Things I Know I Know

...that one of the top ten passwords is 'Password1'?

Yeah, it used to be 'password' but then systems started requiring both letters and numbers and people got all clever and decided to add a '1'. And, yeah, totally secure now.

Also, 'monkey' is a top ten password.

On that same note, my online banking system has now gone to a setup that lets you makeup your own security questions, so now instead of trying to remember which dog you put down for 'What is your favorite pet's name?' You can put down questions that you'll not only remember the answer to, but only you will know, like

--What is John Henry's oncologist's last name?
--Who was my first grade teacher?
--What was the name of the street I grew up on before they changed its name
--Who lived across the street from me when I was six

Note: since you make up the questions, don't ask yourself questions you don't actually know the answer to

Note the second: these are not my actual security questions

Note the third: if your password is 'Password1' or 'monkey'--yeah--change it now.

Posted by debco at 03:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

So, the average temperature for last month was 12 degrees F.

Today it's been icing since early this morning. Later, it's supposed to snow. Fun for all...

I'm currently working on Cowgirls in Space, which I will be able to finish as soon as I remember the One Important Thing. I hope to work on Two is Not a Pattern later.

Then, perhaps, the logistics of getting the three-legged dog down the ice-covered steps (I'm not particularly worried about him on the ground as he has more traction on ice than I do, but the steps...ohhh, baby).

Gratuitous John Henry picture:

Posted by debco at 02:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Today is John Henry's birthday. He's twelve years old. YAY!!!!!!!!

He was born on February 17, 1995. He came to live with me in May of that same year. He broke his leg on May 7. 2005, which turned out to be because he had bone cancer. The vet school removed his leg, he had chemotherapy and he's still here twenty-one months later. Yay, modern medicine and stubborn dogs.

He's a cranky old man who still picks up the shovel and tosses it if he's outside when I'm shoveling snow, who loves cookies and things to chew on and going for walks (though he hasn't gotten to do that lately because of ice and snow). He believes half to possibly three-quarters of the couch belongs to him. He didn't get up on the couch for a year after his surgery and I think it was one big happy thing when he realized--oh yeah, I can still jump up on the couch. He doesn't particularly like other people or going new places, but he's traveled to New York with me many times over the years and is, really, one of the easiest dogs to stay in a motel with (because he does not consider it his job to worry about anything outside the actual room we're in). He thinks men are possibly the devil, but if they--the men--LISTEN TO ME (which, unbelievably they hardly ever do) and ignore him, he will eventually decide that he's known them forever and they're probably okay.

He is my boy. And I love him.

Posted by debco at 06:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)

I am working on two short stories currently--'Cowgirls in Space' (which so far does not involve any space...or explosions, though there are cowgirls) and 'Two is Not a Pattern' (which does not involve vampires).

I have two short stories in the mail.

I've been thinking about novel writing and will (I hope) have some posts on that coming up.

Here's a brief excerpt from 'Cowgirls in Space':

Patti was not the reason that the drill team was called the Junkyard Girls or why they practiced their routines at the junkyard on the old highway south of Harrison, but, damn, did she love junk. She'd gotten her daddy to give her his old 1975 F150 pickup truck that had been rusting out behind the barn for the better part of the last twenty years and she was rebuilding it piece by loving piece. The junkyard was pretty much like heaven for Big Patti and she was always dragging back old bumpers or brake cables or, once, a cylinder from a Duesenberg engine from the 1930s that Patti claimed could top out at 140 miles per hour.

So, no one paid much attention when Patti said she'd found something interesting in the junkyard.

Also, my stories seem to have more swearing. I blame Chance for this....

Posted by debco at 08:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

You should not be saying the low for the day is going to be 14 when it's currently -2.

Posted by debco at 08:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Billie and I took the Therapy Dogs International test (henceforth known as the TDI) last night and she passed with flying colors. This test consists of the AKC's Canine Good Citizen (CGC) test plus some additional skills like person in wheelchair, clipboard dropped in front of dog, crowd of people on crutches, walker, in wheelchair, random small child, and the hideously difficult--food on the floor test. The CGC includes walk on loose leash, sit, down, stand, stay, recall (stay and recall on a long line), handler out of sight, greet a stranger, greet a stranger with a dog, allow grooming, touching ears, feet, etc, and other stuff I'm probably forgetting.

Once all the paper work is filled out and signed and mailed in and mailed back and official IDs and tags arrivve, she will be all ready to participate in the new PET therapy program at the local hospital, which I think she'll enjoy very much. And I hope some of the patients will enjoy having us visit as well.

The hospital is only about four blocks from my house so it will be convenient too.

Totally gratuitous Billie picture:

Posted by debco at 08:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

If I slip on the kitchen floor, then if I go REALLY, REALLY fast it will lessen my chances of slipping because I will be off the floor that much faster.

And THEN if I slip when I'm going REALLY REALLY fast, I will go even FASTER until I spend 0 seconds on the kitchen floor and there is no chance whatsoever that I will slip.

Ever.

Totally.

Dude.

Posted by debco at 08:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Sheila Williams is buying my short story The Whale's Lover for Asimov's. Yay! This marks my first sale of the year so double-Yay!

46 Directions, None of them North has 7 recs for the Nebula, which, yay! and thanks to those who recced it. Its eligibility runs out at the end of this month. If you've been thinking of reccing it and just haven't gotten around to it, now is the time (if you haven't read it and would like a copy, email me at debco at iknowiknow.org and I'll send you one). If you don't care, didn't like it, never read it and don't intend to--hey--that's okay too :-)

I have one story in the mail, one ready to send out, one story about half-written that I will probably make good progress on this weekend (because it's going to be about a hundred and fifty below this weekend) and that's pretty good progress for me.

Some people are encouraging me (for definitions of 'encouraging' that include threats of mocking) to write a novel. Since my last novel idea turned into a short story (see: one story half-written above), I'm currently sort of looking for a novel idea. All suggestions will be given serious consideration :-)

Comments still appear to be hosed up, but I still mostly see them even if I can't find them in the database and you may or may not see them here.

Posted by debco at 09:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)