Passport Troubles

     Well, I applied for a passport today to allow me to travel to the big state to the north: Canada; Toronto specifically. I was worried that I'd have to pay double to get expedited service and make sure I had my passport in time to fly to Toronto in October. That is, until Norm Coleman sent me this letter yesterday; completely out of the blue:

"Some of you are probably familiar with the new passport requirements for air travel to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). This requirement...led to a record backlog in the passport processing; ruining travel plans for some and threatening the plans of thousands. This is simply unacceptable to me, and I have fought to address the current problems, assisting over 2500 Minnesotans who were in jeopardy of losing thousands of dollars and precious family time.

The government... has temporarily suspended the passport requirements for air travel, allowing folks who have applied but not yet received their passport to travel using a photo ID and their passport receipt."

     So according to this I could get on the plane today and not worry about getting back home. On top of this, despite the rumors I've heard to the contrary, the guy at the passport office is confident I'll have the passport in time anyway. We shall see, we shall see.