The 2003 Archive
Those Few Entries That I Thought Worth Saving
Those #@#@@! Passwords
The last time I counted, I had 37 different accounts and passwords that I must remember. Some are random-generated account names and numbers which cannot be modified by the user and some are self-generated with varying password restrictions. Anyone who knows anything about computer security will tell you never to reveal your account information to anyone and to not record the information as it could be easily stolen. I can only assume these professionals have photographic memories and never forget anything.
I have several years of computer support experience and I can tell you that the overwhelming majority of people who use computers record their account information. Some put the information on post-it notes that are scattered about their monitors. Some put them on index cards and put them inside plastic boxes next to their monitor. Some people have notes underneath their keyboard and/or their mousepads. Single-sign-on and smartcards are popular in business simply because people in charge of computer security cannot persuade humans with fallible memories to stop recording their account information and storing it unsafely. Those who don't, call the Help Desk and ask for password resets on a fairly regular basis.
While that solves the problem at work, it doesn't solve the problem of how to safeguard that information at home. Let me tell you some of the problems I've found with my 37 regularly used accounts.
My online banking account is my most frequently accessed online account. It's account name is the number of the ATM card that I USED to have. They've since change me to a One Card (I refuse to use the debit or charge card feature of these cards) with a different number. Thus, I no longer carry anything that gives me a clue to the account's login ID. This makes for a very secure account because if I'm away from home or if I clear all caching and delete cookies, I'll be unable to login to my own account. What could be more secure than account that doesn't grant access to the user? It'll certainly keep me from making foolish mistakes, won't it?
My credit card accounts also have online access. You create your own account name and password and if you login improperly three times, it prompts you to create a new account name and password. There is no methodology by which you can recover the old username and password. If you attempt to create an account with the same name, this is disallowed. Eventually, those using this access will exhaust all possible name combinations and the credit card company will continue to remain clueless about the possibility of initiating a password reminder. Note that to create a new account and gain instant access to the account, the system requires easily obtained/stolen information.
My retirement account (through work) requires me to update the password every ninety days. Because I access this system infrequently, this means I usually must change my password every time I login. The passwords must be a certain length and must include both upper and lower case and contain a special character. Once I've logged in, I must then enter yet ANOTHER password to access a certain portion of the database and this requires an all-number password. To view the 401(k) information from within this account, I must enter yet another account and password. The account names and password length requirements are such that none can use the same naming sequence.One must be less than 8 characters. One must be between 9-14 characters. One cannot have a number at the beginning or end but must include a number. One must be all numbers.
To update health benefits and other employee information at my husband's place of employment, one must access two diferent intranets with two different account names and password combinations. As we usually do this only once a year, we always forget the password, we always must wait for it to be mailed, and we must change it after gaining access. Within a week of completing the requirements, we've forgotten the password again. If we record it, we begin trying to access the program next year by asking, "Is this a zero or an o? Is this a one or an 'L'? Did you bookmark that URL?"
I have e-account access to some of our utilities and could pay the bills online if I could just remember the account and password information. I have an e-Bay account, a PayPal account, an online account at the local university (which is, fortunately, a single-sign on system), an online subscription to the local newspaper (which I haven't accessed in weeks because I keep forgetting the account name assigned to me), a genealogy forum account which was randomly geneated for me and is an account name that is something like G8s93lkw398mwk and case sensitive, I have a web-based mail account for multiple accounts and I have a hotmail account that has been abandoned for many long months. I was given an Insight mail account when we subscribed to the service, but I've long since forgotten the name or the password and the information is encrypted and stored on a computer that is no longer functional. I bet that mailbox is filled with spam and IMPORT NOTICEs from the ISP.
So what have I learned from all this and what wise advise to I have to offer others?
I've learned to make my account the same name whenever possible and to have a list of standard passwords (which security folks would advise is unwise, but which I find essential when one has multiple accounts). I've also learned to record my passwords and to secure that information in a place other than my work environment. As for wise advise: Invest in Avery. They make Post-It notes and I don't think people are going to stop posting their passwords on their monitor at any time in the near future.
October 17, 2003
Sabotaging Myself
Once I reached my ideal weight, what did I do? Sabotage myself. Explicitly, I noticed potatoes were on sale, bought a bag, and made french frieds twice in one week. Think fat, carbohydrates, and large helpings. I now have to go through the pain and agony of getting back to where I was and I wonder why I do these things to myself. I wasn't hungry. Potatoes were on sale. What a stupid reason to make french fries and an even stupider reason for making and eating so many was the desire to avoid waste since the last bag rotted before I used the remaining half of the potatoes.
I hereby pledge to stop being penny wise and pound (literally) foolish.
In keeping with the above, I'm also weaning myself off plastic again. Plastic feels too much like free money. We have an outrageously high credit limit despite never spending more than 1/10th that amount on any of the cards and I think companies do this partially because you look at the limit and think, "I've got X amount of money left." No, you don't. You have X amount you can BORROW. This is not equivalent. In fact, it's potentially crippling. Using plastic doesn't feel like real spending and I buy far more on sale (like potatoes) when I've got plastic than I would if I had to write a check and subtract the amount from our balance.
Carrying a checkbook is a nusiance. My credit card fits into my wallet, which fits into my pocket. Use of a checkbook means I need to remember to take it out of the car and carry it in my hand while shopping. The credit cards are next to my drivers license and I must carry my billfold with me every time I leave my home. I always have my credit cards with me and thus it's far too easy to pull it out when I find (for example) Pampers on sale and decide to stock up on them for the granddaughter.
I think overstocking is a knee-jerk reaction from having too little for too long. Saving money is a more efficient means of insuring you have what you need in the future, but I keep stocking up (a.k.a. hording) more supplies than I can comfortably store. Maybe this harkens back to my childhood where we had a few weeks of supplies in case we were snowed in and couldn't get to town. More likely, it's just a fear of being Mother Hubbard and finding the cubboard bare and not having the means to restock.
Whatever it is, this gut reaction is sabotaging my efforts to prepare for unemployment. I must stop buying so many things that I don't need; especially potatoes.
October 10, 2003
115
Today, I weighed in at 115 and my goal is to STAY there. I have zero desire to lose any additional weight as my focus is on health and being too thin can be every bit as unhealthy as being overweight. I think that 115 is the ideal weight for my particular size and frame and this is where I want to stay while building additional muscle and toning my body into a lean, mean machine.
So of all the changes that I've made in the 2 1/2 years since I started working out and watching what I ate, what part of the body do you think I'm the happiest with? Go ahead. Take a wild guess and then page down to see the answer.
Have you thought about it?
Got something in mind?
Think it's skinnier legs or a smaller butt?
Think I increased my bust size through exercise? [Dream on... if this were possible, not nearly as many women would have silicon implants]
Think I made my waist smaller?
Gained cheekbones versus having chipmuck cheeks?
Think I like my broader shoulder?
Flat stomach?
Got an answer or have you given up by now?
Have I made a sufficient number of comments to avoid the answer showing for those who have a full-page view?
Ready?
Keep going?
Okay.... it's coming up next.
My abs. Yes. I love my muscular abs. I do NOT have a flat stomach and probably never will unless I make major changes to my diet. I also do not have a six pack. What I do have, however, I really and truly love because I can both see and feel the improved muscl tone in my abs and having good abs muscles reduces other body aches. My posture is better. My back seldom aches. I can move left, right, and twist around without feeling fifty. More, I think I even breathe better than I did in the past. It's amazing what improving those abs have done for the way I feel and the confidence I have in myself.
When I exercise, I wear a sports bra and shorts and I confess that I spend more time admiring my abs than I do concentrating on my form. I never had viewable abs muscles before I started this exercise routine and it's amazing to see them work when I'm lifting or turning. I can see them flex and it gives me a really great feeling to know that my abs are now about as healthy as abs can possible be on someone my age.
I love my abs and I think the reason I'm proudest of them is because I created my abs. Bust size, hips waist, and just about every other measurement owes more to genetics than it does to personal effort. Abs, however, are one of those muscle groups where you can feel the work you put into them even when you can't see the results.
October 6, 2003
Telemarketers and the Do Not Call List
Last night, I watched a news program in which five determined telemarketers carefully sidestepped the news person's real questions and gave a spiral about how the Do Not Call List was unfair and putting 2 million people out of work. IMHO, the telemarketers should be cheering the Do No Call List. Why? Because the telemarketers said they make about ten calls for every sale and by eliminating those people who do not want to be called and presumably would be among the 9 out of 10 who wouldn't buy, the government has effectively screened their customer list for them and improved efficiency.
This is so obvious that I have to wonder why everyone in the telemarketing industry is opposed to Do No Call lists. How is it a bad thing to narrow your contact list to people who might actually be interested in your product?
We've been on Indiana's no call list for a few years now and we love it. Our phone interrupts have decreased from a high of ten per day to never more than 2 per week. [Charities and certain other businesses and organizations are exempted from the no-call list.] I also haven't been awakened by a telemarketer in over 6 months. [The last call was from a charitiable organization that woke me from a drug-induced sleep while on sick leave and no, I did not make a donation.]
It's wonderful to have my sense of peace and privacy restored and I hope everyone soon has this same opportunity to choose whether or not they want to be called.
As a point of amusement, I notice that Dave Barry printed a telemarketer's telephone number in his column and suggested that those who do not want to be called, call the telemarketers and tell them how they feel about this. The company was so overwhelmed with calls that they had to disconnect the number. More, the telemarketers complained it was harassment and that they lost time and money due to the inconvenience of answering calls they did not want. [Am I the only one who sees the irony in this?]
American Teleservices Association has/had a phone line at 317-816-9336. I note that this prefix is in Indiana and find it highly ironic if the company is based in a no-call state.
September 30, 2003
A Day At the Race
Several years ago, while married to my first husband, I was forced out of bed to go to the Indianapolis 500. I was vomitting and had a high fever, and my then-husband insisted that I must go because we had tickets and his parents would be upset if they learned he went without me because I was sick. [No, I cannot explain this logic.] After non-stop vomitting, I finally managed to convince him to take me to the hospital first. Yes, I was that sick. That race day lives in my memory as one of the most awful days of my life.
A few days ago, I foolishly agreed to go to a race with my husband. Sunday morning, I woke up sneezing and while I always have allergy problems in the morning, this episode of sneezing didn't feel like an allergy attack. Well... at least it wasn't vomitting.
I didn't want to go anywhere by 0800 as I was being hit with the usual bout of cold-induced exhaustion and achy muscles syndrome, but if I didn't go, Greg would never forgive or forget, so I layered my clothing, stepped outside, and went back in to add more layers of clothing and a good jacket with a hood. Suffice to say, I still froze all the way to the bones during our time at the race.
Greg wanted to arrive early to avoid the crowd, so we had two hours of walking around. It started raining as we were walking and then it hailed. Fortunately, I'd bought an umbrella that morning and thus was prepared. Nothing, however, had prepared me for sitting in the stands in cold rain while cars raced past with eardrum-splitting noise.
This is supposed to be fun?
It started raining again just before the race began and that's when my head went down. My nose was running so fast that I'd already gone through three hankerchefs and only had two left. I figured I might as well just let the nose run at this point and if my head was down, it dripped onto the stands and then the grass instead of making a mess on my face and clothes.
So I missed the race. Not to worry, Greg had taped it while we were out so I got to see it at home, while drugged out on antihestimines, eating oranges for vitamin C, and holding a clean hankerchef under my nose.
Yesterday I took a day of sick leave and barely moved from bed to sofa to bed again.
I discovered that daytime television has even fewer shows worth viewing than nighttime television. Whatever I do after I lose my job, spending the day watching television will not be one of the options. Yuck!
September 25, 2003
Heading Towards the Cliff
I have the semi-official notification. On January 1st, everyone in my particular job classification and grade within my agency who is providing customer support will be downgraded (translation: demoted) with pay retained at the old level for two years and transferred from our local offices to Headquarters. We will, of course, never see the end of that pay retention because the outsourcing will begin in February. Why make this major change before firing us all? Because we set the footprint for where the contractors will place their employees. We become placeholders.
Once we're transferred to Headquarters, we will be effectively cut off from the herd and ready to be devoured by the hungry jackals. With all the government outsourcing going on, the likelihood of being picked up by another agency is slim and the likelihood of that agency being within Indiana is nil. The union is trying to negotiate our area of consideration to remain the same for two years, but I don't expect that to happen.
It's just a matter of time before I join the ranks of the unemployed.
September 5, 2003
Flying on 9/11
I will be flying for the first time after a few years of not having an opportunity to travel. As you can probably guess from the subject header, I will be flying home on the morning of 9/11. When I announced this, Greg asked if all my affairs were in order. Hopefully, he'll get a laugh from this posting. I am, however, quite serious about all of this.
Greg, you'll be relieved to know I paid the home insurance before leaving. The property tax bill has not yet arrived. I've printed out a contact list so you know who to contact in the event of my death either by sniper or plane crash. All important papers are in the black box (how appropriate) next to my computer desk.
I want to explicitly state that I consider funerals to be a waste of good money. Do not spend any money dressing my body and placing it into an expensive casket so gawkers can remark upon how "healthy" I look. I will not be in my body. There is absolutely no reason to retain it after my death. I explicitly request... no... demand... that whatever can be recycled (such as vital organs) be donated to those who can use them. Let a blind person see again through my eyes and let an ill person reclaim their health with my liver, my heart, and my lungs. Take my skin for a burn victim and use my blood to help someone survive an injury. When there is nothing left of me but an empty husk, donate my body to any agency that will accept it and this includes medical schools, research laboratories, and the body farm in Southern Indiana.
But please do not squander money on a funeral. If you must gather in some form of memorial ceremony, throw a party to celebrate my life and instead of flowers, accept contributions for a trust fund for my grandchildren's college education.
Please make my death as meaningful as my life and please do not let anyone talk you into wasting money on ceremonies for the dead. The dead don't appreciate them and the living shouldn't waste their hard-earned money on such things.
P.S. Remember that I'm a CSRS employee and if I die before retirement, you're entitled to certain benefits. Check with my supervisor for details after my demise.
P.P.S. When you entrusted me with the PIN to make selections on your employer's benefits package, I added a life insurance policy that will pay a significant amount upon my death. Please do not spend that money on more junk to fill the house. Put it in mutual funds.
August 27, 2003
Back in School
Yes, I'm back in school again. Explicitly, I am studying database management through IUPUI. Note that this is not my strong point and I don't even use Microsoft Access. I do not expect an A from this class and I do expect to work very hard to keep u with the material.
August 22, 2003
Living in Interesting Times
I am abandoning the latest health dare because I've failed to record diet and exercise information for the last two weeks due to being a little preoccupied with other things. All references to it are now deleted. I am still trying to eat properly and still trying to exercise properly, but I've not reached the level of consistency and proficiency that I'd like to maintain. The biggest problem of the moment is that the day is only 24 hours long and I can't manage without at least 8 hours of sleep on a regular basis.
July 23, 2003
Back in the Saddle Again
After weeks of wheel-spinning, I'm finally starting to rock out of this rut I'd gotten myself into. Everyone has their own methodology and what I've found is that I write more when I'm overtasked with things to do than when I eliminate everything else to focus on one thing.
I am still employed. Some of my co-workers in other states have received their separate date notices, but the axe missed me on the first round. November 1st will be the separation date for the rest of us, but that date is not firm. A miracle could happen and the government could find that we're cheaper than outsourcing. I went through this same writing difficulty/depression during the last RIF so I know what's wrong with me. This time, however, I'm determined to break myself out of this rather than waiting for the issue to resolve. I don't want to spend the next few months unable to write because I'm watching the axe over my head and waiting to see if it falls.
Speaking of writing, I note that other writers have suggested that if people want to know if they'd enjoy their stories, they look at their journals as this shows their style of writing. I want to beg everyone to please believe me when I say that how I write is nothing like how I record a journal entry at 0500 hours (or earlier) in the morning while eating a bowl of granola. One reason I cut back on postings is because re-reading these entries makes me feel like the village idiot. Did I really misspell that word? Did I say there instead of their? What kind of illiterate writer am I?
Then I began spending my normal writing time revising my journal entries to be witty and perfectly composed. You can probably guess what happened then: The time I spent writing journal entries and revising them was time that I was not spending writing.
Thus, I no longer journal as I once did. Besides, it seems that half the world is blogging and I have nothing interesting to say.
Rant mode on: Today, I am going to rant about something that is bothering me: ATVs, SUVs, and truck owners who drive on other people's property without permission and who see nothing wrong with this. More, people who drive up to the picnic table or to the edge of the lake so they don't have to walk the fifty feet or so from the road to where they want to be. Why does this upset me? Because I'm cutting the grass on a vacant lot that certain unnamed neighbors think is suitable for a highway and ATV trail. To say they're putting tire ruts into the ground is an understatement. Part of this area is still soaked with water and a few spots still have standing water. I've been over to the lot several times with fill dirt, trying to resolve the tire rut problem as my tractor engine cuts off when I drive across some of these.
There is a cultural gap here. They really and truly don't have a clue and think I'm nuts when I try to explain to them that driving their vehicles on this lot makes it difficult to cut grass later. The connection from point A to point B does not exist in their brain. They love driving their vehicles on grass. Nothing I say will stop them.
I am tired of spending hours picking up sticks, spraying poison ivy plants, and cutting grass on vacant lots just so the neighbors can trash the place and then stare at me with a this-person-is-nuts look on their faces when I try to explain that they're compacting the soil, making ruts, killing grass, etc.
I'm looking for cheap trees and I'm going to commit an act of criminal trespass by planting trees on private property that does not belong to me.
No, I am not going to try to contact the owner of the vacant lots concerning this. Not yet, anyway. The owner is one of those sleeping bears that one does not wish to awaken. While it's possible the bear might bite the neighbors who are driving on the property, it's equally likely that I'll get bitten. Yes, I'm doing proactive things on the property. However, it's not mine and the owner used to live in the neighborhood. This is a litigious person. There is a good reason I am not naming names.
End of rant.
July 17, 2003
Redesigned Web Page
I've changed my web page layout. I've got a few minor problems to correct and then I'll add a sitemap and concentrate on cleaning up some color scheme problems. This page will change only slightly.
July 10, 2003
Web Site Design
My class in web site design is completed and I'm waiting to receive my grade. Thus far, I've done well on all the projects and thus expect/hope to see an "A". I've also downloaded all my data and pictures from the web site and I'm preparing to redesign the site. If it rains, I might accomplish this task over the weekend.
Monday, July 7, 2003
Save Clarion!
Michigan State University is facing budget cuts and one of the programs to fall under the axe is Clarion East. Please check out the Clarion web site for more information. Please also take a moment to read Eileen Gunn's editorial at Infinite Matrix, for MSU's response to letters received thus far.
The DAR Application
After the initial set-back of discovering my grandmother's doctor didn't record my father's birth and thus he didn't receive a birth certificate, my mother filled me in on some of the basics of Father going through the red tape to obtain a delayed birth certificate and she sent off paperwork to the state to obtain a copy. She has the original. It does not have the raised seal upon it. I also obtained my first marriage certificate and my only divorcee decree. [I lost these a few years ago.] I plan to visit the London Cemetery shortly after our return from Kansas City and take pictures of family tombstones in the area.
Friday, 9 May 2003
Writing Online
I'm trying an experiment with a non-fiction book I'm writing that will also serve as the basis for a series. If you're curious, the effort is viewable here
I must have no shame, for I am putting everything from research notes through the first draft online for others to see and criticize. This is not great art folks. This is the equivalent of watching an art demonstration during a science fiction convention. It's going to be messy.
If you notice any errors of fact, please let me know. If you notice grammatical or spelling errors, please ignore them. I never proofread before the first draft is completed.
Obviously, this is not going to be a best-seller. Genealogy and/or local history books are often self-published. I hope to avoid that route by going to small, independent local presses and I hope that the fantasy books to follow will attract a larger audience.
Monday, 28 April 2003
No Writing
No writing was accomplished this weekend. However, I completed the final exam for the IUPUI course. I'm also moving my genealogy pages from my IUPUI site to my permanent web site here.
Thursday, April 10, 2003
Kyla
Yesterday, my first grandchild arrived. Like many other members of this family, she is stubborn and thus refused to leave the comfort of the womb until quite some time had passed and the dreaded "C" word was being mentioned. Kyla will be in intensive care for at least 48 hours as a precautionary measure because the cord was wrapped around her neck. She weighed 7 lbs. 14 oz. and was 18 3/4 inches at birth.
FIRST SALE OF THE YEAR!!!!
I sold my short story, First Contract, to Mike Resnick's anthology, I, Alien.
Monday, January 20, 2003
The Year Thus Far
Highlights: I've finished my first story of the year and received galley proofs for Red, Wolf and Ms. Hunter in the Hood, which will be in More Stories that Won't Make Your Parents Hurl. I received a royalty check from a long-ago anthology and I started attending classes at IUPUI.
Low spots: I regained all the weight I had worked so hard to lose in December and it's all due to snacking whlie worrying about the job situation.
2 January 2003
Looking Ahead
Things I intend to do which I refuse to call New Year Resolutions: