Wednesday, October 21, 2015

what's left to say?

I've been spending all this time kicking myself for my stupidity. Misplacing your passport is a costly mistake. Today, I went out to Front Royal to get passport photos done. At my brother David's recommendation, I also went to the local DMV in Front Royal (no lines in a small town) to get an official birth certificate printed out. That's about $7.50 for the photos and exactly $14 for the certificate. Getting the birth certificate saved me the effort of going to public storage to dig through all my possessions just to find an old passport. On Thursday morning, I have a 9:30 appointment with the passport agency to report my passport as lost and to put in my request for a new passport, same-day service.

Contacted my coworker at the Golden Goose. He tells me that there's much guffawing at my expense going on there, but the boss is fine with my coming back a few days late. We'll work out the details of how I make up my two missed days once I'm back in Korea.

I've been telling people that this new-passport thing is costing me over $300, but that's because I've been assuming that I'll need to fill out a records request to prove I'm a US citizen. That request costs $150, but it's not part of the actual passport-request procedure, which is itself also around $150. If it turns out that I have sufficient paperwork not to have to do the records request, I automatically save myself $150. I'm hoping that'll be the case.

So I'm filling out forms, scanning and printing copies of my driver's license, and basically assembling everything that I'll need to bring to DC on Thursday morning. This will likely be my final night at my buddy Mike's house; my brother David wants to host me for a night or two, and he's closer to DC, anyway.

More later. Dinner is calling.


_

2 comments:

Surprises Aplenty said...

Hoping for the best at the Passport Office. I'd say it is only because I haven't used my passport in two years that I haven't misplaced it myself.

You didn't plan to stay longer, but find ways to enjoy it now that you are.

Charles said...

It is understandable that you may not be able to see the humor in this quite yet, but at least stop kicking yourself about it. On the bright side, you're boss isn't throwing a hissy fit, and you've got a few extra days to spend in the States. Stop worrying about whatever might have happened (and thus cannot be changed) and try to enjoy that extra time!

I'm kind of envious, to be honest--I would have loved to hang around for a few more days. There were things I wanted to do, places I wanted to go, beers I wanted to drink... but just didn't end up having the time for.