Here’s putting a lot of confidence in the US Postal Service. I am not in Los Angeles this morning, though I feel I should have gotten myself there in time for my appointment with the Passport Agency. Even though it turns out my birth certificate is a little schizophrenic, I could at least have had the satisfaction of being turned away in person by a callous bureaucrat after great travel and expense. Instead I’m just waiting by to see if my passport happens to show up in my mailbox or not. Of course I was bugging the Passport Customer Rejection Center for a long time to track the progress of their scotch tape dispenser. Here’s the irony. They admitted they had been dragging their feet so they waived the fee on an expedite order and quickly completed their official crayon doodles. Then they sent it out regular “Priority” mail rather than Express. I’m looking this gift racehorse in the mouth and I say it’s a beat up old burro.

Here’s more about the group’s itinerary. Well, first I should tell a little bit about the members of our trekking party. I’ve already mentioned Rich and Gaye and their two teenage boys. Rich & Gaye have done this before, of course, so they’re either out of their minds to repeat it or they really enjoyed it and they want to share the experience with some others. There’s also another nephew in there and a friend or two of the family who will be joining. With any good fortune I’ll be there, of course. Let’s not forget Pema and his two boys. Wow, the group is really rounding out, and the number of yaks and porters is growing exponentially. So far, with Pema, that makes about 12 in the group. Based on the number of extra hats and coats we’re taking, it sounds like we’ll have between 8 and 15 porters. Well, I guess there will be enough people for a good card game any time, and enough yaks to keep our fires burning unabated with fine, dried out dung. I just realized this is going to be a huge operation.