Thinking Out Loud
What's My Password Again??

April 6, 2014
By: Diane Szczepanski

A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.
Emo Phillips

I spent the better part of this morning trying to get into computer accounts in which I had forgotten the user name, password and/or customer service number. It turned out to be a rather long journey in Retrieval Hell.

I spent the better part earlier this week, dealing with a laptop that was possessed, an expensive camera that died for no apparent reason and a blow dryer that went kaput.

Some days the very things that improve the quality of our lives, make things more convenient and generally are useful and helpful, can bring us the most aggravation.

For instance, in days of yore, or the "dinosaur era" as my son refers to it, we used paper and pencil to write our musings, not a persnickety moody computer.

Oh sure, there were the occasional lead breaks, but getting back up and running meant a 5 second visit with the pencil sharpener and you were good to go.

Today, it seems I spend an inordinate amount of time "fixing stuff", trying to remember passwords and trying to keep things up to date. I'm just hoping I can finish this column on my laptop before the battery dies and I have to go on an excavation mission in the desk drawer to find the correct cord to recharge it.

Which is whole other level of Hell in itself.

Technology. Friend or foe? Some days I have to wonder...

I leave you now to go take a walk with my cool new Ipod. May the force be with me and all systems are go.

For once.