Day 32-Governor Newsom rescinds restrictions. Outdoor dining reinstated!

The dog brings a dead bird into the house…

2/25/21. Thursday.

8:30 – 9:30 - I’m up early today for some reason.  I go downstairs to say good morning to the animal. She’s awake and animated so we go straight outside. She does her business and I come inside…but the dog is not with me.  I assume she’s playing and will come inside momentarily. I heat up my coffee and the dog emerges carrying, what looks like, a piece of bark from one of my trees.  She deposits it on the couch.  I walk over so I can pick it up and the dog grabs it again, signaling that she wants to play.

I look more closely and the dog is holding a dead bird in her mouth!!!  I don’t know what to do!!!  In a fit of panic, I ask the dog if she wants a treat and hold up a piece of chicken.  She drops the bird again and follows me into the garage for her chicken.  I lock her in the garage then run upstairs and wake up L. I can’t touch the dead bird. L. is annoyed, but comes downstairs, puts on gardening gloves, and deposits the bird in our outdoor trash can.

I am stressed out the rest of the day.

9:30-11:30 – Blog posts.

11:30 – 12:30 – I read a Money Diary and eat the rest of my Lucilles leftovers. I delete podcasts to free up my Ipad storage.

-L. goes to work.

12:30-1:30 – I check email at both Colleges.

1:30-3:00 – I get dressed in my Covid-19 uniform.  Wash face. Brush teeth.

I read Chapter 1 of my French Cinema book. Even though I like movies, this chapter is dry and boring.

3:00-3:45 – I take the dog for a walk.

3:45 – 5:00 – Yard work. I sweep the patio, clean the fountain, and water all of my plants.

5:00-6:00 – I check my DE class.  The Anonymous Grader approved the assignment and I can advance to the next Module. I’ll check the ‘deets’ for the next assignment after class starts.

6:00 – 9:00 - Class begins.  There isn’t much going on today – AUDIO lectures 6 and 7 and a video on Netflix. Those students who do NOT have Netflix can contact me for their alternate assignment and three students do. Who doesn’t have Netflix? The alternate assignment is a podcast, followed by a podcast quiz that I email to them at the end of class.  They have to email their answers to me before class ends.

-I get an email from a student who asks me to re-set four Inquizitive assignments that she missed because she had her wisdom teeth pulled. Uh…no.  She had the past FORTY days to complete four quizzes.  When did she get her wisdom teeth pulled?  Three days ago?  When I tell her I don’t accept late assignments, she emails, “But professor I had my wisdom teeth pulled!”  I respond, “Wow, that sounds really painful.  Attached is the Syllabus.  Please read page 4, last paragraph, wherein I say that I do NOT accept late assignments.”

-I take the Chapter 1 quiz in my French Cinema class – 15 out of 15!  I post a response to the prompt about movie sound tracks on the Discussion Board.  I’m supposed to respond to other students, but there are only two students on the Board, currently, who keep talking about how Boogie Nights and The Transformers changed their lives. I can’t respond to this drivel. The Transformers and Boogie Nights?  Come on!!!

-Class rolls on.  I send an email blast that the Midterm is next week.

-I start working on my next assignment for my DE class.  I have to design a Syllabus using Professor W.’s specifications, but first I have to read all of the tutorials. I don’t get credit for the module unless I show proof that I’ve read the tutorials.

-Two students are having Inquizitive issues and I try to resolve them.  Pain in the ass.

-I update attendance.

-8:30 – The students finish watching a Netflix video and I post the video quiz.

Based on my DE assignment, my Syllabus has to be revamped in order to meet Professor W.’s criteria.  I have to change a lot of content for the Syllabus at College No. 1. This takes some time.

9:00 – 9:30 - Many of the students score terribly on the video quiz.  I send them an email asking them what happened.  Why did they do so bad on the quiz?  Didn’t they watch the video?  I want them to know that I’m watching them. I know they didn’t bother to view the video – they just blindly guessed on the video quiz.  Well, that’s going to pull their grade down.

9:30-11:00 – Continue updating my Syllabus for my DE class.  I hang around after class to field emails.

11:00-11:30 – L. helps me screen shot my DE assignment and post the screenshots to the Google slides. Then, we put everything in the text box and send to the Anonymous Grader. I hope this flies – I deviated a bit from the directions.

11:30-12:00 – I have some of L.’s rice balls with old corn and red peppers that I made last week. Tastes great!

12:00-1:00 – Kitchen duty and I make my coffee for tomorrow.  I listen to Martinis and Your Money.