Day 40 of Governor Newsom’s “Blueprint for a Safer Economy”
Romper Room, Part Deux…
Tuesday. 10/6/20.
8:00 - Day 2 of my substitute teacher training, but at least I know I don’t have to show my face. I take the dog out. She does her business and we come back inside. Coffee for me and cheese for her. I report to my office for 8:30 Zoom training.
8:30-1:00- I give up. The only reason I stay logged in is because I’m getting paid to attend this training. I’m quite sure I will NOT sub until we return to the classroom. It’s impossible to figure out these platforms, like Clever and SeeSaw and Math Tech, unless you use them daily. The talking heads drone on and on. I’m not throwing shade at the teachers - they’re incredible. If I was a little kid and they were MY teachers, I would say, “sign me up”, they are so engaging. If I were a parent, I would turn my child over to them in a heartbeat. But me? I’m just a sub. I don’t want to learn this new technology and I think my subbing days are over.
I take this time to cull through my personal email, nice and slow, and read everything.
-Oops - apparently, College No 2. had an emergency on Friday and has been trying to contact me ever since. Today is Tuesday. I immediately check my College No. 2 email and discover that a political science teacher abandoned ship one day before class was supposed to start and they want ME to take over and teach his Zoom classes, using his material, starting Monday. No. Sorry - I don’t do sloppy seconds and hell will freeze over before I revert to Zoom. Why on earth would anyone want to take over a class using another teacher’s syllabus? That’s like borrowing somebody’s underwear or using their toothbrush. A bad idea, all the way around. I respond that it was really short notice and just doesn’t work with my schedule, but my Dean replies that they found somebody else to cover. Thank God!
-I finish culling my personal email and move onto emails from College No. 2. I make sure that everything is ready for tomorrow morning’s class. I try to eat some of the non-fat yogurt that L. accidentally bought, but it tastes horrible so I dump it.
-I move onto emails from College No. 1.
-Another school district where I sub emails me that I have yet to complete two mandatory trainings. They were due in August. I open them up, kill the volume, and start playing the trainings in the background while I work on other things. I’m not sure why I care as I don’t plan on subbing any time soon.
-A retirement certificate arrives from my previous job, delineating my experience. Unfortunately, they left out a significant, actually meaningful, 5-year stint where I was a white-collar-crime investigator for two agencies. When you read the certificate, it looks like I was a typing clerk for two years and then went straight into law enforcement. All of this reminds me of my Mom - when she retired, she received a plaque (I think) and her name was mis-spelled. Both of us could care less and I’m going to shred the certificate.
-I check some of the course content for my Thursday classes.
-I make a spinach salad with tomatoes, cheese, zuchinni, and EVOO. The substitute teacher training is over.
2:30-5:00 - my stomach is bothering me and I’m exhausted. I grab the heating pad and take a nap.
5:30-6:30 - I do a 1-hr HITT full body circuit app, with 5-pound weights.
6:30-7:30 - I take a shower. Lotion. Get dressed.
7:30-8:00 - I take the dog for a walk.
8:00-9:30 - I go to Walmart to get a card for B.’s birthday and cake and frosting mix. L. also wants limes. Nobody is here.
I stop off at my bank and deposit my bonus from College No. 1
9:30-10:30 - Return home and I water my plants.
10:30-12:30 - I make Western Meal in One casserole. There are several ingredients and it takes quite a bit of time to prep everything. The kitchen exploded so I have to clean it.
12:30-2:00 - I bake a cake, let it cool, and put it in the refrigerator so it will be ready to frost tomorrow. Once again, the kitchen has turned into a disaster zone and must be reckoned with.
2:30-3:30 - Night time routine. Bed.