199 days to go

     Whatever happened to the good old days?  I grew up in the fifties. Everything was less complicated back then. There were fewer cars and a lot less television stations. We had checking and a savings account. And if we wanted to withdraw money, we would write a check or go to the bank in person.  And the banks were small enough so the tellers would know your name and would not be separated by three inches of Plexiglas!
     The good old days have been replaced by passwords.  It has almost gotten to the point  that I need some kind of  password to do anything electronic.  Before I log onto my computer at work, I have to use a password.  Then there is another password for each of the applications I use.  Some of the applications have begun informing me that I need to change my password every couple of months.  The programs say I can't use the same password I have used in the past.
    Some other programs have begun telling me that I need to have at least one if not more numbers, letters, both with and without caps with a sprinkling of  dollar, pound, question and quotation marks. I do have some rather convoluted passwords for important accounts and programs.  If anyone is going to try and hack into my bank account, I want them to be as frustrated as I am when I am entering a 27 character password that I hope is correct!
     But as I have gotten older, the old passwords which I once used are coming back to haunt me.  Most everything on the web requires some sort of log in and password.  In olden times, if I wanted a magazine subscription, I would mail a check to the company and then would forget that I had sent  in the money.  Then after weeks had passed, I would begin to get magazine issues and I would have to think long and hard as to why I had even wasted my  money.  
     Now, I can order most anything on line but in order to do it their way, I must have some kind of log-in word and password.  Sometimes the site asks me to make up a password before I enter all my vital information. So I pull a password out of the air which I could remember if I were thirty years younger, write it down on a post-it note and enter the word on the secure website.  Then I hit enter and the screen pauses and says that the password and log in have already been used. And I look at the screen and say, "How can that be?"
     The screen does not answer me but suggests that I try another name and password.  So I enter another name and password, this time longer than before and the system says that name and password are already in use. Since this is the first time I have ever been to this site, I scratch my head and wonder who out there is walking around with the same name and password that I just entered.  As I enter yet another user name, the site system asks if I would like a suggestion and  I say 'Why not?'  So the system which is far smarter than me, selects a name and a password I can live with.  And this time I copy down both words so I will have this information when I log on in a week to see where my subscription is.  And I enter the computer generated user name and password and the system says okay.  Now that I have a user name and password,  I begin to enter the ship and bill to information. That done, I enter credit card information and the system thanks me for being patient. And it says I am almost done.  I then try to read some lawyer written disclaimer which says the company has the greatest security system since Fort Knox and that my information is safe with them. And that they value my business and blah, blah, blah and oh, by the way, there is just one more thing I need to do before my subscription is entered into their system.  I need to answer some questions so that if I forget my login phrase and or password, they can make sure I am who I say I am.
     I answer the questions and then do a screen save of my questions and answers and save the file.  One more time to look at all my answers and I hit the enter key. There I have done it. Then  I have a thought,  Did I enter the correct alternative email address?   I go to the current subscriber log in site and enter my name and password.  Sorry, you have entered incorrect information.  I enter everything again, this time slower.  Still nothing.  I even hit the drop down link that says it will send me the questions to answer.
     "There is no such password or user id listed in our system.  Would you like our system to help you select a new password?"
      Guess what my answer was?