Those Damn Letters of Recommendation

I am submitting an application for a K--an institutional career development award--by 5 p.m. today. All 3 of my letters of recommendation are yet to come in. I am watching the online system obsessively. Of course my two awesome proposed mentors have already submitted theirs. But my 3 recommenders are slacking. ARGH!

This happened a few months ago with the last application I completed. (Which btw I was awarded, even though one of my recommenders was LATE!) Why do people do this to me? I vow to never be this way with my underlings.

I know that in the academic world there is really no point at which you stop needing letters of recommendation. But really, it is sooooo irritating.