Besides being ugly, what else do you see that's wrong with this picture?




















I got my first passport in college in 1996. I was 20. In 2004, I updated it with my married name. I had gotten married much earlier, but had no need to travel abroad until 2004. The back page of my passport says that on May 14, 2004, my name had been updated.

All that's cool and good.

In 2007, I needed to travel to Canada. It was about the time when they were going to require that US citizens also needed a passport. I thought mine was still valid, but then checked and realized it had expired a year prior! Oops! So I filled out the appropriate paperwork, took the photo, went to the Passport Agency at the local Post Office, and expedited my passport to the US State Dept to get it renewed.

The above photo is what they sent back. My OLD passport with my NEW photo simply stapled to it. There is no addendum in the back.

Today I went to register our upcoming trip with the US Embassy online. It asked for my expiration date on my passport. So I dug it out. There IS NO EXPIRATION DATE!!! What!?! The only expiration date listed is April 2006! Now I know that I sent it in and updated it in 2006 -- but why would there be no updated expiration date, no addendum on the back page, and why would they staple my photo. *I* could have stapled my photo.

Since it's a Sunday afternoon, I can't really do anything about it but flip out! So tomorrow I've got to call the US Passport people and run to the Post Office and pray that my trip will still be a green light!

Uggabugga.