User ID/Password Serendipity

I let my boss use my PC yesterday so he could check his Hotmail account and show me a new internet based software suite we’ll be using. In order to do so I had to logout of my MSN session and let him login under his ID. All was well until he left and I tried to access my MSN homepage. I couldn’t remember my user ID or password. I tried for about an hour and gave up, hoping that when I powered up the PC the next day my MSN cookie would kick in a I’d be automatically logged in. No such luck.

Now, my MSN homepage is not a huge deal and I could live without it, but I did have it set up just like I wanted with certain stock quotes and comics ready for daily viewing. What really peeved me was that I couldn’t remember. That’s the drawback of automatic sign in - I haven’t had to type in my information in over a year. After futilely attempting every permutation of my 3 email adresses (MSN uses an email address as the user ID) and various passwords, I gave up. I decided I would just create a new account and rebuild the page. I picked one of my email addresses and typed it in the user ID box, then thought for a moment about what to choose for a password - something unique but that I wouldn’t forget this time. I came up with a good one, typed it in an hit “enter”. MSN says “This account already exists”. I think “Huh?” and toddle off to the sign in page again. I type in the email address and the new password and - voila! - my homepage pops up.

I spent about 2 hours racking my brain trying to remember my user ID/password combo, gave up, and nailed it by accident when attempting to create a new account. Whatta maroon.