Day 57 of Governor Newsom’s “Blueprint for a Safer Economy”

“Tent City” is missing from this picture…Hmm…I wonder why?

Los Angeles County continues to remain in the purple, “Widespread” category under Governor Newsom’s “Blueprint” plan. Somebody please explain to me again…why are tattoo parlors and waxing salons allowed to open with modifications, while museums can only allow outdoor public access? Why am I able to buy a pair of yoga pants at Kohls, but forbidden to view an art exhibit at the Getty?

Friday. 10/23/20

7:15 – 7:30 - Up and I go downstairs to wake up the dog.  Finally, finally, it is nice and cool today. She’s on the couch, out of it, so I have to rub her tummy three times before she gets up.  We go outside and she pooped on the patio, probably last night.  She goes potty and I clean up the poo…again.  Inside and I give her pieces of chicken, then grab my coffee, and head upstairs.

7:30 – 8:15 – Shower. Covid-19 uniform with a long-sleeved shirt. I put on some B&B Garnier foundation.

8:15 – Downstairs and it’s time to teach my two morning classes.  I post the Discussion Board prompt.  Today, both classes are watching a documentary and taking a video quiz.  I noticed that more recently, students are logging in later and later on the Discussion Board.  These are synchronous classes and everyone must log in at 8:30.  If a student doesn’t log onto the Discussion Board, then that student is absent – you can’t take an in-class quiz if you’re absent.

At 9:00, I lock the Discussion Board – I’ve never done that before. A high school student emails me at 9:10 a.m. that the Discussion Board isn’t working, but she’s actually here and please don’t mark her absent.  No.   I reply with a stern email that the Discussion Board isn’t working because it was locked at 9:00.  I inform her that class starts at 8:30 and she is 40 minutes late, which counts as an absence.  From this point forward, she must log in at 8:30 every morning.

At 9:40, another high school student emails me and says her “reply” button is not working on the Discussion Board, but she’s actually here and please don’t mark her absent. No.   I reply with a stern email that her Reply button isn’t working because the Discussion Board was locked at 9:00.  I inform her that class starts at 8:30 and by the time she logged in this morning, class is over in 15 minutes.  This is unacceptable.  From this point forward, she must log on at 8:30 every morning.

I want to quit.

The Extra Credit essay assignments start coming in.  They’re due today, so more papers to grade, but this is a very straight-forward assignment NOT as nuanced as the Socratic Seminar assignments I recently finished. Other than the Extra Credit essays, it’s quiet as the students watch the video, so I take the time to catch up on attendance and update the online gradebook for College No. 1.

Class ends at 10:05 and I spend the next 20 minutes applying my make-up.

10:30 – 11:30 - B. arrives and we leave for the Swan paddle boats at Echo Park.

11:30 – 12:30 - Arrive and we are early, but no matter – we’re allowed to take the paddle boat out prior to our reservation.  The rim of the lake is lined with tents containing the homeless.  In fact, the park is filled with tents, so much so that it is impossible for children to play on the playground equipment.

A few years ago, B. and I took a gondola ride in Newport Beach, through the waterways encircling the homes of the very wealthy.  Each home had a dock extending into the marina where our gondolier steered the boat.  B. and I were able to peer into the lives of this community as we looked at how the wealthy residents had decorated their docks and pieces of their interiors that could be seen by the public, either through glass patio doors or open windows.

Today, B. and I paddled past what I’ll call, “Tent City” and peered into the lives of the vagrants surrounding what was once a beautiful park. Many of the ‘squatters’ have set up broken, stained chairs and the occasional dirty couch, to face the water so they could enjoy the view. Of course, their junk is now obscuring MY view as we paddled along. 

Do I sound like a ‘Karen’?  At this point in my blog should I engage in a hand-wringing bitch-fest regarding what needs to be done about the homeless? I was able to see inside most of the tents as we glided by and they are disgusting.  But let’s not forget the most important part of this essay – these people are enjoying lakeside property, FOR FREE, when the homes on Bridgeport Lake, near my community, retail for over $1 million dollars.   I wouldn’t mind going off the grid, pitching my tent at Echo Park, and foregoing my property taxes like them.  Even an avid camper can’t camp in our National Parks without paying a fee – typically, you need a reservation.  Yet, “Echo Park Tent City” is undisturbed and the “residents” pay nothing to make their homes here, on lake-side property.  And this is not a transitory population – patches of land surrounding some of the tents had full-blown vegetable gardens. Unacceptable.

B. and I have the paddle boat for an hour so we make two passes around the lake.  I determine that I have done my cardio for today which means no exercise later.  Readers, just let me have this.

12:30 – 2:30 - Out of the boat and B. and I try to go to a café in the middle of a residential area in Elysian Heights, but the line is off the hook so we return home and have lunch at 50/50 Slaters. I order the absolute unhealthiest meal on the menu – fried, bacon, macaroni-and-cheese balls for $8.00 – and a champagne split because…brunch. B. gets something???  My food is good, even if heart-attack inducing, but no matter.

2:30-3:30 - After, we check out the mall to see if it’s open. Even though LA County is in the purple-widespread category, the mall is open. Most of the retail stores are going under - there are lots of 50%-off sales - and the entire food court has been decimated. Cinnabon, Hot Dog On a Stick, that grilled cheese place…everything is gone. Hardly anyone is in the mall - it’s a ghost town and very apocalyptic.

I take B. to the “Patios” at our mall because I want to see if my favorite ice cream place - Paradis - is open. It is!! I get a child-size banana split and B. orders sea-salt caramel. I pay and we sit outside the store, at the patio table, and eat our gelato. More bad food for me today, but I don’t care.

4:30-7:30 – Back to B.’s house and we watch the last Trump/Biden debate that B. recorded last night.  Boring, but much better than Trump’s prior screaming at the first debate.  This time the Presidential Commission on Debates incorporated a mute button which seemed to cut down on the number of Trump’s interruptions.

7:30-9:30 – B. took notes on my Chapter 9 lecture and had questions concerning our party system so I provide a mini-tutorial that happens to focus on LBJ as this seems to be where B.’s interest lies, at least concerning this module.

B. is ready for Chapter 10, which is a dense lecture with a lot of moving parts, so I go over the module with B. so he knows how it will work on his walk.

9:30-12:00 – B. drives me home and I spend the rest of the evening grading the Extra Credit essay assignments that came in today.

12:00-1:00 a.m. – L. has researched all of her ballot options and would like to go over the propositions with me before she mails it out.  At 18, she is truly an informed member of the electorate and takes her right to vote very seriously – she doesn’t want to make a selection that is contrary to her political and feminist views. I’m so proud of her. On the other hand, her friend, N., said he perused the ballot and if he had no knowledge of the candidates in question and what they stood for, he voted for the female candidate. N. is truly an informed member of the electorate and it is clear that his choices are sound.  I’m proud of him, too.

1:00-2:00 – I shut down the Halloween lights and do my night time routine. Bed.