Not long ago, I read a post from one of my blogging buddies (hi, Ron!) about the frustration of keeping track of passwords in this computerized day and age. His post was hilarious, and easy to relate to.
Ron wrote about keeping track of all his passwords in a spiral notebook that is so messy and unorganized it takes him “four hours to flip through each page and find the login information I need.” That is SO me! Because it’s been drilled into our heads to keep our passwords different and unique for each site. Which is great in theory, but how on earth are we supposed to remember a million different passwords? Like Ron, I try to keep one or two basic passwords with slight variations, but remembering what those variations are – and which variations are associated with which websites – is an exercise in futility. Hence, the notebook.
Only my notebook is worse, because it’s deliberately cryptic. I’m paranoid about somebody stealing it, because you know if somebody breaks into the house they’re going to bypass the laptop computers and television and stereo equipment in favor of a worn spiral notebook. OK, probably not. But there’s always the chance I could lose it. So, instead of writing down passwords for various sites, I have scribbled notes that say things like, the cat one. But then I have to remember which cat one. And which cat. MY cat? Too obvious. Garfield? Too fat and lazy. Cat Stevens, pop star from the 1970s turned Islamic convert and humanitarian? Could be onto something there – my dad played his records a lot while we were growing up. But which album? Tea For The Tillerman? Teaser And The Firecat? Catch Bull at Four? And did I mean a certain song from said album? Which song? Dammit…is my password “peacetrain69” or “wildworld87” or “moonshadow14”?? But you know it could never be something as relatively simple as “peacetrain69” because most sites nowadays require your password to contain at least one capital letter and one special symbol. You MIGHT be able to get away with “peaCetra!n69” but how would you EVER remember that one?! Especially in my case, where you’re being cryptic to begin with.
See why I struggle with passwords?
And I hate it when I come up with something clever and easy to remember, only to have my computer tell me the password is “weak.” Says who? And did I ask for your opinion anyway?? How dare you insult me. I feed you (electricity). I put you to sleep every night. The least you can do is show me a little respect. I already have a chip on my shoulder because I’m 5’8″. Don’t emasculate me further. If I want to go with “peaCetra!n69” but it’s not “strong” enough for you, that’s my business, dammit. I realize my anger is probably misdirected. It’s not really my computer telling me my password sucks, but that particular website. It’s not cool to shoot the messenger. And yet, the messenger is an easy target. MacBook Pro, eh? If you were a pro, you wouldn’t let some stupid website insult me. So there.
In less stressful news, yesterday it snowed.
Let me rephrase that. It didn’t just snow. It snowed. To the tune of 4-5″. Hard to tell exactly, because the wind was blowing it around quite a bit, but it’s piled at least that high this morning. It’s been years since we’ve had a decent snowstorm, and this was such a big deal that both Tara and I were sent home early by our respective employers. It’s nice that they erred on the side of caution, because some of the freeways around town turned into parking lots. Then again, it never takes much to bring the city of Portland to a screeching halt. Luckily, we don’t have to venture out of town, and our drive home is 15 minutes or less via back roads.
As unusual as it is to get a big winter storm like that around here, they are forecasting another one for this afternoon, and have already issued a Winter Storm Warning. Snowfall totals could be similar, on top of what we’ve already got – and once again, the snow is supposed to arrive in time for the evening commute. This explains why Tara’s work was closed today, and most people in my office are leaving at noon. Better safe than sorry!
So, it looks like a snowy evening is on tap for us. I can’t think of a better way to spend a Friday night than watching the snow fall from inside our warm, cozy home while enjoying an alcoholic beverage or two.
Have a groovy weekend!
Related articles
Mark My Words 
Leave a reply to benzeknees Cancel reply