Passwords

In this age of rampant access to everything under the sun, I admit to being a little perplexed. When we were young (and I use "we" collectively -- all of us over the age of 35) there were very few things you needed a code to access. Want to enter the house? Use the key. And probably, the door wasn't locked anyway.

I spent years with unlocked doors and open access.

I'm probably more terrified of my sinuses exploding, getting diagnosed with cancer, date rape or identity theft than I am of some random person walking into my home and causing harm.

The odds are in my favor.

The world of passwords is approaching insanity. Most people started out using a simple one like your date of birth, your SSN, your mother's maiden name, etc. Now, every website, every account, every access code to absolutely anything requires a random sequence, including letters, numbers and symbols. On top of that, we are all advised to not use the same one for everything.

I am still job searching and that involves a lot of websites that want me to establish my password. My two favorites don't always work because they don't have symbols.

When I'm feeling goofy, I like to mix it up. Like when they ask for your mother's maiden name as a fallback for resending you your super secret password, I mix it all up. My current favorite is listing my mother's maiden name as SmithEllisjones.

Of course, I no longer have the brain capacity to keep all of my passwords and secret codes in my head. I have a little notebook to keep things straight. I have no fear of someone stealing my identity;I have a great fear of someone stealing my notebook.