Day 63 - Governor Newsom imposes new restrictions

The Golden State has the highest number of Covid-19 cases…and the lowest number of inoculations….

1/17/21. Sunday.

8:30- Awake. I listen to an Organize 365 podcast and try to go back to sleep.

9:30-10:00 – Up and I go downstairs to greet the dog. She found a golf ball in the backyard yesterday – I could hear my next-door neighbor practicing his putting, but if he was only putting, how did TWO golf balls make it over the wall? - and it’s her new, favorite toy. Outside, and she goes potty.  Back inside and cheese for the dog, coffee for me.

10:00-10:30 - Upstairs and I wash my face, brush my teeth, put my contacts in, and get dressed.

10:30 – Leave for my therapy session.

11:00-11:30 – Session.  My therapist actually received Dose No. 1 of the vaccine, yesterday, at Dodger Stadium.  She qualified for 1st Tier because she’s a health care provider. She said she was in line for 45 minutes and the vaccine was administered while she sat in her car.  Allegedly, she will receive a follow-up text message in three weeks scheduling Dose No. 2. Her arm is sore, but that’s it. I’m hearing anecdotal accounts that individuals who receive the second “jab” feel sick, are fatigued, and have a fever.

Magic Mountain is now open for [vaccine] business – recall that B., L., and I just experienced MM’s Holiday in the Park Drive Thru. I guess now they’ll re-title it to Vaccine in Your Vehicle. It’s virtually impossible to understand whether or not you will qualify for the vaccine.  I’ve read that Californians 65 and older are now eligible but, at the same time, I’ve read from other sources that health care workers still have first dibs.  B. has made several calls to see if he can get vaccinated at MM, but nobody answers the phone so he will just have to show up and see what happens. As a teacher, I’m at the bottom of the barrel.

Basically, the California vaccine roll-out is a complete mess. I know it’s preliminary, but if the vaccine is working why are California numbers still out of control and rising?  Most distressing is the fact that we can’t quite figure out what is causing the spike in LA County.  Is it really from Thanksgiving, Xmas, and New Years’ gatherings?  If so, shouldn’t we allow restaurants to re-open?  L. says that restaurants are open in Orange County again and you can eat outdoors…I’m not sure if this is true…

California has more Covid-19 cases than any other state [Arizona is in second place] and yet we have conducted the least number of inoculations…only 1% of a population of 39 million.  To date, 400,000 Americans have died from Covid-19; in California, 35,000 people have died.   As if we’re not experiencing enough chaos in the country, the recall petition for Governor Newsom is picking up steam [1 million signatures and counting – they need 1,495,709 signatures by 3/17/21]. Although 50% of Californians are food insecure [this number is not sourced], Governor Newsom is insistent on maintaining the $1.2 billion ‘pot’ for his electric car project, refusing to allocate this huge sum of money for other purposes. This issue, as well as the inconsistent closing and reopening of restaurants whenever a Covid spike occurs, appears to be the death knell of his term in office. In fact, restaurants have been closed completely - both indoor and outdoor dining - for the past 63 days. The information L. shared concerning OC restaurants is new to me.

If the recall is successful, then who will be our next governor?

11:30-12:00 – Session ends and I return home. I have two Sees candies for breakfast. Not hungry.

12:00-4:00 – I catch up on ALL of my blog posts once and for all.  I listen to PBS Newshour segments; BBC Global News; NPR Politics; Up First; Crime Junkie; and Organize 365.

-L.’s friend, B, comes over to cut/shape the wigs that L. bought and N. comes over, too.  L., B., and N. sit in the garage on bar stools, masking, social distancing, and talking.  These are some of the most responsible 19-year-olds I have ever encountered. N.’s parents received their second dose of the vaccine and N. is scheduled for his second dose in a few days.

4:00-5:00 – I conduct a time assessment for monthly hours spent in three categories: Garden; Kitchen; and Blogging, which equate to 33 minutes; 54 minutes; and 40 minutes per day, respectively.  I thought I spent more time in the yard than in the kitchen, but I guess that’s not the case.

From this point forward, my blogs will probably appear more formulaic and boring BECAUSE after hours of researching, logging, assessing, and calculating how my days are spent, as well as the hours I want to allocate for activities that I deem important, I believe I have found the “secret sauce” that works best for me, personally, with regard to my life and the activities I want to accomplish.  In other words, I’m finally ready to “time block” and create a retirement routine.  Stay tuned over the coming weeks.

5:00-5:30 – Touch-up make-up then leave for B.’s house.

6:00 – 12:00 - Arrive at B.’s house for a huge spread from Guidos.  There is salad, pizza, raviolis, and garlic bread!  Everything tastes great!

-B. and I talk politics and watch two episodes of Nightstalker while we eat. Highly recommend.

12:00 a.m. – I leave.

12:30-1:00 – Home and I clean the kitchen and ready my coffee for tomorrow morning.

1:00-1:30 - L. shows me another art project that she created – a charcoal drawing of a still life depicting a bottle and a vase full of flowers.  Although this is the first time she has drawn ‘glass’, the picture is amazing. I plan on framing this one, but all of her artwork is so good, it is difficult to choose. Painting and drawing is completely out of my league…how do artists create these works of art?  How do they know what to do?  It’s beyond me.

L. and I discuss her college plans and I’m surprised to hear that N. is also exploring the fast track, EXCEPT his college forbids students from taking more than 4 classes a semester.  Yes, of course…because 4-year colleges are incentivized to keep their students in college as long as possible in order to collect tuition from that student for as long as possible. N. plans on taking summer college courses at COC so he can graduate early.  But beware, N. – this system is so rigged it is likely your college will NOT accept your community college classes because that means less time – and tuition – that you will spend at your 4-year school.  More than likely, your Admissions and Records Dept. will come up with some bull-s—t excuse that they can’t ensure the ‘integrity’ of the junior college classes and will force you to enroll in the very classes you just completed. Most colleges use this same excuse to shut down AP classes that students took in high school. Gotta keep that tuition money rolling in for as long as possible, which means excluding AP classes whenever possible.

-L.’s friend, B., will complete Beauty School this year and, in just 9 short months, will be ready to cut hair. I’m so proud of her and the wigs she shaped today look fantastic.

-Heartbreakingly, L. tells me that she has not been able to make friends as a result of virtual education/Covid-19, and feels left out of the ‘college experience.’  What she conveys is true – her college experience has been severely curtailed as it applies to socialization, networking, and new friends. My only consolation to L. is that everyone is going through the same thing right now and she will be able to make friends when colleges re-open in September, just when she’s ready to transfer to her 4-year. Unfortunately,  this consolation is not enough. It hurts when your child is sad…

1:30-3:30 – L. and I watch the last two episodes of The Wilds.  B. and I. have already seen these episodes, but the series is good enough that I don’t mind watching twice – L. liked the series, too.

3:30-4:00 – Night time routine. Bed.  L. and I are vampires.