> ... how can everything be relative when there's an absolute maximum velocity?
The observations leading to relativity theory put this question differently: Apparently the speed of light is constant, no matter how fast it's origin moves [1] : so we have to interpret our measurements relative to the speed of the observer. I still find Einstein's explanation the most readable [2]. He stays close to the geometrical description of reference frames and avoids the pictorial freedom known from monad tutorials...
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelson%E2%80 %93Morley_experiment