Day 69 of Governor Newsom’s “Blueprint for a Safer Economy”

Ed Davis Towsley Canyon trail…

Wednesday. 11/4/20

7:30-8:15 - Shower. Covid-19 uniform. I go downstairs and greet the dog - still sleeping. Once outside, I see that she pooped in several places on the patio which I now have to clean up. She goes potty and we return inside, where I cut up cheese squares for her morning treat because I forgot to do it last night. I warm up my coffee, then it’s off to work I go, the dog following me into my office.

8:15-9:30 - I have three classes this morning at College No. 2. The 8-week accelerated class is watching a documentary, followed by a Video Quiz. My high schoolers and the other college class have a Chapter Review Quiz. Then, they have to listen to a BLM podcast and take a Podcast Quiz.

One of my students in my 8-week class has not signed in on the Discussion Board for five days, yet is still completing the assignments. NO!! See, these students think that they can swoop in whenever they want, usually around 9:30, when class is over, and quickly take a Video Quiz or a Chapter Review Quiz just before class ends, having put in none of the time that the rest of us have. NO! I email the student and note the days that she has been absent, explaining that I have given her a 0 on every quiz assigned on the days she did not sign in on the Discussion Board. You can’t complete an in-class assignment if you’re absent. I tell her that if she does not sign in on the Discussion Board again, she will be dropped from the class.

-The student returns my email, stating that she is, in fact, here, but has been unable to log in on the Discussion Board because of an error message that she receives every time she tries to log in. I write back and let her know, in no uncertain terms, that I now have proof that she is attempting to sign in, AFTER 9:00 [class starts at 8:30] because I lock the Discussion Board at 9:00 - this is why she is receiving an error message and can’t get in. I explain that this is unacceptable and from this point forward she is to sign in at 8:30 a.m., every Monday thru Thursday, or I will drop her from the class. I never hear from her again. Spoiler Alert: the student drops the class the next day.

-One of my highschoolers emails me that she is here but was unable to sign in on the Discussion Board so is emailing me instead. NO! I inform the student that she is emailing me 70 minutes after class started. and that this is unacceptable. Class starts at 8:30 and if she is unable to log in on the Discussion Board due to technical difficulties, she is to notify me via email, AT 8:30!!!!, when class starts. NOT over an hour later!!! I tell the student if she does that again, she will receive a zero on her in-class assignments. I never hear from her again.

-I’m still plagued by “the dumbest student I have ever taught.” Unable to access Canvas for two weeks, the student completed none of his quizzes. If a student is experiencing technical difficulties, I will often given them a pass, so I sent him two of the quizzes, via email, as attachments. He was unable to open the attachments - this has never happened before. As a result, I was forced to load the entire quiz into the body of yet another email that I forwarded to him. He keeps asking for the “link” to submit his answers and I keep telling him there is no link - you need to email me your responses. He doesn’t get it, so I give up.

9:30 - B. arrives and we leave for the hiking trail at Ed Davis Towsley Canyon.

10:00 - 12:00 - Arrive and we “hike” along the asphalt. I see a steep mountain dirt trail to the left, but am a little intimidated to give it a go, so we stick to the asphalt. This “hike” is very similar to the Mt. Rubidoux “trail” in Riverside. Eventually, we make it to the mansion, one of the featured spots, which looks a little run down, although it is situated on lovely, shaded grounds with picnic tables.

It’s heavily patrolled here. We see two forest ranger trucks AND a black-and-white, all in a 2-hour time period. Is this due to the possible unrest that might ensue if Biden wins? I’m in a red district and Trump supporters are incredibly aggressive. You know who you are Bugaloo Boys, Proud Boys, Oathtakers, KKK, alt-right militas, and Trump caravans. So glad the police are NOT de-funded in my community. NIMBY.

Spoiler Alert - two days later, B discovers that a hiker fell off a cliff and went missing for 45 minutes. Thus, the reason for law enforcement’s “command presence.” I guess that could have been me…or some version of a future me. After hearing that, I’m still afraid to hike alone.

I brought my portable lunch bag, so B. and I sit at a picnic table and have brunch [read: prosecco-in-a-can and apple slices] and talk politics. Election day is over and the American people still do NOT know who will be our next President. It’s either a dictator who doesn’t give a s—t about the country and is using the presidency for his own gain; or a septuagenarian with early, onset Alzheimers. These are my only choices in this wonderful country we call a democracy.

12:00 - 1:00 - Leave Ed Davis Towsley Canyon and head to Starbucks. Maybe I’ll come back and take the dirt trail that I saw to the left of the asphalt path. But what if I fall off a cliff, too?

1:00-4:00 - At my house and B. and I finish our coffee in the backyard. He took notes and has questions about my most recent “poli-sci podcast” [lecture] that he listened to on his walk [Module 11 - Interest Groups]. They are intelligent questions, much better than the crap I’ve been answering lately which range from, “Why is there an error message when I try to sign in on the Discussion Board?” [Because you’re signing in late and it’s locked] to “Why can’t I open that attachment?” [Because. you’re. dumb.]

4:00 - 5:00 - B. leaves and I have the Thai soup from the Thai leftovers that L. bought years ago. I finish my book, Welcome to Wherever We Are.

5:00-6:00 - I close my eyes for just a minute.

6:30-8:00 - Up and I take down all of the exterior Halloween decorations. It’s a laborious job. The presidential race still has not been called.

8:00-8:30 - I take the dog for a walk.

8:30-10:30 - I have an afternoon lecture tomorrow for Specialty Class No. 2, so I review my script and slides, then select my audio clips and the podcasts I want to embed in the lecture.

11:00-1:00 a.m. - I record lecture. It’s a long one.

1:00-1:30 - L. is still up, formatting my PP slides into Google slides for four lectures. She tries to airdrop my AUDIO lecture, but the file is corrupted!!!! and won’t load. This means I will have to play the audio file on MY Ipad, while it records on HER tablet, then she will airdrop the lecture from HER device. This is so frustrating and happened on Monday. L. and I agree to start the recording process tomorrow, at 10:30, because L. has to go to work in the afternoon.

1:30-2:30 - Kitchen duty and I start loading interior Halloween decorations into the designated boxes. I make some headway.

2:30-3:00 - There’s a storage issue on my Ipad so I delete some podcasts to make more space. I’m of the mind that the airdrop might work now so I ask L. to try again. This time, she’s able to airdrop the lecture into Canvas!!! Success!!

3:00-4:00 - I have some of the Greek nachos I made last night. I know, I know…eating this late at night is bad…I listen to Season 2 of Dr. Death - excellent podcast!! Then, nighttime routine and bed. The presidential race has still not been called.