passported

I suddenly remembered something I'd taken note of several months ago and then forgotten about, which was that my passport was about to expire. I'm not planning any foreign trips any time soon (I might go to Canada sometime, and you need a passport for that these days, and I might go to Arizona, and with their new laws I'm not going there without a passport either), but I feel unequipped without a valid passport in the house.

All the forms may now be found on the State Dept. website. That leaves the fee ($110 for a renewal, ouch) and the photo. Put on my jacket and tie, because this is official business, and went to a notary office deep in the Silicon Valley industrial zone. They took four photos, trying for one in which I keep my head straight and don't squint. Concluded that the first one was the best - is it not always so? - and printed that.