3 August 2014 Reading the "Fine Print"

I don't often read the fine print...but I will in the future! Let's go back two months, and give you a little perspective on why reading all directions and paper work is so very important.

The last week in May is when I started the medical process which is mandatory for me to head to the southern ocean. I procured a primary care physician and with her help scheduled a plethora of tests including a stress test, a pulmonary test and the removal of what felt like liters of blood. It took exactly one month almost to the day to finish and decode all the tests. The paper work has been submitted and now I am just patiently waiting to find out if I have passed.

All the medical tests you could possibly imagine

Oh, and I received another paperwork packet with questions on travel dates hotel accommodations and clothing sizes. I put this aside as I have not yet been cleared medically so felt these questions could wait.

In the mean time I have been very focused on "Flag Kits" and have sent out over fifty kits to at least 20 US States and two international countries. Five flags have returned: one from Oregon, two from California and two from Arizona. I also wrote a letter to every national broadcast station: attention science editor, to see if I could get some national coverage as there are gaps in my whole country "Flag" campaign. It has been a busy summer, all of June on Medical and all of July on "Flags" with time sprinkled in preparing the classroom lessons to be used when I am gone.

The contents of the infamous "Flag Kit" A "Flag Kit Follower" from Flagstaff, Arizona!

Two days ago I decided to read that little packet of paperwork that appeared so insignificant. I was wrong! In the fine print I found out that part of the policy for travel within the Antarctic NSF program is that your passport can not expire within six months of returning to the United States...WHAT! I nearly had a coronary Friday as I checked my wonderful passport ( the only one I have ever had in which I like the picture) and realized that it expires THREE months after my return! This is what followed: 1 Two frantic emails to Colorado on what to do 2 A drive to city hall to get passport renewal paper work 3 A drive to a local business to have new passport photos taken (and I look terrible as it was raining all day) 4 A quick check on line to determine the cost of a new passport 5 Fill out the paper work 6 Head to the post office with a check for $200.00, purchase an overnight mail envelope and send off my paperwork paying for hopefully an expedited process.

The moral of this story...As you prepare for the adventure of a life time, read the fine print!