What a day

So it has been a while since I last posted but nothing exciting happened to me until today and boy what a day it was.

1. Since I work in International Education and I was going to Canada on vacation, I thought it might be a good idea to finally get my passport renewed. It had been 15 years since I got my last passport (I was just 18 and boy did I look bad). So I went to the State Department's website to fill out an application and got all the necessary information. This is from the travel.state.gov
   
   STEP 1: Complete and Submit Form DS-11: Application For A U.S. Passport
   Complete Form DS-11: Application for a U.S. Passport. To submit Form DS-11, you:
   Must apply in person at an Acceptance Facility or Passport Agency
   Must include the additional documentation required by Form DS-11 (See Steps 2-5)
   Must not sign the application until instructed to do so by the Acceptance Agent
   Must provide your Social Security number
   
   STEP 2: Submit Evidence of U.S. Citizenship
   When applying for a U.S. passport in person, evidence of U.S. citizenship must be submitted with Form DS-11. All documentation submitted as citizenship evidence will be returned to you. These documents will be delivered with your newly issued U.S. passport or in a separate mailing.
   Primary Evidence of U.S. Citizenship (One of the following):
   Previously issued, undamaged U.S. Passport, Certified birth certificate issued by the city, county or state* Consular Report of Birth Abroad or Certification of Birth Naturalization Certificate Certificate of Citizenship
   *A certified birth certificate has a registrar's raised, embossed, impressed or multicolored seal, registrars signature, and the date the certificate was filed with the registrar's office, which must be within 1 year of your birth. Please note, some short (abstract) versions of birth certificates may not be acceptable for passport purposes. NOTE: If you do not have primary evidence of U.S. citizenship or your U.S. birth certificate does not meet the requirements, please see Secondary Evidence of U.S. Citizenship.
   
   STEP 3: Present Identification
   When applying for a U.S. passport in person, acceptable identification must be presented at the time of application.
   Primary Identification (One of the following):
   Previously issued, undamaged U.S. passport Naturalization Certificate Valid Driver's License Current Government ID (city, state or federal) Current Military ID (military and dependents)
   
   I completed DS-11 and went to the post office with the necessary documents (completed application, 2 photo's, my previous passport and my Maryland drivers license along with payment). I was shocked when I got the post office and they they could not help me because I did not have my birth certificate. NOWHERE on the website does it say I NEED my birth certificate. I then called the toll free number and they said due to 9/11 and after June 1, the U.S. State Department requires more information for passports. I totally understand the need for more security but I did as the website and application said. This is very misleading and frustrating. Now I have to go back to the passport office, with my birth certificate (thank goodness I got it from my parents) to get this completed.
2. For some reason I kept spelling photos with an apostrophe. I even sent out an e-mail to 250 people with photo's spell like this, ugh that was bad
3. I guess I had been taking the S9 express bus too much but I forgot how bad the regular bus is to take. When I got on the S4, the bus was packed. At one stop these two women decided that myself and the other 20 or 30 people packed in front of me were not moving fast enough and had to push their way through the crowd to the back of the bus. I was shocked. Come on ladies, wait a second give us all a chance to move, you will get a chance to sit down in due time.

Anyway, what a day. I hope you all had a better day than me :)