Day 15 of Governor Newsom’s “Blueprint for a Safer Economy”

Friday. 9/11/20

7:45 - I wake with a start, having almost overslept for my 8:30 class - I like to get started at 8:00. I go downstairs, rub the dog’s tummy, and we go outside. Cheese. I grab my water and go to work.

8:00 - I “unpublish” the Discussion Board on Canvas for my high school and college classes so they can see the prompt and respond if they want to get an early start. Today’s menu: Lecture for 1.5 hours-that’s it. A few students from both classes start posting to the Discussion Board.

I make coffee and have a Crispy Creme. Damn donuts.

8:30-9:30 - I post the Chapter 4 Lecture and PP Slides for both classes and start working on a blog update. I have a few lone highschoolers who still can’t log onto Canvas, so I email the Help Desk number to them. I field a few more emails.

9:30 - I send an email blast to those students who did not sign in on the Discussion Board - highschoolers AND college students - that I have marked them absent for the day. I go back to working on my blog. I listen to The Daily.

These classes are now fully automated.

10:00 - 10:30 - I take a written Attendance, then ask the College No. 2 Administrator for ADD Codes for my 8 week class, which is scheduled to run in October - several students want to add. The Census is due at College No. 2 so I log onto the website and complete online.

10:30 - 11:00 - I field emails from College No. 1, then check my personal email. I also email Wine. com and ask about my missing order.

11:30 - 12:30 - I finish my blog entries.

12:30-1:30 - I make a salad - spinach, tomatoes, yellow squash, EVOO - and add a turkey meatball. Then, I take everything upstairs and read Schuyler’s Monster.

1:30 - 2:30 - Shower. Skin care. Make-up. I put on a black, spaghetti-strap pantsuit. I listen to Today Explained; the Book Review; and part of Airtalk.

2:30-3:30 - I take out my braids, read Schyler’s Monster, and have a prosecco-in-a-can.

3:30-7:00 - B. arrives and we return for happy hour at A_______, so we can meet up with his friends, a couple named L. and R. They beat us there and grab a table in the middle of the melee. Everything is outside, on the sidewalk, but the tables located on the opposite area of the wrought-iron railing, nearest the street, are the safest. The tables underneath the umbrellas, while still outside, are not social-distanced enough and the customers are all Trump-supporters, which means they don’t believe in Covid, don’t take it seriously, and cram together at their own tables, drinking and talking loudly to each other. I doubt these gatherings are long-time “pods.” We’re seated in the danger zone.

Our own waitress, whom we’ve had before and has always provided the absolute worst customer service, doesn’t even pretend to show a semblance of caution and wears her mask defiantly under her chin. B. and I and L. and R. are not masked because we removed them after we sat down at our table - unfortunately, neither is our waitress, and she actually takes our order without wearing a mask, then repeatedly walks back and forth through the outdoor space without covering her nose and mouth for the next 3 hours- disgusting and in violation of California rules! This is my last time coming here.

I have an a la carte blackened fish taco with mango salsa, and two champagnes. Everybody else has three drinks a piece and when that’s not enough, R. and L. suggest we go back to their house so we can sit in the backyard and drink more alcohol. I want to go home, but I am not and will never be that douche bag who whines, “I’m too tired” and kills the vibe. It’s not my style - maybe in a private setting, but not publicly. As L. - my daughter - would say, “I’m never too tired to party.” :-)

7:00-12:00 - We go back to L. and R.’s house and sit in the backyard, which is lovely, and B. says we won’t stay long, which I don’t believe. R. opens a bottle of champagne and shares it with me, freshening my drink occasionally by filling it a 1/4 to 1/2-way - I’m too polite to ask for more. It appears he drank the majority of the bottle, but, hey, it was his champagne to begin with so it’s cool. At the end of 5 hours, I now know the entire trajectory of R.’s law enforcement career, while he knows nothing about me. B. finally calls it and drives me back to my house.

12:00-1:30 - Night time routine. Bed.