As usual, I once again had to suspend my ideas of how things operate in life when I came across the need to get some things repaired. Both with my car and with my lawnmower I was required by the repair shops to go buy my own parts and deliver them to the shop. This meant, of course, an hour drive to drop off the equipment and an hour home on day one. Then several hours on a different day to shop for – and to deliver – the parts. Finally, another couple of hours to pick it up once it was repaired.

Whenever I’ve asked anyone about this, I’ve always received the same reply: “That’s just how it’s done here.” Talk about frustrating! All I want to do is to take my brainwashed North American ideas of how things should be done and force it into the “common sense” of some folks around here.

Yes, there has to be another option. What about paying more? What about finding a person who can run around for me? I think the mindset here is that if you do it yourself it’ll be cheaper. As much as I like to save money, the ridiculous amount of time it takes to do anything here is too much to bear.

Yesterday I had to take the new car in for its 1,500 kilometer service. Between the round-trip drive and the wait time, it took me almost 6 hours. Add that to the 6 hours from the previous day’s trip to the dentist (for a routine cleaning) and it doesn’t leave me a whole lot of time to get my work done!

So as to not just sound like I’m (only) complaining, I’d like to suggest something: If you find yourself in the same shoes, ask friends, post on forums and seek out alternatives. If it costs a bit more, it’s worth your sanity.