re: Passport renewal

You don't actually need the appointment. The appointment is to go to the passport office and have the passport processed on the spot within 3 days of travel. The problem is that the appointments are practically nonexistent right now.

Clear this all with Graves' office first.

Go to the post office to do the passport application. (Normally, the post office would send it to one of any number of passport offices which would then take weeks to process your passport.)

You will take the application in a sealed envelope and then express mail or FedEx it to the NOLA passport office. Graves' people should be able to pull some strings at the NOLA passport office to get them to process your renewal right away (and they may have already talked to the NOLA passport office people and told them to be expecting your application).

The post office application person might not want to let you take the application if you don't have a letter from Graves' office saying they are dealing with the passport.

The short version is: call Graves' office first thing in the morning and ask for help getting a passport. They can probably get the passport people to process your passport right away.