Passport Pastime
Our trip to Moldova is going to be a lesson in patience. The signs are all there. Today I had hoped we'd clear the passport hurdle, but it's apparently going to take a little more effort than I expected.
You have to give the government some credit, they've made it fairly easy to fill out the forms and such. You can fill out the application on line and then print it out all neat and tidy to carry with you to the Post Office or any number of other places these days that accept them, I think Krogers is on the list, but we don't have a Krogers in San Antonio.
The one hiccup in that process is you have to actually know the information they want. My parents died in 1972, I was fairly certain of their birth dates, but I had to get on line to make sure of the years. As to where they were born...I'm making an educated guess. Anyway, that process took a little bit of time away from the day, which admittedly I also ceded a portion to a well deserved nap.
Okay, got the form filled out and printed, then I actually read it. Bring your birth certificates. Anyone who knows us, for that matter anyone who has been brave enough to walk inside our home or even get a peek at our garage while passing by, knows we're not exactly organized. It took a little a lot of digging - I found my college records, Valentines day cards, love letters and about 35 remote controls from devices long since decomposed.
I eventually succeeded in retreiving our birth certificates although I'm now considering getting a tetanus shot booster.
So I have the birth certificates, the forms are filled out to best of my ability, two forms of ID are in hand...all we need: passport photos.
The government even makes that easy....or so you'd think. If you don't want to shell out 8 bucks to have the photos taken at WalGreens, you can now take the pictures yourself, size them to the specifications, print them out on photo paper and you're home free.
Of course you have to know where your digital camera is...
Back into the clutter I go...step by step...inch by inch... (sorry, I'm slipping into an old Three Stooges routine). After searching all over the house I finally found the camera...sitting on my desk.
I picked it up and asked Amy if she was ready....
Let's just say we're not going to get this done today. I'm perfectly willing to have any photo at all on my passport but evidently Amy has slightly higher standards, like having her hair brushed, and some make-up on, and... well, you know, she wants to look nice. Her words were, "This is a picture that's going to have to last ten years!"
Just as well...it make take that long to find the camera charger anyway.
posted by Michael
©The Main Point by Michael Main
3 Comments
3 Comments:
I am with you on this one Amy. Yes you have to brush your hair an dput on make up.
BUT
Remember you are going to come off an international jet flight when they look at that photo, and then look at you to see if there is some resemblance... Don't want to cause too much confusion do you!
I just applied for a passport last week, so I can relate with everything you said! Completing the form was a piece of cake in my case, but the painful part was waiting in line at the Post Office. And yes, I did comb my hair although I passed on the makup.
We finally got it done... even after I printed out two copies of MY application and instead of one of each, so Michael had to fill out a form at the P.O. quickly. He about gave up and said, "we need to go home and let me fill it out online again," at which point I took the application and filled out the rest for him.
The picture-taking portion of this adventure would have been simple had Michael not worn a white shirt which made him blend in with the background, making the background too dark... the digital camera tried to "white balance" and it took three takes to get a decent one. Mine was a go on the first take. My hair was done in a simple style and I just had on a little bit of makeup to make me look human. I'm a bit greyish-green without it ;-)
When we got to the P.O., there was NO line and we got through the process relatively quickly... however the glare in Michael's glasses may kick the pictures back to us and he'll just have to submit new ones via postal mail if they won't accept them.
In any event, the applications are in and we've taken the first step! I also made the call to the "leader" of our group and said, "we're a go."
We'll keep you posted!
Amy
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