Lulu has just found out that she is teaching a 6 week course this summer at the FSU London Campus. Since I must go along to carry her bags - and my passport ran out this year - we had to apply for new passports. After all the horror stories in the media - we decided to apply early.
It started as a trip to the post office. We figured everything could be done there - photo - apply - pay - and get the passport sent to our home. Wrong. There is a special passport booth there - it looks very inviting - until you read the sign next to the booth. "To renew passport - do not talk to the person in the booth - take application from this pocket." The pocket was empty.
Fearing I would be yelled at for talking to the passport booth person - I meekly said there were no applications in the pocket. The passport person filled the pocket - I grabbed 2 and went home.
The biggest hassle beside the $67 check - was getting pictures 2 inches by 2 inches. More specifically - the head must be between 1 inch and 1 and 3/8 inches from top to chin. Specifically - it is hard to decide where my chin ends.
We select a nice white wall with plenty of light on it. Our digital camera takes nice pictures - so we tried both flash and no flash. The pictures came out fine. After that - you must print the pictures out on glossy paper. You must also make sure the head is no larger than 1 and 3/8 inches. That took a few minutes.
You have a choice to have regular service for $67 and then their was an additional charge for fast service. Being a tightwad - I chose to take my chances on the cheaper fee.
The service was unbelievable. We mailed the applications last Tuesday - we checked on the computer and they cashed the checks Wednesday - and the passports were in our mailbox Friday! Not bad for a round trip in the mail to Philadelphia.
The passports look just like the old ones. But somewhere buried inside is an electronic chip. I can't seem to find it - but it is in there. Supposedly - the passport can be read by a computer that gets close to it. Here is the rub - people may be able to hack or steal information from it.
Do you re-call when cell phones first came out - allowing hackers to steal your phone code just by driving near your car. I remember once getting a phone bill for $1600 when someone cloned our old cell "bag phone" and called to their friends in the Middle East.
Checking on the Internet - I found a story of a guy that picked up someone's information and made a perfect clone of their new passport in 3 hours.
After reading other stories - some people have been waiting months for their passports. Maybe they got the system moving better - maybe we were lucky.
It is fun seeing a story in the media that is usually an extreme case and they pass it on as normal - just like I am passing off this 3 day passport story as the norm. Your mileage may vary.
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