May 21, 2018 - PPM - Passport Process Predicament

This week's PET PEEVE MONDAY (PPM) is the US Passport process.

I tried to get a Passport renewal for my 15 year old daughter because she is daring to hike/canoe in Canada this coming summer.

What should be a 3 minute online process was a painful 75 minute painful lesson in government inefficiencies at the local Post Office.

Here is a summary of the process:

- Mother could not attend so I needed a notarized affidavit of her having a working Mother along with photo copy of her driver’s license. (which I had)

- Clerk #1 did not like how I wrote my “A’s” on the application - I remarked you should see how the Nuns made me do my “2’s.” No sense of humor, 10 minute delay as I had to redo a page.

- Needed picture of non-smiling teenage girl. (which I had - see photo).  I remarked, my teenage daughter never smiles, as she is stuck in some Twilight / Stranger Things dimension. No sense of humor, 10 minute delay, just because they can.

- Clerk #2 said I needed photocopy of previous passport. I explained I had original, expired passport. After 5 minutes discussion with Clerk #1, they said they could accept it as long as I signed a form stating I would not get back the expired passport. I said fine. I joked that my daughter would not be going to Yugoslavia, North Vietnam, or Siam, as they were “expired countries.” No sense of humor, 10 minute delay. I can only guess they would have referred me to the Mueller probe had I referenced the USSR.

When it came time to pay, they needed an $80 personal check, no credit card for one of the fees. However, I was able to pay the other $35 fee WITH a credit card. WTF?

I dared to ask how long it will take before we receive the renewed passport.  I stated her trip starts on June 15. Clerk #1 and #2 picked up their calendar behind the desk, counted the weeks till June 15, looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders, and said, “Hard to tell.”

I kid you not.

Is it any wonder why NO ONE wants Government involved in Health Care?

May 18, 2018 - Friday Funny - De-Motivator Speaker

This week's FRIDAY FUNNY is how I love parenting and motivating my children.

Because of the way they calculate grades at her high school, the end of semester test can be devalued if you have done well in the previous 2 quarters.  (2 quarters = 1 semester)

Her argument was she only needed a C and a D on the exams to maintain her class standing.  

Parenting is not that hard, especially if you decide to ignore all the published materials on the subject.

May 4, 2018 - Friday Funny - Heart Warming

This week's FRIDAY FUNNY was only funny because it was a non-emergency. 

I was literally mending fences and tending to my garden when my iWatch gave me a heart rate warning. I immediately contacted my personal physician. I did not receive a phone call, just a “WTF” text response. 

Not sure if I should be concerned about the casual response of my 25 year-long personal relationship with my health-care provider or the fact that Apple has probably shared my data with my life insurance company and my premiums just quadrupled.