I have been in the Florida Keys the past several weeks. My husband continues to repair our home from Hurricane Irma damage, and I continue to watch him work. Occasionally, I wander over to ask if he needs my help while silently saying a Hail Mary he doesn’t so I can go back to what I want to do. He has mentioned a time or two the need for me to clean up an area of our yard covered with rocks, but we only have a few more days, so I think I can slide out without having to put on a pair of work gloves. And listen, if you are feeling bad for my husband, don’t. We have been married for 35 years, and I bring a whole bunch of other stuff to the relationship that is more important than picking up rocks.
One of my projects while in Florida was to make sense of our financial quagmire. Now, let me just say that I work with a professional and everything is invested as it should be, but I have always had a desire to put everything online. I want to receive e-bills and pay them online to eliminate paper in my life. The only problem is that you must set up online accounts with each institution, and they all have certain password requirements—and none of them are the same. And no, I don’t know how to use the app our talented tech writer Shelia Burkett told us about to keep them all straight. Instead, I have a notebook with all our usernames and passwords (which anyone in the tech world will tell you is an awful idea). But I just can’t take calling customer service anymore to explain that I have been locked out of my account for security reasons. Those calls are painful.
The person answering is always much younger, and I always feel like they are serving some sort of punishment to be stuck on these kinds of calls. I certainly can answer the most basic security questions: What is your oldest brother’s name? Where were you born? But then something about the name of my first pet will throw me. I wonder if I put Spot or Schultz. Schultz was the first one when I was a kid, but Spot was the first one when I was married. So, I try to give two answers. Or when asked my favorite team, I wonder if I answered that question during baseball season or when I was watching the Olympics. The best is my fourdigit code. Certainly it would be someone’s birthday, but which child? Or maybe I used my own? I can hear the poor customer service reps rolling their eyes as they try to decide whether I’m some scammer trying to access an account illegally or just an inept, forgetful woman.
So after about two days, I thought I finished my work, until I realized that Laclede Gas is now Spire, and I have continued to pay Laclede Gas Drawer 2 instead of Spire Drawer 2. And then I wondered why it changed its name, but more importantly, where is Drawer 2 and how big is it? That’s when I rethought my position on picking up rocks. Maybe I should go ahead and help with the yard work. Oh, look, Dr. Phil is on. He is discussing badly behaved teenagers. I need to watch this because I don’t have any of those, and it will make me feel better about myself. So, yes, it was a very nice vacation.
Contact Patty at phannum@townandstyle.com.
