Day 30 of the California Quarantine

Our dog…she’s a nightmare

4/18/20 - Saturday

 9:30 – up and the dog is barking to go out. She has a doggie door and a contained back yard, but after three years, she still insists that I go out with her, every morning.  Otherwise, she goes to the bathroom in the house. She finishes outside and I give her two, mandatory tiny pieces of pepper jack cheese for a treat. I unload the dishes and drink 16 ozs of tap water with a splash of organic lemon juice while I’m doing it.

10:00 – I make my bed then change into yoga pants, a sports bra, a Fila tank top [L. gave it to me when she purged her closet] and a hoody sweater [also from L. – I rarely buy clothes]. No shower. I wash my face with Aveeno skin care and use Alba Botanica moisturizer.  I put on make-up - a full face today as we have a Spectrum repair man coming between 3:00 and 4:00 although I’m not sure why I care about putting on makeup. Our WiFi keeps going in and out and L. says it’s imperative we get it fixed. Eyebrows with Revlon deep brown eyebrow pencil; NARs foundation; gray and brown eye shadows from an ancient unnamed kit; Maybeline deep dark black mascara; Revlon brown liquid liner; NARS orgasm blush. For the most part, my makeup is basic and cheap.

11:00 – I pull projects out of my home office that I need to work on for the next couple of days and remove personal desk objects where  Covid-19 could collect.   I wonder constantly if I’m going overboard with this new normal and I feel weird taking these precautions.  L. thinks I shouldn’t use my office for 2 to 3 days, the time the Corona virus allegedly lasts on surfaces. She will sterilize my office for me after the repairman leaves because she says she’s younger and has a better chance of recovery if she gets the virus. I’m oddly touched although I don’t want her to get sick either. Neither of us is immuno-compromised and we’re both in excellent health – no underlying conditions, but that doesn’t matter.  L. also does all of our grocery shopping.

12:00 – Since this started – for me, D-Day is 3/16/20, when the college classes from my side hustle were shut down – I lost my appetite and am just not that interested in food. I still cook and bake for L.  but I eat little to nothing of what I make.

I mix Greek plain yogurt with diced apples, walnuts, and honey and save one portion for tomorrow (batching) and have my one daily cup of coffee – Death Wish coffee pods for my Kerig. I read Smacked while I eat and periodically feed the dog.  L. is still asleep. I finish and check the fridge to ensure we don’t waste food.  I see a chicken-Italian rice dish that has been largely untouched for 2 to 3 days so I freeze it.  We have a huge stockpile of food in our freezer now.  We never lived like that before.

1:00 – I need to take advantage of  my Kohls cash and my 20% discount so I go on online and order the warmest knee socks I can find.  Even with my discounts, I’m paying a $8 delivery fee and I don’t like that.  I order all of our non-perishables online now and I hate  that I’m increasing my carbon footprint and impacting the environment but I want to limit L.’s exposure when she does grocery shopping – I don’t want her to spend unnecessary time in the stores and possibly risk infection. Again, am I going overboard?  There are no concrete guidelines to follow.  Most of the time I feel like I’m overreacting… but then I’m not sure. I don’t live in a constant state of fear – I just want to do the right thing to protect us and our community…but what is the right thing?

1:30 – I order a few non-perishables:  2 containers of Simple Green, for the astroturf in our postage-stamp backyard where our dog goes to the bathroom – I treat it monthly; 2 bottles of Advil; a 4-can pkg. of shaving cream [mostly for L. and it was the smallest pkg. I could purchase]; and postage stamps. I left a blanket and throw pillows on the love seat in my office – L., awake now, removes them, saying they are a possible place for Covid-19 to alight.

2:00 – I get an automated call from Spectrum that the repairman will be here at 3:00.  I work at the kitchen counter with my laptop, loading a Final onto our “Canvas” platform for the students.  It’s a 50-question Final with four multiple-choice answers for each question.  I type in one question at a time, since I don’t know how to load the entire test. It’s laborious.  BC – Before Covid-19 – the students would simply come to class and take the Final. But, the two campuses where I do my side hustle are shut down until the Fall Semester – everything is online now. I listen to the Global News Podcast while I work.

3:00 – the repairman isn’t here.  I continue loading the Final.

4:00 – the repairman arrives, masked but not gloved.  L. and I are also masked.  I feel very silly. At first, he diagnoses the router as the problem, in my home office, but upon further investigation, discovers we have a signal problem and is certain there is a “control panel” in my master bedroom closet. I’ve never seen any such thing, so L. and I call her Dad (my ex – he moved to South Carolina last month) who speaks to the repairman and assures him the only ‘panel’ is outside. The repairman is very nice and is certain he can fix our WiFi if only he can have access to the master bedroom closet.

Now, am I supposed to worry about infection at this point?  He’s not gloved, but does he need to be? L. says no, she has ideas on how to disinfect. I’m actually not afraid, but just want to do the responsible thing, which is what, exactly?  I see how important this repair is to L. and we all go upstairs, to the master bedroom closet, where L. locates THE PANEL!  I’m  shocked as I have never noticed the panel in 11 years. We remove most of my clothes from that section of the closet so the repairman can work more efficiently and he fixes the problem. He is so calm and nice to us, never impatient, and the whole mess took 2 hours of his time. I offer him a bottled water and he leaves.

6:00 – L. disinfects everything and we vacuum.  She also disinfects  my home office, but puts nothing back as she says we should wait a few days. L. goes to Starbucks for a “novelty drink” for herself.  I work on loading the Final, but then stop to treat the Astroturf with the rest of the Simple Green that I have on hand.  I pick up all the doggie doo then hose everything down. I fill a large bucket with Simple Green concentrate and water and slosh it over each section of the “lawn.” After 10 buckets, I’m done.  I water my plants. I listen to Market Place and Today Explained.

8:30 – I finish uploading  the Final.

8:30 – L. wants to try a new recipe-stuffed sweet potato with red bell peppers and beans.  She is no cook so I don’t know where she found the recipe and two of the sweet potatoes rotted already.  BUT, I help her make it, with L. doing most of the work, a rarity. While she works, I prep a bunch of carrots for next week and make a special pitcher of fruit-infused water for L., using a tangerine from my tree in the backyard. We have a “clean as you go” philosophy so I do the dishes as she preps and the potatoes bake.  We finished the podcast Unravel True Crime- Season 4 - Snowball, a couple weeks ago, and have since switched to Chasing Cosby – we listen to Episode 5 while we cook. The kitchen is done and so are the potatoes.  They are surprisingly good! 

9:30 – We take dinner upstairs to watch our latest binge effort.  We completed West World, Seasons 1 and 2, and hate Season 3.  L. suggested we wait until Season 3 drops in its entirety and I recommended that we watch the Surviving R. Kelly series. We finish episode 2 tonight. I have a glass of champagne.

11:00 – I read Smacked. Another glass of champagne.

12:30 – I start my evening routine: Vaseline for my eye makeup; Aveeno face wash; Alba Botanica night cream; brush teeth and floss; Vaseline for my lips; Lubriderm lotion for my hands.

1:00 – I can’t sleep so I scroll through my podcasts, deleting what I’ve already listened to. I fall asleep at 2:00 a.m.