Are We There, Yet?

So it is Thursday night, which means the weekend is fast approaching! Good thing - I'm kind of tired and could use a day to sleep in!
I don't have a lot to share with everyone today. Although the day turned out a lot better than I thought it would. I had to take my rental car back today. I got up and started towards the city, and it started raining some. So traffic pretty much stopped. It took me a while to get to the rental car place. You would think I would have learned by now, but no... So the driving directions once again had me take an exit that was not named the same way on the road signs. Luckily, I had a general idea of where I was headed. Of course, when I got off, I could only turn one way on a road where I needed to go the other way. I managed to get turned around, and found my way to the rental place. I turned my car in, and luckily the rain had pretty much stopped by the time I got done. Why, you ask? Because I suck at being prepared for the weather. Right - no rain coat, no umbrella. (The weather forecast called for rain "coming in" today, which I assumed meant late morning or early afternoon. Not early morning. Bad call on my part.)
Here's the deal: The car place was about a mile from my office. So a good 15-minute walk (with traffic lights), and I had to decide if I was going to try to find a cab or walk. Since it had stopped raining, I walked. Not too bad - just a little misty rain, and there were awnings around, so things were fine. Until I got about 4 blocks from the office. At that point, the awnings stopped and the rain picked up. I was lucky enough to have picked up some papers out of the car and didn't throw them away, so I had some random stuff to use to cover my head. I managed to get to the office without getting too wet. Luckily I didn't have to go out the rest of the day. And by the time I left, the rain had cleared out. So despite the rough start, the day turned out pretty good.
During lunch I got online and ordered a ticket to the rugby match on Saturday. There is a lot of talk about the match - it is a pretty big game here, since it is New Zealand and Australia. There are lots of Kiwis here, so the match should be fun. I asked a couple of folks if they wanted to come, but all of my friends here are either already going to the game or can't go.
One of the guys who really wanted to go but couldn't told me that everyone at the game will be super friendly, as long as I am cheering for the Wallabies (the Aussie team). I told him that I will definitely be cheering for the Wallabies, and actually have an old jersey that's about 7 years old. I described it to him, and he got quite excited. He told me that they don't even make that jersey any more - you can't find it anywhere. He said everyone would think I was the biggest fan for having that jersey on. I told him, "Yeah, biggest fan. Until they hear me talk!" But I promised him I would get some pictures from the match.
As for the other people I know who are going... I couldn't get seats near them (it is all "best available" and you can't pick seats). But a group of us are going to meet up for dinner before the match, and then we're going to go out for drinks after the match. So even though I won't know anyone sitting around me, I think it is going to be a fun night!
After I ordered the tickets, I though I would check my bank account online. I knew I had a couple of expense reports that were open, and I was hoping had been paid. I also wanted to make sure all of my charges were showing up right. As I looked through my account, I noticed a lot of random fees. $1 here, $1.18 there, $1.50 somewhere else; all of these international transaction fees. Apparently, every time I use my debit card, I get slapped with a transaction fee. So I checked my credit card account, and sure enough, $1-$2 transaction fees every time I used my card. Now, don't get me wrong. I understand that the banks are losing a lot of money right now. But I can assure them - they will not make it all up by charging me fees. At the same time, I have to wonder how they are losing money if they keep slapping me with these piddly fees every time I use my card. With all of the people who travel internationally, the banks have to make some serious cash charging these fees! On top of the transaction fees, I noticed another service fee on my bank account. When I looked into it, I figured out that the bank is nice enough to charge me for using ATMs that do not belong to them.
Now, here's why this one rubbed me the wrong way: There are no ATMs here from my bank. Obviously. And I quickly emailed the bank's customer service to ask them which of their abundant ATMs I should be using over here, since I am being charged for not using the proper ATM machine. I will be interested to hear what the bank comes back with on this one. So if I use my debit card, I get charged a transaction fee. If I withdraw cash from an ATM, I get charged an ATM fee. These banks have it all figured out, and there is no way out! Dorks.
Okay, it's getting close to my bed time. Unfortunately, mX is still a little weak today, but I have pulled together the best I could find for your closing entertainment. Enjoy!
VENT TEXTS:
"Adam, it's great to hear you won't be back. Some of us had to live and work while you came to play in our city." - Andrew, Caringbah [To a guy whining about how some of the people in Sydney weren't nice to him during WYD, and he says he's not coming back.]
"If they can bring back 90210, then they should bring back Melrose Place as well. Melrose Place kicks butt over 90210." - Rach, Penrith [Seriously? People want to vent about this kind of stuff? Here's one for you: Both shows sucked.]
"Girl who works in bar Cleveland is going to turn me into an alcoholic." - Scott, Surry Hills
"They're making a sequel to Dark Knight. Heath Ledger has signed. It'll be directed by the same guy as Weekend at Bernie's." - Gem, Cronulla [OUCH!]
STORY OF THE DAY:
A woman in the US was performing a Wiccan ceremony in a cemetery. The ceremony involved candles, incense, and driving swords into the ground during the full moon. Now, I am not making fun of anyone's rituals. However, I am making fun of the following: She accidentally stabbed herself in the foot during the ritualistic ceremony. And what was the purpose of the ceremony? To give thanks for a recent run of good luck. Hilarious!