Passport Time Again!

[cdndislvr]

Wow....that's gonna take a lot of work. The things we do for da mouse.

This is a good reminder that it's probably best to get the passport stuff done with when you have time and not wait till you need it. My brother renewed his passport months early ... not because he was going somewhere that wanted at least 6 months before expiry but because he had a day off anyway and thought it would be a good time to get it done.

I admire the people who can take a vacation without warning but you need a passport now to do that. Someday I hope to be able to do that (I'm too much of a planner to just take off...the stress of not being able to plan, to the minute, our entire itinerary would give me a stroke) so I'm always going to make sure I have a valid passport.

Besides, it means that every few years I get a chance to improve on the photo (bah....it hasn't happened yet!!!!!)

I know the feeling.....what do you mean I can't smile for my passport photo?

Reading some of these stories I'm relieved everything went so smoothly when I had to get a passport renewal for dd16 this year. We don't have a passport office so I had to send everything in. I must admit I was a little uneasy about sending it in and not having anyone tell me "this is missing...this is wrong...pic is not good enough...." But I rechecked everything a thousand times and she received her passport in less than 4 weeks. Looks like I beat the mad rush!

 

[almacdonald]

From an email in my inbox this morning:

Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

I'm in the process of renewing my passport, and still cannot believe this.

How is it that Radio Shack has my address and telephone number and knows that I bought a t.v. Cable from them back in 1997, and yet, the Federal Government is still asking me where I was born and on what date.

For crying out loud, do you guys do this by hand? My birth date, you have on my social insurance card, on all the income tax forms I've filed for the past 30 years, my health insurance card, my driver's licence, on the last eight bloody passports I've had, on all those stupid customs declaration forms I've had to fill out before being allowed off the planes over the last 30 years, and all those insufferable census forms that are done at election times.

Would somebody please take note, once and for all, that my mother's name is Maryanne, my father's name is Robert and I'd be absolutely astounded if that ever changed between now and when I die! Man!

I apologize, Mr. Minister. I'm really ticked off this morning. Between you an' me, I've had enough! You send the application to my house, then you ask me for my freakin' address. What is going on? You have a gang of Neanderthals workin' there?! Look at my damn picture. Do I look like Bin Laden? I don't want to dig up Yasser Arafat, for crying out loud. I just want to go and park my butt on a sandy beach. And would someone please tell me, why would you care whether I plan on visiting a farm in the next 15 days?! If I ever got the urge to do something weird to a chicken or a goat, believe you me, I'd sure as hell not want to tell anyone!

Well, I have to go now, 'cause I have to go to the other end of the city and get another bloody copy of my birth certificate, to the tune of $60! Would it be so complicated to have all the services in the same spot to assist in the issuance of a new passport the same day?? Nooooo, that'd be too easy! You'd rather have us running all over the place like chickens with our heads cut off, then find some bozo to confirm that it's really me on the stupid picture - you know, the one where we're not allowed to smile?! Hey, you know why we can't smile? We're ticked off!

Signed - An Irate Citizen

 

[Boncho]

From an email in my inbox this morning:

Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

I'm in the process of renewing my passport, and still cannot believe this.

How is it that Radio Shack has my address and telephone number and knows that I bought a t.v. Cable from them back in 1997, and yet, the Federal Government is still asking me where I was born and on what date.

For crying out loud, do you guys do this by hand? My birth date, you have on my social insurance card, on all the income tax forms I've filed for the past 30 years, my health insurance card, my driver's licence, on the last eight bloody passports I've had, on all those stupid customs declaration forms I've had to fill out before being allowed off the planes over the last 30 years, and all those insufferable census forms that are done at election times.

Would somebody please take note, once and for all, that my mother's name is Maryanne, my father's name is Robert and I'd be absolutely astounded if that ever changed between now and when I die! Man!

I apologize, Mr. Minister. I'm really ticked off this morning. Between you an' me, I've had enough! You send the application to my house, then you ask me for my freakin' address. What is going on? You have a gang of Neanderthals workin' there?! Look at my damn picture. Do I look like Bin Laden? I don't want to dig up Yasser Arafat, for crying out loud. I just want to go and park my butt on a sandy beach. And would someone please tell me, why would you care whether I plan on visiting a farm in the next 15 days?! If I ever got the urge to do something weird to a chicken or a goat, believe you me, I'd sure as hell not want to tell anyone!

Well, I have to go now, 'cause I have to go to the other end of the city and get another bloody copy of my birth certificate, to the tune of $60! Would it be so complicated to have all the services in the same spot to assist in the issuance of a new passport the same day?? Nooooo, that'd be too easy! You'd rather have us running all over the place like chickens with our heads cut off, then find some bozo to confirm that it's really me on the stupid picture - you know, the one where we're not allowed to smile?! Hey, you know why we can't smile? We're ticked off!

Signed - An Irate Citizen

I LOVE IT!!!!! Thanks for sharing!

 

[madonna31]

I already copied it and sent it to everyone I know.

 

[WATERFORDGIRL]

Loved that email re writing the PM about the passport - so true!!
It is frustrating to have to go through so much for a passport when you know that there are people out there who use fakes and I am sure don't have near as much hassel getting it. We are into step 2 re my brother's passport. He sent his passport info to me (he is in Cape Breton) via a relative who lives in Truro but was coming to Halifax to shop. My husband met her and they did the info exchange. From there, my husband brought it to me at work. At lunch time I walked down to the PP office and was lucky to be able to use an express lane and had them check it out. It was fine. My brother has decided to come in person from the Cape next weekend, will take Monday off work and come with me to the PP office. as only he or someone at his residence can actually drop off the passport info. Expensive venture for him, $200 approximately between the cost of the passport and travel expenses plus he has to miss a day of work... Oh well, I hope the trip to Florida in February is worth all this trouble and expense.