US Passport Office is Seriously in the Weeds

In another show of planning brilliance, the US gov started requiring its citizens to have passports for travel to and from Canada and Mexico on air, land and sea. But they forgot to staff up the office ... and didn't broadcast the new requirement on American Idol, apparently.

So bad news if you don't have a passport already and suddenly need one. Might want to apply now if you need one next year though. And get a receipt, because you might need to use that instead.

It's a good idea to have a passport anyway, and they last for 10 years. They can come in very handy if you lose your driver's license or need another form of picture ID in order to get a job, etc.

Just be sure to keep it in a very safe place (ID theft) and wrap it in tinfoil when carrying it in public (RFID sniffing).

Oh yeah.

But crossing borders is our human right -- so let's not quit, even though it's rather annoying these days.