Spanish views from a small town

Monday morning and rain. And a parking lot that is always overflowing. That was the bane of my existance today. And it included a clueless driver who doesn't read traffic signs.  My father had an appointment in the outpatient clinic at the nearest hospital, which services almost 400,000 thousand people in its area of influence. It seemed like all 400,000 had an appointment this morning and drove there in their cars. The appointment was at eleven o'clock, so we left the house at ten. That gave us slightly less than a half hour for travel, around fifteen to twenty minutes to park, and ten to fifteen minutes to cool our heels in the waiting room before the hour. Normally that timetable has always worked. Not today. The trip was fine. I dropped off my father in pouring rain at the porte cochere leading to the clinics. Then I went to park the car.  Let's understand the parking situation. Ever since this hospital opened, in 2000, it has been surrounded by a pretty parking l...

My husband says that whenever I get behind the wheel of the car a black shadow comes in with me. Not that I drive badly, it's just that when it comes to parking the car, it seems all the cars on the street magically shift themselves to cover up any available space where mine would fit. Either that, or the car right in front of me grabs the available space. Generally, I don't have all the time in the world to park just outside town and walk in to do my errands. Nor do I want to carry heavy bags from the supermarket half a kilometer to the car. So I usually make several passes through the center of a town to find an empty space.  When I go to a large city I park in a parking garage. That way I avoid running back to put money in a meter that may or may not work every hour or two. I'm also assured of finding a place for my car in a central location. In Santiago I know most of those garages in the center. There's one I usually patronize, though there are others I sometimes...