Beating a Dead Horse

Dealing with government workers and trying to get them to co-operate is like beating a dead horse. According to Wikipedia, the first use of that expression comes from British politician and orator John Bright, referring to the Reform Bill of 1867.Trying to rouse Parliament from its apathy on the issue, he said in a speech, would be like trying to 'flog a dead horse' to make it pull a load.Politicians and bureaucrats haven't changed.As I write this, the latest word on J.P.'s passport is that it was sent 'Priority Mail' rather than FedEx.There's no guarantee that the passport will arrive in time.It's possible that it can arrive Friday or Saturday but it could be Monday before it gets to my P.O. box.I have the Postal workers at the West Rome post office looking for it and they've promised to call when it arrives.I've talked to my travel agent's assistant about the situation (the agent being on vacation). If we cannot catch our scheduled fight she can re-book us. That will add to the cost and we'll miss a few days in Philippines,but at least the situation isn't hopeless.My life would be less stressful if the passport will get here tomorrow.