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And Change the Combination on My Luggage!

My office has devolved into a junk room, and I'm on a mission to reclaim it. The original plan for the room was to make it into a cool combination guest room / office. At the time, I didn't realize the fatal flaw in my plan: namely, guest rooms are idiotic. But I was young and foolish. A guest room it would be.

To that end, I acquired a free box spring and mattress from some old friends who had just had a baby and were looking to clear out some room. Free furniture! What could be more awesome! All I needed was some decent bedding and pillows, and I would have the centerpiece of the "guest room". Of course, what ended up happening was that several months later, the bare mattress was piled high with bills and unopened envelopes and other office detritus. Flat surfaces in an office are just deadly.

So I finally gave up and spent some time figuring out what I needed to keep and what I could shred. And to help stay organized, I also invented a new filing system that is so easy-to-use and so awesome that for a couple of weeks, I could not shut up about it. Them: "Hey man, what've you been up to these days?" Me: "Oh! Let me tell you about my new filing system!" The ladies loved it.

Anyway, as part of this process, I'm trying to get a handle on all my old investments and consolidate whatever I can. Step 1 is making a neat pile of all the papers I've got for each account. Step 2 is making sure I can log into all the websites. To my dismay, I discovered that one of my old, nearly-lost 401(k) accounts takes your Social Security Number for a username and... wait for it... a FOUR digit PIN for the password. At first I thought maybe this was just an initial PIN that would enable you to set a new, stronger password, but no. After recovering from the initial shock, I logged in and received yet another surprise: the money was still there. Go figure. I need to get out while the getting's good.

Posted by Evan Goer on Jun. 12, 2006 at 7:18 PM | Comments (7)

Comments

Would you say that <a href="http://www.mnftiu.cc/mnftiu.cc/filing.003.html">your new filing technique is unstoppable?</a>

Also: one of my 401(k)s required my SSN and an 8-digit numerical password. The only think I could think to use was my ATM PIN and the PIN I use to get into work - which changed when they switched to smart cards, and now I've lost access to my money. Thanks Fidelity!

Posted by Jemaleddin on Jun. 13, 2006 at 5:16 AM
Heh! Okay, my filing system is not unstoppable, but it is totally awesome, and that's a fact.

The good news about your account troubles is that with enough effort, you ought to be able to social-engineer your way past their defenses and regain access to your account. After all, you have at least as much information about yourself as the criminals, possibly even more! So cheer up!

Posted by Evan on Jun. 13, 2006 at 1:49 PM
On the office/guest bedroom front: I highly recommend a Murphy bed. It's a great way to combine the two. You can get kits for making your own Murphy bed from <a href="http://www.wallbed.com/">Creat-A-Bed</a> This is a much cheaper solution than buying a already-assembled bed. <a href="http://themartiens.com/Gallery/v/2004/stencilandbed/">Here are some pictures</a> of Karen and I making ours.

You do need access to a table saw to make one of these.

Posted by Dinesh on Jun. 15, 2006 at 10:11 AM
The thing is, over the last two years I've only needed a guest bed twice: once for my sister and brother-in-law, once for an old college buddy passing through town (Brad, actually). So I think that for me, it just doesn't make sense to dedicate a large piece of furniture (even if it hides away) for that purpose. I'm thinking that instead I should get a high-quality self-inflating air mattress.

Awesome stenciling work, by the way. I like the squid. :)

Posted by Evan on Jun. 15, 2006 at 12:02 PM
Additionally, get a cat. The combination of cat plus inflatable mattress ensures that relatives don't stay terribly long. One can only take going to sleep on a comfy mattress and waking up on a sagging air bag for so many nights in a row.

This has worked well, for us.

Posted by Jeremy Cole on Jun. 19, 2006 at 9:58 AM
Genius!

Although with my track record on keeping plants alive, I think getting any cats -- strike that, any vertebrate lifeforms -- is totally out of the question for now.

Posted by Evan on Jun. 19, 2006 at 7:17 PM
I can't deal with plants -- they always die -- but my cats seem to be doing just fine. The key difference is that with plants, if you don't do what needs doing, they just sit there quietly and wilt. If you fail to scoop the litter, the cat will pee on your bed. It's a surprisingly effective incentive.

Posted by Auros on Jun. 20, 2006 at 11:33 AM

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This entry was posted on June 12, 2006 by Evan Goer.

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