The Wandering Minstrel

I resolved to get on the treadmill and find out if those little chest pains I get once in a while are anything serious.

Mission accomplished - today I went and got a Cardiac Stress Test.

A cardiac stress test is a medical test that indirectly reflects arterial blood flow to the heart during physical exercise. When compared to blood flow during rest, the test reflects imbalances of blood flow to the heart’s left ventricular muscle tissue – the part of the heart that performs the greatest amount of work pumping blood.

The results may also be interpreted as a reflection on a person’s overall physical fitness.

My results: Normal beat - no arrhythmia, regular intervals up to 155 BPM. I’m mildly deconditioned for my age bracket. All else perfectly normal.

New Years Resolution #2: Resume the jogging three or four times a week for a mile or so.

The daily commute occasionally allows us to spot weird things. Today, it was this.

Seen on a Southern California Interstate - land of the fruits and nuts.

Interestingly, this wasn’t driven by a bunch of adolescent boys. Rather, it was occupied by about a half-dozen young women.

Sort of like Ho-to-Go.

Aesthetically speaking, this cellular antenna disguised as a windmill, is no less an eyesore than the conventional, undisguised cell tower. Within a couple of miles of this beast is a cell tower disguised as a palm tree, another tower supposed to be some kind of a conifer and the usual kind, atop buildings, billboards and on standard towers.

In the quest for ‘harmony’ with the landscape and an attempt to blend into the infrastructure, all of these are dismal failures. The palm and conifer trees are a joke with plastic fronds and synthetic pine needles whipping in the breeze around an array of non-tree-like cell antennas painted green. Utterly hilarious - and UGLY!

And as for this piece of work, will someone please call the Man from La Mancha?