Password Writer's Block

Do you have trouble thinking up varied and meaningless passwords to use when you signup for a new online account on the Internet? I have the same problems at time and don't want to keep using the same ones.

There are lots of password programs out there that will manage your passwords. Generally they are inexpensive or free. Just Google "Free password manager" and you should find loads of them.

A lot of these proudly announce that they are compliant with security standards of the department of defense, etc. This is overkill for most of us. I remember most of my passwords. If I have some I can't remember I keep a copy of my passwords in a spreadsheet for a reference. This isn't the most secure system, but it's good enough. I've been using personal computers since the TRS-80 days in the late 1970s and have never had a problem.

There is however that problem of thinking up a password. When I find myself suffering from password writer's block I turn to a program such as the one at PC Tools

A click of the button and I get a password I can use for a website the next time I need one. For example I just generated a password Q3spa4eg that is pretty random. By adding more digits I can get an even more secure password should I feel the need.

I generate several when I visit the website and store them in my password spreadsheet read to be used when needed. Until then they are just random bits of information occupying a very small part of my hard disk.

I think that's it for today.

Take care and say "excuse me all the way."
-The Rapidly Aging Baby Boomer

Baby Boomer Go Boom!

Baby Boomer Accident. I am currently suffering from a Baby Boomer accident. I fell and broke my wrist on the twenty-fifth. Since then I've done a little work on my blogs, but it's been sitting at home. Reading is difficult both because of holding the book and the oxycodone pills I'm taking for pain. I'll have lots of time to get used to it: eight weeks with the pictured external scaffold, followed by physical therapy etc. I'm classifying this as a Baby Boomer accident because I fell down and went "boom." Is that an old Bugs Bunny bit? I was walking my dog and step out smartly into an intersection. Unfortunately Sam decided to stop and I tumbled over him. It's the kind of fall I wouldn't have noticed twenty years ago, but I'm out of commission for a while. Sam, however, is fine, fortunately. For the non-squeamish, here is a picture of my left lower arm.

Baby Boomer Good Samaritan. I want to offer my thanks to an unknown baby boomer named Mary who helped me home after I fell. What a treat that a stranger would take time to help someone she didn't know. I'm proud to add that although I was feeling shocky and nearly fainted I noticed she was attractive, both as a person and physically as a woman. I'm happy to learn my male testosterone-driven beast isn't dead, though it rarely does more than whimper.

A New Page to Gonzo Journalism? I hope me posts will be more frequent now. Either the pain is lessening or I'm getting used to writing under the influence of drugs. I wonder if this is how Hunter S. Thompson felt when he wrote. Could this be the start of a new journalistic trend: Gray Gonzo journalism?

Take care and say "excuse me all the way."
-The Rapidly Aging Baby Boomer

The Generation Gap (TGG)

I've decided to dispense with the popular labels for generations after the Boomers. Frankly, I can't remember what letter represents what generation. I know there's a Generation X and Y, and I think there's a C generation, but that's all I remember. I think a better tag for this generation is, well, TAG. The Acronym Generation.

These generations have the common trait of using acronyms and abbreviations for communications to the point where they are able to make incomprehensible statements faster than we Boomers ever dreamed of doing. The current fruition of this phenomenon is text messaging. Messaging allows TAG-ers to send cryptic messages to friends with both great speed. Judging by the cost, these messages must be pure gold since text messaging can result in spending hundreds of dollars per TAG-er every month.

I started on this rant during my recent vacation when I was trying to order a beer and was asked by a waiter if I'd like an IPA and then looked at me expectantly.

Since I was on vacation my wits weren't as sharp as they are on occasion and at first I thought he asked me to take part in an Initial Public Offering (IPO) of some stock. Since I was on vacation I wasn't interested in financial matters. I felt confused and wondered why an investment adviser was still working as a waiter. I mean, the Dot Com Crisis (DCC) was several years back. Surely all the Dot Com Millionaires (DCM) have recovered by now.

One I figured out that IPA could not be a three-letter acronym (TLA) for Initial Public Offering it was smooth sailing. I responded to the waiter's question with a clever, yet sincere, "What?"

"Would you like an IPA?" he responded quickly, hardly leaving room for me to type spaces betweens the words in his sentence. "WldulknIPA?"

This time I was ready for him and challenged him. "What's an IPA?"

"Indian Pale Ale."

Since I was looking for a darker beer or ale I nodded and all was copasetic. That's when I started noticing the lack of communication that occurs when TAG-ers talk.

The immediate cause of this article came about when I was trying to figure out what PNC in PNC Park, the home of Major League Baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates, stood for. It took me two Google searches to find an answer that made sense. It doesn't stand for anything. The company that used to be Pittsburgh National Bank paid for the naming the park, but the company now is Pittsburgh National Corporation and has combined with Provident National Corporation. At least that's what Tom Zemencik wrote in 2001. Even if he's wrong it makes sense to me so I'll pretend he's right.

HAND (Have a nice day).

Take care and say "excuse me all the way."
-The Rapidly Aging Baby Boomer

Baby Boomer Pets

We just got home from our trip to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon. The first thing we did was pick up our dogs from the Plush Pooch here in Bellingham. The dogs were happy to see us, but they always have a good time there. We've been using them for nearly twenty years and have never regretted it.

Talk about Boomers spoiling their pets, as we were leaving, a van pulled in from the local doggy day care center to pick up one of the dogs. It appears the dog spends every Friday at the doggy day care. Just because his owner was out of town, that was no reason for him to miss his play date at the doggy day care. So he was picked up for the day and would come back that evening to eat and to rest from his busy day. Too cute for words!

Happy to announce the launch of a new blog: A Baby Boomer Cooks W/O Gas. During one of my middle life crises, I went to cooking school and cooked professionally until my knees wore out. I'm still interested in food of course. I still love cooking, but now I usually do so for only family and friends.

The title is a pun, of course. Professional kitchens here in the Northwest almost always use gas because it gets hot faster. The exceptions are kitchens in high-rise building that have codes preventing gas at levels above ten stories. Anyway, that combined with the Baby Boomer need to avoid gastric irritation and gas led to the title. You might wonder why my first recipe features Chicago Dogs that include Sport Peppers. It's a fair (or, since I'm dealing with puns, a fare) question. The answer is simple. Because they taste so good.

Take care and say "excuse me all the way."
-The Rapidly Aging Baby Boomer