brip blap - Latest Comments in losing it

Re: losing it

fathersez — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 01:28:16 -0000

Sorry about the loss of the USB. I never encrypt or password protect my files, and I was very happy with that till I read this post.

Anyway, I am a little more optimistic and am also sure that have a much smaller bank balance...hehe

Take care.

Re: losing it

Steve — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 21:58:42 -0000

I definitely have to agree that being married makes it easier, for the most part - having a spouse who doesn't go through the same moods swings serves as a bit of an anchor for me. I do agree wholeheartedly with one thing you said, MMND: I never think that my blap periods are permanent. I always recognize that it's something that will end, eventually, and that's usually what gets me through them. "this too shall pass" is excellent advice, for anyone.

Re: losing it

Millionaire Mommy Next Door — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:01:37 -0000

Truth be told, I grew up with two "brip blap"s (my mom and sister), so I've been there. Having had a "brip blap" parent, I have to make a conscious, steady effort to keep my own moods from swinging side to side. Once unleashed, it can be a wild ride. Self care is where it's at for me. And when overwhelm hits, I acknowledge the feeling for what it is -- miserable AND blessedly temporary.

My husband is a great calming force in my life. Bubelah, it sounds like you serve as this for Steve. Good balance!

Re: losing it

LS — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 07:56:17 -0000

MMND, I am glad that you think the way I do. I always thought that if something goes wrong and you lose control over situation, remind yourself that this is not the end of the world, that the troubles that seem so real and heavy now will pass. With time they will be forgotten or seem like triviality. Some things you should just let go after a few attempts to fix. I am not an escapist, I choose my so-called battles.
So this is my view at things and I try to relay the same attitude to Steve. I am glad that now there's more than one person reminds him that "this too shall pass".
I don't know if my babbling makes any sense ;o)

Re: losing it

plonkee — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 04:43:04 -0000

Steve, you'd make an awesome life coach. It's definitely something you should put into the nearer rather than later future.

Personally I find that tiredness is a barrier to doing anything and once it starts, things slide so much that the effort required to begin again can be overwhelming. I keep telling myself that I don't have to everything all at once and when I can't be bothered I try just to do the things that will make me really happy (rather than pretend, eating ice cream happy).

Re: losing it

Millionaire Mommy Next Door — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 20:54:15 -0000

Sorry to hear of your troubles, Steve. Sometimes crap piles up and feels totally overwhelming. I was there last week.

The day I was to become a parent, I asked the rest of our adoption travel group (all were in China for kid #2, except us newbies) to share their best parenting advice. I passed around a notebook to collect their sage advice and out of the 9 entries, the one I recall most often is, "This too shall pass". This simple mantra sees me through most rough patches, parental or otherwise. That and a good long nap.

Nothing lasts forever. In the meantime, take good care of yourself.

Re: losing it

Rachel — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 13:19:54 -0000

What a brave post!
I have been struggling with my career, my weight, and my priorities lately. It is strange how we can feel so put together one day and then feel like stuff is a mess the next...

Re: losing it

Mr. ToughMoneyLove — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:06:21 -0000

I'm sure you know that some thumb drives (SanDisk being one) include software on the drive that will encrypt and password protect the entire drive - no need to password protect or encrypt individual files.

Re: losing it

Amy — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 09:36:12 -0000

I notice that you said you password protected your files but didn't mention you encrypted them. I just wanted to suggest that in the future when you get another USB it would be a good idea to encrypt rather than password protect files. Encrypting is much more secure and I think you'd be surprised how reasonably priced such solutions are. With password protection an attacker can just run a brute force attack against the file until they get in. With good encryption (AES 256 for instance) It woudl take them years to get into your USB even with the most advanced computers. If you'd like some recommendations just let me know (and no, I'm not a vendor or something I just work in Information Security).

Re: losing it

GeekLad — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 09:19:44 -0000

I'm sorry to hear about you having lost your USB drive. I say you should never leave home without encryption. It's better to just keep the entire contents of your drive encrypted with TrueCrypt. Basically, my USB drive only contains the TrueCrypt program files and one very large file for the encrypted disk. That way I always have the program files to mount the drive.