Day 74 of Governor Newsom’s “Blueprint for a Safer Economy”

Which one is the president?

Monday. 11/9/20

At the time of this writing, Trump has still not conceded and continues to tweet baseless allegations of voter fraud, although he refuses to speak in public. The last air time he had was on Thursday, where he lied so extensively about winning GA, the networks actually cut away and refused to cover the rest of the “speech.” Although Trump has lied excessively throughout his presidency, the media outlets waited FOUR years before applying this tactic. The ballot count continues in GA and NC, but it hardly matters.

Although Biden won the popular vote by 5 million votes and has 290 electoral votes to Trump’s 217, key players in the Republican party are, “shockingly”, parroting Trump’s rallying cry that he won, especially Lindsey Graham, whom I can’t stand. Pompeo said that the “Trump” administration was transitioning into Trump’s second term! The public, sheep that they are, have bought the ‘fraudulent vote narrative’ hook, line, and sinker.

What is the difference between Trump and the American presidential election when compared to Lukashenko and the presidential election in Belarus? It is hard to say…

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7:30 – I have a morning class today so I’m up with my alarm. Downstairs and the dog is still asleep. I rub her tummy three times and we go outside so she can go potty. No accidents on the patio today.  Back inside and cheese for her, coffee for me. I go to work.

8:15 – I start fielding emails from the students before I post the Discussion Board.  One of my highschoolers sends me an email in the form of a text, which means broken pieces of words, complaining about something???  I have no idea what she is saying as email is not the same as texting so I respond, instructing her to describe her issue in complete sentences.  She then responds – see how much time this is taking? – that she did not know there was a podcast quiz, three weeks ago, on 10/23/20, and wants me to re-open the quiz for her so she can take it.  No.

I send yet another email: “Please refer to the Discussion Board on 10/23/20 – you signed in – wherein I state there will be a video quiz at 9:30 a.m. We did not listen to a podcast on 10/23/20 - we watched a video. I am attaching the Syllabus for your convenience wherein it states that a video quiz would be administered in class.”  I never hear from her again. This exchange just took 20 minutes out of my day.

8:30-10:05 -  Class begins.  Today is lecture, followed by a chapter review quiz at 9:30.

-I take attendance and notify those students who have not signed in on the Discussion Board that they have been marked absent. A student emails me after 9:00 that she is unable to log onto the Discussion Board. I am so tired of hearing this! I email the student and inform her that she is unable to log onto the Discussion Board because it locked at 9:00.  Signing in 30 minutes after class starts is unacceptable and counts as an absence.  I never hear from her again.  This student is getting a 50% in the class.  What a surprise.

-The “dumbest student I’ve ever had” emails me complaining that I still have not graded his video quiz, which he sent on Sunday.  I instruct the student to refer to the previous email that I sent addressing my schedule wherein I inform him that I check email Monday thru Friday, from 8:30-10:30.  I do not check email on weekends.

He again responds that he emailed me his quiz.  I also reply, instructing him to please be patient and informing him that I am currently addressing numerous emails from other students and am unable to grade his video quiz at the moment. The student again replies that he sent me the correct video quiz, to include all the answers this time, not just the answers for questions 6-10. I send the exact same email, again instructing the student to be patient and informing him that I am currently addressing numerous emails from other students and am unable to grade his video quiz at the moment.

The student replies, asking me if I am in receipt of his quiz. I send the exact same email, again instructing the student to be patient and informing him that I am currently addressing numerous emails from other students and am unable to grade his video quiz at the moment.  This time, I add, “This email marks the third email I have sent you, wherein I have asked that you please be patient while I respond to other emails.” Unbelievable!

The student again responds, asking me to send him the Chapter 4 Review Quiz, which he missed.  I respond that he told me, on 10/30/20, that he had purchased a new computer and his technical difficulties had been resolved.  On same date, I told the student that he had the next three days to take a 10-question, multiple-choice quiz.  Unfortunately, as I explain to the student, he did not complete the chapter 4 review quiz.  Score = 0.  As soon as I email the student, I update the grade book and place a 0 in the column for the chapter 4 review quiz. His grade drops to a 63%.

The student explodes.  He informs me that he had a 70% a few minutes ago and demands to know why his grade dropped.  I email the student that he, like me, has access to the online grade book and can determine, for himself, why his grade is a 63%. He emails me screen shot after screen shot of indecipherable blobs, accompanied by garbled, broken words that I’m assuming he thinks are texts, but are actually coming across as incoherent speech. There is no point in responding as the student has access to the same gradebook that I do. I give up and stop replying.  He continues to frantically email screen shots to me and I continue to delete them. Good bye.

…and this has taken almost the entire 1.5 hours of class time this morning…

10:30-11:30 – I do a blog post.

11:30-12:30 – I send L. my PP slides for Chapters 1-10 of my Core Class so she can reformat my slides then start working on the module that I am designing from scratch for Specialty Class No. 2. I wade through the chapter and slowly prepare my script based on the chapter’s highlights.

I’m supposed to attend the Board Meeting tonight for College No. 1 where they will be addressing the constitutional essay winners that L. graded a couple weeks ago, so I keep checking College No. 1 email for the Zoom link. Nothing.

12:30-3:00 – I cut a few pieces of bread from a loaf that L. bought from the Cheesecake Factory a couple days ago, then make a poached egg and place it on the bread with some spinach. I go upstairs to eat – away from the dog – and read Money Diaries. Then, I review several podcasts that I’m thinking of incorporating into the 3-hour lecture that I’m creating. I take notes on the podcasts in my Ipad.

3:00-4:00 – I do a 1 hr HIIT full body circuit with 5-pound weights.

4:00-4:45 – Shower and Covid-19 uniform.

4:45 – 5:15 – to Home Depot to return some light bulbs.

5:15-5:30 – Starbucks. I use a gift card.

5:40 – 6:30 - Home and I check for the Zoom link for tonight’s Board meeting. No Zoom link, but I find an email that says I can access the Board Meeting on You Tube at 6:30.  Uh, okay.

-I take the dog for a walk.

6:30 – 7:00 - I access the You Tube link and follow along with the “awards ceremony”, which takes the first 20 minutes of the meeting.  My colleague, J., is zooming in, along with the other tenured instructor – J. is wearing a bow tie and F. is wearing a blazer and tie.  Fancy.  I’m just an observer so I look like trash – who cares?  The students receive their accolades and I stop watching.

7:00-8:30 – I continue working on my script for the 3-hour lecture that I’m creating from scratch.

8:30-12:00 – I stop working and enter the kitchen where I make pork chops and sweet potatoes.  I also prepare two salads for lunch this week.  It takes a significant amount of time to make the potatoes – they have to be washed, peeled, chopped, boiled, then mashed.  The kitchen exploded so I have to clean it. I binge-listen to the entire season of Missing Alissa.

12:00-1:00 – I’m exhausted today.  Nighttime routine.  Bed.