Special Delivery

Merry Christmas to who? Noticed this card on top of the communal mail box as I collected our daily batch of bills and flyers. I didn't pick it up but, as it was positioned tent-like, I could see writing inside. It will forever remain an unsolved mystery. Was it just forgotten or did the recipient dislike the sender so much the card had to be left behind?

One of the items in our mail was my new passport. Old one was due to expire in July - 20 years (2 passports) since I became a US citizen. Sent the application in early December expecting congress to shut down the government again in February. Tried to time it to sneak into the beginning of 2014, but before the shutdown. The twits in congress surprised me by making a deal to keep things running and their minions at the State Department were more efficient than expected. New document has an effective date in 2013, thus making the expiration in 2023 - wanted 2024. It does expire on Christmas Day though.