Well, I did….
Years ago, I got locked out of an email account, and it took hours to get back in, because I had forgotten my answer to the security question “What is your favorite song?” That, by the way, should never be asked as a security question.
Hours went by, as I tried to remember what song would have been my most favorite 3 years ago, when I set up this account at 3 am, while consuming beer. How’s that for not being well thought out? As it turns out, the song was “Vogue” by Madonna. No further discussion will be had on this matter.
So I created a plan. I would never again get locked out of emails, or websites or a webpage where I would need to have some obscure email address or username. That plan involved a 3X5 card, and lots of emails. The plans was as follows :
Create an email address to use for only certain activities. I have had magazine subscriptions and website subscriptions and so forth, so for any website where I had to pay a monthly or yearly subscription to, I used a specific email address. This way if I needed to log in or recover a password, I knew which to enter. The same process goes for junk mail / websites, where you want to access a site and they ask for an email address, but you know you’ll never use it again… I had an email for that. For current bills – one email address. For close friends and family, where I would only have contact with them… I had an email for that too, and you can see the pattern I’m building.
Now what if something went nuts, and I couldn’t remember the password for these? After all, when I make a password, usually I make some 0b5cuR3 password with letters and numbers to cut down on the hacking. I had a plan for that too. That plan was in the form of a single 3X5 index card. On it, every password I use is clearly written in a miniscule nature, and then hidden in a safe location.
That was my plan.
Fast forward to 3 hours ago. I worked last night, and after getting home I took a nap. When I woke up, it was to a sound from my iPhone which I’ve never heard before. Very long story short, it committed hari-kari. After hours of reading on the internets and talking to tech guys at Apple, I’ve decided that it’s a lost cause. This sucker has done everything it can, short of a suicide note, to let me know that it’s time to change phones. This mainly sucks, because I had all my email passwords stored in, and read 99% of my emails through my iPhone. Pain in the butt.
Oh well. Time to go on the AT&T site and see if I can get an upgrade. Wait.. I cleared out passwords two days ago. If it’s not one thing, it’s another, but eh no real worries right? After all, Greg has a system! I go over to retrieve the previously mentioned 3X5 card with all my passwords, so I can get the password for my AT&T account, and get a new phone to store these damn passwords in - again.
Where, is the damn card? Wait.. Where is it? Oooooh yeah.. I used it a week ago, and left it on the desk… that I cleaned off… and threw away all the miscellaneous scrap pieces of OH MY GOD KILL ME NOW, TRASH DAY WAS 2 DAYS AGO!
All is not lost, because I know a few passwords, so I go to yahoo to check mail from close friends and family, and that ladies and gents, is where I’ve been for an hour. I forgot the password, and I forgot the email address I set up for recovery (that info was on my 3X5), and the only other option is to send a text to my now dead iPhone.
I had a plan… >=(
This reminds me of one of my favorite moments in The West Wing: Donna had a System
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