(“what a wanker”)
Q: How secure is the Canada Revenue Agency tax account website?
A: Very secure. In fact, so secure that even I can’t get into it.
It requires: a username and password. Fine. The answer to one of five security questions that it asks you to set up when you register. A little much, but OK. Two-factor authentication. This is getting ridiculous! And then, after you jump through all these hoops, you get very limited access with almost no information unless you enter yet another ultra-secure super-sekret code to get “full access”. That code has now been issued but I don’t have it yet. It cannot be told to me by a CSR over the phone, I presume because my phone line might be tapped. It cannot be emailed because my email might be intercepted. It has to be sent by regular mail, though it would make more sense if it was delivered to my door by a guy in a trenchcoat and a black fedora carrying my code in a briefcase that was handcuffed to his wrist.
The main point of this mini-rant is that if you get any of this wrong – if you even look at the website the wrong way – it locks you out. OK, to be fair, it gives you three chances if you get the password or security question wrong. I didn’t write down the answers to the security questions because I figured I’d surely remember them. Nope. Many of these sorts of personal questions are ambiguous because they can have more than one answer. So I sat here listening to over an hour of elevator music waiting to get connected to a CSR.
So my account is now reset and I’ve turned off some of the more ridiculous security features, but even so that only applies to “this device”. If I dare to try to log in from some other device, I’ll undoubtedly be bombarded by the full complement of security challenges and probably the Mounties will come to my door demanding ID.
On the plus side, I’m now less annoyed by Gmail’s security demands.
That sort of reminds me of an older family friend who got some kind of weight loss surgery, then promptly turned into a smug asshole toward anyone even remotely overweight. The last time I interacted with him, he repeatedly bragged about “losing into” his old, smaller-sized clothes while pointedly staring at my jeans and rolling his eyes. (We were at an event organized by a dog rescue, and there were loads of rescued pups in various states of cleanliness, so I had worn a baggy old pair of jeans that day and didn’t really give a damn what I looked like as long as I got to chill with the dogs.)
Two packages came today in the pouring rain. One was a gift my son bought me for Xmas that finally arrived. It is an absolutely beautifully created art-work quality piece from the Robocop pantheon.
Yes, I now have an ED-209.
( It’s perfect for inconsiderate neighbors who park in front of the house )
The other package contained eclipse glasses, but it got soaked. Hopefully they are wrapped in plastic and not ruined.
Here in California, fast-food workers now get $20/hr. Minimum wage for the rest of us is $16/hr. There are plenty of people in jobs that require much more than an hour or two of training and are rather more crucial to health and safety who are making less than burger-flippers and burrito-folders.
Sure hasn’t helped the quality of workers. Stopped at McDonald’s, got three items (no customizations), used the order kiosk, still had to wait over 10 minutes before anyone even glanced into the lobby (by which time, at least one walk-in customer had walked back out without ordering) and noticed anyone physically in the building might actually be waiting for the food they’ve already paid for. Apparently, those of us who get off our butts and get out of the car are considered less desirable customers than those sitting in drive-thru spewing pollution from all the idling, judging by the (lack of) service for anyone who actually physically walks in.
I hear you.
In order to complete filling out my tax forms, TurboTax says I must provide information to be found on a form issued by the NYS Marketplace–the health insurance plan run by the state, which is where I get my coverage. To access this form I must go to the “NY State of Health” website and log in.
Easier said than done! Every time I try I get an error message: “too many redirects, access denied.” Sometimes the excessive redirects come immediately after I have put in my username and password. More often they come before I get to that screen. Either way I haven’t yet gotten into my account.
It’s been happening for two days now. I cleared some cookies; didn’t help. I even went to the library tonight to use their computer to see if I could get in that way; same deal, same too many redirects. I will try one more computer tomorrow morning and then call them, and maybe they’ll be able to send the form to me, or–
Nah, who’m I kidding? I’m screwed.
Good luck to you, though!
Jeopardy: are they EVER going to have normal games again? Nothing but tournaments for the last several months.
Also Jeopardy: How about not turning on the applause sign when someone hits a Daily Double? It’s pretty much a matter of luck- what’s the sense in applauding luck?
I dread the Daily Doubles. They throw off my groove!
Holy shit I am so jealous.
Easily the coolest thing from the Robocop franchise.
Why haven’t you opened it ?!
For a few years, I was a CEO Catholic (Christmas and Easter only), so it is a somewhat understandable question/position.
I am now a CFFO Catholic (close family funeral only).
I used to work with a lady who was quite proud of her slimmed down physique and when asked how she had done it said she did the “hard Way” She had liposuction. Pretty sure that isnt the hard way.
As has been said here many times before… fuck cancer.
I have lost three good friends to this crap in the last year not to mention my mother who had just completed cancer treatment but got a UTI that her body couldnt cope with so I blame cancer for that one too.
And while we’re at it … fuck MS too.
Yes, you MS … FUCK OFF.
It’s so realistic, to the smallest detail. that it took me 20 minutes to find the ‘on’ switch.
Well, except for the 20mm cannons.
“You are illegally parked on private property. You have twenty seconds to move your vehicle.”
< Growl >
Well, the paper was really wet… and I was busy with the ED-209.
I have opened it now and they were sealed in plastic and are fine. Thanks for asking!
Spiffing !
An ex co-worker died from that. She went to central America, where it was cheaper… and they took out too much at once. Her body went into shock and she died on the table.
I still remember her viewing.
Some say rolling the dice to see if you live is the hard way…
I believe that I have broken my toe. I fell out of bed while sound asleep and it hit the ground full force. The joint (knuckle?) has swelled up considerably since yesterday and I now have a distinct limp.
I toyed with getting an Xray, but what good would it do? If it’s broken, it will mend. There is no way to ‘set’ a toe. I mean it will hurt and you can curse about it under your breath, but what else is there? Plaster and a cut-up shoe to walk in? The privilege of showering with one foot outside the tub? Pain pills (nobody wants pain pills; its all addictive)?
So, if I’m grumpy, surley, and moving slow… well it’s me toe.
Which toe is it? I took a possibly broken pinky toe to the doctor decades ago. He said there would be no x-ray because if it was a break, the break was obviously not out of alignment. So whether it was or wasn’t broken, they’d do the same thing: tape it to the toe next to it.
There might be a different treatment for big toes, but the rest just get taped to the next toe.
I think that’s become over-hyped because of dangerously addictive opiods like Oxycontin. Nothing wrong with taking some ibuprofen, aspirin, or acetaminophen (with or without a small amount of codeine) to ease discomfort. All of it is bad for you, of course, but when you need it it’s a very worthwhile risk/benefit tradeoff.