at par

The Canadian dollar is at $0.986 US today. Hey, 98.6, it’s good to have you back again.
I remember, as a child, the dollar used to be close to the US dollar. We would often seen ‘at par’ signs in Fargo and Grand Forks when on holidays. Comics used to be 25 cents, 30 cents, even ‘still only 35 cents’ and it didn’t matter which side of the border you were on.

Later, the dollar slipped, and comics would have two prices, a US price and, in tiny print, a higher Canadian one. In my early trips to Gencon, the dollar was firmly fixed in the .60s and you had to really work out whether it really was a good deal, especially since the weekend limit was only $50. It was like having metric money – with $1 US being worth $1.6 Canadian.

Last year, with the dollar in the upper .80s, the wife was buying books in the US on holidays as it was cheaper paying the regular US price than paying the higher Canadian price at home. This year, at almost par, the math becomes very easy on looking at the deals and with the limit raised to $200, it becomes dangerous.

I remember the last trip back from Gencon, and we were close to the limit, depending on how the dollar had done over the week. We pulled up to the border and the Custom’s officer asked us, “Just the four of you?”
It took me a second to realize that the kids also counted towards our limit. “Yes, yes indeed.”


A happy TLAP day to all of you scurvy dogs out there.