The Interesting Side of Running Errands

There is one thing I have not yet mastered...running errands when you commute via bike. It definitely makes it a bit more difficult. For one, the place you need to go has to be on the way - as opposed to when you are in a car, my 'on the way' is anything that's not more than 5 minutes out of the way. Secondly, you need to be able to get there without endangering your life - there are places that are technically close enough I could make them on my way but they would involve crossing a 5 lane road, which I have definitely not built up to yet. And lastly, the errand needs to be able to fit in your backpack. It also helps if you have a bike lock, which I just purchased for myself after yesterday's adventures.

So, yesterday I was actually able to run two errands. On the way to work I dropped of a dress at the dry cleaner, and on the way home I stopped at the vet (yes, it's amazingly in between work and home) and picked up heartworm pills for Kaylinn. I passed both of them on the ride from home to work or work to home respectively, and they were on the same side of the road as I was going, which met conditions 1 and 2. They also conveniently fit in my backpack, which met condition 3.

The problem is tommorrow when I needed to 1 - pick up the dress after being cleaned and 2- take the dog to the vet for a rabies shot I cannot use the bike because of condition 3. This morning I finally went to the doctor about the cough I've had for the past 2 and a half weeks, which did not allow me to bike because of condition 2. I actually considered going back to the house to get my bike after the appointment, but was already so late for work that I decided I needed that extra half hour of work in order to get done what needed to be done today (and I was correct, I got all but one thing done before I had to leave).

So, it's an interesting world deciding when and how to run errands. It's always seems like a bit of a maze trying to figure out what to do on which trip and when to leave to have time to get here before going there before getting to where you need to be. But now it seems like one of those little puzzles where you slide all the pieces around to make a picture but you can't pick any of them up - just when you think you've found a way to make it work you realize the piece you need on the bottom right is on the top left and you have to mess it all up again to get it down there.
By the way apparently you can make those little puzzle things on Flickr with your own photos, but I couldn't figure out how to do it so I just stole someone else's picture :)