Final Thoughts

When I last wrote my final thoughts, I had just discovered that my passport had expired ten days earlier and I was scheduled to speak to the Toronto Steel Buyers & Associates dinner in Canada the following day. My efforts to have the passport renewed in Atlanta were rebuffed and I was down to my last hope – the Passport Services office in Detroit.

On Wednesday, I flew to Detroit and proceeded to the U.S. government offices in downtown Detroit. I had managed to secure a 12:30 appointment to plead my case but, in an effort to expedite the process I arrived about an hour early. I happen to ride up the elevator with one of the security officers attached to Passport Services and we chatted in the elevator about why I was there and what I was trying to accomplish. He introduced me to the next guard who was standing between me and my ability to get a new passport. He asked if I had an appointment which I happily told him that I did and he responded I would not be allowed in until the appointed time – another hour away.