Could it be MORE frustrating?

The morning at the lab was exactly that...all morning. 8am to nearly noon. I am now 'officially' part of the study, and will be back in a month. The blood draws are annual, I think, so not sure what the next one holds.

Since my plans for the day were, in my mind, going to be finished by lunch I was sort of off schedule. Made a quick exchange at the bookstore on the way home, had lunch, then off to the bank with the wife. Things went well there, and hopefully will positively impact our short-term finances.

Final task seemed to be the easiest. Renew my expired passport. Stopped at the Walgreens (drugstore) where my bro-in-law works. Got the photo made by perhaps the slowest person I have ever seen. Took more than 20 minutes...at one point I was sure the guy had dozed off standing in front of the photo printer computer screen. Now we are kind of behind to get youngest at school. To the Post Office, where naturally the line is six deep. But the two clerks went nice and fast. My checks were already filled out, form printed from the computer, expired passport, pictures...all ready. Then the clerk tells me the pictures are not sharp enough - goes in the back to the scanner to confirm. Yep.

So, back to Walgreens. But first, call ahead in case b-in-law has arrived for work. Get the same guy who did the pictures on the phone, ask for my relative. Hold on....music, then as we are pulling into the parking lot, ringing. Which continues, and continues. We go in and ask for him by name (he is a manager) and the nice lady tells us he is in training and won't be in until after 5. Wife nearly bursts a heart valve...but the nice lady takes it in stride, goes and makes a new picture and tells the manager on duty about the bad photo and the lapse in telling us on the phone that our person was not available. By now school has let out, so I get dropped off back at the post office...behind 4 people all getting passports!!! Wife goes and gets youngest, by the time they return to post office I am now at the counter.

Oh, and fun at home. Our Maine Coon cat has had a cold and needed babying. Wet food (stopped up nose, so can't smell the food well enough to want to eat), wants to cuddle. Well, he is healed. Wife found him in the bathtub, which we keep partly filled to prevent him from pulling out the drain and to prevent other cats from peeing in it. He was chest deep trying to claw the plug out. Smart boy - he thinks he is more than a cat sometimes.