Day 24 - Governor Newsom imposes new restrictions

A feminist deconstruction of the episode, Beaver’s Rat…

12/9/20. Wednesday.

7:00 – I’m awake.

7:30 – Up and I head to the shower.  Class starts at 8:30 and today is the FINAL!!  Yay!!  The semester is coming to a close.

Shower. Lotion. Covid-19 “winter” uniform. Light make-up.

8:15-9:30 - Downstairs and B.’s computer is locked – I don’t know his pin – and I don’t want to wake him.  I’m able to pull up Canvas on my Ipad and post everything for the three classes, even though the screen is incredibly tiny for this type of platform.  It works, though, and the students are busy.

The Discussion Board is ready and, like I did for College No. 1, I open it up to the students – for both classes - and say they can use the Board to say good-bye to each other. Here is what they say:

Bye everyone!  Thank you professor for such a good class J

That’s it.

My highschool class???  Nobody bothers to respond.

-I make hot water with lemon and eat apple slices and almond butter for breakfast from my insulated lunch bag.

-I read a Money Diary.

9:30 – B. is up and comes downstairs. He unlocks his computer and I move from the kitchen to his office as I can finally access my email from College No. 2 – I can’t open it from my Ipad.  Several of the students emailed last minute extra credit assignments, EVEN with a 10-point deduction.  Great.  I will grade them later.

B. says he’s going to Starbucks and asks if I want a coffee. Yes (sigh). “I wish I knew how to quit you, [coffee].”

-Class ends.

10:30 – 12:00 - B. returns and we sit outside at his patio table, drink our coffee, and talk politics.  Great weather. I have a few bites of an apple pie B. bought, but I’m not feeling it.  He has Costco muffins for breakfast.

12:00 – 1:45 - Finished and B. wants me to watch a Leave it to Beaver episode – Beaver’s Rat – Season 4, Episode 31??.  He watched the episode and found  parts of the script progressive, with a feminist slant…a rarity in 1961.  He wants to know if I’ll notice the same scenes.

I’m game and he sets me up in front of his computer with a pen and notepad for taking notes, then plays the episode on You Tube.  I like this exercise!!

-The episode ends. I’ve blogged about this before, but this is a very sexist show. June Cleaver never exits the house, which strikes me as a metaphor for prison.  In one scene, she is actually polishing the silver.  Anyway, I have two pages of notes and B. and I both discuss our impressions, similar to L.’s online cinema class, which she really enjoys.  I deconstruct the episode from a feminist perspective and B. actually listens – he must be sick of hearing this rhetoric, but is a good sport about the whole thing, probably because he proposed the exercise.

2:30 – 2:45 - B. needs to make a few adjustments to the hose he repaired on Monday [plumbers tape] so I ask if he will follow me to the tire store around the corner from my home – my left front tire is looking a little flat.  On the way there, however, B. has to check on some shoes he is having repaired and I’m going to try Goodwill again. We leave.

2:45 – 3:00 - At Goodwill and as I’m opening my car door, an old man working in “Donations” screams at me, “We’re completely full!!  You can’t drop off right now!!” What about putting a sign up, instead of yelling at the customers?  I’m never coming back here again.

3:00-3:30 – Driving.

3:30 –4:00 -  I’m at the tire store and I explain everything to the employee.  He says it will take two hours to check the tires, so I leave the car there and B. drives me to the house.

4:00-4:30 – B. puts the finishing touches on the hose.  No leaks.

4:30 – Inside and I tell B. I have enough ingredients to make dinner, but it will have to come out in three courses as the chicken is still defrosting.  I set him up in my room with a 7&7 and a documentary, Who Killed Maria Marta? with subtitles. Just as he starts watching, the tire store calls and says my car is ready.  They put air in all my tires and the cost was $00.00 as I purchased all four tires there a few months ago.

B. drives me to the tire store, around the corner, and I pick up my car and go home.

5:00 – 6:00 - B. starts watching the documentary and I make us spinach salads with zucchini, tomatoes, eggs, and carrots. We have our “first course” while the chicken continues to thaw.

6:00-7:00 – Time for Episode 2 and B. seems into the documentary. I start making Lemon Chicken.  I have to bread it, because the first step involves lightly frying the chicken. THEN, it’s baked with lemon slices, a little bit of brown sugar, and the zest from one lemon, which takes forever to grate.

A bomb went off in the kitchen so I do the dishes while the chicken is baking, then bring B. another 7&7. I have champagne.

7:00-8:00 – The chicken is done and I plate the food and bring it up to B.  I had my salad earlier so am not that hungry. We watch Episode 3.

-L. returns from work.

8:00-9:00 – B. is done, so I set him up with Episode 4, the last episode, and bring his plate down to the kitchen. I don’t know how this happened, but it seems as if the dishes in the sink have multiplied.  I clean the kitchen yet again and bring B. the “third course” – a tumbler of eggnog and one chocolate-covered marshmallow on a Xmas plate.

9:00-9:45 – The documentary is over-I think B. liked it- and I’m exhausted.  This is out of character for me, as I’m usually a night owl, but I just want to go to bed. B. leaves.

9:45-10:30 – L is working on papers??? Finals???  I’m not sure.  I say goodnight then shut everything down and take the dog out.  Night time routine. Bed.  I set my alarm for 6:00 a.m.  Tomorrow is the Final for my third class and I have to make sure the content is correct so I want to have plenty of time to make any necessary adjustments.