woohoo! latch finally opened and I was able to check the oil and add a tad of it into the engine! I'm not sure if this helped or not, but this is what I did after playinging with the latch this morning without getting it to pop the hood. I went to the front of the car and gently yet firmly pressed on the front edge of each corner of the hood. I pulled the little release thingy out from the grille. I then went to pop the hood, and it popped open! I thought I'd try that trick I heard from a Volvo discussion board. But I think with the Volvo, you press on the driver-side of the hood (closer to the door than to the front edge of the hood). Yeah, wish I had read csmow's post before I closed the hood! I'll spray some grease on it next time Thanks guys!