Day 5 - LA County Dept. of Health mandates Indoor masking and OUTDOOR masking at large events.

Errand Day today…

8/20/21. Friday. Errand Day

8:00 – 8:45 - I’m up and I go downstairs to say good morning to the dog. Typically, any time before 10:00 a.m. is too early for her. I sit beside her and rub her tummy three times, but she’s not having it and doesn’t want to get up.  After some coaxing, the dog grabs her toy and we head outside.  She goes potty and we return inside: gross American cheese slices for her; coffee for me. 

I lock the dog inside and water my plants while I listen to What a Day.

8:45-10:00 – Shower. Wash hair. Lotion. Smoke starts coming out of the blow drier as I’m drying my hair and it abruptly stops. I put some make-up on and leave for therapy with wet hair. Great.

10:00-10:30 – Driving. I listen to The Daily.

10:30-11:00 – Therapy.  As always, it’s a good session. This week, we discuss the fact that I’m back in the classroom and my fear of contracting Delta. I don’t want “breakout symptoms” and I especially do NOT want to be a “Covid long hauler.” Honestly, I’m scared and I can’t believe the Administration at College #1 is making us return to the classroom. My therapist tells me to “live in the now.” This is really the only advice she can give me.

11:00-11:30 – Driving. I listen to What Next.

11:30-12:00 – L. needs new struts and/or shocks so I take my car to the mechanic and wait in the parking lot, while L. drives to Starbucks. I wait around 20 minutes in the parking lot, engine running because it’s over 100 degrees today, and L. finally materializes and gets in the car. She spoke to staff regarding the repairs and the car probably won’t be ready until Monday, as this place is closed on Sunday.

I tell L. that I will have to take her to work and pick her up today as I have a ton of things to do. She is very upset that she will not have a car while at the art studio…I think she wanted to leave the premises during her break, but what can I do? In order for her to have my car tomorrow so she can report to her 8:30 a.m. shift, I will need the car today.

12:00-12:30 – I drive L. to work, but we’re a bit early so L. makes me park in the back of the building so we can wait until it is 12:30 on the dot. L. won’t give the studio an extra minute of her time if she can help it, which I support.

12:30 –1:00 -  I leave the art studio and drive to Food 4 Less, where I’m able to call Chase about the 6 fraudulent charges on my account because I have three bars on my cell phone on this side of town. I remind myself that as soon as my new phone is activated, this will never be an issue again. Finally, today, after several weeks, I am actually able to report the fraud.  Unfortunately, my old debit card was closed and a new debit card will arrive in 7 to 10 business days. Great. I eat my salad mix in the car while I handle the fraud issue.

1:00-2:00 - I brought my cookbook with me so I do my “meal planning” for the next week in the car, then go inside and get as many groceries as I can that are on my list. Everyone is masking. I listen to The Weeds.

2:00-3:00 – I drive to CVS so I can buy a new hair drier with my 30% coupon that will expire today. Spoiler Alert: I will discover that the hair drier is defective several days after I have purchased it and after the box it came in is long gone. The heating element is broken and the only setting I have is cold.

3:00-4:00 – I drive to Whole Foods to purchase the remaining items on my grocery list. Everyone is masking here, too.

4:00-5:00 – Home and I put away the groceries and clean out the refrigerator.  Then, I do some light meal prep where I chop up carrots and tomatoes for the coming week. I listen to Citations Needed, specifically the episode “Of Meat and Men: How Beef Became Synonymous with Settler-Colonial Domination.”

5:00-5:30 – I leave so I can pick up L. from the art studio.

5:30-6:00 – Return home.

6:00 – 7:30 – B. arrives and we go to Pho Sure for dinner.  My go-to is the P22 – noodles with steamed tofu (I really love it!) – and B. gets…something?

7:30-11:00 – Home and we watch 4 episodes of Homecoming.  I listened to the podcast a few years ago and B. just finished the podcast, so we’re both watching the series for the first time, starring Julia Roberts. I like it and I’m hooked. B. leaves.

11:00-1:00 – I decide to watch just one more episode of Homecoming, but accidentally fall asleep.  I hate when I do that!

1:00-2:00 – Kitchen duty and I ready my coffee for tomorrow and listen to The Book Review.  I also tidy my room and bathroom and listen to Southern Fried Crime.

2:00-3:00 – Blog post.

3:00-4:00 – Nighttime routine. Bed.