I fought the Law, and the Law Won.

Several weeks ago, I had my day in court.



You see, last July I got caught by a speed camera doing 55kph in a school zone {where it's 40kph during certain hours on school days.}
To make a long story bearable, I'd only been in the country less than 60 days at the time.  I was told by several Aussie coworkers that it was school holidays and, thus, the school zones could be ignored.

Unfortunately, you cannot exactly argue with a speed camera.  Or flirt your way out of a ticket, for that matter.

Photo source

These buggers are all over Australia.  And I hate them.

So me being me, I decided to fight it in court.
Why? Because I obviously love putting myself in uncomfortable, nerve wracking positions.

This might look like a smile for those who don't know me.  But it's actually my "Eek I'm nervous face."

Here's how shizz went down....
Everybody goes inside the court room.
You have to bow to the judge {Magistrate.}  Weird.
Turns out it's criminal court, {so much for traffic court ala Los Angeles.}
So I have to sit nervously through a guy getting the nails put to him for selling pot.
Naturally, I was the first case to get called forward that wasn't using a lawyer {or solicitor, as they say here.}
I pled my case.
I think I did a pretty decent job.
Until the end, which went like this:

Judge: "Are you employed?"
Me: "Yes, Your Honor."
Judge: "Do you plan to present me with evidence as to why you cannot pay the $278 fine?"
Me: {crap!} "No, Your Honor."
Judge: "Case settled.  Judgement for $278."

She got me.  Two days later I came up with a great rebuttal.

Me {hypothetically}: "Is a prerequisite condition of financial hardship necessary to request leniency, Your Honor?"
translation: F*(@ off, it doesn't matter if I have money or not!

Today, an envelope came in the mail, which I assumed would be the $278 penalty.
I opened it.

ADVICE OF DISQUALIFICATION AND CANCELLATION OF LICENCE

Say whaaaaaaaa?!?!?!

I start frantically reading the letter.  In small print at the bottom, it lists the offense, court, and date.  The court and date were correct, but the offense was wrong!  They put me down for an offense where you automatically lose your license {going 30kph over the speed limit.}

I called and the Road Transit Authority said I need to call the courts.  They simply enforce whatever the court sends through.  I asked "Is there an outstanding fine associated with the charge?"  "No."


Hmmmmm.  The license is only suspended until June 16, 2012.  We are only in Australia until May 31.  I'm wondering if I should just roll the dice and go with this charge to avoid paying the $278.  Worst case scenario, I get pulled over and have to explain to the cop that it was an error by the court and I'm working with them to resolve it.

Thanks, a lot, Hornsby Court </sarcasm>

What do you guys think?  
Should I go through the hassle of changing it with the court and paying the $278?
Or should I roll the dice with this one and have the evidence ready in case I get pulled over?

Update: {this is what I get for waiting so long to publish this post} The fine has come in the mail.  Blech!  Fortunately, I have a friend who's a prosecutor that's sorted out the mis-coded offense for me.  So now I basically just need your pity.  Ha!

My Inspiration

One of my bloggy BFF's, and first blogger to meet in real life, Jasmine, asked me to share some thoughts on what inspires me.

Several weeks ago, Aunie from Aunie Sauce, shared a hairstyle she learned from another blogger.
Not just any hairstyle.
A method of achieving curls without a curling iron or curlers.
Have I mentioned how much my husband loves it when I curl my hair?
Have I mentioned how much I despise curling hair?

So naturally, when I read about this technique, I was pretty geeked.  You can read it for yourself here.

"Pre-Curls" from the back

"Pre-Curls" from the front. Be jealous of this awesome look.  My hubby loves it.

After!  This was about 45 minutes later, plus hair spray

After from the back

These curls were totally, completely, 100% blogger inspired.

Want to know more about what inspires me?  Head over to Jasmine's blog to find out!

Odds and Ends

1.  There's no TTD scheduled this week.  Many of you have expressed an interest in sharing a vacation with us, but have yet to return your write-up to me.  If you're looking around going "who? me?" then take a deep breath, acknowledge your procrastination, and get to work on your TTD guest post.  ;)

If you're interested in doing a guest feature of the Tuesday Travel Diaries series, please email me at emmyjuneborninmay(at)gmail(dot)com.  You can also look here to see past editions and get ideas.

2. I made this fancy collage from a bowling outing with friends the other week; however, there never seemed to be a good time to share it.  Also, the website I was using to make the collages keeps duplicating one photo {arghhhh} even though there are enough originals for all the slots.

Does anyone have a good program for making photo collages?

In Australia you have to say ten-pin bowling, otherwise the assumption is that you're going lawn bowling.  Personally, I think my lack of white hair and a perm should be a dead giveaway that I'm not going lawn bowling, but whatevs.

3.  J and I leave early tomorrow morning to fly to Brisbane.  From there, we are taking a ferry to North Stradbroke Island, for 4 days of beach camping.  I love that Easter is a 4-day holiday here, and many people take the entire week off work.

Also, did I mention there's no showers or toilets where we're camping?  Literally, we're just setting up camp on a stretch of beach.  Supposedly, the friends we are going with have experience in creating a make-shift outhouse.  I'm not sure which part sounds worse to me.

4.  I bought a few new nose rings, based on the recommendation of Deanna from Delirious Rhapsody.  Trying out the gold ring.  It's been years since I've worn a ring instead of a stud.

5.  If you missed my previous posts about blogging advice, it's being shared at The Blog Tap.  This website is a blogger's dream for tips, how-to's, and advice to make your blog rock.

6.  And lastly, my blog reached 100 followers today!  Thank you all for giving me a warm welcome into the blogging community.  You totally blew away my expectations.  Not only do I have 100+ followers, but so many of you take the time to leave such thoughtful comments.  I love the feedback, advice, and encouragement I receive from you.

Blogger Book Swap

A couple of weeks ago I signed-up to participate in my first ever "bloggers send each other shizz" event....formally known as The Blogger Book Swap, hosted by Heather at Blonde Undercover Blonde.

Heather paired me up with the fabulous Meg of O is Me.  You probably already know Meg...in fact, you're probably on of her 700+ followers...but if not, let's just say she's pretty awesome.

We traded some emails back and forth, getting to know each other and what the other person likes to read.  I'd heard around the blog world {cough, CaitEmma @ Linen & Leaves} that Divergent by Veronica Roth was a good "fill the void that Hunger Games left" kind of book.  I shared this info with Meg, and she got me the book!

Thanks to technology, a cross-continent book swap is no biggie.  I received the gift via Barnes&Noble as an e-book, and promptly downloaded it onto my nook app for ipad.  I actually own the nook as well, which seems rather superfluous now that Apple's taken over my life.  

So, about the goods....

Here's what Amazon says:

"In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. 

So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her."

The sad news for Veronica Roth is that she's no Suzanne Collins or J.K. Rowling, despite the fact that she'll be relentlessly compared to both.  

The good news for Veronica Roth is that I got completely sucked into the book, nonetheless.  The writing is less sophisticated and the plot far more predictable than Hunger Games.  However, I really loved the romance and I found myself cheering for the heroine.  Once the plot grabbed me, I couldn't put it down and finished it within a couple of days.

The book is part of a trilogy and, sadly, book #2 doesn't hit the market until May 1.  So I'll have to be patient before I find out what happens next.  

All in all, I enjoyed the book, and especially enjoyed the Book Swap.  Thanks to Meg for the great book & to Heather for hosting the swap :)

If you want to know which book I picked out for Meg, you'll have to head over to her blog to find out!

Now I need a new book to read.  What say you, bloggers?