I literally leave a piece of paper on my desk, every time I travel, with the passwords, my girls can use to get into my phone and laptop—the rest is up to them as I hope the computer hasn’t crashed along with me.
Please don't stop the travel tales. They sustain me until I can get back overseas again! And it may be sooner rather than later after a certain election result...
Support Kristi and get one of hers, but if you can get wherever you print/bind to do a fixed bind instead of spiral, I recommend that from a safety standpoint!
I’m going to make enemies out of strangers on Substack, I know. (Sorry!) But my organizational nerd won’t be denied recognition. It’s shouting in my ear right now and the only way to slap that f$&@!er down is to admit that I have a notebook for all of my passwords, and it’s not one of those impractical pocket-sized pretenders you can find in the impulse bins at the office supply store. I started years ago with a thin Moleskine. The thing grew old and fell apart and I started fresh (in the process purging the no longer relevant entries). I got a larger format tight-bound notebook (not spiral, because I don’t trust those pages not to tear out) and created my own sections with adhesive tabs. That way it’s easier to flip to relevant sections for banking, subscriptions, medical, online ordering, etc. It’s a lifesaver and saves sooooo much time in managing my family’s life.
I would buy this for my husband but alas, I know he wouldn’t use it lol 😂 I managed to marry a person that doesn’t even use email because it requires a password and remembering those and keeping track of them just isn’t in his interest AT ALL. In fact, he doesn’t even use his bank account since I’ve met him because he forgot the pin to his debit card so he just doesn’t use it. Of course, where we are, cash is still king and I hope it stays that way, honestly. My husband is a great teacher of how to be off the grid…just refuse to sign up for electronic stuff and refuse to engage 🤦♀️ Myself, I’m practicing the balance between the two. On another note, I am waiting for him to sit down with me so we can read your curse word article together and he can weigh in…all in perfect Jamaican timing lol 😂
Ha! I sometimes long for the simpler life of just visiting the only ATM in town to take out cash for the week. It was only complicated in Jamaica when I had to pay the rent. I hated carrying $30,000 jmd on me.
I can't wait for you two to weigh in on the curse words 🤣🤣
I always enjoy your travel stories! Thinking about passwords makes me itchy. Thinking about my mom's passwords makes me extra itchy. But reading your writing about passwords somehow makes me feel a little better!
When my mother died, we found 3 password books! Twice she started new ones 🤦🏼♀️ and sometimes the passwords weren't the passwords, regardless of which book chosen! She been gone 5 years and about 3 weeks ago we found another one hidden behind a metal box my dad thought was full of ancient birthday cards. He finally decided it was time to get it down from the really high shelf and get rid of them only to discover the box was empty! But we'll never know if this new book was 'the one'
Siwan, first I'm so sorry for the loss of your mom but I bet each time you find a new password book, you smile a little 😊 It's like she was leaving little treasures all around for you to discover.
When my son died, it took me 4 years to start going through his belongings in the storage boxes. But when I did, I found all sorts of treasures. Not passwords but still.
Close to my personal experience….except I’ve never had Windows as an OS. I’m a Mac devotee since 1984. And somewhere on this little laptop I have a file of stored passwords. Now if I can just find it!
I’m here every week! Maybe your eyes just glaze over at your inbox once in a while. Lord knows, it happens to me hahaha. Especially lately…when I see politics I delete and run.
Welllll...if you sign into your browser on any device, it accesses all your saved passwords. But the real problem here is 2FA - you pretty much need access to the related cell phone, and that's not always easy if the person is dead. My mother and I use the same phone PIN, and our fingerprints are authorized on each other's as well.
I haven't looked at this template, but I might have to design a perfect-for-me version. None of the ones I've looked at has room for more than one, maybe two passwords. They get changed all the time - forgotten, breach, the site makes you do it regularly, etc. I feel like a simple one page per website in a 6"x9" spiral notebook is ideal. Or if printing your own on letter-size, like 2-3 sites per page, more if you do columns.
The 2FA cell phone recovery for certain accounts is so frustrating, Katie! We have piss poor cell reception where we live (though internet is reliable). If an account has to be verified with a code sent to the cell phone (ie. Airbnb, CRA) it's swear-inducing. During the pandemic I went through every single account and recorded all the passwords and security questions. That took half the pandemic!
I only use cell services that are set up for hybrid calling over WiFi because I travel a lot and every service has its weak areas, plus I can call/text freely from other countries. I use T-Mobile and US Mobile.
Brilliant! Thank you, Kristi Keller! 🙏
My parents are in their 60s going into 70s and I haven’t thought about their passwords until now. Oh dear. 😅
Hahaha might be a conversation you should have one day 😁
Super cool idea.
I love your travel stuff. And it’s not you it’s Substack.
All of the sudden I went from subscriber (me) to ten after months of strictly writing about my travel adventures.
I literally leave a piece of paper on my desk, every time I travel, with the passwords, my girls can use to get into my phone and laptop—the rest is up to them as I hope the computer hasn’t crashed along with me.
LOL I have left these kinds of notes before! Just in case!
You're an amazing idea generator. The people have spoken: we want to hear more of your crazy and cool ideas 😜
Hahaha thank you! I'll keep em coming as they invade my brain!
Please don't stop the travel tales. They sustain me until I can get back overseas again! And it may be sooner rather than later after a certain election result...
LOL I can imagine American airports are lined up out the door 😂
I have a travel one coming next week again...with a bit of a twist! Thank you Marlee 💗
Love the ones with a twist!
Support Kristi and get one of hers, but if you can get wherever you print/bind to do a fixed bind instead of spiral, I recommend that from a safety standpoint!
I’m going to make enemies out of strangers on Substack, I know. (Sorry!) But my organizational nerd won’t be denied recognition. It’s shouting in my ear right now and the only way to slap that f$&@!er down is to admit that I have a notebook for all of my passwords, and it’s not one of those impractical pocket-sized pretenders you can find in the impulse bins at the office supply store. I started years ago with a thin Moleskine. The thing grew old and fell apart and I started fresh (in the process purging the no longer relevant entries). I got a larger format tight-bound notebook (not spiral, because I don’t trust those pages not to tear out) and created my own sections with adhesive tabs. That way it’s easier to flip to relevant sections for banking, subscriptions, medical, online ordering, etc. It’s a lifesaver and saves sooooo much time in managing my family’s life.
I'm laughing SO hard right now because I ALMOST mentioned divider tabs too 😂😂😂
I have no less than 3 notebooks in each room of my home lol.
I would buy this for my husband but alas, I know he wouldn’t use it lol 😂 I managed to marry a person that doesn’t even use email because it requires a password and remembering those and keeping track of them just isn’t in his interest AT ALL. In fact, he doesn’t even use his bank account since I’ve met him because he forgot the pin to his debit card so he just doesn’t use it. Of course, where we are, cash is still king and I hope it stays that way, honestly. My husband is a great teacher of how to be off the grid…just refuse to sign up for electronic stuff and refuse to engage 🤦♀️ Myself, I’m practicing the balance between the two. On another note, I am waiting for him to sit down with me so we can read your curse word article together and he can weigh in…all in perfect Jamaican timing lol 😂
Ha! I sometimes long for the simpler life of just visiting the only ATM in town to take out cash for the week. It was only complicated in Jamaica when I had to pay the rent. I hated carrying $30,000 jmd on me.
I can't wait for you two to weigh in on the curse words 🤣🤣
I always enjoy your travel stories! Thinking about passwords makes me itchy. Thinking about my mom's passwords makes me extra itchy. But reading your writing about passwords somehow makes me feel a little better!
Hahaha thanks Amanda!
Love this!!
When my mother died, we found 3 password books! Twice she started new ones 🤦🏼♀️ and sometimes the passwords weren't the passwords, regardless of which book chosen! She been gone 5 years and about 3 weeks ago we found another one hidden behind a metal box my dad thought was full of ancient birthday cards. He finally decided it was time to get it down from the really high shelf and get rid of them only to discover the box was empty! But we'll never know if this new book was 'the one'
Siwan, first I'm so sorry for the loss of your mom but I bet each time you find a new password book, you smile a little 😊 It's like she was leaving little treasures all around for you to discover.
When my son died, it took me 4 years to start going through his belongings in the storage boxes. But when I did, I found all sorts of treasures. Not passwords but still.
💕
SENIOR TRYING TO SET PASSWORD:
WINDOWS: Please enter your new password.
USER: cabbage
WINDOWS: Sorry, the password must be more than 8 characters.
USER: boiled cabbage
WINDOWS: Sorry, the password must contain 1 numerical character.
USER: 1 boiled cabbage
WINDOWS: Sorry, the password cannot have blank spaces.
USER: 50bloodyboiledcabbages
WINDOWS: Sorry, the password must contain at least one upper case character.
USER: 50BLOODYboiledcabbages
WINDOWS: Sorry, the password cannot use more than one upper case character consecutively.
USER: 50BloodyBoiledCabbagesShovedUpYourA$$IfYouDon'tGiveMeAccessNow!
WINDOWS: Sorry, the password cannot contain punctuation.
USER: ReallyPissedOff50BloodyBoiledCabbagesShovedUpYourA$$IfYouDontGiveMeAccessNow
WINDOWS: Sorry, that password is already in use. 🙂
😂😂😂 The struggle is real!
Gary, was SENIOR POSTING TWICE part of your schtick? Or accidental? Either way, funny!
SENIOR TRYING TO SET PASSWORD:
WINDOWS: Please enter your new password.
USER: cabbage
WINDOWS: Sorry, the password must be more than 8 characters.
USER: boiled cabbage
WINDOWS: Sorry, the password must contain 1 numerical character.
USER: 1 boiled cabbage
WINDOWS: Sorry, the password cannot have blank spaces.
USER: 50bloodyboiledcabbages
WINDOWS: Sorry, the password must contain at least one upper case character.
USER: 50BLOODYboiledcabbages
WINDOWS: Sorry, the password cannot use more than one upper case character consecutively.
USER: 50BloodyBoiledCabbagesShovedUpYourA$$IfYouDon'tGiveMeAccessNow!
WINDOWS: Sorry, the password cannot contain punctuation.
USER: ReallyPissedOff50BloodyBoiledCabbagesShovedUpYourA$$IfYouDontGiveMeAccessNow
WINDOWS: Sorry, that password is already in use. 🙂
Gary, this was wonderful!!! You had me laughing and laughing before 9:00 am on a Wednesday morning…you’re my hero. 🦸
Close to my personal experience….except I’ve never had Windows as an OS. I’m a Mac devotee since 1984. And somewhere on this little laptop I have a file of stored passwords. Now if I can just find it!
I was thinking the other day that I hadn’t seen you for a while. Glad to read this!
I’m here every week! Maybe your eyes just glaze over at your inbox once in a while. Lord knows, it happens to me hahaha. Especially lately…when I see politics I delete and run.
Welllll...if you sign into your browser on any device, it accesses all your saved passwords. But the real problem here is 2FA - you pretty much need access to the related cell phone, and that's not always easy if the person is dead. My mother and I use the same phone PIN, and our fingerprints are authorized on each other's as well.
I haven't looked at this template, but I might have to design a perfect-for-me version. None of the ones I've looked at has room for more than one, maybe two passwords. They get changed all the time - forgotten, breach, the site makes you do it regularly, etc. I feel like a simple one page per website in a 6"x9" spiral notebook is ideal. Or if printing your own on letter-size, like 2-3 sites per page, more if you do columns.
The 2FA cell phone recovery for certain accounts is so frustrating, Katie! We have piss poor cell reception where we live (though internet is reliable). If an account has to be verified with a code sent to the cell phone (ie. Airbnb, CRA) it's swear-inducing. During the pandemic I went through every single account and recorded all the passwords and security questions. That took half the pandemic!
I only use cell services that are set up for hybrid calling over WiFi because I travel a lot and every service has its weak areas, plus I can call/text freely from other countries. I use T-Mobile and US Mobile.
Well, I don't travel with a cell phone at all, but that's another story, Katie!
I think I read that story a few weeks ago and marveled at it 😂😂
Yes, you marveled and suggested an Amazing Race team entry, Kristi! Katie, here's a challenge for you! https://julestorti.substack.com/p/a-postcard-from-the-camino-portuguese
I never used to use 2FA ...and then I got hacked. Lesson learned.
I didn’t know it was possible to have two prints authorized, I’ll have to look into that.
I’ve tried a few times to drill my unlock pattern into my mom’s head, just in case, but I’m sure she forgets every time 😂
Yup, you can do multiple fingers or people. Not sure if it matters, but we use Android - my phones are Motorola, my mom's is a Samsung.