Simple tasks...?

How long does it take to get money, pick up and deliver x-rays, and go to the vet? Six hours...really. :S

Wednesday, I set out to do four simple tasks: get Euro, pick up my dental scan, deliver it to my dentist, and take Cocoa to the vet. Since Maryellen had to stop by the dentist's office as well, she agreed to follow me to find a bancomat and stop by the radiologist.

We left school at 3:00. I stopped by the ATM near the school and it was out of order...BRAND NEW and already out of order. Rather than taking an extra 8-10 minutes to go to one a little out of my way, I figured there would be plenty to choose from in downtown Catania.

We agreed that we both needed to get gas, so we stopped at the gas station first. I told Maryellen about the banking issue and she agreed that we would certainly see one. Thus, we set off on our quest. As chance would have it, we passed a bank on the way. The problem was that it was in a very busy traffic area and rather than triple park, I opted to continue on. It took about an hour to go the 18 miles from school to the radiologist. We parked the cars and began looking for a bancomat. When we had walked 5 minutes, we inquired with a man on the street who gave us directions to the nearest machine. It took us several minutes to find it, and as luck would have it, it was out of money. While we were commenting on the incredulity of the situation, we saw an older scooter with a spare tire mounted on the side and, since we had never seen such a thing we took this picture.


So, we re-focused on our task and asked another man for more directions. He was helpful and sent us in the direction of the Duomo. We walked and walked...realizing that we were in what we would consider to be a low-rent district we knew we were destined to go nearly all the way to the Duomo, sure enough it was within two blocks of the centro. I made my withdrawal and we were on our way to the radiologist. By the time we arrived at the radiologist it was 5:00...yes, two hours had passed; one driving, the other walking.

At the radiologist we learned that they would have takin my bank card as opposed to cash - go figure. We should have known, but since they don't deal in many cash transactions, we expected to have to pay cash. The good thing was that instead of the 150 Euro they told me it would be it was only120. Ok, so now I had money and my x-rays.

I live a good distance from Catania and my vet is also far from my home so Maryellen offered to deliver the x-rays for me -- she's a great friend. So, we set off in seperate directions. I reached my house by 6:00, got Cocoa in the car, and headed for the vet.

Traffic backed up at the tollbooth for some construction that had just been set-up. It took about 15 minutes to get through. When I reached Gravina traffic backed up again (which is typical for the area) and I was beginning to get anxious as 7:00 neared (the time the vet closes). Thankfully, we arrived at the vet at 6:55 and made it in the door. There were however, 5 others in front of us. We were finally seen at 8:00, there was an examination and collaboration of doctors, and we were on our way home with instructions to return on Monday or Tuesday for a final treatment option before a recommendation for surgery. Poor Cocoa...I feel so bad for her.


Finally, after 6 hours of running around (driving, walking, and waiting), Cocoa and I made it home at 9:00.