Annual Immigration Run

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This morning Tuk and I successfully completed my annual Extension of Stay in the Kingdom based on Retirement (i.e., my annual retirement "visa renewal").  It is the major headache of the year, with Immigration usually throwing unexpected new requirements at us each year.  Our running list of paperwork requirements has grown quite large, so we arrive with reams of paper -- copies of everything we can think of, and more, in duplicate.
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After we presented our paperwork to the official's satisfaction, she told us to wait in the general seating area while she stamped everything properly.  Another American guy was right in line before us, and the official was processing both our passports and papers at the same time, in order to use all the different rubber stamps in order.  As I watched, I thought:  she could easily mix up our paperwork.
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Sure enough, I saw her pick up the other guy's passport while working on my papers.  (My passport is a bit ragged from marching around with it in the humidity and rain, and it stands out.)  She was comparing numbers and then got a very confused look on her face.  It took a few seconds, but then she reached for my passport and got it right.  (I must say in her defense, that's got to be a boring job.)
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I re-checked that all the stamps were correct, and then we were good to go.  This may have been the smoothest annual Extension of Stay trip we've ever done, with only a bare minimal of domestic strife in the long buildup to this, the year's major stressor.
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Years ago we had to go deep into downtown Bangkok to an Immigration Office, and when finished we would hit the Hard Rock Cafe for a cool drink with lunch.  But now we must go out into the wilds of outer Nonthbaburi.  Getting a taxi to take us out and wait is a major task, but a very good tip will have the driver telling us to call him again next year.
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Returning, I went out for groceries and walked my favorite 2.5k loop by the river at a brisk pace.  Of course, it was "...out in the midday sun."  Like a mad dog, it was exactly noon.  It is 100 degrees F.  I think I'm done for the day.
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-Zenwind.
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