Glitch

So, ten years ago I received my very first cell phone. I got it on my 18th birthday. I don't even think that I'd asked for one. We had a house phone, and while cell phones were in the movies and becoming more common among working adults, I wasn't aware of many teenagers who had one.

It had an extend-able antennae and a yellow light with a digital face. I held it in my hand when I opened the present and it started ringing. Puzzled, I answered it and my mother was on the other end saying, "I got one too!" And in this moment I fell in love, just a little bit, with technology.

We all know that in the last decade cell phone usage has come a long way. In my on family we no longer have a home phone. And my little digital all-one-color display has transformed into a tiny television screen in the palm of my hand. I can contact anybody and look up anything on it. With it, I'm pretty sure I can conquer the world. That is... you know... if I wanted to.

A couple of week ago I accidentally enabled the screen saver on my phone and I freaked out. I didn't know what happened to it, and I couldn't figure it out. I was almost positive I'd somehow infected it with some sort of virus. I just knew that as I was looking at this obnoxious screen there was something out there, in this world, exploding into bits and pieces and it was all my fault.

Of course I try to hold more composure on the outside when my mind travels that far that fast inside my head.

When I trusted it to somebody who knows what they're doing with Blackberries, he figured out that all I had to do was disable the screensaver. Yes. I'm an idiot. But the point is, my phone is so powerful and can do so much that it scares me. I, literally, can't fulfill it's potential because it's so much smarter than I am.

Whilst I was having this internal hissy-fit, I looked up online to see if anybody else out there ever had this happen to them. See? I at least try to find answers amongst my freaking out. And the only thing I found was a thread on a forum where somebody was asking the same thing I was. Nobody ever replied to them. I was temporarily comforted with the knowledge that I wasn't alone.

So, today (a few weeks later), I decided I should reply to that person's thread. What if they are just as dumb as I am but not lucky enough to know somebody who works with Blackberries? So, I decided to go and give this random person an answer. Also... for future dumbasses who look for an answer.

Holy shit was this an ordeal. First I had to register with this site. That's fine, I kind of expected it anyway. Then I had to retrieve an email and verify before I could actually post on a thread on the site. Okay... Not a big deal, right?

Wrong. Evidently my email account decided to be a bitch today and they made me log in twice before telling me it was locked. In order to unlock it I have to verify it with my cell phone. So I enter my number, wait for the text, and enter the code. Then I am directed to a page where I'm commanded to change my password.

Now for a whole new neuroses of mine. I have had the same password since I was in 8th grade... where my History teacher made us set up an email at school... where the internet was being installed for the first time. It was a big deal. And I chose the perfect password! And it's done me very well all these years. I realize how unsafe that is. I know how stupid it is... but let's face it... this blog isn't about how smart I am, now is it?

So I had to think of a new password. And I did. And it's perfect. I'll probably use it for the next umpteen years of my life. Now that I was able to log into my email, I could verify my account and reply to the poor schmuck who's too stupid to disable his screensaver on his new Blackberry... the infinitely more powerful version of any cell phone from the year 2000.

So, this is my contribution to the world today. You're welcome. I'm not sure it was worth the time or the headache.

BTW... I've had the same number since my 18th birthday. Some things don't change.