Not where I wanted to be

 The best laid plans of mice and men (and Mexican-Americans). I was hoping to go out to Crystal Cove this morning for a photographic hiking excursion, but no, I spent last night at the hospital. I had chest pains on the left side, and they didn't do away. I felt it was imperative to go to the hospital, these pains have hit me before and usually what I would do is take low-dose aspirin and sit in a recliner at home and wait it out. This time, after what happened to my father last year, it didn't feel like the road I should take.

I got there at about 11:30 p.m. last night, and usually I would see a big crowd of people waiting outside the emergency room of the hospital, but I was the only one there arriving this time! I guess the virus is really keeping people away from the hospital. I was able to walk in, see the attendant, and go in through the door in less than two minutes. I was also given an electrocardiagram almost immediately. It was very fast, and the waiting room was empty!

I was then directed to a small room where I was told to put on a gown and wait. A catheter was placed in my left arm, and blood samples were taken. I was also hooked up to a monitoring machine, the one that shows your pulse and takes blood pressure readings every 30 minutes. I also had a chest X-ray done by a technician who came in with a tablet and did it while I was still lying down in the gourney. 

Results were okay, it seems, so we were not able to identify the source of my pain. It is Monday morning after noon, and I was finally able to sleep a few hours (I didn't while I was at the hospital). They wanted to admit me, but I said no. If we need additional tests, they will have to be on an out-patient basis. I already took very high risks just by going to the hospital. I was discharged this morning at 5:30 a.m.

So, no plans to go anywhere. I have to just continue and prepare for Zoom(ba), i.e., my Zoom classes. It will be another scorcher today again, and all this weekend. We are projected to reach the upper 90s (and even the lower 100s) later this week. This is what we deal with in southern California at this time of the year. I really dislike the heat.

I will now post a few more photos from my trip to the arboretum last Friday. I developed them yesterday before the pain hit my chest. 

The negative for the image above was very thin. Blame in part the fact that, once again, I was using the red filter. I like this high-contrast look, however. The desert displays at the arboretum are beautiful.

I don't know why I took this photo. In color, it is better, there are some ocher and pastel colors which make for a pleasing sight, but in black and white, it doesn't really work. Once again, I don't know what is happening with the glaze in back. I am beginning to suspect my film developing reel. I have developed hundreds of negatives with it, and maybe, there is a pattern that is imprinted in the back. It certainly looks like a ghost image. I will have to try with Arista, if it shows up there, then it is probably due to either the film reel or the age of the Ektapan film.

I would have liked to have taken images at Crystal Cove Park today but it was not to be, due to the circumstances described above. I am thankful, though, that I returned home. When I think back a year ago to what happened to my father, I still grieve. My father left for the hospital on June 19th to get a test performed, and he left the house for the last time. But we have to get over this.

One last thing. My brother-in-law is still waiting for his Covid test results, but he didn't have a fever last night. He insisted on going to work today. Isn't that way too risky, to suspect that you have the virus and maybe might contaminate others, but still report to work? But there is no way to make him understand. I didn't speak to him, but that is what I was told happened.