Somewhat productive

I finally got around to applying for permission to leave the country today. It's been one of those "when-I-get-around-to-it" projects that finally became necessary. If I do decide to fly to Calgary and drive to Regina this summer, I'll have to have a passport to re-enter the US by air. However, with the costs of lodging in Calgary (and Regina to a lesser extent), and gas at $4.30 a gallon, I may not be able to go. Plus adc14 is coming down late that week, too, so I'd like to spend some time with her.

Back to the passport. I went to my nearest post office that offers Saturday passport services, only to find that they temporarily don't offer Saturday passport services due to remodeling. They sent me halfway across town to a former post office that is now exclusively a passport acceptance facility. Took a number, signed in, and waited to be called into the main room to (at that point) get in line. One family ahead of me in line was pissing people off. They didn't come with pictures (people, it's on the form that you need pictures!) so the staff was trying to take a picture of the little girl (who was about 3). She would not stand still, would not keep her arms down by her side, in general would not cooperate with the staffer. And mother wasn't helping. Bribery with Chuck E. Cheese wasn't helping. Threats weren't helping. I realize young kids have a bundle of energy, but really, how hard is it to get a 3-year-old to stand still for 5 seconds? When I was that age, my grandfather kept me in line once at the barber with threats of physical violence. You can't do that now.

So, it finally took about an hour to make it through both lines and turn in my forms and pay. Lunch followed, then a trip to Borders to try to find something to get with my 30% coupon. Also went to the car wash to try to get the bug splatter off the front of my car. Mostly succeeded. Then came home and watched Rising Damp: The Movie, which was better than I expected.