I travel alot. So when I realized (last December) that my passport was gonna expire on May 20th, I figured that I had lots of time to get my passport renewed for all the trips to Fiji and Bali I had planned. Besides, I had heard horror stories of people who waited three to four months to get their passport back after they sent the paperwork in. I had to get on it.

But, like many things, the time slipped away from me, I procrastinated and there I was last week with May 20th just around the corner. So I sprang into action. Got my picture done at Kinko’s and went over to the big Post Office in Hollywood on Wilcox Avenue, having seen a passport window there. It was closed at 4:30 by the time I got there. But the hours said 9 to 3, so the next morning at 9:30, I was there. Closed again! So I asked the postmistress, “What’s up with that?” and she said they were pretty much always closed due to lack of staff.

So I tried two more places in Hollywood. No go. But since I had an appointment in Beverly Hills, I decided to go early and check out the Maple Drive Post Office. Ahhhhh. Easy parking, huge empty post office and right there a little passport office with a very nice woman inside who processed my paperwork in about 5 minutes. No line, no waiting. I opted for the regular processing because she said sometimes they get it done in two weeks. That was last Thursday. Yesterday I received my new chip implanted passport that tells the state department and anyone else with the proper technology where I am at all times, making me an easy target. But wow.Seven days turn-arond to get a passport with no extra fees. The State department is on it!!!!!!

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3. The Answer to Your Post Office Prayers
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