Tonight's picture was taken in January of 2006. Mattie was three and half years old and attending his preschool. That day, I brought in two homemade gingerbread houses (and candy) for the children to decorate. Mind you I never made a gingerbread house in my life. But when I asked Mattie's teacher what winter activity was she wanted me to do with the children, she suggested gingerbread houses. That was a steep learning curve for me, because I had to look up recipes for gingerbread, how to cut out the pieces for the house, and also how to make royal icing. I am so glad I figured this out, because all the preschool classes participated that day! I remember one child was thrilled to learn that she could eat the royal icing, that it wasn't GLUE! It was a day to remember!
Quote of the day: Once a new technology rolls over you, if you’re not part of the steamroller, you’re part of the road. ~ Stewart Brand
My goal today was to do some updates on Mattie Miracle's website. However, what I have learned with technology, is that NOTHING is easy. What should have been a task that took me a few minutes, landed up taking me hours. When I logged on, I learned that our Instagram feed wasn't working. As I tried to re-establish connection, I ran into problems. Truthfully, I was ready to fling the computer out of the window. Because once you run into technology problems, you know what the infamous question will be.... what is your password?
To make any changes to accounts, you need logins and passwords. I don't know about you, but my life is one big confusion of letters, numbers, and symbols! GOODNESS gracious!!! This is such a systemic problem that the term "password anxiety" has been coined. Did you know that?
- The average American has been locked out of 10 online accounts in the past month alone, according to new research.
- The survey of 2,005 Americans found this issue doesn’t appear to be going anywhere, as 63% of respondents surveyed said this is a recurring problem for them.
- Memorizing passwords is so difficult that two in three respondents (65%) said they will forget it unless they write it down somewhere.
- In fact, more than half of respondents said they have to execute at least five password resets each month on average, spending at least 10 minutes each time doing so.
- But that won’t solve anything permanently, as 57% said they will forget their new password immediately upon resetting it.
- "Password anxiety” is a real phenomenon, as 64% of people say they will avoid visiting certain websites or accounts where they’ve forgotten their password.
- Accounts people avoid most often if they’ve forgotten the log-in credentials were found to be their personal email (38%), their bank account (35%) and their utility bills account (35%).
- Sixty-five percent of people say they experience a moment of panic when they realize their computer or mobile device doesn’t have a password stored for a website they want to log into.
- Interestingly, 57% said that if they ever lost their phone, they’d be locked out of most of their accounts.
Can you relate to these bullet points? I know I can! I do use an encrypted password manager, but I for one really do not like relying on another device to access important data. But who has a choice? Now that I am managing everything on my own, I am trying to become organized. This is going to take me time, because between personal and Foundation accounts there is a lot to track! But I know for one thing, technology issues cause me great anxiety. Just having to sit down and deal with issues that arise, I can feel my heart skipping a beat. But I pushed through that feeling, because I had to resolve this problem for Mattie Miracle, and I did!
Switching gears, we are expecting more snow tomorrow. I took my parents out to lunch today, and I felt like everyone was bracing for tomorrow, and therefore, people were out and about today! Every Saturday, I take my parents to our local diner. Everyone knows us in there. Thankfully! My dad's physical decline is very noticeable now, not just by me, but his physical therapist commented on it during today's session. Because of this decline, I can no longer park the car and have my dad walk anywhere. Instead, I have to drive up to the entrance of restaurants, lay by, help each parent out of the car, walk them in, and either get them seated, or find them seats to wait. Then I go out and park the car. In any case, the diner staff are God sends, because they streamlined us right to a booth. I never overlook acts of kindness. They mean so much to me, as I juggle the care of my parents. What I find fascinating is wherever I take my parents, people have gotten to know us. Servers, general managers, and managers typically come up to greet, hug, and chat with me. In fact, today alone, I got a text message from the manager of our local Sweet Frog wishing me a happy New Year and she wanted me to know that I am a blessing.
Why do I mention this? I mention it because in the world of computers, technology, logins, and passwords, what means the most at the end of the day? HUMAN connections. No matter how busy I am, or what I am juggling, making connections with people is still what drives, motivates, and keeps me going. When I wonder if the Vicki I always knew still exists, the answer is yes and no. But I guess core values do not change, they are not altered, no matter what grief and traumas we face. In a world where we hear countless stories of negativity, and we absorb it daily, meeting and experiencing the kindness of others around me, instills hope in humanity.
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