The Domino Effect/Best Laid Plans

Yesterday turned out to be a comedy of errors.

I had my day all laid out, so things would go seamlessly -
8:30 - Drop Ben off at school
9:30 - Leave the house for Logan's allergist appointment
10:30 - Logan's allergist appointment
1:00-ish - Drop Logan off at home with the babysitter, leave for my appointment
1:20 - my CAT scan for my sinus issues

I knew it might get a little tight between Logan's appointment and mine, as his appt was all the way in Newton, a good 40 minute drive from home. I thought, though, that even if the appointment took 2 hours and I left there at 12:30 I'd still have enough time to drop Logan off at home and go to my appointment.

Mapquest and the car's navigation said that it would be a 38 minute drive to the doctor's office in Newton. Of course, being the ridiculously-anal-about-punctuality person that I am, I thought leaving at 9:30 was the perfect option. In the paperwork the doctor's office had sent, they told me to please arrive 15 minutes before the scheduled appointment time. I had bags of time. The speed limit was 65, and I'll confess to usually going 75, but I tootled along right at 65. I was actually nervous that I'd be too early and have to entertain Logan in the boring waiting room for a long time.

I got onto I93 around Exit 35, I think. Around Exit 32, all I saw in front of me was a sea of brake lights. According to the car's navigation, I still had another 10 miles to travel on 93. I kept hoping for the traffic to break, but it just didn't. I searched for the traffic report on AM radio and finally got it - there was a massive issue at Exit 27, with major delays on 93. At the speed I was going (a whopping 5mph), it would have taken me 2 hours to go the remaining 10 miles. By this time it was 10:15, and I was getting nervous. I really do hate being late - I think it is a sign of disrespect. Of course I understood that I had no control over the situation, but I still felt bad.

I decided that since I had the navigation system, I'd get off the highway and use local roads to bypass the traffic. I thought i was one smart cookie! Well, it turns out that everyone else had the same idea, and the same navigation system telling them to go the same way.

Finally, finally, I reached the doctor's office. Unfortunately for me, it was located in the most confusing hospital ever built. It seems they've done a lot of construction at this hospital, but instead of doing it in a streamlined fashion they did it very choppily - a building here, a connecting hallway there, another building over there... and there are too many descriptors - White Building, Blue Building, Green Building, North Elevators, South Elevators, this hallway, that hallway... Even the information desk lady I asked directions from said it was a very confusing hospital!

Eventually we made it up to the doctor's office... at 11:10. I couldn't believe that a 38 minute trip had taken me almost 2 hours. Fortunately all the other patients were stuck in traffic too so we were seen almost immediately. They did the skin test on Logan, determined he had no allergies, and we were on our way... at 12:45. I did the math on the way out to the parking lot and realized there was no way I was going to make my 1:20 appointment. I called the doctor's office, but they're closed from 12 to 1 for lunch. Slackers!

At 1:02, from my car, I called my docs to tell them I'd be late... around 1:45-ish. She said that was no problem, and that I'd be the last appointment of the day with no one behind me, so it was okay if I was even a little bit later than that.

At around 1:30, I dropped Logan off at home with the babysitter. Fortunately she is also our cleaning lady, so she was already at the house doing the cleaning. She got Logan's lunch together (the poor kid was starving) while I made a mad dash to the ladies' room and then back out to the car.

I arrived at the doctor's office at 1:45 on the dot, and got all checked in. I settled into a chair in the waiting room with the latest issue of Family Circle, which had the yummiest-looking Oreo-encrusted, cream cheese filling-filled, whipped cream-frosted cake on the cover. I was reading the recipe when the receptionist called me over to say they were sorry, but the CAT scan machine was broken, but it should be ready around 3:00. It wasn't even 1:00 yet, so obviously I couldn't wait. I asked her if they could call me when it was ready, and I'd either be able to come back in if the babysitter could stay, or I'd have to reschedule. She asked if she should call on the 960 number, which is my cell phone. I said she could, or she could try me at home first. We reviewed both numbers to make sure they had them in my paperwork - they did.

I decided to go into to town to get some $$ from the ATM to pay the babysitter/cleaning lady, and to stop by CVS to pick up Logan's prescriptions from the allergist appointment. The doctor had called them in hours earlier so I figured they'd be all set. The CVS lady said they were ready, they just needed to be "checked." I'm assuming this is some of type of cover-your-ass double checking policy they have to make sure the right meds are in the patient's bag, with the right instructions. I saw the logic in that. She said they'd be ready in 10 minutes. I grabbed People magazine, sat in yet another waiting room chair, and read about poor Jett Travolta.

10 minutes passed... 15 minutes... 20 minutes... 25 minutes. After 30 minutes I was starting to get irate. And anxious again because it was getting close to 3:00 and I didn't want to miss the phone call from the CAT scan people. I went up to the cash registers... there was a lady who didn't seem to be doing anything of value. I said, "Excuse me," in my best frustrated customer voice, and when she finally turned around I said, "You don't look very busy. Can you please help me?" I was kind of hoping she detected my frustration. I'm not often a bitch like that! I explained that 30 minutes prior, I'd been told my rx would be ready in 10 minutes. I gave her the name, and she picked Logan's meds up from the basket marked with our last initial. She said it had been put away because it hadn't been marked that I was waiting. Who knows how long they'd been there - probably 20 minutes! Argh!

I finally left CVS at 2:50. I couldn't believe how long it had taken. I got home just before 3:00. The light on the answering machine was glowing, indicating there was a message. Sandi, the cleaning babysitter, said she saw on the caller ID that it was my doctor's office, but they hadn't left a message. I called the office, explained who I was and what had happened. The lady I'd spoken to at the office came on the line and said, "I called you 25 minutes ago. The CAT scan technician left." She said it in a not-so-nice way, which really pissed me off. I really felt like dropping some f-bombs, especially as the stress of the whole day was finally settling in, but decided against it because I knew I'd have to see her again. I did explain however that she told me it would be ready around 3:00, and it was just 3:00 right then. I should have asked why the technician left when I was told to be ready at 3:00. I should have asked why they didn't call my cell phone, when I knew they had the number right there. Granted, I told them to call me at home, expecting that my CVS debacle wouldn't have taken 30+ minutes, but still - they could have used logic and called my cell phone when they didn't get me at home.

Argh!

So this is totally like one of those Domino Effect scenarios... or Butterfly Effects - a butterfly flaps its wings in Cincinnati, altering the weather pattern in New York, slowing down a flock of geese, causing their flight path to directly intersect with that of an oncoming US Airways flight. I couldn't help thinking that if there hadn't been the initial downed power line in Waltham, I wouldn't have been stuck in traffic, so I would have left Logan's appointment earlier, and been able to make my originally scheduled CAT scan appointment at 1:20.

What a day!