HHRay and I are going to the C restaurant this Sunday. This will be our 2-year anniversary dinner (the actual anniversary is on Monday). I booked and requested a window table (who wants to pay over $80 for a meal in a rotating restaurant if you can’t even get a table near the view?) and they said “That should be possible, but we’ll have to see on the night.” So we’ll come in, ask them what table they’re seating us at and if it isn’t a window table we’ll leave and go to another – cheaper – restaurant.

I went straight to a car dealer from work last night and found out just how nice people can be.

First, I ended up standing at the wrong bus stop. I moved to the other side of the street when I saw a bus coming and asked the driver how to get to where I was going and if I was in the right spot. He ended up taking me to the nearest major bus port and explaining what  bus stop to go to. Then another bus driver came over to me and explained to me how to get to my destination. When my bus came, he also explained where I had to be dropped off to the driver of my bus. I was running late so I had to call HHRay and let him know.  I asked a guy on the bus if I could borrow his mobile to send a message, feeling guilty. He said “Sure, you can call too, you know, I don’t mind.”

Today I ended up spending half an hour on a bus talking to the bus driver – he let me get on his bus to wait until it was time for him to to my street so that I wouldn’t have to go outside. It was so nice of him, too! We talked about our travels, politics, and tons of other things.

So many nice people in such a short timespan!

Updates updates updates. I was so tired once weekend came around that all I wanted to do was lay around and sleep. Except first, I wanted to go to this awesome bar and unfortunately that didn’t work out due to stupid bus schedules and time difficulties :( This has got to be like the 4th or 5th time in a row that I’ve missed going to this particular place and it sucks.

Last night HHRay’s family and I went to Paddo’s and I loved it. The Cheeky Monkeys were playing, it was the first time I’d ever heard them, and they were awesome. Unfortunately HHRay absolutely hated it there so the two of us left early – it was a bit of an adventure getting back to HHRay’s using public transport, though. I won’t go into details, but let’s just say it involves being lost, public urination, freezing, and taxis.

I definitely want to go back there again one day, though – the atmosphere at this place was totally different from a normal club. People are a bit older therefore more mature – everyone’s having a grand time, smiles at everyone else, it’s a really homey atmosphere. Oh and when you try to squeeze through the crowd people actually move aside for you unlike in a club – where everyone bumps into you as if on fricking purpose (it’s a huge pet peeve of mine).

I did something very bad – I invested in a GHD hair styler. I had a choice – either the Pure white styler from the limited edition line or the Dark black one – I went for black because I had read that the white one rusts easily and such. I thought HHRay would kill me when I told him – and for a minute there it really seemed like he would. But then he saw how happy I was with my $319 impulse purchase and his heart melted a little (I hope he doesn’t read this because if he finds out the actual price of this thing his heart will freeze up again like an icicle and I’ll really be in trouble then).

I slept for most of the day today and feel almost fully rested now. I think I’m ready to go back to work tomorrow, just need to make sure that I get a good night’s sleep tonight.

Alright, when it comes to cars, I’m pretty much clueless. Sure, I’m interesed in them and stuff, I had fun changing HHRay’s brakes with him, taking the wheels off, getting all greasy, etc., but when it comes to picking a car for myself all I know is I want something small, inexpensive, and reliable.

One thing I thought I did know about cars is that in Russia an Ukraine – they suck. When we left Ukraine over 8 years ago, my dad was one of the only people to own a car in our neighborhood. It was an old little thing with no air conditioner (well, new at the time, but you know what I mean). Obviously one would expect things to change in such an amount of time, but I could never quite imagine Ukrainian and Russian vehicles being so…cool, for lack of a better word.

And then as I was browing through opportunities on SocialSpark, I see the Chevrolet Europe web site. Clicking on the Russin section of the site opened up a whole new world for me. These cars aren’t looking half bad! I wonder if they have these in Ukraine now as well. Last time I was there they were driving little huffing puffing box looking things.

On second thought, I think my uncle actually owns a Chevrolet – he bought it on his trip to Russia. I’ll have to double check with him.

Here are some things that I would enjoy more than I did walking for an hour and a half down Russel Road in search of the entrance to Beeliar Regional Park today, which, according to the heavenly Cockburn City Council, is meant to be open to the public and their leashed four-legged companions.

1) …actually, forget it. I can’t be bothered writing out what would otherwise be a very lengthy list. Let’s just say EVERYTHING. I would enjoy everything more than that.

Oh yeah…and then I had to walk all the way back, too >.<.

My lack of posting can be explained by me working my butt off all weekend. Work on Friday night, then all day Saturday and Sunday. I’m getting paid to go to a festival which I would normally have to pay $200 to go to. Yeah, I can’t believe it, either. It was lots of fun, today especially. We got to see Eskimo Joe live! I was so excited. Pretty sure we ran through a gazillion packets of Polaroid film. I’m too tired to write. More later.

HHRay and I got into a debate today. We talked about demerit points and fines for getting caught for irresponsible driving of some sort – drunk driving, speeding, etc etc. Something you’re not allowed to do on the road. We started talking about fines and how they impact wealthy and poor people. Say the set fine for some kind of misbehavior is $500. And every person they stop for that misbehavior has to pay $500. Well, some poor person will pay that $500 and not be able to pay his rent next week. A millionaire pays $500 and commits the same thing the next day because $500 out of his pocket, to him, is nothing. So poor people are impacted greatly by that fine and rich people don’t think twice about it. How is that helping? It’s just telling us that rich people can get away with more than poor people can.

I suggested that maybe there should be a fine based on a percentage instead of a static amount of dollars. For example, say the amount the person would have to pay might be 0.08% of his annual income or something (this is just a random figure, used as an example only). This way, the amount of money which people of all types of income will pay would have the same impact instead of seeming like a mountain to one person and a molehill to another. It’ll be fair.

Why wouldn’t this work? HHRay said that rich people would never allow this to happen, that it would be unfair to them. But come on, don’t you think that the way things are set out now is unfair to poor people? My suggested payment amount modification would put everyone on the same level – nobody will have to pay more than they can afford while their rich neighbor pays the same amount and doesn’t even get a dent in his wallet. Yes, wealthy people would have to adjust, but they’d be adjusting to a more fair system than the one that we have now.

Oh how I miss Alabama. Especially Birmingham, the largest city in the entire state. I had almost forgotten my visit to Birmingham years ago, until I checked out the city’s guide here, on USA Hotel Guide. I’ve gotta admit, Birmingham isn’t such a great tourist hotspot – I didn’t think I’d see it in a guide :S. I saw Birmingham on the list of guides and, when I clicked on it, was instantly reminded of how great the city really was. Yeah, who would’ve thought, a great city in Alabama, right? Well Birmingham is one of those cities.

The Birmingham guide talks about different hotels and attractions that Birmingham has to offer. It’s located at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and has more than 500 restaurants. One thing that kind of threw me off is mention of how many Baptist churches there are. Is this really relevant? What if a Muslim wants to visit the city? Why not list how many Muslim churches there are as well? I’d like to see a bit less discrimination and segregation religion-wise in the guide.

But then it talks about Birmingham’s Museum of Art – this brought my spirits way up because I remember going there :). There are Asian art collections, a motorsport museum, exhibits of African Art, basically anything your little heart desires.

The guide also mentions the many gardens that are located in Birmingham. And seriously, there are many. If you’re a nature lover, I’d definitely recommend checking it out. Then it mentions the obvious things – movies, shopping, etc. Of course, if one wanted to go shopping, they’d go to LA or New York ;). Nevertheless, these things are always good to know for tourists and people who live there. One thing that intrigued me the most, which I actually didn’t see during my visit, is that it turns out Birmingham has the world’s largest skylight. You learn something new every day.

If you do decide to visit Birmingham someday, be sure to check out this list of inexpensive hotels.

I really don’t have time to write right at this moment, but I’d like to apologize to those kind bloggers who have been leaving me comments and have gotten no reply from me as of yet. With the new job, my internet time will be limited. I promise to catch up with everybody ASAP, this weekend at the latest. I’d like to thank those who have visited my blog. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep up the posting. In fact, I know I will. I just need to get some affairs in order, first :).