Dual Lives

02/25/2014 Writing Practice

Her leg's feel heavy as she climbs the stairs to her apartment. Juggling a back-pack, brief case and a box of her own collected evidence she manages to get the keys out of her pocket and place them in the door. That's odd... I was sure I locked this when I left today. I must need to sleep more than I thought.



Christine pushes the door open, sets the box on the coffee table. Slinging her brief case and back pack down on the couch she collapses next to them.



Reviewing the day in her mind she retraces her steps.



She arrived at the crime scene and her SO had been giving her a hard time for being around at all. The case is personal, you shouldn't be here. But no one grudged her for wanting to be involved. But there was something the SAC said that bothered her. Or... it was he didn't say. He seemed to be holding back on her.



"How's the investigation going?" she'd asked.



He had the faintest bit of pause when he saw her approach. Then when he answered her his face twitched involuntarily, the same way it usually did when he was trying to bluff her at poker.That was before he became too good for that because the Special Agent in Charge. "We've got our best people working on it. Why don't you go home and get some rest. It's been a tough week for you."



She nodded and faked a faint smile, she'd go home. She'd just take the long way home, right through the middle of the investigation unit to glance at their findings "on the way to her office", she'd told someone who asked.



On the way home she stopped by the crime scene again. Yellow tape was gone, people were going about their business as usual. They had no idea that her best friend and lover had been taken from this very spot. That her life had been crashed to a halt in one moment.



She went over every moment of the traffic cam footage in her mind. Retraced every step the investigators took to collect the evidence. Something wasn't right. That was three weeks ago. Tire marks on the street where they'd taken off too quickly and spun the tires. She retraced the grass, the sidewalk, the gutter. Clean. Well actually it was disgusting, full of hastily discarded chewing gum and other nastiness, but it was clean of evidence. Wait...



There's a glimmer of something coming out of the drain. Drain! Yes! They missed the drain! She took out her flash light and peered down into the mess. There was a ring down there. She pulled it out using some floss, paper clip, and a letherman she always kept handy.



Now she's back at home. She uses the rest of her will to force herself off the couch. Her legs ache. The world spins for a moment; she looses her balance. She regains. I've got to get more sleep. She reaches the kitchen and takes a cup from the shelf. Fills it with ice water from the refrigerator. Then something gave her pause.



She turned around and noticed a glass on the counter in the drying rack. She'd done dishes this morning and left the kitchen spotless... hadn't she? Christine put her glass down and pulled her Beretta from the holster instead.



Turning around and taking the hallway first she cleared each room. Then she noticed the guest room door was slightly ajar. They hadn't used the guest room since they'd moved in. In fact he'd insisted on keeping the door closed and vents closed to save on electricity.



"No need to warm or cool a space we're not using. That's just a waste of money." he'd said.



She pushed it slightly with her foot. The door moved quietly back against the wall. Everything looked right. Nothing out of place. Bed made. Once she'd cleared the whole house she sat back down on the couch, replacing her side arm with the glass of ice water again.


You're losing it Christine. You forgot you used a glass and forgot to lock the door. That's all. Nothing else. Maybe you do need some more sleep.



With that the pushed her stuff onto the floor, wrapped herself in the light blanket they kept on the back of the couch for just such a nap and fell asleep.



----

----



He hadn't expected her home so soon. He didn't have time to put that glass away. He didn't want to close the door all the way either because she'd hear it. Hiding in the hall he'd managed to get out without her seeing, closing the front door behind him as the noise from ice hitting her glass covered the soft sound of the front door latching closed.



That was close...



I'll have to be more careful. Mitchel would let her in soon. He'd tell her what was happening. But only after he'd figured out a plan. Something that would keep her safe. His own apartment was the perfect place to hide, because it's the last place they'd expect him to go. But it's not a long term solution...





*****

FBI Research = Wikipedia

Rank structure

The following is a complete listing of the rank structure found within the FBI:^[45]

• Field Agents
  
  
  • New Agent Trainee (until graduation from Quantico)
  
  
  • Special Agent
  
  
  • Senior Resident Agent (non-supervisory, in a Resident Agency (satellite office))
  
  
  • Supervisory Senior Resident Agent (only applies in Resident Agency offices)
  
  
  • Supervisory Special Agent
  
  
  • Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge (ASAC)
  
  
  • Special Agent-in-Charge (SAC)
  
  
  
  


• FBI Management
  
  
  • Unit Chief
  
  
  • Section Chief
  
  
  • Deputy Assistant Director
  
  
  • Assistant Director
  
  
  • Associate Executive Assistant Director
  
  
  • Executive Assistant Director
  
  
  • Associate Deputy Director
  
  
  • Deputy Director
  
  
  • Director
  
  
  
  

******



Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this. I'd love to make a community with this project. If you would like to add, comment on, critique, or otherwise participate... that would be great! Please include any information about yourself, your blog/wesbite/amazon author page that you want to share with the community also.





It's Author Fun By @DarrellWolfe



To Subscribe to the RSS: Click Here



For Non-Fiction writing by Darrell G. Wolfe: Click Here



Any work not otherwise attributed is Copy Right Darrell G. Wolfe



All Rights Reserved © Darrell G. Wolfe



Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I may also have received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” A Big Thank You to Michael Hyatt for helping us Bloggers with these new legal disclosure requirements.

Read more →

Dual Lives

02/25/2014 Writing Practice

Her leg's feel heavy as she climbs the stairs to her apartment. Juggling a back-pack, brief case and a box of her own collected evidence she manages to get the keys out of her pocket and place them in the door. That's odd... I was sure I locked this when I left today. I must need to sleep more than I thought.

Christine pushes the door open, sets the box on the coffee table. Slinging her brief case and back pack down on the couch she collapses next to them.

Reviewing the day in her mind she retraces her steps.

She arrived at the crime scene and her SO had been giving her a hard time for being around at all. The case is personal, you shouldn't be here. But no one grudged her for wanting to be involved. But there was something the SAC said that bothered her. Or... it was he didn't say. He seemed to be holding back on her.

"How's the investigation going?" she'd asked.

He had the faintest bit of pause when he saw her approach. Then when he answered her his face twitched involuntarily, the same way it usually did when he was trying to bluff her at poker.That was before he became too good for that because the Special Agent in Charge. "We've got our best people working on it. Why don't you go home and get some rest. It's been a tough week for you."

She nodded and faked a faint smile, she'd go home. She'd just take the long way home, right through the middle of the investigation unit to glance at their findings "on the way to her office", she'd told someone who asked.

On the way home she stopped by the crime scene again. Yellow tape was gone, people were going about their business as usual. They had no idea that her best friend and lover had been taken from this very spot. That her life had been crashed to a halt in one moment.

She went over every moment of the traffic cam footage in her mind. Retraced every step the investigators took to collect the evidence. Something wasn't right. That was three weeks ago. Tire marks on the street where they'd taken off too quickly and spun the tires. She retraced the grass, the sidewalk, the gutter. Clean. Well actually it was disgusting, full of hastily discarded chewing gum and other nastiness, but it was clean of evidence. Wait...

There's a glimmer of something coming out of the drain. Drain! Yes! They missed the drain! She took out her flash light and peered down into the mess. There was a ring down there. She pulled it out using some floss, paper clip, and a letherman she always kept handy.

Now she's back at home. She uses the rest of her will to force herself off the couch. Her legs ache. The world spins for a moment; she looses her balance. She regains. I've got to get more sleep. She reaches the kitchen and takes a cup from the shelf. Fills it with ice water from the refrigerator. Then something gave her pause.

She turned around and noticed a glass on the counter in the drying rack. She'd done dishes this morning and left the kitchen spotless... hadn't she? Christine put her glass down and pulled her Beretta from the holster instead.

Turning around and taking the hallway first she cleared each room. Then she noticed the guest room door was slightly ajar. They hadn't used the guest room since they'd moved in. In fact he'd insisted on keeping the door closed and vents closed to save on electricity.

"No need to warm or cool a space we're not using. That's just a waste of money." he'd said.

She pushed it slightly with her foot. The door moved quietly back against the wall. Everything looked right. Nothing out of place. Bed made. Once she'd cleared the whole house she sat back down on the couch, replacing her side arm with the glass of ice water again.

You're losing it Christine. You forgot you used a glass and forgot to lock the door. That's all. Nothing else. Maybe you do need some more sleep.

With that the pushed her stuff onto the floor, wrapped herself in the light blanket they kept on the back of the couch for just such a nap and fell asleep.

----

----

He hadn't expected her home so soon. He didn't have time to put that glass away. He didn't want to close the door all the way either because she'd hear it. Hiding in the hall he'd managed to get out without her seeing, closing the front door behind him as the noise from ice hitting her glass covered the soft sound of the front door latching closed.

That was close...

I'll have to be more careful. Mitchel would let her in soon. He'd tell her what was happening. But only after he'd figured out a plan. Something that would keep her safe. His own apartment was the perfect place to hide, because it's the last place they'd expect him to go. But it's not a long term solution...


*****
FBI Research = Wikipedia

Rank structure

The following is a complete listing of the rank structure found within the FBI:^[45]

• Field Agents
  • New Agent Trainee (until graduation from Quantico)
  • Special Agent
  • Senior Resident Agent (non-supervisory, in a Resident Agency (satellite office))
  • Supervisory Senior Resident Agent (only applies in Resident Agency offices)
  • Supervisory Special Agent
  • Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge (ASAC)
  • Special Agent-in-Charge (SAC)
• FBI Management
  • Unit Chief
  • Section Chief
  • Deputy Assistant Director
  • Assistant Director
  • Associate Executive Assistant Director
  • Executive Assistant Director
  • Associate Deputy Director
  • Deputy Director
  • Director

******

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this. I'd love to make a community with this project. If you would like to add, comment on, critique, or otherwise participate... that would be great! Please include any information about yourself, your blog/wesbite/amazon author page that you want to share with the community also.


It's Author Fun By @DarrellWolfe

To Subscribe to the RSS: Click Here

For Non-Fiction writing by Darrell G. Wolfe: Click Here

Any work not otherwise attributed is Copy Right Darrell G. Wolfe

All Rights Reserved © Darrell G. Wolfe

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I may also have received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” A Big Thank You to Michael Hyatt for helping us Bloggers with these new legal disclosure requirements.

Read more →

Time Passed

02/23/2014 Writing Practice

Ash woke up to
the soft whiz of the cabinet door opening beside him. Food is served. Breakfast,
by the smell of it. He had only two ways to keep track of time. An enclosed room
with no windows or natural light prevents any external data. Time runs together
without a point of reference. Ash had two. The type of food being served. And
his internal body clock which has been regulated for decades now.

Slight nail marks on the box.

******



Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this. I'd love to make a community with this project. If you would like to add, comment on, critique, or otherwise participate... that would be great! Please include any information about yourself, your blog/wesbite/amazon author page that you want to share with the community also.





It's Author Fun By Darrell Wolfe



To Subscribe to the RSS: Click Here



For Non-Fiction writing by Darrell G. Wolfe: Click Here







Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I may also have received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” A Big Thank You to Michael Hyatt for helping us Bloggers with these new legal disclosure requirements.

Read more →

Time Passed

02/23/2014 Writing Practice

Ash woke up to the soft whiz of the cabinet door opening beside him. Food is served. Breakfast, by the smell of it. He had only two ways to keep track of time. An enclosed room with no windows or natural light prevents any external data. Time runs together without a point of reference. Ash had two. The type of food being served. And his internal body clock which has been regulated for decades now.

Slight nail marks on the box.

******

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this. I'd love to make a community with this project. If you would like to add, comment on, critique, or otherwise participate... that would be great! Please include any information about yourself, your blog/wesbite/amazon author page that you want to share with the community also.


It's Author Fun By Darrell Wolfe

To Subscribe to the RSS: Click Here

For Non-Fiction writing by Darrell G. Wolfe: Click Here



Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I may also have received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” A Big Thank You to Michael Hyatt for helping us Bloggers with these new legal disclosure requirements.

Read more →

It's True: You Really Can Make Better Decisions And Here's How…

4 Missing Ingredients to Better Decision Making

I’ve been facing some tough life decisions lately. So I thought I’d share with you what I’ve learned that has helped me make some of those tough decisions!

 Some rights reserved by Celestine Chua

Take the Red Pill Neo!

Sometimes I find that I am a bit like Neo, from the Matrix. Always thinking there is something more that I am missing, but what is it? And then an opportunity comes up and I find myself locked in indecision. Should I take up this opportunity or let it pass? If I leave what I have I may never get it back. But If stay where I am I may never get this opportunity again. What should I do?

I find that I am often weighed down by indecision with simple things too. Take me to a fast food restaurant I've been to a hundred times and I will want to go in, not use the drive through. The drive through is too much pressure!

I want to go inside, stand out of line, to the side or back of the area and leisurely stare at the menu. I will more than likely buy the same thing I bought the last hundred times I came in. I still want to think about it, just in case I want to try something new.

Over the last few years I've gotten better at making decisions. It's still a struggle for me, but I'm getting better. I've also learned to trust my wife's intuition. Again, that is still a struggle for me, but I'm getting better! I love you Flavia!

There are concepts I learned in the last  few years that really helped me make better decisions. I don't think I've always made the right decision. But I have learned to make them, and that's a start!

Here are some of the problems I’ve run into and the solutions that have helped me make better decisions:

 

1. Complacency

It’s so easy to stay where I am. I may not like it. But it’s comfortable. I know this. I don’t know that new thing. Sure, I’m a slave to my situation, but I’m “taken care of” here. I've tried new food and not liked it as much as the food I was going to get. Then again, I've tried new food and it became my new favorite? What to do?!

When I think about the future, I end up talking a little like the children of Israel complaining about how they had food back in Egypt… where they were slaves. Then my friend Jack Ernst gave me an insight that I have been pondering ever since.

In the Bible, Esau forfeited his rights to his brother through carelessness and recklessness. But his brother was also a cheat and a thief.  Neither was a very good brother. What's interesting here, though, is the "Blessing" Isaac DID give to Esau after Jacob stole his birthright blessing.

Genesis 27:36-41
40“By your sword you shall live, And your brother you shall serve; But it shall come about when you become restless, That you will break his yoke from your neck.”

Now Isaiah 10:27 reveals that “Breaking the Yoke” is directly related to the ministry and Anointing of Jesus. In fact Christ means "Anointed" So literally, and correctly translated "Jesus Christ" is actually "Jesus The Anointed One". See Isaiah 53 for examples of what the Anointing does.

What the blessing of Esau shows us is that the situation you are facing will be broken when you become too restless to stay as you are! When the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change, you will change.

You have to allow yourself to become fed up with the situation. Don’t shove that feeling down, allow it to grow.  Dietrich Bonheoffer called this feeling “Holy Restlessness.”

First Key Solution:

Become Restless!

 

2. The Pain of Change

If you have been paralyzed by indecision for too long consider this:

If you want something you've never had you will have to do something you've never done! Tweet That!

Or as Dave Ramsey says:
"You live like no one else so that you can live like no one else."

Sometimes the pain of staying where you are must be greater than the pain of what it takes to go somewhere else. Moving to a new place takes effort. Applying for, interviewing for, preparing for a new job takes effort. Leaving a bad situation to pursue new possibilities takes effort.

This pain of leaving is what keeps people in positions that make them miserable for years longer than necessary. Often they are waiting on God, while God is waiting on them!

In the Classic book Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't (Affiliate Link), Jim Collins discusses the “Stockdale Paradox” (See On: YouTube).

You must be equally filled with brutal honesty about your current situation and be ready to act on the implications, all the while with expectation that you will prevail in the end! You might call this pragmatic optimism, or pessimistic hopefulness?

Second Key Solution:

Confront the Brutal Facts, and act on the implications, believe you will win!

3. The Feeling of Missing Out - The Power and Problem of Opportunity Risk

The problem of opportunities is that by definition you cannot do both.

Opportunity Risk:
The risk of doing one thing and loosing the ability to do the other.

Two easy examples of Opportunity Risk.

Risk In Job Changes

Check out this great article on LinkedIn about risk in a job change, click here.
If you leave this job you loose the opportunity to get promoted here.
If you stay you must loose the opportunity to leave.

Risk In Spending

If you spend $1,500 today on that new computer, you will loose the opportunity to invest that $1,500 an have $75,000 30 years from now.
If you invest that $1,500 you will loose the opportunity to have that computer now.

The power of “Opportunity Risk” is that you have the control. You must take the position that it is not situations or circumstances that cause you to be where you are, it is the decisions you have made that brought you here, and the decisions you make will take you to the next place, for better or worse. Once you take ownership over that, you can be free to take the authority God gave you over your destiny.

The first order of business, you need to pray. I don’t mean that you just prayed for his direction on these two options, but prayed to see if these ARE the two options? Often the devil tries to trap you with bad option A and worse option B.

Then God comes in with plan ZZ13 and blows up your original two options!

Honestly not every risk is worth it. The risk of leaving may cost too much. The risk of staying, though, may also be the greatest risk. If both risks are unacceptable it’s a good chance you’ve narrowed yourself too far down.

In fact, there are hardly ever JUST two options. Typically the more creative you are the more options you will find. If you’d like to be more creative check out this link from David Kelley “How To Build Your Creative Confidence.”

Towards the end he makes a statement that struck me for this topic of assessing risk. He says that all people can be creative people, it’s not a born characteristic but a learned trait. He works with people who say they aren’t creative to help them discover and nurture their God given creativity.

Then he says that:
“…the more creative a person became during his coaching the more options they would create for themselves to pursue…”

Imagine if you were led by the Holy Spirit, God Himself, and you had His unlimited mind at your disposal. He is THE Creator! He has unlimited options. So I challenge you to assess the risk, and explore your options. If you only have two, you haven’t looked deep enough yet.

Powerful Opportunity Risk Questionnaire

The purpose in asking these questions is to help you understand the situation better. To be brutally honest with yourself about the current situation and the potential options.

• Have you prayed about this?
• Are either of these God’s Options? Or are you asking Him to bless YOUR plan?
• What are the opportunity risks in your decision?
• Which risk is greater?
• Is there more risk in staying or is there more risk in leaving?
• Which risk has the most potential for reward?
• Which risk has the most likelihood to take you closer to your destiny and help you reach your destination?
• Which risk takes you closer to your core, who you know you are?
• Which risk is going to provide the opportunity to grow into an area that you need to grow?
• Which risk has the most potential pain? Most potential rewards?
• Are there factors in one risk that are unacceptable? Deal Breakers?
• Which risk has the most inner spiritual peace attached?
• Are these two options your ONLY options?
• What OTHER options can you think of?
• What themes have you noticed running in your life?
• Are there any old options you discounted then, that you could come back to now, in this new phase of life?

Third Key Solution:

Assess The Risk – Assess the Real Options

How Many Options Can You Think Of? Where is the Peace?

4. Standing By Your Decision

I have counseled so many people, myself included, that won’t take responsibility for their results. This isn’t to say that there are no cases where this wouldn’t be justified. But so often we say to ourselves and others things like:

“My life is this way because he/she did this…”
“I was born with this disability…”
“People from my part of town don’t get opportunities…”
“If only they had done this (or didn’t do that) I wouldn’t be here…”

Even in cases where something tragic happened that you had no control over, you can and must still take responsibility for the future. From this day forward you must master your own future, letting the Holy Spirit be your guide tower and master control. Or as I like to think of Him, your internal GPS. Except HE sets the destination. You either obey or not.

Stop regretting every decision that didn't work out the way you thought it should. Stop wishing you could go back because you think that the other decision would have been better. Maybe it would have been worse?

I like what Aslan said in Chronicles of Narnia. Lucy asks: "If I had come earlier, would all those people have died? Could I have stopped it?" Aslan responds: "We can never know what would have happened Lucy, but what will happen is another matter entirely..."



One way to stand by your decision without regret, even if it was a mistake, is to accept responsibility for it. Stand by it.

Own up to it.
Say: “Yes! That was me! I did that!”

It’s amazing how taking the responsibility for your decision(s), whether it turned out right or wrong, will make you freer to make another decision that will take you closer to your mark.

Your next decision will either be further down the right path, or course correcting toward your right path. Either way you can’t do that until you are willing to own up to it. It is your decision.

Fourth Key Solution:

Own It! Never Look Back, Only Forward!

The 4, make that 5 Keys To Better Decisions - In Review:

1. Become Restless!
2. Confront the Brutal Facts, Act On The Implications, Believe You Will Win!
3. Assess The Risk  - Assess The Options!
4. Own It! Never Look Back, Only Forward!
5. Bonus Tip: Follow The Peace!

Quick Bonus Tip: Follow The Peace!

The better you understand it the more you will find either Peace or Uneasiness. Do not proceed without peace.

Here’s another great tip by LifeHacker: Follow Your Gut. Just ask the question:
“Is this right? Yes or No”
Where Is The Peace?

So now it’s your turn. These were not an exhaustive list, just some things I’ve used recently.

What do YOU do when you need to make an important decision?

Comment On This Post

______________________________________________
By Darrell Wolfe
www.DarrellWolfe.com

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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I may also have received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” A Big Thank You to Michael Hyatt for helping us Bloggers with these new legal disclosure requirements.

What are YOUR thoughts? Comment Below!

Read more →

2014/02/18 Daily Reading

COME:

Day 98
Your Advocate Always Wins Your Case
1 John 2:1
1My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

Devotional 

If you want a glimpse of some real-life celestial drama, picture this: God the Father sits as Judge of the universe with Jesus Christ at His right hand, who is not only your High Priest, but also your Advocate.
When your accuser, the devil, comes along and says, “You have done this wrong and you have not done that right,” Jesus says, “Father, the devil is right, but My blood has paid for what the devil is accusing him of.”

HEAR:

I miss it. Often. The fact I miss it has NO bearing on my right standing with God. I am right with Him regardless of my actions or faults. I am right with Him because of WHO He is and WHAT He has done.

I can receive today because of that.

DO:

I will hold my head high. Ignore my faults and failures and focus on HIS success! That will allow me to let His success flow through me to you (you being whoever I come in contact with today, through this blog, work, family, friends, etc).



How about you? You see anything to add to this? Want to share what examples you have seen or experience in yourself or others? Comment below. 

I call you empowered 2 prosper with good success!

© Darrell G. Wolfe

Bible Study Blog: http://empoweredtooprosper.blogspot.com/
Facebook: Facebook.Com/DarrellGWolfe
Twitter: @DarrellWolfe
Personal Blog: www.DarrellWolfe.Com

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What Everybody Ought to Know About Strong Passwords!

“Your Password Has Been Hacked!”

You’ve received the email. The email address is from someone you know. It’s your family or friend. But instead of a friendly greeting, or a picture… you get nothing but a link.

Or “Check this out: http://…” followed by a link.

How did these people get a hold of your friend or family members password? Usually it’s because they used a weak password that was easy to break.

But there are things you can do to make sure your password is not breakable. Or at least much more secure and probably not worth the effort.


Photo: Some rights reserved by Lulu Hoeller
 

The Not-So-Secret To Strong Passwords

Here are the keys to make your password as strong as it can be!

• One each of the following at least, two each would be better.

1. CAPITOL LETTER
2. lower case letter
3. Number (1234567890)
4. Symbol/Character (! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) )

• 8 characters long for a normal strong password.

If you have particularly sensitive data you could choose a longer password and more combinations of the four categories above.

• Not a word or name, as found in the English dictionary.

Words can more easily searched by password breaking programs. One of the first things a password program might try to do is use words found in the dictionary.
Also, especially not a name of someone you know or love.

Pneumatic Devices and Other Memory Tricks

Now here’s the trick, if you string together 8-12 random letters and symbols you aren’t likely to remember it if you are an average person. Maybe a person with particularly good memory could. The rest of us need some memory tricks.

So maybe you will pick yourself a word, phrase, or something else that will be easy to remember. However, now you edit and change. Use a number for a letter, leave a letter out, choose a symbol for a letter.

So then, the word “red” becomes:

• R3d
• r3D
• Rd
• rD

And the word “and” becomes:

• Ad
• @nD
• @D
• &

So choose things that work for you. “MyFathers”, could be:

• M^f@TH3r5

While a long and truly random set of numbers, letter, and symbols would be the best and strongest password, I hope this provides for you some ideas that will help you use a password you remember but matches the password requirements that make it stronger.

Now it's your turn.

Go practice on a Word Document or Notpad some password options that could work for you. 

1. Don't save these to a file because if someone got them it would be counter productive, but practice some passwords that could work. 
2. Test them here: http://www.passwordmeter.com

PS: Here's a link to another post by Printing By Design with some more ideas on creating good passwords: Click Here

Go leave a comment on the site. What other tricks do you know? What can you add to this conversation? 

______________________________________________

Published © Darrell G. Wolfe 

• http://www.DarrellWolfe.com/

• Connect 

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I may also have received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” A Big Thank You to Michael Hyatt for helping us Bloggers with these new legal disclosure requirements.

Read more →

Fresh and Startling and Intriguing

02/15/2014 Writing Quote

        I liked this quote. From the introduction to “Ender's Game” By Orson Scott Card:

“I felt a strong desire to write stories that would do for others what
Asimov’s story had done for me. In other genres, that desire is usually
expressed by producing thinly veiled rewrites of the great work: Tolkien’s
disciples far too often simply rewrite Tolkien, for example. In Science Fiction,
however, the whole point is that the ideas are fresh and startling and
intriguing: you imitate the great ones, not by rewriting their stories, but
rather by creating stories that are just as startling and new.”

******



Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this. I'd love to make a community with this project. If you would like to add, comment on, critique, or otherwise participate... that would be great! Please include any information about yourself, your blog/wesbite/amazon author page that you want to share with the community also.





It's Author Fun By @DarrellWolfe



To Subscribe to the RSS: Click Here



For Non-Fiction writing by Darrell G. Wolfe: Click Here



Any work not otherwise attributed is Copy Right Darrell G. Wolfe



All Rights Reserved © Darrell G. Wolfe



Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I may also have received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” A Big Thank You to Michael Hyatt for helping us Bloggers with these new legal disclosure requirements.

Read more →

Fresh and Startling and Intriguing

02/15/2014 Writing Quote

        I liked this quote. From the introduction to “Ender's Game” By Orson Scott Card:

“I felt a strong desire to write stories that would do for others what Asimov’s story had done for me. In other genres, that desire is usually expressed by producing thinly veiled rewrites of the great work: Tolkien’s disciples far too often simply rewrite Tolkien, for example. In Science Fiction, however, the whole point is that the ideas are fresh and startling and intriguing: you imitate the great ones, not by rewriting their stories, but rather by creating stories that are just as startling and new.”

******

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this. I'd love to make a community with this project. If you would like to add, comment on, critique, or otherwise participate... that would be great! Please include any information about yourself, your blog/wesbite/amazon author page that you want to share with the community also.


It's Author Fun By @DarrellWolfe

To Subscribe to the RSS: Click Here

For Non-Fiction writing by Darrell G. Wolfe: Click Here

Any work not otherwise attributed is Copy Right Darrell G. Wolfe

All Rights Reserved © Darrell G. Wolfe

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I may also have received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” A Big Thank You to Michael Hyatt for helping us Bloggers with these new legal disclosure requirements.

Read more →

Restless... wrecked for the ordinary.

02/14/2014 Writing Practice

Restless. That's the only way to describe the atmosphere. When Ash walked into the small church only two months before it had been a small community baptist church. 150 members. The board had been the same for 15 years. They'd gone through two pastors in that time.



150 members typically meant 75 of them showed up on a regular basis, and the other 75 showed up periodically throughout the year. Many of those worked the oil fields, which meant they'd only be in town 1 of four weeks a month. But those were often the biggest givers, because they made so much money.



Things had plodded along nicely in this small town. Burger Texas. Their claim to fame was that they were the origin of the modern Hamburger. Of course, no body knew if this was true or not, but they liked to make a big deal of it, and it brought in tourists every so often who may be visiting nearby Amarillo.



"There he is..." someone whispered.



Ash walked into Mac Harpers Drug Store. Mac's doubled as one of the towns two cafe's, the other run by Mac's brother. It also served a real old fashioned Ice Cream Parlor and Soda Fountain Counter. One of the few original remaining in the country. It had been started by Mac's great grandfather 126 years ago in this very store.



"Well hey there Mr Ash. What can we get for you?" Mac flashed his super friendly cheesy smile.



"Well Mac. I think I'll take one of those amazing double cheeseburgers you are so famous for, a MacCola."



"Coming right up!" Mac turned and started throwing things onto the grill. While the meat was grilling Mac took a glass from the counter and put some ice inside. Poured a thick black syrup onto the ice, then filled the glass with soda water. Stirring it with a long thin spoon he then handed it to Ash and turned back to the grill.



Ash couldn't help feel for these people. All their lives they'd been in this small town, unaware and unaffected by most of the 20th and 21st century. Sure modern life has pushed though in terms of modern plumbing, electricity, and half the people in town had a smart phone. They'd even got their first traffic light two years ago. Of course most people just drive around the block to avoid it.



But there was a stirring now. The young people especially, and some of the more spiritually sensitive adults, had been growing restless. Same 'ol Same 'ol wasn't going to cut it anymore. Ever since Ash walked up to a little girl in a wheel chair after a church service and caused the biggest commotion this town had ever seen.



That was two months ago. His interaction with her was quite calm actually. No loud voice, no fan fare. He simply kneeled down to talk to this precious girl of 11 years old and asked her name. She has cerebral palsy and has very little speech. Her body sitting awkwardly in the wheel chair, no control over her limbs. But she manages to get out the name Ana.



Ash asks: "Ana... would you like to walk?" Her parents were so surprised by the suggestion they didn't have time to be angry. Her mom looked like she was about to say something but words never escaped her lips. Ana nodded her head, Ash took her by the hand, and she stood up as though she'd never been the slightest bit broken at all. Her limbs filled out, her hands straightened.



Ash and Ana walked outside together leaving the wheel chair behind. Ana looked at the world with wonder and amazement. She turned to Ash and hugged him, then ran out into the grass field nearby. The one used for Church picnic and sports events. By now the entire church was gathered to watch her. Some smiled, others pondering, and a few looked very concerned.



One deacon looked particularly upset and worried. Ash over heard him say "What kind of demonic trickery is this?"



When she returned to her parents, who were both overjoyed, looking at her with wonder, Ana asked "Where did that man go?"



When everyone turned around he was gone. Well... he wasn't exactly gone. Ash was nearby watching the commotion with his own sort of wonder. What just happened? He wasn't sure himself. He saw her. He felt this feeling of compassion and pity rise within. He nearly broke into tears seeing her. He loved her more than he'd loved anyone for that few moments. The rest of the world nearly disappeared. He heard the words to speak to her inside of him.



It was as though it wasn't him speaking. Rather, he was repeating what he heard.



Now two months later, nothing else amazing had happened. At least not in terms of miracles. He explained to the pastor and the church board that he didn't know what had happened, or how more specifically how. He just knew it did. They questioned his honesty and motives. When they found nothing they asked him to stick around awhile.



So he got a place at the one hotel in town and stuck around.



But the town had been wrecked for the ordinary. What was next? That was the question on everyones mind?





******



Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this. I'd love to make a community with this project. If you would like to add, comment on, critique, or otherwise participate... that would be great! Please include any information about yourself, your blog/wesbite/amazon author page that you want to share with the community also.





It's Author Fun By @DarrellWolfe



To Subscribe to the RSS: Click Here



For Non-Fiction writing by Darrell G. Wolfe: Click Here



Any work not otherwise attributed is Copy Right Darrell G. Wolfe



All Rights Reserved © Darrell G. Wolfe



Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I may also have received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” A Big Thank You to Michael Hyatt for helping us Bloggers with these new legal disclosure requirements.

    

Read more →

Restless... wrecked for the ordinary.

02/14/2014 Writing Practice

Restless. That's the only way to describe the atmosphere. When Ash walked into the small church only two months before it had been a small community baptist church. 150 members. The board had been the same for 15 years. They'd gone through two pastors in that time.

150 members typically meant 75 of them showed up on a regular basis, and the other 75 showed up periodically throughout the year. Many of those worked the oil fields, which meant they'd only be in town 1 of four weeks a month. But those were often the biggest givers, because they made so much money.

Things had plodded along nicely in this small town. Burger Texas. Their claim to fame was that they were the origin of the modern Hamburger. Of course, no body knew if this was true or not, but they liked to make a big deal of it, and it brought in tourists every so often who may be visiting nearby Amarillo.

"There he is..." someone whispered.

Ash walked into Mac Harpers Drug Store. Mac's doubled as one of the towns two cafe's, the other run by Mac's brother. It also served a real old fashioned Ice Cream Parlor and Soda Fountain Counter. One of the few original remaining in the country. It had been started by Mac's great grandfather 126 years ago in this very store.

"Well hey there Mr Ash. What can we get for you?" Mac flashed his super friendly cheesy smile.

"Well Mac. I think I'll take one of those amazing double cheeseburgers you are so famous for, a MacCola."

"Coming right up!" Mac turned and started throwing things onto the grill. While the meat was grilling Mac took a glass from the counter and put some ice inside. Poured a thick black syrup onto the ice, then filled the glass with soda water. Stirring it with a long thin spoon he then handed it to Ash and turned back to the grill.

Ash couldn't help feel for these people. All their lives they'd been in this small town, unaware and unaffected by most of the 20th and 21st century. Sure modern life has pushed though in terms of modern plumbing, electricity, and half the people in town had a smart phone. They'd even got their first traffic light two years ago. Of course most people just drive around the block to avoid it.

But there was a stirring now. The young people especially, and some of the more spiritually sensitive adults, had been growing restless. Same 'ol Same 'ol wasn't going to cut it anymore. Ever since Ash walked up to a little girl in a wheel chair after a church service and caused the biggest commotion this town had ever seen.

That was two months ago. His interaction with her was quite calm actually. No loud voice, no fan fare. He simply kneeled down to talk to this precious girl of 11 years old and asked her name. She has cerebral palsy and has very little speech. Her body sitting awkwardly in the wheel chair, no control over her limbs. But she manages to get out the name Ana.

Ash asks: "Ana... would you like to walk?" Her parents were so surprised by the suggestion they didn't have time to be angry. Her mom looked like she was about to say something but words never escaped her lips. Ana nodded her head, Ash took her by the hand, and she stood up as though she'd never been the slightest bit broken at all. Her limbs filled out, her hands straightened.

Ash and Ana walked outside together leaving the wheel chair behind. Ana looked at the world with wonder and amazement. She turned to Ash and hugged him, then ran out into the grass field nearby. The one used for Church picnic and sports events. By now the entire church was gathered to watch her. Some smiled, others pondering, and a few looked very concerned.

One deacon looked particularly upset and worried. Ash over heard him say "What kind of demonic trickery is this?"

When she returned to her parents, who were both overjoyed, looking at her with wonder, Ana asked "Where did that man go?"

When everyone turned around he was gone. Well... he wasn't exactly gone. Ash was nearby watching the commotion with his own sort of wonder. What just happened? He wasn't sure himself. He saw her. He felt this feeling of compassion and pity rise within. He nearly broke into tears seeing her. He loved her more than he'd loved anyone for that few moments. The rest of the world nearly disappeared. He heard the words to speak to her inside of him.

It was as though it wasn't him speaking. Rather, he was repeating what he heard.

Now two months later, nothing else amazing had happened. At least not in terms of miracles. He explained to the pastor and the church board that he didn't know what had happened, or how more specifically how. He just knew it did. They questioned his honesty and motives. When they found nothing they asked him to stick around awhile.

So he got a place at the one hotel in town and stuck around.

But the town had been wrecked for the ordinary. What was next? That was the question on everyones mind?


******

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this. I'd love to make a community with this project. If you would like to add, comment on, critique, or otherwise participate... that would be great! Please include any information about yourself, your blog/wesbite/amazon author page that you want to share with the community also.


It's Author Fun By @DarrellWolfe

To Subscribe to the RSS: Click Here

For Non-Fiction writing by Darrell G. Wolfe: Click Here

Any work not otherwise attributed is Copy Right Darrell G. Wolfe

All Rights Reserved © Darrell G. Wolfe

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I may also have received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” A Big Thank You to Michael Hyatt for helping us Bloggers with these new legal disclosure requirements.

    

Read more →

Images

Whisps of images pass before him. It started Yesterday. One here or there. At first they seemed like shadows, mere plays of light on highly reflective walls.

Now they are taking form. High tech place.

Whatever these holograph's are supposed to be they were odd. Some were starting to resemble people. Others animals. Still not clear enough to make out exactly.

*****

Do you suppose it's working?

He's reacting to something.

What's wrong with the implant?

We have images... but we're not seeing whatever it is he is









******



Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this. I'd love to make a community with this project. If you would like to add, comment on, critique, or otherwise participate... that would be great! Please include any information about yourself, your blog/wesbite/amazon author page that you want to share with the community also.





It's Author Fun By @DarrellWolfe



To Subscribe to the RSS: Click Here



For Non-Fiction writing by Darrell G. Wolfe: Click Here



Any work not otherwise attributed is Copy Right Darrell G. Wolfe



All Rights Reserved © Darrell G. Wolfe



Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I may also have received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” A Big Thank You to Michael Hyatt for helping us Bloggers with these new legal disclosure requirements.

Read more →

Images

Whisps of images pass before him. It started Yesterday. One here or there. At first they seemed like shadows, mere plays of light on highly reflective walls.
Now they are taking form. High tech place.
Whatever these holograph's are supposed to be they were odd. Some were starting to resemble people. Others animals. Still not clear enough to make out exactly.
*****
Do you suppose it's working?
He's reacting to something.
What's wrong with the implant?
We have images... but we're not seeing whatever it is he is




******

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this. I'd love to make a community with this project. If you would like to add, comment on, critique, or otherwise participate... that would be great! Please include any information about yourself, your blog/wesbite/amazon author page that you want to share with the community also.


It's Author Fun By @DarrellWolfe

To Subscribe to the RSS: Click Here

For Non-Fiction writing by Darrell G. Wolfe: Click Here

Any work not otherwise attributed is Copy Right Darrell G. Wolfe

All Rights Reserved © Darrell G. Wolfe

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I may also have received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” A Big Thank You to Michael Hyatt for helping us Bloggers with these new legal disclosure requirements.

Read more →

Cold

02/11/2014 Writing Practice

The ground is wet. Cold drizzle surrounds everything. Droplets of water blanket the car. So he opens the door and sits down to start the engine. He loves this weather. There is something about cold that makes him feel very present and alive. He turns on the wipers to clean the window and the water doesn't leave, it doesn't move. "It can't be THAT cold out here can it?" Sure enough. Those droplets are ice. Should have left a few minutes earlier today.



****



Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this. I'd love to make a community with this project. If you would like to add, comment on, critique, or otherwise participate... that would be great! Please include any information about yourself, your blog/wesbite/amazon author page that you want to share with the community also.





It's Author Fun By @DarrellWolfe



To Subscribe to the RSS: Click Here



For Non-Fiction writing by Darrell G. Wolfe: Click Here



Any work not otherwise attributed is Copy Right Darrell G. Wolfe



All Rights Reserved © Darrell G. Wolfe



Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I may also have received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” A Big Thank You to Michael Hyatt for helping us Bloggers with these new legal disclosure requirements.

    

Read more →

Cold

02/11/2014 Writing Practice

The ground is wet. Cold drizzle surrounds everything. Droplets of water blanket the car. So he opens the door and sits down to start the engine. He loves this weather. There is something about cold that makes him feel very present and alive. He turns on the wipers to clean the window and the water doesn't leave, it doesn't move. "It can't be THAT cold out here can it?" Sure enough. Those droplets are ice. Should have left a few minutes earlier today.

****

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this. I'd love to make a community with this project. If you would like to add, comment on, critique, or otherwise participate... that would be great! Please include any information about yourself, your blog/wesbite/amazon author page that you want to share with the community also.


It's Author Fun By @DarrellWolfe

To Subscribe to the RSS: Click Here

For Non-Fiction writing by Darrell G. Wolfe: Click Here

Any work not otherwise attributed is Copy Right Darrell G. Wolfe

All Rights Reserved © Darrell G. Wolfe

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I may also have received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” A Big Thank You to Michael Hyatt for helping us Bloggers with these new legal disclosure requirements.

    

Read more →

3 point strategy to pay bills in less than 20 minutes a month!

OH NO! I forgot to pay my electric bill! 

You are sitting in your house. Watching your favorite movie. The popcorn is popped. The sodas and snacks are displayed. It’s a great moment and… the lights go out, the TV turns off, the air conditioner stills.

Then it hits. That turn in your gut. Your head gets just a little light. Your heart sinks. A question pushes through to your mind… You turn to your spouse and ask

“Did I pay the electric bill?”

You both look with a shrug, a look that says: “I think so?!” You get up and walk to the front door. You place your hand on the cool metal brass. You open the door and step outside. It’s night. It’s going to be dark anyway. But you glance up and the street lights aren’t on. The neighbor’s house lights are off. You glance further, every light is off in the whole neighborhood.

Relief washes over you… it’s just a power outage… It wasn’t the bill!

What’s sad about this story is that your first thought was a bill not being paid, not a power outage. Where did that question about the bill come from? Why was that even a question? Why was a power outage not your FIRST assumption, instead of a bill being forgotten?

It’s possible to live without that fear.

Here is my 3 point plan to make paying bills simple... as long as you have the money to pay them in the first place, but that's for another article.

1. Paycheck Dates Not Due Dates

When you pay bills as they come in, you are always running around trying to catch up, or see if something has cleared. Your checking account tells the story.

You have card purchases mixed with checks and electronic bill payments all throughout the month. You are never quite sure what you are paying and every so often you miss something. Either something doesn’t get paid, or you end up with an overdraft.

You always have bills on the mind. It’s just a big, big hassle. I used to sit at the gas station having full conversations with myself in my head: "Did I pay that yet? Has this cleared? How much DO I have left for this gas I need to make sure to leave enough for X to come out..." Contrast that with this idea.

Group your payments and pay your bills on paycheck dates, not on due dates. Tweet That!

You group your payments together. You don’t pay them as they come due, you pay them as YOU get paid. Let’s say you, as most people in the US, get paid every two weeks. Generally, you get two checks per month.

So take your bills and group them together into two groups.

“Paycheck One Group” and “Paycheck Two Group”.

So when you get paid at the start of the month you will sit down that day (or soon after) and pay your bills. You pay every bill that day. The idea is to get them all out of your account on day one of the pay period.

Now, in order to get them out of your account on day one, you cannot:

1. Write Checks
2. Give your card OR account number to another company by phone or online
3. Use Any Automatic Payments.
4. Or make any other payment that takes more than 30 seconds to clear your account. 

Therefore, to get these items out of your account on day one you must:

1. Use Bill Pay. If you are using the banks bill payment service, pay them all that day. 
1. Use bill pay manually, not automatically
2. We"ll talk more about this in a second.
2. Take Out Cash and buy money orders and then mail them. 
1. This is cumbersome, but if you have an illogical fear of the Internet you could do that I suppose. 
2. Then again, if you fear the Internet you probably aren't reading this?

2. Bill Pay

First of all. Let's get some things straight about bill pay. The following information should be true for any bank I know of, but you'll have to double check your bank to be sure.

Bill pay does not mean auto pay. Bill pay services usually have auto features available and many mistake this to mean that you must have auto pay to use bill pay. Almost everyone I've ever talked to that wasn't using bill pay gave this as their number one reason for avoiding it. Rest easy, you can and should still pay your bills manually.

Bill pay will take a few days to be received by the merchant. Usually 1 or 2 days when sending electronic payments and 5-10 days when mailing paper payments. If you are paying bills last minute than this won't work for you. But if you are paying bills last minute you are not using my system, refer back to point 1.

Access your bill pay service through your banks online banking or mobile app. Typically you will only need three things to set up your "payee", the person you are paying.

Setting Up Payee's

1. Name of Payee
1. Check your statement. Some companies aren't obvious. 
2. For Example: Bank of America Credit Cards often list their statement name as "FIA Card Services". Weird, but check your statement to see what name they're using. 
2. Address on statement
1. Typically a PO BOX, but this helps the bank make sure they have the right client. Some receive payments for different accounts at different addresses, you may see more than one listed with your payee's name, use your billing statement for that payee to be sure you have the right one. 
3. Account Number
1. This is not asking for their account number and routing number. It's asking for the item that identifies you as their customer. Could be an account number, customer number or policy number. 
2. There could be situations you may not have one. Example: If I send my tithe to the Church through bill pay there is no account number. I just click "Does Not Apply To This Payee" or something like that. 

Once your payees are put in you now send all your payments through bill pay. All of them? Yes! All of them.

Exceptions.

Insurance. When your insurance company offers you a discount for setting up auto pay and you have money in your savings and cannot become overdrawn, take the discount. If you are having overdraft issues, the discount is too expensive politely decline their "discount" as it's too expensive for you and use bill pay.

Card Based Items. Some companies must have your card or you cannot use their service. These act more like purchases even though you and I will treat them like bills. These are things like: Netflix, Hulu, LA Fitness, Magazine Clubs, Etc. You could give your card for these. You could also use a prepaid card or second account for these type of things instead of using your main account just to prevent overdrafts.

Using Bill Pay

So this is what you need to know about using bill pay most effectively. Once your payees are set up in the system your overview page will likely show all your payees on one screen. Next to each payee is an amount box and date box.

Date could refer to "Send By" or "Send On". There is a big difference here. Send By means it leaves your account a few days early to get it there by that date. Send On leaves your account on that date.

You are paying your bills on your paycheck dates, twice per month. So when you get paid you pull up bill pay. Verify what amounts you want to pay.

1. Select who you want to pay. 
2. Type in the amount into bill pay next to the name you want to pay.
3. Choose Date. 
1. You are going to choose Send On, and then select Todays Date for all bills, not the due date.

If you got paid today, you go into bill pay today, you choose todays date as the send on date, type in the amounts you want to pay and hit send. This pulls all payments out of your account today. No more having items pend, disappear, and come back later.

3. Yearly Sheet

If you find your life as chaotic as I do, you need an external way to organize yourself. Studies show that the more you can group things together the easier it is for you. The following instructions are based on the average household with two paychecks that come in every other Friday.

The ideas can be implemented by anyone, with some adaptations. . If you have a different system, like you only get paid once a month or you get paid on off times, you may need to adapt this to fit you.

 Here’s what you are going to do. Take out a blank piece of paper (You could also use graph paper, or even excel to do this. Excel users click here). You want a long piece of paper, 8.5X14 legal size is best. You will lay this out long side to you and short sides to your sides. Or, you could use two regular sized peices of paper and split your year into two.

On the left hand side you will write out Four categories. 

Tithe. Paycheck One, Paycheck Two, Misc.

Tithe. The first group of payments is your tithe's, offerings, charitable donations, etc. When you put God first you get better financial results. If you don't understand why see my article on the tithe.

The Misc category is for things that come once a year, once every few months, or once a quarter. Things like AAA memberships, car registrations, HOA dues, etc.

Monthly Bills. You will divide all your monthly bills into two groups. Those things that you usually pay with paycheck one, and those things you usually pay with paycheck two. List them out accordingly.

*Helpful Hint. You could, next to each name if you have room, write the web address, username/password, and 800# for each company. 

You will want to write down the due date and amount for later reference.

If the date and/or amount is fixed, Horrah! You got it for the year.

If the amount or date varies make some notation next to it, like this: “ ~ “ to indicate that the amount or date can change, but still include your best guess as to the average there.

For example “ ~$75 3rd “

Now, to the right along the top of the page, spaced evenly, you will write out the months of the year. January through December. If you did this on graph paper or excel you will find that you have created a box for each payee for each month. If not you could take a pen or pencil and a ruler to make the grid. I like to staple the sheet to my wall, my wife likes to use a book to keep it in. Whatever works for you.

And you are done with the set up.

The Perfect Bill Payment System 

Now let’s put it together. So you are going along in life and you just got paid this morning. You have a moment to focus on bills so you sit at your computer.

You pull up your sheet and you see that it’s paycheck two today. You paid the first round of bills two weeks ago.

Now you sit down on payday to review your bills. You don’t have to guess to see which bills you are actually paying, because you are using your Yearly Bills Sheet.

It’s all right there in front of you. You double check how much you are paying on the electric bill because that changes, the rest are fixed bills this paycheck.

You already set up all the “Payee’s” into your bill pay so all you have to do now is type in the amount next to each payee and choose TODAY’S date as the “Send ON” date for all the bills. Hit send. You’re done.

The bill money has left the building!

Your paycheck came in, your bills left, now all you have to do is keep track of card purchases for the next two weeks.

*If you are only getting paid once a month then do this same thing, just do it once a month. 1st and 15th, then do it then. If you get paid every week, or you have deposits from two people coming in all over the place that’s OK too. Let all the deposits come in and settle and choose two dates every month you will pay bills and do it twice a month. I don’t feel it would be helpful for you to pay more often than twice a month, but if it works for you it works. DO what works. This system isn’t mean to be fixed but fluid.

Need help getting started? Here's a jump start!

Here are two versions of ways you could group your payments!

Click Here to download and personalize your own version for yourself!








A SPECIAL THANKS: to my wife Flavia... most of these great ideas are hers!

So here’s my question for YOU! What could you add to this system to make it even easier? Do you have any other ideas, or anything to add?

______________________________________________


By Darrell Wolfe

www.DarrellWolfe.com

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Disclaimers:

FOR MY FULL DISCLAIMER: See my "Start Here About" page. Click Here

* Information here is As-Is. These are the opinions of a fellow traveler and seeker of truth. I am not a doctor, lawyer, licensed financial advisor, tax preparer, etc, etc... I'm just one guy, sharing what he's learned. As such, the information may be as true or faulty as the guy on the buss stop giving you directions. If you need accurate information I encourage you to seek the help of a professional in your field. 

* I do make money from this blog. 1 Tim 5:18 says the worker is worthy of his wages. I do earn affiliate commissions or freebies from some of the products I discuss at various points on this blog. Regardless I only suggest things that have personally helped me, or someone I know. If you click on an "Affiliate Link" and you buy something I'll get a cut. Thanks for your support! 

* I am a conservative Christian. I write from a bible-centric point of view. I welcome people from other points of view to jump into the conversation. If you don't like bible-centric writing: I encourage you not to read my posts.... Unless you want to learn something new. 

* In all you do: Live Long and Prosper, with GOOD SUCCESS! 


Thank you, Darrell Wolfe

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