Is this a bad sign, Roy?

Lordy...I kept putting off booking my hostel in Perth because my lovely friends, who I know are only trying to help me, were making me paranoid (Jamie!) by telling me to avoid this one dodgy area of town in particular. I kept studying my map, trying to judge if different hostels I liked seemed far enough away from the designated dodgy area, etc. Anyway, I knew it was bad to put it off because this is a hugely busy time of year for hostels in Perth and I was taking a chance by waiting so long...but after listening to me naming street names that I thought were far away enough from the 'dodge-zone', Josh took pity on me and asked some friends who were in town where they were staying and it was some very centrally located hostel right smack dab in the centre of Perth. It's a place I would have booked first, had it been available to book online. I am sadly becoming one of those people who will go out of their way to not have to make contact with human beings. I LOVE making reservations online. I can do it any time I like and not have to listen to people scolding me for booking at the last minute. ;-)

I desperately attempted to book this place online, but alas, their 'booking forms' (and I'm rolling with laughter at calling it that) and their 'contact us' forms (giggle giggle) aren't actually linked up to anything and are a big waste of time. I had to (sigh) call Perth and talk to a human being.

Me: Hi, I was wondering if you had any dorm rooms available starting from tomorrow evening...
Elderly Man Behind the Hostel Counter in a Small Town: You're going to have to speak up! I can barely hear you!
Me: I wanted to know if you had any dorms free from tomorrow night?
Him: Sure, what's your name?
Me: Lori.
Him: Sorry?
Me: Lori. Lorrrrri.
Him: Roy?
Me: No, not Roy. LORI. L - O - R - I
Him: Right, Roy.
Me: No, L as in Linda. O as in Oscar. R as in Rose. And, and I as in, um, Island.
Him: R-O-Y. Roy?
Me: No, no, I'm not a boy. It's L-O-R-I.
(sidebar: I probably should have just said Lorraine. I HATE the name Lorraine and Lori is not short for Lorraine, I'm just Lori, but I've had heaps of people insist on calling me Lorraine. Whatever, I don't really care about Lorraine at the end of the day, but I'm sorry, I draw the line at Roy!)
Me: (insert many spelling attempts here...10 minutes later....)
Him: L-O-R-I? Jesus f*cking Christ. How the hell do you say that?
Me: Lori, rhymes with story.
Him: What the hell kinda name is that?
Me: It's just a name. A girl's name.
Him: Right....

And it went from there. I have a booking. But I bet you anything I'm down there as Roy....the hardest part was that I was trying so hard not to laugh my ass off the whole time...too funny!

So we just found out today that we're doing Secret Santa at work...will I get a butterfly sticker? Only time will tell. We're working half a day tomorrow, then doing an office lunch, then I'm off to see Perth and parts of Western Australia, hopefully as Lori, and not Roy. ;-)

So much to see and do - I am SO looking forward to it!

(pssst, Mom and Dad, send me an email and let me know when I should call you guys on Christmas!)

Merry Christmas everyone!
Feliz Navidad!