Day 6 - Mask mandate REINSTATED by LA County Dept. of Health
College No. 1 has a f—ked up contact tracing program…
Two weeks ago, College No. 1 decided to hire a private vendor for contact tracing instead of relying on the ONE employee in their Tracing Dept. Now? You’re going to contract with a contact tracing vendor now…when Covid is over? (at least that’s what my government is telling me). This decision was made AFTER hundreds of students and teachers were already infected with Covid-19, Delta, and Omicron variants over the past two years. Like everything involving Covid AND College No. 1, this protocol is f—ked up and nobody knows what’s happening. Read on…
Today, I receive an email from the Tracing Dept. [ONE employee] informing me, in no uncertain terms, that I do not have a “Clear Pass” and cannot set foot on campus. Fifteen minutes later, I receive an email from PubSeg, the new contact tracing private vendor, asking me to get a PCR test posthaste and informing me, in no uncertain terms, that if the test is negative, I need to report to the classroom immediately because the mandatory 10-day quarantine period for California is automatically reduced to a 5-day quarantine period with a negative test. Note that the 10-day quarantine period already ended 3 days ago, on 2/18/22...
So, okay, I’ll bite. It’s obvious that this PubSeg vendor is completely f—ked up and has lost track of the dates regarding my class quarantine. We’re putting our faith into this contact tracing vendor? I’m hopeful that if I email proof of a positive test, these idiots will extend the quarantine period because they’re confused. I mean, hey, the Tracing Dept already banned me from the classroom…it’s not a stretch to believe that PubSeg will follow suit.
I call Dr. Jenkins and the antibody results are finally in – 5 days after he said they’d be available, which is a testament to how screwed up testing is in this country. Recall that my HMO Health Group doesn’t even offer antibody tests. The secretary tells me that my antibody count is 150, whatever that means. When I ask for context, she says my count is the highest the office has ever seen…most patients clock in at 30 to 40 antibodies. Later, I will conduct my own research and discover that nobody seems to know how to interpret the antibody results – there’s no scale that I could find. Sidebar: In 3 to 4 weeks, B. will finally get his own antibody test and the results will show that he weighs in at an astonishing 2500 antibodies! Neither his doctor nor the Costco pharmacist can explain B.’s extremely high count. I stop by Dr. Jenkins’ office and pick up a copy of my labs confirming that I have Covid antibodies which means I’ve tested positive for Covid/Omicron. Please God, let this quarantine extend until April…I beg of you.
Home, with my antibody results in hand, and PubSeg is demanding that I take another mandatory survey and upload my test results. I go online to take the survey, but am unable to get past Question 3 because the survey software won’t allow me to upload a PDF…it will only accept Iphone pictures. This is ridiculous and I refuse to take a picture of a copy of my antibody results when I already have the PDF document in hand. I cannot recall a time - EVER – when I’ve been unable to upload a PDF document. This is how I know that PubSeg sucks…I wonder what College No. 1 is paying for this janky service.
I give up and simply email my labs to the original PubSeg email I received regarding my quarantine period. I let them know that the Tracing Dept. [ONE employee] has already denied my “Clear Pass” and reiterate that I’ve tested positive for Covid. Are you getting how stupid this is? Is it coming through, loud and clear, that one tracking dept. is telling me I’m banned from campus while, at the exact same time, another tracking dept is accepting me on campus with open arms? Who to believe…and I hope it’s the former. These contradictory messages are so indicative of this entire pandemic: WHO, Fauci, CDC, Biden Administration, Gov. Newsom, LA County Dept. of Health, red states…all of these entities have been providing contradictory information throughout the entire pandemic. College No. 1’s tracing depts. are no exception.
A few minutes later, PubSeg confirms receipt of my labs and tells me to report to work ASAP. I make a last ditch effort at quarantining and remind PubSeg that the Tracing Dept. [ONE employee] refused to grant me a “Clear Pass.” I end the email saying, “I just want to make sure I’m doing the right thing.” Within minutes, PubSeg instructs me, again, to report to work. Does anyone care that I just tested positive [antibody labs] two days ago?! Also, what happened to the Tracing Dept.? It appears the ONE employee was usurped by PubSeg, a subpar ’pub’ [pun intended] contact tracing program that has no idea what it’s doing. Unfortunately, I’m back in the classroom next Monday.
2/21/22. Monday. President’s Day
9:00-9:30 – I’m awake and I go downstairs to say good morning to the dog. She’s still asleep, but she rolls over on her back when she sees me enter the kitchen. I sit next to her and rub her tummy for awhile, until she jumps off the couch, grabs her toy, and we head to the back yard. I wait for her to go potty and then we return inside: coffee for me; cheese for her. I go to work.
-My highschoolers were granted access to Canvas yesterday, so I spend this time updating all the due dates in the Canvas shell to coincide with the Syllabus. In short I have to update the due dates for 10 Chapter Review quizzes and Video Quizzes, while at the same time adjusting the course content for tomorrow, 2/22/22, as I won’t be there.
-I send an email blast and post an Announcement to the Canvas shell, informing the students that they now have access to Canvas.
-I check email at College No. 2 and the issue involving the incorrect grade snafu for a female student from last semester continues – it will not go away! Admissions is now asking for the Attendance, which I already sent last semester when I closed out the class. This is so irritating.
-Duel Enrollment updated my roster and correctly enrolled the two highschool students who weren’t showing on the roster. I have 15 students.
-B. is on vacation, in Idaho, and we have a brief conversation.
1:30-2:00 – I thaw 3 squares of my Mom’s banana bread and have for lunch.
2:00-2:30 – I wash my face, brush my hair and teeth, add mascara.. I put on my “Athletic Housewife” uniform – hat, green, V-neck T-shirt; ‘snakeskin’ tan hoodie; black yoga pants; and Airbalance shoes.
2:30-3:00 – Driving to Dr. Jenkins’ office. I listen to Crime Junkie.
3:00-3:30 – I pick up the test results.
3:30-4:20 – I get gas (it now costs $40 to fill my tank) and then to Home Depot to return the wrong size numbers I bought for my mail box. I buy a plant for one of my pots. Return home. I listen to Martinis and your Money.
4:20-4:45 – bullet journal
5:00-6:00 – Emails to College No. 1’s Tracing Dept [ONE employee] and PubSeg
6:00-7:00 – L. is home and she edits several AUDIO lectures for both my Core Class and Specialty Class 1B, updates 4 Google slides, then charges me $25 for her services. L. is congested and her nose won’t stop running…we don’t know if it’s allergies or if she’s contracted the BA2 variant.
-I pull the directions for tomorrow’s hike with my Hiking Group.
7:00-8:00 – L. and I have plans to get gas at Sams Club, stop by JoAnns to get buttons, then onto the Whole Foods hot bar. When we leave, we discover that L. locked her keys in her car, along with her purse.
-Undaunted, L. and I drive to JoAnns and I purchase the buttons I need; then
8:00-8:30 – we drive to Whole Foods.
8:30-9:00 – Hot Bar. I get a curry dish, macaroni and cheese, a hot wing, and an empanada.
9:00-9:30 – Home and we plate our food then L. calls AAA.
9:30-10:00 – AAA arrives and is able to pop the lock on her car door. Yay!! L. pulls her purse and keys out of the car.
10:00-12:00 – L. and I watch two episodes of Yellowjackets. We take a break to bring our dishes downstairs and L. slips on the stairrunner, right in front of me!!, as she’s holding a tray full of dishes. She grabs the banister, but torks her shoulder in the process. Ironically, she falls at the exact moment she was discussing how T. has tripped on the stair runner several times. Nobody told me this! Sometimes the runners get bunched up but I had no idea that people were falling on the stairs! I feel terrible and I vow to fix the runners tomorrow.
12:00-1:00 – Kitchen duty and I prepare my lunch bag. I make overnight oats and ready my coffee for tomorrow.
1:00-1:30 – Nighttime routine. Bed. I set my alarm for 5:45 a.m.
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