Desktop Trebuchet

Note that the Desktop Onager is $10 less.

Today is trying to kill me.

Wow, that combines all the charms of micromanagement and inappropriate comments from guys on the street.

Yes, this. And I say this as someone who is usually smiling!

I need a personal assistant. And a time machine.

GRRRR... Getting a passport is trickier than I remember. I need to call around for an appt.

I actually need to figure out what to do about a passport. I HAD one and presumably, it's still in my house somewhere, never mind that I never updated it after I got married because I never actually went anywhere I needed it. The few times I traveled outside the U.S. were pre-9/11 so I didn't need my passport for the Disney cruise or to go to Canada.

Yes, my life really is that sad. But anyhow, I can't find the damned thing-- I've looked everywhere, including the safety deposit box. There's one last place, which is Lewis' lockbox, but guess who lost the key? *glares at husband* But given that it wasn't updated and had a photo taken when I was... oh, fourteen, I wonder if I should just call it lost and apply for a new one? Advice?

Ha, Barb, I literally just wrote a freelance article about passports.

You can renew by mail if you have your old passport, if it's undamaged, and if it was issued after the age of 16. (Oh, it also would need to have been issued within the last 15 years.) You would also need to provide legal proof of your name change (assuming you changed your name when you got married).

To apply for a new one, you'll need to complete a Form DS-11, available on the web. Don't sign it until you're at the passport office. You'll also need two copies of a new picture, proof of citizenship, proof of identity, and a photocopy of your proof of identity.

[link]

If it has been more than 15 years and/or you were under 16, you have to start over.

The 16 thing must be new. I got mine at 15, and was able to renew it by mail when I was 20.

Five years ago, I happened to pull out my passport and discover that is was about to expire the next day. I was just going to let it go, but a well-traveled friend pitched a fit about how everyone should have a current passport in the post 9/11 world.

I really don't plan to ever use it again, but I moved heaven and earth to get that sucker updated in one day. It was not pleasant, but I'm good for another five years.

Barb, if lock picking isn't an option on Lewis' box, or if you really think it has expired, I'd counsel for starting fresh. It takes more time and money but an expired passport equals no help at all from what I was told.

eta: I should say, the 15 years was about to pass the next day.

I ran all over creation to get the pictures...which ended up making me look like I'm being goosed. It was the sort of face you make when someone says something you think you ought to have heard and you reply, "Pardon me?"

I have no passport. I've never been outside of the US.

Everyone I know thinks that's weird.

I'd really love to see Paris someday, though.

So far I have been unsuccessful in my attempts to lose weight since May.

I hear you. I've been keeping a food diary at The Daily Plate for the last few weeks to figure out why my metabolism hates me.