Day 22 - Governor Newsom rescinds restrictions. Outdoor dining reinstated!

Two slave owners [Washington and Jefferson] and Lincoln wanted to ship the blacks to Liberia, even if they were born HERE. Why are we celebrating these people?

2/15/21. Monday. President’s Day

9:30 – 10:00 – Today is President’s Day and the schools are closed.  I go downstairs to greet the dog and see that she pooped near the front door. She wags her tail as if she’s done nothing wrong and we go outside. She goes potty and we return inside: rotten chicken for her and coffee for me. I go upstairs.

10:00-11:30 – Blog posts.  L. leaves to meet her friend, M., for boba.  M. is home from UC----- for the 4-day weekend.

11:30-12:30 – I eat the turkey burger salad I made on Thursday and read Money Diaries.

12:30-5:00 - I go to work. 

I check emails from College No. 2. I really want to know why I don’t have a Canvas shell for my second high school and…the mystery is solved.  Although I’m actually teaching THREE classes, as a cost-saving measure and to avoid paying me fairly, my Department dumped my high school students into my lone college class, even though the high school is on a completely different schedule from the college.  This way, my Dean can say that I’m only teaching TWO classes and pay me for TWO classes.

Adjunct instructors are not truly unionized because union membership is voluntary.  I have no protection at either College and my contract is renewed every semester so my employment is tenuous at best. This move is completely unfair and I am unable to argue the injustice. My Department has just saved  $1000 per month – at my expense - and there is absolutely nothing I can do about it.

-To add insult to injury, my Dean notifies me that I’m being evaluated this semester so I need to get cracking on my “self-evaluation”, which is the first stage of the eval. 

-The students from High School #2 still do NOT have access to the Canvas shell and school starts tomorrow.  Their  liaison sent me their email addresses on Saturday so now I need to send them their first week of material via email which is: 1) AUDIO-Syllabus; 2) the regular Syllabus; 3) AUDIO lecture – Chapter 1; 4) Google Slides for Chapter 1; and 5) a link to a video. I don’t get it…College No. 2 knows the academic schedule and when classes start every semester.  Why do these high school students, who enrolled in college classes months earlier, gain access THREE WEEKS AFTER the semester begins?  This is an ongoing problem and everyone knows about the problem.  Why can’t it be solved?  I do not understand!

-I prepare a “Welcome” email for the students at High School No. 2 and send them the assignments for Week No. 1.

-I check email at College No. 1.  A  30-day deadline for  5 assignments is coming due and would you believe?  A few of my students waited until Day 29 to complete 5 assignments.  Shocking. Unfortunately, some students are experiencing technical difficulties and will need to contact the publisher for IT help as these quizzes involve special software.

3:00-4:00 – My ex [L.’s Dad] calls L. and we all talk for awhile.

-I check to see if my French Cinema class is published.  It is!  I read through all of the material and then try to complete the first two assignments: - 1) three Discussion Board posts; and 2) a quiz - but find I’m locked out.  The assignments aren’t available for the students yet.  Bummer.

-I order my French Cinema textbook and pay for my class.

-I order tickets for L. and I for tomorrow’s event.  This is a teaser :-) Stay tuned.

-I prepare a quasi-script for the video I’m going to shoot of myself for my DE assignment as soon as my microphone arrives.

5:00-5:45 – I take the dog for a walk.

6:00-7:00 – I take a shower and wash my hair. Lotion. Dress in Covid-19 uniform.

7:00-7:15 – I text B. to see if he was able to receive his second Pfizer dose today.  He texts back that he got dose #2 and has no symptoms.

8:15-9:00 – I run to Whole Foods for prosecco-in-a-can and to the ATM for cash for my therapy session tomorrow.  I double mask but there are only around 5 people in Whole Foods.

9:30-10:30 – I do a 1-hr HIIT full body circuit workout with 5-lb weights.

10:30 – 11:30 - L. comes in to “spill the tea” on what’s going on with M. at UC ----- after their boba encounter this morning. Apparently, M. is in a dorm at UC---- with only three other people and all of her classes are online.  She spent the first semester partying constantly and tried “Special K” for the first time.  The few students who are living on campus don’t care about Covid and social distancing and masking are not practiced at their ‘ragers.’ 

One thing that L. and her friends seem to have in common…they want to get through college as fast as possible.  Back in my day – and even the Millennial’s day – students were on the “5-year plan” and then went onto grad school to “find themselves”, but really it was to avoid ‘adulting’ [starting their careers and living on their own].  However, these Gen-Zers want to get in and get out of college.  M. and N. want to graduate in 3 years and M. is taking 18 units this semester. M. says she can’t wait to finish college and move into an apartment.  When L. asked her how she’s going to afford an apartment, M. said, “student loans.”  More student loans when M. is OUT of college?  I don’t think so…

M. joined a sorority, but doesn’t want to live in the sorority house, choosing to have her own space instead.  Of interest is the fact that the number of rape cases are soooo high among the fraternities on this campus that all of the sororities have publicly disavowed them.  Sorority sisters still party with their frat brothers in secret, however.  The ‘disavowing’ is just for show. M. says they only party with the “nice” frat boys; L. told M. that she’s going to get raped.

11:30-12:15 – Night time routine. Bed.