Passport

I made my way through the government bureaucracy to get my passport ordered today. I had to put a rush on it, so I would have time to get my Russian visa, all told, the cost was $172.50, plus $10 to get my picture taken. I'm definitely turning these receipts in. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Uncle Sam lets you fill in the Passport application form via Acrobat, then print it out, so it's nice and neat. Of course, it'd be more efficient to let me submit it online, or even print a barcode on the form, so that someone could just scan it, rather than re-key all that data. In any case, seven to ten days from now, I should have my shiny new Passport, complete with awful picture.