Security Questions

(This post is pointless and not worth your time to read.  You are forewarned.)

Every few weeks or so, my bank makes me re-verify my computer, even though it's the same computer I've been using to log in for the last 3 years.  I'm not annoyed by this; more security surrounding my bank account can't be a bad thing.  What I AM annoyed by is that the questions they suggested and that then I answered have multiple forms of the same answer.

For instance (and I'm going to use fictional questions that are close to the mark), "What street do you live on?"  Well, when I first answered that question, did I include the Street at the end or no?  And if I DID, was it spelled out as "Street" or did I abbreviate it as "St."?

Or, what about, "What city do you live in?"  Well, Cincinnati, but did I put "Cincinnati" as my answer or "Cincinnati, Ohio," or "Cincinnati, OH."  All of those answers are "correct," but my bank only recognizes one of them as the correct answer.

So even though I know the answers to all these questions, I have a small panic attack every time I have to re-verify my identity.  I don't want the bank to think I'm not legit because I can't remember in what form I put the name of my middle school.

Stolen Quote #16

From "Teaching of the Vizier Ptahhotep," which is a collection of ancient Egyptian maxims:

If you are a leader,

be calm while you hear a petitioner's speech!

Do not prevent him from purging his body

of what he planned to tell you!

A wronged man loves to pour his heart out

more than achieving what he came for.

About someone who prevents petitions, they say,

'So why does he thwart it?'

Everything for which a man petitioned may not come about,

but a good hearing is what soothes the heart.

Stolen Conversation #15

Miciah (my 8-year-old daughter):  You can't go through that door.  It's a trap.
Elijah (my 5-year-old son):  For a baby?
Miciah:  No, it's a TRAP.
Elijah:  A trap for a baby?
Miciah:  No!  Just for normal people!
Elijah:  What's a trap?
Miciah, in a huff:  When you go through that door, the Queen pushes you to the alligators.  So you can't go through that door, okay?
Elijah:  Oh.  Okay!

Stolen Quote #14

Today's Stolen Quote comes from The Keys of Egypt, a book about Champollion, the guy who first deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphs.  Here's the set up:

Champollion was amazingly talented from a very young age and apparently had little tact (though also little guile--sounds like he and I would have been friends), so he made enemies quickly.  Thomas Young, his main rival in the race to decipher hieroglyphs, deduced 4 hieroglyphs first, and was always angered that Champollion actually came up with a valid system and beat him to the fame and glory that was deciphering hieroglyphs.  And so, in large part, Champollion was denied the glory that he deserved because people went about bad-mouthing him and claiming that Young was the REAL hero.

Anyways, over time people gradually decided that Champollion's system actually worked, so they stopped giving him such a hard time.  There were only a few hold-outs, including Young, and some of Champollion's jealous cohorts.

Champollion went to Egypt from 1828 - 1830, six years after unlocking the secrets of the hieroglyphs.  This is what the book says about his "triumphant" return, followed by the quote from Champollion:

"[Champollion's] reluctance to return to Paris was compounded by hearing that opposition to him had increased during his visit to Egypt, and he was even being accused of falsifying evidence to fit his system of decipherment.  Writing to Rosellini [one of Champollion's supporters], Champollion declared that his first concern would be to finish his hieroglyphic grammar, which 'will appear at the end of this year:  it is the indispensable preface to our voyage.  It will not convert, however, those who fight my system and deprecate my work, because these gentlemen do not wish to be converted and are uniquely dishonest...I spit on them.' "

Rock on, Champollion.

Champollion died 2 years later.  His hieroglypic grammar came out several years after his death, published by his loyal older brother.  Champollion's life would not have been possible without his brother's support.  It's a good story.

Champollion

Winter and Reptiles

It's about this time of year, every year, when I realize how reptilian I am.  I tell people, when the topic comes up (and when wouldn't it come up that I'm a reptile?), that I'm cold-blooded.

Not talking personality-wise.  I'm talking actual blood temperature.

For some reason I can't keep heat inside my body and I am almost constantly cold.  My circulation is horrible.  When I ran track in High School, I was exempted from having to find my pulse after sprints, because not even the coach could find it.  It's all related:  low blood-pressure, lack of circulation, cold extremities...

I am a reptile.

In the winter this becomes more of a problem because, being incapable of creating my own heat,  I have to find external heat sources.  The best heat sources involve hot water, and so in the winter months I am obsessed with soups, hot cocoa, hand-washing dishes, and too-hot-and-too-long showers.  Showers are my favorite, and I can easily spend up to an hour every day in the shower (that's 3 showers times 20 minutes a piece).  Lately this has been striking me as a grand waste of time.  But, oh, the hot water!  Blissful.

The other great external heat source at my disposal is Rob.  When I come up to him on a winter's day or night, and I start lifting his shirt, this is NOT a come-on.  And if you ever saw it (saw it), you would hear Rob screaming like a little girl, even before my hands hit his bare stomach.  The problem with this heat source is that as my hands warm, I have to find new places to put them, since the heat source loses substantial heat by being in contact with my hands.  And, the heat source frequently yelps as I find new warm spots.

When Rob is not available and I am feeling ashamed about the amount of time I spend letting hot water scald my body, I huddle over the main heating vent in our house.  The problem with this external heat source is that it isn't constant, so I either have to deal with it being off a good deal of time, or I have to turn up the thermostat to keep the furnace running.  And even if I DO turn up the temperature, I have to fight the kids for my spot over the vent.  It's a family "fun spot."  Definitely first rate real estate.

I do have a rice bag that I heat until it's nearly scalding and then I hug into my chest, leaving a red mark.  Then I move it to my feet until they can't stand it any more, and then back to my chest.  This process can repeat for about half an hour.  And Rob loves the rice bag because it largely keeps his stomach incident-free.

So as I think about winter and maintaining body heat, my commitment to lowering my water and heating bills slips.  I am a reptile, and I need warmth.  However I can get it.