Friday, June 22, 2007

Aaarrrgh!

Truth be told, we had gone down to the Passport Office yesterday. When you are getting a passport for an adopted child, both parents and the child need to be there. So we juggled our schedules and managed to get down there at 2 PM. We walk up to the door, and find it locked, with a big sign that says, "Psych! We lock our doors at 1:30 so no one bothers us. Come back at 7:30 AM. Ha ha!"

Grumbling, we get back in the car and try to figure out how we're going to do this. Mara leaves Sunday to meet her mom in Hawaii who is moving to Saipan from Tucson. We want to get this passport thing done quickly, and not put it off another week. But on Friday, I have a full clinic in the morning, and with four kids and summer, there's a bit of coordination to be done to get everyone where they need to be.

Mara and I decide to get up early and get down to the Passport Office by 7:30 AM, so that we can get everything done and I can get to the office by 8:00. It will mean waking a sleeping 4 year old to get her down there too.

By morning, the plan is seeming a bit too painful, with everyone tired. We decide I'll go to the Passport Office at 7:30 AM, and Mara and Jaleh will go down later, and hope this will count as "everyone appeared."

I get there at 7:27 and sit and listen to the end of Harry's radio show (new driving school on the island 322-2220). At 7:31 I head to the office door. Locked. I knock. Nothing. I read the sign again just to make sure. Yep, we accept passports between 7:30 AM and 1:30 PM. I wait. 7:37, the door is still locked. Maybe it's an austerity Friday. I call the hospital and ask the operator, "Is this an austerity Friday?" "No, that's next Friday. Government offices are open today." Hmmmm. Maybe they're inside and just forgot to unlock the door. After all, the aircon is running. Oh, look, there's a sign on the side of the building with the phone number. I get my cell phone and prepare to call. The phone number on the sign says, 664-476. That's not a typo. The last digit is missing. Under the phone number, there is another sign that says "Ha ha!" I wait some more. I knock some more. By 7:47 I decide this isn't going to work today, I move into my happy zone, get in the car and drive to the office.

5 comments:

bigsoxfan said...

Ha, Ha. I went through the same ordeal this week. Monday, office full. Decided to call later in the day, noticed phone number. Tuesday, Actually picked up the passport. Was told they would have called when it came in last Friday, but they've been swamped and it was an austerity Friday. Excuse me, but isn't this a US government office and not subject subject to the deadly austerity Friday? Anyway, the good news was the lads passport is in his drooling little hands and we can leave as per schedule. Total time was less than four weeks, which is much better than the mainland offices, per my sources. By the way, I went with the basic expiting fee and skipped on the courier delivery. Good luck

Bon said...

Happy zone, wow. I would've moved into my karate zone!

Marianas Eye said...

That, of course, is the natural inclination. But you can't control anything, so the key to life seems to be to control yourself.

Simple to say, difficult to master. :-)

Anonymous said...

Wow, 4 weeks!? I just waited in line for 5 hours in Chicago to get my passport which I applied for 3 months ago. I finally got it so I can come to Saipan to work this next Tuesday.

Lex said...

Haha great read. Enjoying your blog =)