Day 4 -LA County Dept. of Health mandates Indoor masking and OUTDOOR masking at large events

L. and I went to Pressed Juicery today…

8/19/19. Thursday.

8:30 – 9:00 – Guy is dropping off my new Iphone today between 10:00 and 11:00 . My alarm goes off, but I lie in bed for another 30 minutes then go downstairs to say good morning to the dog.  This is too early for her and she’s still asleep. I sit next to her and rub her tummy until she is ready to go outside. Then, she grabs her tennis ball and we head to the backyard.  The dog does her business and return inside: slices of gross American cheese for her and I make a cup of coffee for  myself.

I straighten the kitchen and prepare my lunch bag for tonight.

9:00-10:00 – Shower. Lotion. Covid-19 uniform. Light make-up.

10:10 – L. tells me that the carpet cleaners are running late at Guy’s house and he will now be here between 1:00 and 2:00 p.m.

10:15-12:00 - I have passion fruit granola for breakfast, with oat milk, and read Bus 57.

12:00-1:00 – I try to take a nap but I’m unable to fall asleep because I’m not exactly sure when Guy will arrive.

1:10 –1:45 -  Guy arrives with my new Iphone!  Guy goes over a few of the features with me – L. is with me the entire time – but, ultimately, it’s determined that L. will show me the ropes once the sim card arrives from my ex-husband, which should be Monday.  The phone is dead otherwise.   

1:45-2:30 – L. and I go to Pressed Juicery to take advantage of the Freze special. I get a vegan, vanilla FroYo with cookie crumb topping and L. gets…something??? This is sooo good!  L. picks up the tab.

2:45 – 4:30 - Home and L. goes to work.  I try to take a nap again, before I leave for College No. 1, but am unsuccessful.

4:30-5:00 – I check Canvas and email a few students.  Then, I send an email blast to the students in the  ONLINE section reminding them to sign in on the Discussion Board at 7:00.

5:00-5:30 – I change into a dress and spackle on the make-up.

5:30-6:45 – I drive to College No. 1

7:00 – 10:00 – Tonight is my 3-hour Core Class, but I usually break the students early on the first day of school. I’m in a different classroom but, ultimately, still teaching in a tin can.  This classroom is not a lecture hall – it’s a standard classroom that holds about 30 kids.  Allegedly, College #1 is trying to promote social distancing and reduced capacity in the classrooms, so there are only 20 students registered in the Face-to-Face portion.  However, because the classroom is equipped for just 10 more  students, it feels like we are on top of each other.  Most of the students are not social distancing because they can’t.  There are 6 rows of desks in the classroom and a student in the first chair in every row and since I’m at the front of the classroom, I’m exposed x6.

Teachers who are teaching the hybrid model are forced to remain seated at their desks because they are interacting with online students via Zoom. As a result, the college put a pexi-glass shield on top of the teacher’s desk, encircling three sides of the desk.  If the pexi-glass shield went from the desk to the ceiling, maybe I could understand…but it’s just a little bit taller than my head when I’m sitting down and completely open at the top, which is totally ineffective because Delta floats. Additionally, a study was released a few days ago with the finding that pexi-glass barriers don’t work.

As stated in previous posts, I don’t deliver my content via Zoom.  My lectures are pre-recorded so I’m able to interact with my Face-to-Face students, which means I’m at the front of the classroom where my level of exposure is greatest. I’ve been in this classroom before and I can testify to the fact that nobody did s--t to the ventilation.  It’s the same crappy air conditioning that has always existed and I seriously doubt that new air filters were installed.  There are no windows in this room and nothing I can use to prop open the door. It feels like I’m teaching in a closet. Several of the male students are wearing their masks under their nose and one student actually takes his mask off so I have to remind him to put it on.

Maintenance put hand sanitizer [ineffective]; Clorox beach wipes [ineffective]; and standard boxes of blue masks on the teacher’s desk for those students who arrive in class without a mask.  This is basically all that was done.

To add insult to injury, somebody removed the podium so I have to walk back and forth, holding my notes. I’m double masked and it is hard lecturing like this – my masks keeps slipping and I have to keep pulling them up. It’s not a tight enough fit, which means I’m at risk for a break-out infection.

I go over the Syllabus with the students and give a mini-lecture on Chapter 1.  After, we watch an 11-minute video about democracy. One thing I can say – all of the technology works, which is a pleasant surprise.  Spoiler Alert: Next week, the computer will have been switched out with an “all-in-one” monitor and it will take 15 minutes for the new computer to register the software on my “slide advance” thumb drive. Additionally, when I try to play a 30-minute documentary, I’ll discover that the speakers are out even though they worked last week.  The students are only able to watch the video via the subtitles. I will submit a Work Order request and IT will not respond for 5 days.

I conclude class at 8:30 and spend the next hour communicating with my ONLINE students and making sure they’re on track. I leave the classroom at 9:30 and eat a salad that I made a few days ago in the car.

9:30-10:45 – Back in town and my tank is almost on empty so I drive to my regular gas station for the cheapest gas.  Unfortunately, there is a crazy homeless guy roaming around near the front entrance and staring at me while I’m sitting in my car.

10:45-11:00 - I leave this gas station and drive to a 7-11, where I can finally fill up in relative safety.

11:00-11:15 – Driving.

11:15 – 12:30 - Home and kitchen duty. I prepare my coffee and a lunch bag for tomorrow.

12:30-12:45 – I take this time to reflect on my work-out schedule, which has been paltry this week, largely due to the fact that I have to report to a classroom and teach for the mandatory number of hours.  Immediately, I’ve lost 13.5 hours per week: 6 hours stuck in the classroom [2 days a week]; 4½  hours driving, round trip [2 days a week]; and 3 hours getting ready for the “in-class experience”, which  include doing my hair and applying a full face of make-up.

I can say, very definitively, that I will not be doing Insanity workouts on Thursday.  Unfortunately, I discovered this too late, after several days of missed workouts.  This week [the first week of Fall semester, 2021] has completely fucked my schedule.

12:45-2:00 – Nighttime routine. Bed.