Visas

I've not often had to apply for a visa: so many of the countries I visit, few as they are, have agreements with the US that I can turn up at the airport and expect to be let into the country.
A couple of times, I've had to apply: to Poland, for example, and Russia.  Today I applied for another: to India.  In a strange twist of fate, the country has farmed out its visa applications to a private company (presumably located somewhere to take advantage of foreign working conditions?)  I confidently expected that I'd be done with the application within an hour, and have it mailed off: instead I discovered that it would take over two hours to fill it all in, and I have yet to get my birth certificate notarized or staple the photos to the application.  On the good side, the amount that it cost me in wasted time was less than the application fee for the visa.
On the down side, though, the application fee for the visa is more than the value of the time to fill out the application, even if I start charging myself out at a very high rate!

Yours, feeling charged about the trip next month,
N.P