Day 8 - Mask mandate REINSTATED by LA County Dept of Health
L. had a fender-bender yesterday…
Turns out 1/3rd of people who contracted Covid will develop Long Covid, but why do some patients develop Long Covid and others don’t? Looks like a few factors are: 1) the degree of viral load. In other words, was the infection severe?; 2) did the Covid patient ever have Epstein Barr virus?; 3) does the Covid patient have Type 2 diabetes? Since Type 2 diabetes disproportionately affects Latinx and Blacks, this means that Long Covid is more likely to gestate in Latinx and Blacks. Yet another burden for POC…
2/23/22. Wednesday
10:00-10:30 – I’m awake, but I stay in bed for transition time.
10:30-11:00 – I go downstairs to say good morning to the animal. She’s awake and running around…unfortunately, she pooped next to the front door (sigh). She grabs her toy and we go outside straight away while I stand around waiting for her to go potty. She pooped on the patio again (sigh). Return inside and coffee for me; cheese for her. I go upstairs
11:00-1:00 – Blog posts.
1:00-2:00 – L. is awake and informs me that she was involved in a car accident last night! During a break between classes, she and her fellow classmate, T., grabbed a bite to eat and were on their way back to Otis when T. casually asked L. , “Have you ever been involved in an accident before?” L. says no. The irony is exquisite.
As they’re returning to Otis, the route involves L. moving across 5 lanes of traffic with some sort of what I’ll call a “resting place” in the middle of the lanes – an island of some sorts? It is unclear and L. doesn’t know where the accident occurs. Sit with that last sentence for a minute. L. does NOT know the address of the accident and we will not know for the next 30 days, until our Liberty Mutual claims adjustor tells us where it occurred. What’s more, L. informs me that she is incapable of finding the location.
I’m incapable of envisioning this accident, especially in light of the fact that I have no idea where it happened. L. is pausing in the “island”?? and her front end peeking out as she prepares to cross the remaining two lanes, when “Driver No. 2”, Marisol (a 40/50-something older woman), driving in one of the two lanes, swipes L.’s front end causing damage to the front, passenger panel, next to the right headlight of L.’s car. It sounds like L. is at fault… Although Marisol presents her insurance card, she has difficulty speaking English, calls her daughter, and then hands the phone to L. I’m not sure what this is supposed to accomplish.
The week L. received her car, I put several “Accident Cards” that my former employer required us to keep in our State vehicles in L.’s glove compartment. They’re handy cards that list all the information you need to collect when involved in an accident. When I asked L. if she used the cards that I put in her glove compartment to record pertinent information regarding the accident, she said she couldn’t find them. (Sigh).
Although it’s 2:00 p.m., L. still hasn’t reported the accident to our insurance company. She is nonplussed when I tell her you’re supposed to report an accident that you’re involved in ASAP. It appears we don’t have to worry, however, because Marisol reported it bright and early and now “Orlando” , the claim adjuster, has reached out to L.
I also tell L. that she is required to complete DMV Form SR1 within 10 days of being involved in an high accident. L. doesn’t seem to care. This part is extremely important because title is still in my name. I’ve downloaded all the requisite DMV forms that I need to complete in order to transfer title to L. but I’m still recovering from the DMV-PTSD I experienced when I had to complete form after form for L.’s Learner’s permit and eventual drivers license…a nightmare to say the least. And now I have to go back to the DMV…
-As if this is not enough, L. informs me that the owner of the Art Studio where L. works wants to have a talk with L., via Zoom. She did not explain the nature of the call…instead, cryptically saying, “I need to talk to you.” This is a common tactic used by managers and employers…they request a meeting and deliberately refrain from telling the employee the nature of the meeting in order to create employee angst and to ensure that employees are unable to defend themselves sufficiently because they’re blindsided by the content of the conversation. This technique is as old as the hills, but one way to circumvent it is to simply ask your employer, “Sure. Do you mind telling me what’s it about? That way I’m prepared to answer any questions you might have.”
Most of the time, employees are too intimidated to ask that simple question and Management is counting on that…HOWEVER, when/if the employee has the courage to utter this question, Management is then put back on their heels. They can’t say, “No…I don’t want to tell you”, because the employee can respond, “Our upcoming conversation is a secret? I’m not sure I understand” OR the employee can respond, “Hmmm…well, I really don’t feel comfortable scheduling this conversation until you tell me what it’s about” which is a perfectly reasonable response because who, in their right mind, wants to speak with chain of command when Management refuses to state what you’ll be discussing. This is a heads up that a hostile conversation is about to go down.
In almost all cases, though, Management feels too uncomfortable to respond with “I’m not at liberty to say” to the question, “Oh, can you tell me what it’s about?” because that response is stupid. We’re going to discuss this topic TOMORROW and you’re advising me, TODAY, that you can’t reveal the topic of discussion? It’s weird and you can actually call Management out on this, which I’ve done in the past adding that I don’t feel comfortable without Union representation in attendance at this so-called “meeting.” True, I was unionized and L. is not…but these strategies still hold up for employees.
As soon as L. tells me that A. requested a meeting and made no attempt to tell L. what the meeting would entail, I recognized it as an intimidation tactic, which means it won’t be a positive meeting. Poor L.
2:00-3:00 – Shower. Lotion. I put on my work-out uniform.
3:00-4:00 – I do a 10-minute Insanity Max – Ab workout and a 30-minute Insanity Max – Cardio workout.
4:00-4:30 – I take the dog for a walk.
4:30-7:00 – Gardening. I rake the beds surrounding the Astroturf, then clean the red rock and sweep the patio. I trim some of my plants and water everything.
7:00-8:00 – I drive back to BevMo, kicking myself for not buying more bottles of my favorite champagne when I discovered it was on sale. I return to BevMo to see if there are any bottles left, but they’re all gone. Drive home. Staff continues to mask and I’m masked, too.
8:00-9:00 – Home and I have some of L.’s tomato soup that I froze previously and a spinach salad that I made a couple days ago. I read Troublemaker in preparation for Bookclub. I’m eating too late and I know I’m going to pay for it in the morning.
9:00-9:30 – Kitchen duty. I ready my coffee and pack a lunch bag for tomorrow. I also make overnight oats.
10:00-11:00 – I upload several blog posts to my website and make sure I have my lecture and paperwork for class tomorrow. I set my Filofax folder on the counter.
11:00-11:30 – Nighttime routine. I lay my clothes out for tomorrow.
11:30-12:00 – bullet journal.
12:00-12:15 – Bed. I set my alarm for 4:45 a.m.