Be Secure - Know Security

I work for the IT service desk at a local college.  A good portion of my job involves helping clients with log in issues.  This invariably will involve security questions at some point.  I want to list a few things it is important to know regarding security questions. 

1).  You will be required to set up security questions.  These are a necessity if you should ever require assistance from the Service Desk.

2).  A sibling would be your brother or sister.  If you are an only child you do not have a sibling.  Having a son or daughter is not the same as having a sibling.  

3).  Regarding siblings:  if the question pertains to your 'oldest' sibling and you are the oldest child in your family, you might be confused.  You do have an oldest sibling - it would be the one who is closest in age to you.  If you still find this confusing, go with another question.

4).  Regarding security questions.  It is necessary that you know the answers you choose.  They don't have to be the right answer.  We aren't going to be checking up to see if you answered correctly or not.  We have no idea where your mother was born.  If she was born in Timbuktu and you answer Alaska it doesn't matter.  All that matters is that Alaska verifies when we type it in.  

5).  If your favorite color depends on the day of the week, it probably is not a wise idea to choose that for your security question.  If your favorite color is purple on Wednesday and you call on Friday when your favorite color is magenta, chances are we won't be able to verify the answer.

6).  On the same note: don't choose who is my boyfriend when choosing a security question unless you are pretty secure in that relationship.  Chances are that when you call me six months to a year later you will be telling me that you don't remember who you were dating when you set the questions up. 

7). Also, asking the question "what is my password" probably isn't the smartest question to ask.  If you knew that you wouldn't be calling me now would you?

8).  If you have never had a pet then don't choose the question "what was the name of your first pet".  Likewise, if you have had pets to numerous to mention this is not a good question.  

9).  If you did not know your father very well (perhaps he died before you were born or your parents divorced) then don't choose the question "what is my father's middle name.  Some people who are very close to their parents don't even know the answer to that.  

10).  One other thing, it is usually very important to know how you answered the question "what street did you live on in third grade?"  If you lived at 1397 South 148th East Avenue it might be better to choose another question unless you can remember exactly how you entered the answer.  Did you abbreviate any of those words?  Did you use any type of punctuation? Did you even enter anything other than 148th?  

Bottom line is:  make the answers something you can remember.  If you want to make the answer to all your questions the same - that is fine.  We won't grade you - we only care if you know the answers. 

  
 And hats off to those of you who make my day when you call.  Perhaps the guy who only had one question in place.  We require three questions.  The one question he had was "why did I divorce my wife?"  Man, I seriously wanted to ask that just to find out the answer.  But then I would have had to say 'oh to bad that's the only question you have in place.  We need three to be able to assist you."  

Or perhaps the one that asked "how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?"  Yep, the correct answer is 'as much wood as woodchuck would chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood".  

Or maybe the student who puts in 'where did I meet my wife' as a security question.  Upon asking that he replies " I'm not even married."  

Golden Girl Lessons

I have always loved watching the Golden Girls.  Back when it first came on my daughter K.C. would always come into the bedroom with Gary and I at 10:30 and watch it before going to bed. K.C., her friend Shellie and I have always said we are going to be the Golden Girls when we get old.  I'm still waiting for that time.  

Shellie reminded me today that we learned a lot of lessons from the Golden Girls.  Let me share a few of these lessons with you.

1) If you want to be on Jeopardy you have to try out.  Hopefully you will do better than Dorothy did the time she tried out.  But we know you have to try out.  You don't just show up and get on the show.

2)  Keep cheesecake in the fridge.  This way you always have something available to drown your sorrows in.  Or to talk over your problems and solve all the world problems with your other Golden Girls.

3). Sperm banks don't have drive up windows.  Not that any of us considered it.

4)  To get really sparkling white teeth just run them through the dishwasher.

5) If there is danger of a volcano erupting, don't raise your hand when they want to sacrifice the town's dumbest virgin.  

6)  Italians are good  at screaming, hitting, cooking, singing opera and making love.  None of us are Italian though.

7)  Spanish flies aren't really flies -- but they do wear tiny little sombreros.

8). They don't let adults ride the horses in front of the grocery store.

9)  If you say you are taking along protection you don't mean you are taking armed guards with you.  

10)  Don't shave your head until you have the lead part in The King and I. You will look like a fool if someone else gets the part. 

11) There are two things you should fear.  They are fear and the bogey man.

12)  Separated egg yolks look like little balls of sunshine.  

13)  There are three important lessons to learn in school - the 3 R's -- Reading, 'Riting, and Rooster Inseminating. 

Now - we just need to decide where we are going to live; and I want to be sure that our bedrooms are as big as the bedrooms they all had.  And if I am 'Rose' they better not be hitting me upside the head. 

My Annoying Zone

                             Annoying:  to disturb or bother -- causing irritation or annoyance.

I was watching the news tonight and was reminded why I don't watch that particular channel for news very often at 6 pm.  The female news lady annoys me.  Why?  Because she looks like a Barbie doll.  Yep, she actually looks like a Barbie doll.  Same facial features - and they don't look real on her any more than they look real on the Barbie doll.  Hair style - the same.  She just looks like a talking Barbie doll.  That annoys me.  No one should actually look like that.  I look at her and always ask myself - Is she for real?  So I tend not to watch her if I'm wanting to watch the news at 6.

Perky morning people.  Need I say more?  I mean, seriously, who can be perky early in the morning?  Not supposed to happen at all.  I'm a mid-day type of person.  Don't do mornings well and don't do evenings well.  I certainly don't want to be exposed to anyone perky at 6 am.  It makes me just want to reach into that TV screen and smack her upside the head.  It didn't bother me when she quit working. 

Cats.  That says a lot.  My cats annoy me.  I liked them when they were little orphan kittens.  I'm thinking now we should have looked a little harder for a momma cat to take care of them.  These cats annoy me.  Psycho cat who thinks she can stand on one side of the door and wait for you to pass by so she can jump out at you and hiss.  Yep, that annoys me.  Weaving all in and out around my feet - totally annoying.  Makes me want to kick her aside.  But worst of all...the absolute worst of all is middle of the night.  I put my leg outside on top of the covers because I'm hot.  Big deal that the cat is sleeping there.  It does not give her the right to bite my ankle!!  Yep, that was a thud you heard as I kicked the cat out of bed. 

So I think as you read through this you will understand why I say I'm a mid-day type person.  I see that early morning TV annoys me, evening news lady annoys me and cat in the middle of the night annoys me.  Guess if you want to stay on my good side better just talk to me in the middle of the day. 

Missing Friends

If you follow my blog then you know that over the past year and a half we left our Tulsa church home and after visiting several churches, we have found our new church home.  When we left our old church we left our 'family'. These are long-time friends that we made when we first moved to Tulsa and they had become a very important part of our lives. 

We have a wide assortment of friends, people our age, the kids we taught in Sunday School, kids we did mission trip with, older friends.  We have tried to keep in touch with these friends as much as we can but sometimes you just miss your friends. For some reason today that thought popped into my head 'I miss you my friend'.  I was thinking of my good friend Katie Sawyer at that time.  So I wrote the following poem specifically for her but it certainly can apply to all my friends from Skelly Drive.

I MISS YOU MY FRIEND

I miss you my friend.

The smile on your face

That brightened my day

I looked forward each week

To what you would say.

I miss you my friend.

The days pass by and before I know

A week, a month, a year flies by.

You’re in my thoughts most every day

And I just wanted send you a great big “Hi!”

I miss you my friend.

I think of you often I want you to know.

A treasured friend you will always be.

We may not see one another now

But remember that you are special to me.

I miss you my friend.

Written for:  Katie Sawyer

By:  Kathie Marrs

        April 21, 2014

Life Lessons

I was just thinking the other day about various things I have learned over the course of my life.  Some are important and relevant and some aren't so important.  I do however think each of these are important for a good life.  

1) Don't forget to laugh:  Laughter is good for you.  Try to laugh every day - even if it is at yourself.  If you can't find a reason to laugh then go online and google babies laughing.  Baby laughter is the best!!  Laughter makes everything better - so share a joke.  

2) Help others if you are able:  If you have the ability to do something for someone do it.  It may not be much to you but to that person it may be a major issue they are not sure how to handle.  It may be something as simple as holding a door open for someone.  Maybe it's the simple act of 'paying it forward' - pay for a cup of coffee for the person in line behind you.  

3) Color:  Keep a coloring book and a box of crayons around.  There is just something relaxing about taking the time to color a picture.  So take time to color with the kids or grand kids or just by yourself for no reason.  

4) Read to your children:  Reading can take you away from your cares.  Reading can take you to distant lands.  Read to your children from the time they are able to enjoy and never stop.  I was lucky enough to have my parents read to me and I read to my children and I read to my grandchildren.  I am happy to say that almost all of my children also love to read.  Most of my grandchildren love to read.  When Remington and Lily spend the night we read a book before bedtime.  We read a book to each other.  It is wonderful to see my grandson ask to go shopping and then want to go to the book section to get new books to read.  

5)  Treat yourself:  Give yourself a treat and don't feel guilty about it.  Give yourself time for a bubble bath.  Buy a new lipstick or nail polish. Sit down and actually watch a movie all the way through before the dishes are done.  Make yourself a cup of coffee or a pot of tea and sit down and drink it before it gets cold.  Take care of yourself so you are able to take care of others in your life. 

6) Let others help you:  Let someone do something for you if they ask.  Don't deprive them of the opportunity to give you a blessing.  Don't let your pride keep you from accepting something.

7) Let your kids have a pet:  Having a pet will teach your child responsibility.  They will also have a friend to confide in if that pet is a dog or a cat.  If it's a fish or a turtle or a bird, or some other such pet they will still learn responsibility.  These pets may not make for confidants but they will teach the child responsibility.  And every child should have a pet.  As kids we had several around - all the time - everything from raccoons, to dogs, to turtles to cats.  We had just about every pet you could name.  My kids always has pets - at one time each girl had their own dog. My kids have had dogs, cats, an iguana, fish, etc.  We are down to only two cats and I'm ready to be petless but I don't regret letting my kids have pets. 

8) Spend time with your kids: Take time to go on a bike ride with your child.  Play a board game or go for a walk with them.  Spend time with them while they are young - when they are older there won't be as much time to spend with them.  However, if you spend time with them when they are young they will be more apt to make time for you when they get older.  

9) Blow bubbles:  There is nothing as much fun as blowing bubbles!  I keep a bottle of bubbles around the house (also have one at work LOL).  Sometimes for no reason I will pull them out and blow bubbles - yes even inside the house.  I like to blow them outside and see how long they will last.  

10) Pray:  Take time every day to pray.  I didn't put this last on the list for any particular reason, it just ended up there.  It probably really should be number 1.  Pray - every day.  I carry on prayers with God all day long - I pray in the shower, I pray on my way to work, I say short prayers throughout the day.  But every day - take time to pray.