Day 66 - Governor Newsom imposes new restrictions

Uncle Joe is the 46th president…

1/20/21. Wednesday. Inauguration Day.

It was a relief seeing Trump and Melania leave the White House via helicopter – Good Riddance. More than that is the fact that he has been ‘deplatformed’ – thank God.  Jack Dorsey acted way too late…since the president has been deplatformed, I’ve heard that fake/conspiracy news is down 80% [this statistic has not been sourced] which means that Trump was almost entirely responsible for perpetuating the lies which were, in turn, disseminated by savvy conspirators, anarchists, alt-right militia [I’m talking to you, Oath Keepers] via their monetized blogs, podcasts, and websites using their social media presence, all in the service of attracting the “sheep” [MAGA supporters] with creative “hooks.”

The constant stream of erroneous tweets and lies, intentionally misdirecting the news media, like a ping pong ball, is over.  Having personally covered the news so closely, this void is odd…there was always some weird, strange tweet to dissect, typically with a white supremacist underpinning, along with the constant dog-whistling. Now, there’s just…nothing. 

As a political scientist, I’ve been so conditioned [read: brainwashed] over the past four years, to consider these tweets as news, NOT propaganda, especially in light of the fact that they governed and ruled the news cycle. Make no mistake…I do NOT miss Trump’s tweets…I’m glad they’re gone…but I’m left with the question, “What is news, now?”  In the absence of the almost daily chaos that befell the Trump Administration, the relative stability of “Uncle Joe’s” Administration, thus far, and the reporting of primarily facts (gasp) makes for a boring news cycle.  Was this how it used to be?  I can no longer remember but, ultimately, boring is good.   

Today, Inauguration Day, Joe Biden was sworn in as our 46th president and his vice president is a woman. He gave a speech about ‘unity’ which will probably never happen within our divisive society – I fully expect some of the red states to start talking about secession, now – BUT it was so much better than Trump’s “American carnage” inauguration speech just four years earlier.  Even Bush 43 was recorded as saying, “That was some weird shit!” after Trump finished speaking.

The highlight of Biden’s inauguration was the tribute he gave to the 400,000 Americans who were felled by Covid-19.  Finally, some acknowledgement that Americans are dying from this horrible virus, their loved ones are grieving, and they will be missed. Collectively, as a society, we are experiencing a trauma that will remain with us for generations. L. is Generation Z, but her generation should be relabeled “The Traumatized”, in the same vein as  “The Greatest Generation” or “The Baby Boomers.”

Thankfully, there was no violence today.

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11:30 – 11:45 - Up and I go downstairs to say good morning to the dog. She must have thought I forgot about her because she is incredibly excited to see me.  We go outside and she goes potty, then tries to catch a bird.  It’s not happening.  Cheese for her treat and coffee for me. Upstairs I go.

11:45-1:00 – I read Sex and Lies.

1:00-2:30 – Blog post.

2:30-3:30 – Salad and leftover pizza from B.’s house the other night for lunch.  I read a Money Diary.

3:30-4:00 – I listen to the first 30 minutes of the audio lecture I recorded last night.  Sounds good and I’m pretty happy with it.

-L. goes to work.

4:30-5:30 – Shower. Lotion. Covid-19 uniform.

5:30-6:15 – I take the dog for a walk.  We’re on our second loop when an unleashed pit bull appears out of nowhere and runs right at us!  I actually scream and reflexively pick up the dog and cradle her to me.  I guess my natural instinct is to protect her and not myself. Maybe I love her more than I thought.  My neighbor comes running around the corner and says, “Sorry!  She ran out of the house.”  The dog is probably friendly, but my adrenaline is running and I need a few minutes to collect myself.

6:30-8:00 – Yard work.  I’m using an old productivity technique of putting two activities together so they both serve as a ‘trigger’ to complete the other.  In the morning, it’s reading and blog posting.  After I walk the dog, I take her outside to the backyard so she can go to the bathroom so it’s only natural that I would stay back there and do some yard work. Dog walking and yard work.

-L. returns from work and heads upstairs for a Zoom meeting for one of her college classes.

8:00-9:00 – I do a 40-min cardio app.

9:00-9:30 – I read a Money Diary for transition time.

9:30-2:00 – I go to work.  I need to find a better documentary on the Iraq War and then prepare a video quiz.  It takes about an hour to locate the documentary, but I have to watch it, or at least listen to it, to be sure it fits with the class.

-While I have the documentary running in the background, I complete an assignment for my Distance Education certification class.  I was hoping to advance to Module 3, but I have to wait for the assignment to be graded, so I’m still stuck in Module 2. In the interim, the D.E. Coordinator scheduled me for a Zoom Webinar on Friday.

-I check the French Cinema class that I’m trying to enroll in and see that an email notification was sent to me yesterday. I’m on the Waitlist and there’s an opening! I have 48 hours to claim my spot so I quickly add the class.  I’m in!  Really happy about that.

-L. still needs to complete the Google slide project.  The PPs for the first six chapters of the classes I taught last semester have not been completed - we started the project mid-semester - so I send her separate emails for each class with the PP slides attached.

-I go through ALL of my personal emails and take my account down to “Inbox Zero.”

-I order two, industrial hepa air filters for the downstairs living room, from Amazon.  They are sooo expensive, but it’s one of the few ways I can think of to keep L. and I safe from the virus.  They’ll arrive in a few days.

-I complete another mileage form for my car insurance. L. said the other one blew out of the mailbox.

-I’m half-heartedly preparing questions for the Iraq video quiz as I complete other activities.

-I check emails from College No. 2 and my Dean nicely informs the staff that enrollment is down and many of our classes for Spring Semester will be canceled.  She attaches a 7-minute NPR link to the email that discusses why college enrollment is down nationwide.  I’m not surprised.

At the same time, an email comes in on the College No. 2 platform from a high school asking me which books I use for my class!  I’m shocked as I didn’t think I received a placement this semester.  In fact, I thought I’d probably never teach at College No. 2 again, although this is technically NOT the college – it’s the Duel Enrollment program through the college. I’m surprised how excited I am to hear about this recent development…I guess I really do like the high schoolers, even though they were a thorn in my side last semester. I email the Administrator the textbook information and ask for the school schedule.

-I sign up for my Continuing Education classes [referred to as FLEX] for College No. 1. I booked 9 hours and submitted my FLEX contract.  The FLEX program is new to College No. 2 - they just started - but I’m teaching in the Duel Enrollment program, so I’m hoping I don’t need to complete any FLEX classes for College No. 2.

-The Iraq documentary is finished, but I only completed 7 video quiz questions, although I got quite a bit of admin. work done. I pull the plug at 2:00.

2:00-2:30 – L. did the dishes so no kitchen duty.  I make my coffee for tomorrow.

2:30-3:00 - Dinner – it is so late!  this is terrible – is leftover mushroom fettucine and a half-piece of chicken in breaded parmesan [Oh no! A carb and a starch.]  I have a glass of champagne and listen to Organize 365.

3:00-3:30 – Night time routine. Bed.