with the goats pushing and shoving and getting in the way. Damn goats!  I don’t recommend the Goat Hike and I’m going to tell L. and T. NOT to book it, although they’re scheduled for Goat Yoga, tomorrow. Maybe Goat Yoga is better. 

4:00-4:30 – Return to the parking lot and we drive to B.’s daughter’s house (J), and from there;

4:30-5:00 – we drive to The Proper, a cool restaurant with a speak-easy vibe for Happy Hour. Nobody is masked and there is only indoor seating.  We’re early and it’s empty…BUT it soon fills up and people are on top of each other, but nobody seems to care, maybe because we’re technically in Pasadena, NOT LA County, and Omicron has already peaked in this city?? I notice that Staff continue to mask, though. This seems to be the common denominator for most of California…Staff masking no matter what locality we’re in.

5:00-7:00 – Happy Hour appetizers and drinks are reasonably priced.  I have two glasses of champagne, cauliflower nachos, and J. orders deviled eggs for the table – I have one egg. The food is really good and it’s the first time I’ve felt like eating in a long time.

7:00-7:30-We return to J.’s house and she gives me TWO plants!: 1) a succulent; and 2) a mini-pine tree. B. digs it out and we re-pot it and leave.

7:30-8:30 – B. and I drive to my house

8:30-11:30 – Home and B. and I talk politics and watch Episode 3 of And Just Like That. B. leaves.

11:30-1:00 – I watch a few more episodes of And Just Like That, but keep falling asleep.

1:30-2:00-Nighttime routine. Bed.