One week and $38 later

Yesterday I took my Social Security form to the UPS Store. There'd been no word from the postal service about that envelope's whereabouts. I've been so fixated on how vulnerable a missing form containing my address, signature and SSN makes me to identity theft that I rather forgot it meant that Social Security doesn't have my forms.

I certainly wasn't going back to my local post office. I'd spent $8.80 for Ground Advantage and got nothing (literally) for my pains. When I checked USPS Tracking all I kept seeing was that my envelope was "received" 7/14. No movement, no updates as to its whereabouts.

So I turned to the UPS Store. I printed a cover letter, explaining to the lucky Social Security bureaucrat who receives it that this form was a duplicate, the original lost in the mail. And, of course, a new version of the form for me to sign. And then, of course, I had to have it sent with tracking and recipient signature. Total: $38.36. 

But I'm already getting notices from UPS, letting me know where my package is every step of the way. So it was worth it.

Except for this: As of 10:44 this morning, my original envelope somehow turned up. After a week of languishing somewhere, it's on its way to the Social Security Office. 

On the one hand, I've now spent $47 for a form to travel 12 miles. Which sucks.

On the other hand, it's good news. After all, it means no one is using my SSN to obtain a fake passport or a lease on a Ford Explorer from a dealership in Rancho Cucamonga. And that's not small.