Wanted: Urban planners (and happy birthday monique!)

ideally, ones who have a bit of history working with roads and that type of infrastructure (which, if that's what all urban planner do, then forgive me for making that mistake). let me explain...

the roads in WA are bizarre. first, the speed limits are amazingly low for the type of street your using. "highways" are about 60kmph here. and, they change at the drop of a hat. for example, i drive on a "highway" to get to work. this highway has speed limits that go from 60-70-80-60-90-60-70-80 within about 15 minutes of driving. it makes me ask why? why would you do that? just make it one smooth speed limit for the entire length of the highway. for that matter, dropping the speed to 60 for about 500m will not make a difference because not very many people actually slow down. but the speed thing i can deal with. what i can't deal with, is the traffic lights.

that's because traffic lights here have no particular order of function. they have right turn only lights without having a right turn only lane... which is annoying when you get stuck behind someone who doesn't turn their flicker on until it's too late and you're doomed until the next light because the right turn only has become a no-right turn red arrow until the next round. not only that, but the lights don't follow a pattern. it's not that 2 opposite directions of traffic have turning privileges at the same time, and then can go straight at the same time, followed by the next 2 directions of traffic. oooooh no! that, my friends, would be much too simple for the aussies. what they do is let one direction of traffic go, then cut them off half way into the light to let the right turn only happen, then go back to that same lane. then another right turn only, then another lane of traffic. i can't really explain it very well, but you can get stuck at the lights for a solid 8 minutes sometimes, which can really make you late for work (though not yet, thank goodness!)

another beef about the traffic system is that pedestrians appear to have no right of way. there are signs around places that say "pedestrians, yield to cars". which amazes me, because "way to promote green and healthy living". at street lights, i've waited 10 minutes before having my turn to cross. and again, because of the non-sensical traffic lights, you can't even dash across in hopes that you won't get hit because you have no idea where the traffic will come from.

and don't get me started on cycling around here. i'll inform you now that john was hit by a car on his bike on wednesday. if you think that's shocking, imagine how i felt when he told me over the phone (again) and i had to drive home trying not to freak out (again). don't worry though, he's doing very well. his right elbow is in a bit of a trick right now, but overall he suffered very few injuries. i'll keep you posted on his progress with the elbow as we figure out what's going on with it. he's supposed to have xrays this week, just in case.

the weather this week has been unbelievably hot. i'm not trying to rub it in canadians, but it's true. while you were suffering in the asoundingly cold -42, we were melting away in the +45. i know it's not bad when you think about it like that, but it was so hot. and the clinic i work in didn't have a/c on the first few days because it was broken. try treating patients in small, confined rooms with no a/c in 45 degree weather! sweaty sweaty sweaty. thankfully, the beaches nearby are soothing and very refreshing, even at 6pm.

so needless to say, we've had an interesting week and a boring one all at the same time. we've watched a few movies and relaxed this weekend. though we did head into subiaco (or subi, as it's known here) on saturday. it's very much like kits in vancouver. apparently it's a popular place for celebrities and footy players (single gals, i'll take you here when you come...) today, i had an ultimate practice on the beach. let me tell you that after 2 hours of diving in the sand, you find sand in places you didn't know exist! but it was good times. tonight we're having a bbq with some neighbours.

and happy birthday to my sister monique (happy birthday to you, you live in a zoo, you look like a monkey, and you smell like one tooooo! lalalala). she turns 29 today! hope you're having fun!

hopefully next week will be a little more exciting (and less at the same time). i think we're going to explore a beach in cottesloe, which has a sculpture/exhibit on all week. no other plans so far.

xo