Day 25 of Governor Newsom’s “Blueprint for a Safer Economy”

School days…

Monday. 9/21/20

9:00 - The dog is incessantly barking. At 9:30, I go downstairs and take her outside. She goes potty and I give her cheese. I grab coffee and go right to work.

I’ve assigned a different documentary to my highschoolers and college students from College No. 2 as the video I typically assign is no longer accessible via You Tube. This means I am now forced to assign a different video and prepare an accompanying video quiz. Great.

10:00-11:30 -I watch “13th” on You Tube and start preparing a 10-question video quiz based on the content. Side Bar: This is an excellent documentary that I’ve seen before and fully recommend. Meanwhile, L.’s Dad calls me so we can, once and for all, address L.’s health insurance situation. Although last week, I had already prepared template letters for both M. [my ex] and me - he moved, I’m retired, and we need to switch L. to my insurance - M. ‘went the distance’, called CalPERS, and found out exactly how to compose the letters. Then, HE prepared the templates and emailed them to ME, but I’ve had so much PTSD as a result of the mountains of paperwork I completed previously (to no avail), that I refused to open my email or call M. back, I was that sick of addressing this issue. When I told L. to work everything out with her father and leave me out of it, she said no.

I speak to my ex and I’m forced to download the letters he prepared in real time, from the email he sent me and it is, as promised, an easy procedure to switch L. from his insurance to mine. In 10 minutes, an issue that has PLAGUED me for months appears to be resolved. He and I catch up for about an hour, while I continue watching 13th and compiling questions for the video quiz. We end the call, I put the letters in the mail, and that’s it.

11:30 - 1:00 - I continue watching 13th and working on the video quiz, but every so often take a time out to do some ‘personal admin.’ before I leave on my trip, like ordering an air mattress and light bulbs for myself and a birthday gift for B. I finally finish the quiz for my highschoolers, but I need to reload it manually - one question at a time, complete with four multiple choice responses for each question - into Canvas for my college students at College No. 2.

1:00 - 2:30 - I set up the Discussion Board prompts and class content for my Wednesday and Friday classes and now there is barely time left to even have lunch. I’m still in my pajamas.

2:30-5:30 - Specialty Class No. 1 starts at College No. 1 and there is lecture, a Chapter Review Quiz, a documentary, and a Video Quiz and I’m deploying content about every 30 minutes. As a special treat, I incorporated an extra credit assignment into lecture, the same as I did for Specialty Class No. 2 on Thursday, and this seems to go over well. An important assignment is due next week, so there are emails and questions about that. Today, it’s difficult to step away from the computer as the students are live chatting with me pretty frequently. I am, however, able to respond to ALL emails from both colleges, complete attendance, and post their extra credit scores while all of this is happening.

The sprinkler system is STILL not working. I leave class momentarily to reprogram it again. I don’t understand…I downloaded the manual and refer to it each time I set the watering schedule…wtf…

5:30 - 9:00 - Class is over and I check course content for my 7:00 p.m. class this Thursday. I discover that yet another video link is “broken” - You Tube stopped carrying this video as well - which means I have to select a NEW video that coincides with the course content planned on Thursday [Media is the module] and is accessible to everyone. I settle on Trial by Media - Episode 6 - “Blago!” on Netflix.

Upstairs and I get a quick shower in, then watch the episode and compile a video quiz for my Thursday night class while I eat dinner. I like the Trial by Media series and Episode 6 happens to be the last episode and features a politician’s fall from grace (what’s new?), accelerated by the media’s portrayal of the “villain.” The crimes he was convicted of are MILD when compared to Trump’s presidency and Trump recently commuted Blago’s sentence so the material is current - it will fit in nicely with the course content.

I finish compiling the video quiz then manually load it into Canvas, one question at a time.

9:00-10:00 - I do a 45-minute cardio app.

10:00 - 11:30 - I finish packing, other than a few toiletries tomorrow morning. I also do a load of laundry and hang to dry. Then, I straighten the kitchen and make sure the dog has enough food and water while I’m gone. L. says she will finish the exterior Halloween decorations while I’m gone, so I set out pictures from last year’s Halloween’s decorations for her to use as a guide.

11:30 - 12:30 - L. and I listen to a episode of Spooked.

12:30 - 1:30 - Night time routine and bed. Busy, busy day.