Use of Connections 101

As many of you know, I am still waiting breathlessly for my passport. Everyday I search the mail as if I were Ralphie looking for his decoder pin...really. So instead of participating in the same old run-around that I have for the past week: check online, call, check online, call, etc; I decided to go to what I thought was the source.

I actually left work this morning to go to the post office in order to ask what was going on with my application because it has been 11 weeks--suddenly my priorities sharply changed (sandwiches? bah!). Let's just say that the only thing this visit did for me was give me a break from work. I felt bad for the guy behind the counter as I stood seemingly helpless with tears welling in my eyes because there was nothing he could do for me (he gave me the same phone number and email address that I'd already been trying to utilize without success).

Surely there is nothing else I can do right? Wrong! Use your connections! I never think to do this until I am prompted (thanks mom!!). Ashley's father ("T") is the chief of staff for Terry Goddard (Attorney General for the State of AZ). So, again after some prompting, I decided to call and see what could be done a bit further up the ladder. T was a fantastic sport and got me in contact with Sonya Moreno, a woman in the offices of Ed Pastor who is apparently in charge of such passport "things". I had to name-drop a tad and tell Sonya that Monica Goddard (wife of Terry Goddard) talked with Ron Piceno (Chief of Staff for Ed Pastor) about my passport problem. It must have worked since she called me back promptly after I left her a bumbling message on her voicemail--I could only hope that I successfully recited my script, with all the right names in the right places.

Unfortunately, after all this there STILL isn't much that can be done for me. She sent an email to the same place that I did and will call me with an answer when she gets one. *Sigh* Hopefully my passport will be in with all the other mail tomorrow and I will have freaked out for nothing.

I'll just try and stay on the path of positive thinking and hope for the best!!