When did life get so complicated. I feel like I woke up and I am no longer able to deal with all the numbers, accounts, passwords, links, websites . . .
All of these things are supposed to be simplifying our lives, but when you have to make a spread sheet that's two pages long with account numbers and passwords, simplification doesn't work into the equation.
My husband sent me a text last night (one of those wonderful things that is supposed to simplify our lives) telling me that my electric bill was paid out of his account. Three hours after I replied to that text saying I would take care of it in the morning, I got an e-mail (yup, another thing to simplify our lives) saying that a check had just been sent out of MY account to pay the electric bill. My electric bill was paid twice, once from our joint account and once from my account.
When I tried to get this straightened out with the electric company this morning, I had to try to give them all the numbers necessary to access the account and figure out what was happening. While I was on the phone, I had to try to get information from one financial institution, but from two separate accounts within that institution. It takes a password, a security code and a security question to get into each of these accounts. If you get any of these passwords, codes or questions incorrect three times, they block you for the account. Well that's what I did. I put MY information into the joint account not realizing what I was doing, and bingo, I was no longer allowed to play their game.
Brian was the kind gentleman who had the pleasure of dealing with me while I sweated, shuffling spread sheets, balanced the phone on my shoulder, swore, typed and tried to keep all the information straight in my head, while trying to access two separate accounts AND look at my electric bill online, all at the same time. He was very patient, but when I finally said that I was going to have to call back, he was just a little too eager to agree with me.
I think I got everything sorted out, but I also think I'm mostly crossing my fingers and hoping the account fairy is going to make everything okay!
Oh, how I can relate to this. The more "easy" ways to manage our lives, the harder it gets. (And you are the kid and I am the elder!) Hang in there, honey.
ReplyDeleteMy child is the kid - - I don't think I qualify as a kid anymore. Although I've been able to keep up fairly well, my braincells are just getting tired.
DeleteI've been tempted to buy password/passcode-managing software. It can get overwhelming.
ReplyDeleteWell, that sounds like something I need!!!
ReplyDeleteI can relate. Lately I have so many e-mail messages, I can't keep up with them. I have a 5-page table of my account user IDs and passwords and a 1-page one for my mother, whose e-mails I also have to read. I have a table of Mom's 17 RX and OTC meds, which I use to try to track when she will run out of something, so I don't get a phone call from one of her assisted living facility nurses saying she's out of a prescription drug, and I find that there are no refills left. When I am on vacation, I usually spend some time deleting old e-mails. Some fun, huh? And it doesn't get better, it gets worse. Walgreens has joined Rite Aid and CVS, and now requires a reward card to get sale prices. Is it any wonder the suicide rate keeps rising? People are overwhelmed in too many areas of life.
ReplyDeleteIt has all gotten much too complicated. I would go back to a simpler life in a heartbeat.
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