Day 10 - California Reopening Plan - Phase 2
The park…
9:30 - 10:00 - the dog didn’t bark today. I think she might be learning to go outside on her own. I go downstairs and let her out. Cheese. I go back upstairs, get dressed in my Covid-19 uniform, and put my hair up. No shower. Again. I truly don’t care. I spend 15 to 30 minutes looking for my hair clip, but never find it. Am I losing my mind? Spoiler Alert - L. will tell me at the end of the day that she borrowed it.
10:00-10:45 - I make coffee and pack my lunch bag, then put the remaining papers from my International Relations class in my school book bag. I leave for one of our 34 (it’s actually 34, NOT 33) parks in our community, one that I haven’t been to before. This one is called Chesebrough Park.
11:00 - The park is nice! There are vacant cement benches and I claim one right in the sun. Everyone says the corona virus dies instantly in the sun, right? Families are there, primarily picnicking, with blankets spread out on the grass - social distancing for sure, but not everyone is wearing a mask. Do we have to? Everyone says the corona virus has difficulty surviving outside, right? A father and son throw a football, then switch to baseball - they came prepared, it seems, complete with baseball mitts and different balls - but by far the most impressive is the father-daughter team having batting practice on the softball field. He pitches to her in rapid underhand and she knocks them out of the park, one after the other. Its the closest thing to sports I’ve seen in months…
11:00-2:00 - I grade papers for the next three hours. Since it takes me roughly 1 hour per paper, I make it through three papers. I finish my coffee and eat a piece of chocolate cake I packed in my lunch box. Feeling so much better after discarding the lemon juice, I’m also eating more. I get a bit of a sunburn on my back - it’s great! I listen to Martinis and Your Money ; A to B - Simplicity, Organization, and Fun; and Market Place.
2:00-4:00 - I return home, report to my office, and grade two more papers. One is a current assignment; the other is from a previous assignment 45 days ago. I leave that one til the end, as I have to check-and-redirect the assignment. What kind of response was I looking for??? I can barely recall the prompt.
L. is going to the grocery store so I give her a list with a few things to purchase.
4:00-6:00 - I finish grading ALL the papers, post the grades, and scan the papers to the students. Then, I heat up the fish I made the other day, with more rice, peas, and red peppers. This is it - school. is. over. I have a glass of champagne to celebrate. The dog vomits.
The only thing left are the automated Finals that the students will take online, tomorrow - International Relations at 2:30 and the combo Poli Sci 101 class at 6:00. The Canvas software will automatically grade the Finals, incorporate this last test into their previous assignments, and spit out a final semester grade. I’m done…at least with the students from this college…
I start a load of towels.
L. returns and proudly proclaims that she got everything on my list. I check the receipt for the cost of 4 pork chops, 1/2-inch thick, that I wanted her to purchase. I am shocked to see that they were $32.00!!! If I had been quoted that price, I would have aborted the pork purchase and walked away. L., who has no experience grocery shopping, didn’t even flinch. $32.00??!!! This is truly a Covid price. I know employees/meat-packing plants have been hit hard with the Corona virus, but $32.00??!! It is time to go vegetarian.
6:00-9:00 - I do, what I think, is the last of the yard work other then the weekly general maintenance that any yard entails. A lot of endings today… I spray the red-rock bed and clear leaves and debris from it, while doing the same to my flower pots (sans spray). I use scissors to deadhead flowers and trim and clear the dead leaves from all of my flower pots. I also use the scissors to ‘shape’ the plants. I rake and sweep, then put everything into the compost can, which I’ll set out for pick-up tomorrow (trash and everything else day). I grab my step-ladder and feed my honeysuckle vine through a metal trellis that my ex hung high on the exterior stucco wall of my house. The honeysuckle is slowly making its way up the wall and covering everything, which is what I envisioned when I purchased the trellis. Metal birds are fused onto the trellis, so it’s a great effect. I really love it.
-It’s time to treat the astro-turf, so I pick up the dog poop, then pressure wash the area, also clearing this section of leaves. I fill a bucket with one part Simple Green and three parts water, then laboriously carry it to each section of the astro-turf and dump it. I’ve mentioned this in a previous post, but it takes about 10 buckets of the same mixture. I listen to Accused, Season 3 and start American Scandal - Exxon Valdez as I’m finishing. Done.
I see that the very last step for the yard involves tightening a few pieces of wire trellis - three pieces have come loose and are sagging in various sections of the yard. I will get to that in a few days. I also have three “containers” that I would like to transform into flower pots, but I’m not sure if Home Depot’s garden section is open. I want to purchase some flowers, but are we even allowed to browse? Clothing/retail stores are supposed to be closed although B., who is now on a fishing trip in Arizona, said that, three days ago, he was allowed to shop inside Dicks Sporting Goods. He showed me a shirt that he purchased.
I put all my tools away, put the towels in the drier, and take the trash out. Then, I get started on my state job.
9:30-11:00-I have to go in tomorrow - there’s just no way around it. BUT, I want to complete as many tasks as possible so I can get in and get out. I need to send out “expert packages” to three Experts and these pkgs. include all of the “Attachments” from our investigations, which need to be cited in letter format, before we scan everything into the Experts’ “electronic boxes.” It takes some time, but I finish. I also prepare two requests for “subject interview” and ready them for mail-out. I field emails (nobody cares anymore if staff work outside of the Mon-Fri, 8:00-5:00 grind. In the past, a 10:00 p.m. email, on a Sunday evening, would have been flagged by IT and the employee might run the risk of being counseled for doing tasks outside of work hours [why was this such a problem before?], but no longer, now that we’re in the Covid-19 era) and check phone messages. I listen to the rest of American Scandal - Exxon Valdez. I’m on the fence about this season.
-I prepare my work bag for tomorrow and go upstairs.
11:00-12:00 a.m. - I shower and wash my hair. Lotion. Pajamas.
12:00-12:40 - I braid my hair in several sections and it takes forever.
12:30-2:00 - L. and I watch Married at First Sight and continue screaming at the TV. Nighttime ritual and bed.