Thursday, January 6, 2011

Things

I was just reading City Dreamer's post HERE about feeling melancholy.  That is the perfect word.  Melancholy.  My reasons are different than hers, but I feel melancholy.  My smiles are fake.  My energy is fake.  Everything is fake right now.  And I'm tired of pretending. 


But, I haven't a clue what would make me really smile.  Perhaps I need to pack my bags and charge a vacay to the islands on my credit card?

STOP.  SEE NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION.

No can do.

Louis is on the melancholy train too:


Poor muffin.

I'm also very easily irritated lately.  For example. let's talk passwords.

For work I have an e-mail password, a database password and another password for this HR/timesheet submitting nonsense.  Anyway, I've got three.  That is on top of the passwords in my life outside of work (read: facebook, gmail, banking, bill pay, etc.) 

I tend to use the same password for everything.  It's easier that way :)  Sometimes I add a "1" after it.  Sometimes I capitalize the first letter.  But it's basically the same word.  That way I can always remember my password.  I may have to try a few things, but it's not too hard to figure out.

Not anymore.

My company has decided that we are protecting International Secrets or something.  I got an e-mail on Monday telling me it was time again to change my password.  So I did.  And it was REJECTED!  I hit "info".  Get a load of what popped up:

Hosting Password Policy :

1. At least three characters of the following four categories:

English uppercase characters (A through Z)

English lowercase characters (a through z)

Base 10 digits (0 through 9)

Non-alphabetic characters (for example, !, $, #, %)

Sample : gOO$gL3 , M1cr0$0fT

2. Must change password every 90 days.


3. Minimum password length is 7 characters.

4. Cannot contain more than 3 characters of the username; i.e., user tjones@xyz cannot have password Tjones123.


5. Minimum password age is one day , (i.e , you cannot use a password changed in the same day ).


6. Can not use any of the past 4 passwords. .


7. Account will lock out after 5 failed attempts.


8. Account will lock out for 30 minutes in case of a lockout.


9. Account will unlock after 30 minutes in case of a lockout.

ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!  And this is for THREE different programs.
 

Wanna know what I did?  I followed their rules.  And then I wrote down my super secret password on a post-it and stuck it to the side of my monitor.  So I won't forget it.  How's that for security?

I'm warning you...Snarky McSnarkersons lives here right now :-o

T

14 comments:

Kassie said...

I've been feeling...melancholy lately too. Like I'm in a weird funk. I'll get out of it, but it's annoying me!!

PS: I use the same password for everything as well. Terrible to think what would happen if I had to change it. ;)

the Hard Way said...

aw i love this post, it actually made me laugh a few times! i have 2 passwords. 1 of them is for everything financial and one is for all my other random junk. but of course at work i need a new pw every 30 days (it's like a freakin period for goodness sake!)to log on to my comp. blargh. how's this for security? i always make it the current month and current year. hahaha, joke's on you, Corporate Security :p

the Hard Way said...

PS - thanks for your sweet comment :) it was super awesome

Deviled Megs said...

Oh good...I am glad to know that I am not the only one camping here at the top of Mt. Melancholy lately. I was talking to my assistant this morning about it and how I just don't know how to shake this funk right now.

My work has us do the same thing with passwords...and I have so freaking many passwords for emails, bills/online accounts, etc. that for most of them I have to end up creating a new one because I can't remember what the old one was!

Dee Stephens said...

The bank is the same way. The one that really drives me nutz is the voicemail

Tote said...

I tend to use the same password too. In fact I made an excel sheet with all passwords and user names. The passwords sometimes need more letters or numbers, so just to be safe this is what I do. It is not safe because I keep it right next to my laptop along with CC #'s just in case I want to order anything on line.
As for the melancholy, I think it is that time of year. We need some more SUN!

Anonymous said...

I think melancholy is the perfect word to describe a lot of us lately...after all of the hoopla of the holidays (and engagements that inevitably come with them), it's back to real life with no transition...I know our life has taken a complete 180 and nothing is what I thought it would be, which has led to STRESS and a bit of confusion. Remember last summer when I wrote a post about being melancholy and you invited me to drinks? It made my day...so thank you, 6 months later :) Let me know if YOU want to get together!!

P.S. I'm glad you enjoyed the tasting menu...BFF placed the chef there and wasn't sure how he would do! I think he's doing well, so far...I'm pretty bummed we didn't jump on that tasting menu deal; I saw it and forgot to order it!

I hope your days turn around :) xoxo

Jenny DB said...

You REBEL!!! So we have similar requirements on some systems I use and I have found a sneaky way that will work for you too... my pup is Bondi and he is gr8 so I always do gr8Bondi and then throw in a symbol at the end * # whatever... and change the symbol. You could even skip the great and just use L01US with a zero and one and then throw in a smiley face haha L01US:)
PERFECT! hehe

how i met your father blog said...

oh melancholy... it's like the mean reds, i think (cue the moon river music)...

i have two passwords that i alternate between... and all of my friends know them because at one point or another they've needed to log into my facebook account to stalk someone. or vice versa.

so i say to them if they ever want to steal my identity they totally can!

Jess said...

I swear it’s just the time of year for melancholy. Just coming off all the fun and business of the holidays, I think. Having to get back into routines and all that. I’m feeling the same way, honestly! I just feel like my work days are dragging.

Thankfully, I can’t complain too much because I am going away again next week for 9 days, so I’m just trying to focus on that! I hope you’re feeling better soon!!

Miss Sweet Tea said...

I have the same at my work! I had to make a complicated password, and I wrote it on a sticky note and put it on my computer! Take that, work! But then, my boss saw it and made me take it down...so now the post-it is residing in my top drawer on top of my paper clips :)

And the drawer isn't even locked...so there!

Elizabeth said...

Right there - your password story is why I'm a follower! I'm sorry you and sweet LW are feeling down lately. :( I hope things turn around soon!

Anonymous said...

I think melancholy is precisely the word I've been looking for recently. Also those password requirements are ridiculous - I have eight at my job for the different systems and sites I use. I put all my passwords on a post-it and put it on the underside of my inbox (which is really a large fabric-covered box).

Ann said...

I would be in serious trouble with all those rules about the password