Remind me again why I got up this morning.

Rachel and Ben went to the Honda dealership early this morning to deal with the "check engine" light that has been on for the past few days. Too bad the light went off as soon as Ben got there, so they couldn't confirm the problem. The suspected problem is the transmission - this is really not a big surprise since the car has 210,000km on it. However, we were told that we should NOT have it done in the US since the warranty won't be valid in Canada. This leads me to yet another rant. Either bear with me, or skip it.

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Where to begin? First, why are prices in Canadian stores marked up 30-40% from the same merchandise in the US even though the exchange rate has been below 20% the entire time we've been down here? Some stores are getting better, but it's still pathetic. Here's a list of places that it will annoy me to shop at in Canada once we move home:

Eddie Bauer
Old Navy
Gap
Children's Place
Gymboree

So it's not a long list. I admit that. However, I have Canadian store cards for Eddie Bauer & Children's Place, but I cannot get those same cards in the US. Apparently this is because the US cards are actually credit cards, and we all know how our excellent (seriously!) credit history wouldn't transfer down here. The banks won't even give us a student credit card. Nor can we purchase a cell phone with a contract, which is why we have a prepaid cell phone instead. 10 cents a minute is a bargain by Canadian standards, but it's a rip-off in the US where monthly plans regularly include hundreds of minutes, FREE long distance (oh, sit down - it's the land of opportunity, what did you expect?) and all kinds of cool calling features at no extra charge.

Let me continue my rant a little. We recently purchased appliances for our new house in London. We were hoping to buy appliances down here since prices are substantially cheaper. No go. Even though both countries have Maytag, Whirlpool & all the rest of them, the warranties aren't honoured unless they're in the country of origin of the sale.

While we're at it, Sears Canada and the US Sears are not the same. Not even close. Even though I can supposedly transfer my Canadian Sears card over here, I can't buy appliances and have the warranty honoured at home. Never mind that Sears exists in both countries.

Surprisingly, Costco seems to be the only company that is willing to take the cross-border plunge. We had our tires replaced in the fall at Costco down here, and the warranty IS honoured in Canada. Not that it'll do us much good if the transmission falls apart on the way home to get it replaced.

Oh - are you wondering what we're going to do about the van? Good question! Right now, we're waiting. If the light comes back on, we need to call Honda and bring it right back in for a definite diagnosis. The estimate for repairs is about $2700 US. In my perfect world, we'll make it back to London without replacing the transmission, and Dave the mechanic will have a used transmission that'll do the job for a cheaper price! In the real world, is anyone else thinking that the van will just break down on the way home, say, in the middle of nowhere?

To add insult to injury (hahahahaha - you'll see why that's funny in a second), I got a lovely bill from the doctor today for $169. What for, you ask? Let's see.... I spent about 30 minutes in the doctor's office discussing my breathing problems, blowing air into a tube, and being told that yes, my asthma was flaring up. I was given a sample steroid inhaler that lasts for four weeks. Then the doctor requested that I follow up with her in 2 months. She also said that I'd need a prescription after the four weeks. However, she didn't give me a prescription at the initial visit, so I suppose that now I will have to pay again to go see her so that she can write me a prescription. Thank God that I will NEVER give birth in this country! (To all those of you who know my "never" history, I didn't SAY it so it doesn't count!)

God bless America indeed.