Spent a good part of the day at the _________ branch of my bank, my retirement branch choice because it is near my house.

A lot of time was spent:

--filling in at least six, tedious forms
--establishing my identity
--having my picture taken
--claiming my passbook

The downside is that no one but myself can withdraw money from the passbook, and so it is a race between withdrawing what I can and dying a la Judah Ben-Hur in the chariot race scene.

I am so glad I took care of things early. It's no wonder that other retirees' applications get delayed, what with the paperwork confusion, their getting lost in the bureaucratic melee, and the general chaos that retirement changes brings.