fees, fees, and more fees!

So, as part of my insane list of things to do, I went to the passport office today to get my passport renewed.

First, I had to go pay for new passport photos. Cost: $22. Gone are the days you could go to one of those cheap booths in the mall and get it done. Now you MUST go to a professional place who can officially stamp the back of the photos. sigh.

Next, I had to stand in line to get my passport renewed. Oops, I guess I only got to stand in line to get my documents confirmed.

Now, I get to wait to stand in line to get my passport renewed. The woman goes through my documents and after 15 minutes of fumbling with photos and scanners and signatures she does 2 things. First, she stamped "cancelled" all over my current passport and cut a chunk out of it. Made me sad but I guess it has to be done. Then, she charged me $96! Sadly, I had to pay an extra $10 to pick it up in person because of a trip I am going on and the time constraints (more on that tomorrow).

The most annoying thing about it is that my passport doesn't actually expire until March 2011 but because my trip is occurring within 6 months of the expiry date it's essentially expired. blah!