Day 17 - LA County enters Red Tier

L.’s infamous chair…

3/31/21. Wednesday.

9:30 - 10:30 - I’m up. The dog is…gone!! Yay!!! She has a 9:00 grooming appointment so L. agreed to take her. There were several things I wanted to do today, but I’m “home bound” because L.’s chair - the one that she spent months agonizing over whether or not to purchase - is finally en route. Her schedule is full today and someone has to be here to receive the chair. That someone is…me.

I go downstairs to get my coffee, then sit outside and read a Money Diary, ALONE. The dog is gone!!!

-L. returns sans dog.

10:30-12:15 - I finish grading the rest of the papers then write a blog post.

-The dog is ready. L. graciously says she will pick her up.

-L. returns with the dog, then leaves again. Her cousin, A., and his girlfriend, are moving to the Virgin Islands so she brought him a Pressed Juicery cleanse as a going-away present.

12:15-1:00 - Quick shower as I’m not sure when the chair will be delivered. Lotion. Covid-19 uniform.

1:00-4:00 - My French Cinema teacher posted this week’s Module. Two new movies are assigned: 1) Les Miserables [NOT the Victor Hugo version - this is the 2020 film]; and 2) The Divines. Bad news, though. After I watch Les Mis, I’m supposed to partner up with someone in the class, via the Canvas Inbox, and write a 2-pg. movie critique of the film.

So…you know the student who is always left alone, in the middle of the room, after the teacher says brightly, “Ok, everybody pick a partner!” OR “Ok, let’s get into groups!”??? Well, that student is me. I know I won’t be able to partner up for this assignment, because I’ve never been able to partner up for an assignment. As a professor, this is why I ASSIGN groups…because I have never forgotten what it’s like to be the odd man out. This is a 20-point assignment…maybe the teacher will give me half-credit for completing it on my own? I have a perfect score in the class thus far… I can afford a 10-point deduction, but a 20-point hit? Not sure.

- L. is coming and going throughout the day with her crazy work schedule and covering classes for other instructors at the art studio. She surfaces briefly and I explain the dilemma. L. says, “Just send an email blast to all the students and say, “Hey, does anybody need a partner?’” I feel too stupid doing that and decide if someone wants to reach out and ask ME to be their partner, I’ll consent…otherwise, I won’t personally initiate. L. looks skeptical and doesn’t agree with my decision.

-I make another spinach salad, with asparagus and more of L.’s gourmet rosemary cheese and watch Les Mis while I wait for the chair. I pay attention and take notes because I’m going to submit my OWN presentation.

-The chair arrives!! when L. is home on a pit stop. It really is beautiful and I’ve posted a picture of it at the top of the blog.

4:00-4:30 - The movie is over. What an intense film! We’re in the slums again, just like La Haine, from last week, and the setting is in Montfermeil. Residents from sub-Saharan Africa or the Maghrebi region [the Arab World] live here, in abject poverty, and their children are abused and harassed by a 2-member anti-crime police unit. The senior member of the unit is a white racist called “Pink Pig” [Chris] who targets teenagers because it is easy for him to assert his dominance and power over them. There is a disturbing scene when Pink Pig pulls up on a beautiful 15-year-old black female, waiting for the bus, and demands to search her because she was smoking. He also makes some vulgar comments that I won’t repeat here. When she refuses to consent to a search, Pink Pig smashes her friend’s phone on the ground then leaves. Strangely, we don’t learn until the last few minutes of the movie that Chris’ wife is black and he has two daughters, one of whom appears to be the same age, or close to the age, of the girl he harassed.

Pink Pig’s black sidekick is a witness to these ‘antics’ and does nothing to stop him. The 2-man unit are joined by new-comer, Stephane, and this is his first day on the job. A large section of the movie is reminiscent of Training Day, starring Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke. Here is the first sentence of a synopsis of that movie: “A rookie cop spends his first day as a LA Narcotics detective with a rogue detective who isn’t what he appears to be…” This one sentence sums up the first half of Les Mis. Stephane hates Pink Pig just as Ethan Hawke grows to hate Denzel Washington.

The film takes a strange turn during the second half. Two groups [gangs, really] run this area [it is difficult to determine exactly what these gangs represent] and they each ‘manage’ and subjugate their own cohort of teenagers. Issa, a 12/13-year-old boy, steals a lion cub from a competing gang who runs a circus [yes, I know it sounds weird]. The gang leaders, both of whom are in their late 30s/early 40s - one of the gang leaders is called “The Mayor” - clash over the theft of the cub and Pink Pig vows to find the cub so the two gangs will call a truce and not burn the neighborhood down. Using his contacts and informants, Pink Pig discovers that Issa stole the cub and the ‘manhunt’ begins, as the now 3-man anti-crime unit moves through the city, searching for Issa.

Issa is spotted at a park and a foot chase ensues, until Issa is captured, at which point, the black sidekick “flash bombs” the boy right in the eye, almost killing him. He’s motionless, so as the viewer, we don’t know if he is alive or dead. All of this is captured by a nerdy kid with glasses who uses his drone in the service of satisfying his sick “peeping tom” fetish, i.e., he takes pictures of half-naked woman throughout the city if their curtains are open. Inadvertently, the nerd filmed the flash-bomb incident and the 3-man anti-crime unit see the drone overhead. Back to the gang leaders they go, trying to find out the nerd’s identity. More foot chases and they eventually find the nerd and Stephane takes possession of the sim card.

Although a small plot-point, the cub is found and returned to it’s rightful owner, a fat, cruel disgusting jerk who immediately throws the cub in a cage. This is probably a metaphor for how the teenagers in this ghetto feel.

It appears that the movie is over when the 3-man unit is called out to a disturbance. There, unsuspecting Pink Pig and company are lured into an abandoned building where they are attacked and ambushed by 50 kids, all dressed in black. The kids shoot fire works into the building and the cop car, setting both on fire, and roll shopping carts filled with cinder blocks and old car parts down the stairs where the 3-man unit are trapped at the bottom. “The Mayor” makes an appearance and tells the kids to stand down. Instead, they use metal pipes to beat the shit out of him, with Issa serving as the ringleader. It reminded me of the Hunger Games, except in that movie, it’s kids on kids, killing each other. In Les Mis, it’s kids killing adults and extremely disturbing. The last scene shows Pink Pig and company outnumbered - Pink Pig’s face was cut with a broken bottle - and Issa is standing over them about to throw a Molotov cocktail into the stairwell where the men are huddling. Their death is imminent and…fade to black. Wow.

4:30-5:30 - I spend an hour loading my bike in and out of the car to make sure I can do it on my own. Turns out, it’s better if I DON’T lower the seats. I leave the bike out so L. will put air in my tires when she comes home.

5:30-6:30 - I trim some plants while it is still daylight. The rose banks are out of control and need to be contained.

6:30-7:15 - I take the dog for a walk.

7:15-9:00 - I return to the yard and sweep the patio. Covered in leaves again.

9:00-10:30 - Kitchen duty and I cut up and meal prep every last scrap of food we have in the refrigerator. L. needs to go to the store. I pack a lunch bag for tomorrow.

10:30 - 11:00 - I have some almond butter and a few strawberries in preparation for my Insanity workout, but just can’t seem to muster the energy. I give myself grace and ‘pass’ on tonight’s workout.

11:00-1:30 - I load my bike in the car and then go to work:

-Yet another OSD kid is struggling and I prepare a lengthy email to the OSD coordinator.

-I have a 6:00 p.m. class tomorrow and the 12 papers I graded need to be scanned so I can return them to the students. My scanner is on its last legs and this takes about 2 hours while I do other things, like check emails from both colleges, get the Discussion Board and course content ready for tomorrow evening, and trying to find a Johnson and Johnson vaccine appointment for L. and I.

-I log into DE#2 and the Instructor emailed me to say that I did an ‘awesome job’ on my Home Page. It was really nice commentary, but falls somewhat on deaf ears in that all Instructors are mandated to return to in-class instruction in August. Whether or not I did a great job on my Home Page is, sadly, a moot point.

1:30-2:00 - I find a J&J vaccination site in Palmdale and run upstairs to tell L. so she can come to my office and let me know which date/time works with her schedule. L. gives me attitude because it’s late and she doesn’t want to move from her room, even though she is still awake. I try to explain how rare it is that I was able to find a J&J pop-up clinic…She eventually comes downstairs and we book our appointments.

2:00-2:45 - Night time routine. Bed.