THRILLING THURSDAY

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

LadyM: explain that you can't be a proper boyfriend/girlfriend until you are good friends for a long time.

Dee: About your laptop computer with the bad fan, if you put it on a slab of cast aluminum (for instance an upside down t-fal frying pan) the metal works as a heat sink and your computer won't heat up as fast. Of course, this works best when you have an external keyboard because otherwise the computer slides around while typing.

I came up with that idea on my own when dh's fan was going. If you recall there were these 'miracle defrost stands' which were just a slab of aluminum. I didn't want to pay $20 for one even if they were 'seen on TV' so I started using my frying pan. When his computer started to act up, I figured if the frypan would quickly pull the cold from the frozen food, it could also pull the heat. Within moments his computer fan stopped squealing because it could slow down since the heat was being drawn by the pan instead.

Speaking of files off computers:

We just came from a very interesting and surprisingly thought provoking presentation on digital assets.

Those range from your email account to your paypal and google play accounts, to your media (books, movies, songs you've downloaded) to your social media accounts.

The bank now recommends you add the rights to access your digital assets and manage (in case you are incapacitated, the POA can stop your monthly google music subscription) and instructions to your executor to distribute them as part of the estate.

For instance, dh and I have over 200,000 miles that can convert to $2000 of gift cards or $$5-10K of travel. If we die, those would die with us.

We thought we were covered - the kids have a way to get access to all our accounts and passwords. But legally, even if we specifically name this in the power of attorney or will, the user agreements for the companies take precedence and many will not let executors transfer these assets to others. Apple is the worst example, they will reset the phone to factory reset but will not give the executor access to the Apple ID so all the photos, and videos, email information and apps (that might show the executor which places a person banks or has accounts) is not accessible without a court order.

So this is a warning to people to download backups of everything they own to somewhere other than their cloud accounts (and is an example of why I don't want to use cloud computing.)

It was a sobering information evening. It also highlighted why it is important to have a list of current bank accounts. If you access your account through online only and only get online statements, how does your executor know you have an account at that bank? If they don't have access to your computer, they won't know unless it is listed somewhere that they will find.

I'm stilling think about how we had to restart the SHE boards because all the account information was on Indiana's computer and her family couldn't get access to the account name and password for us to keep them up (btw, more than one administrator has the information to keep these SHE boards up, plus my dd has access to my accounts with our hosting company.)

[LadyMaverick]

Interesting things to ponder. I think I have everything covered so DSon can access our stuff at any time........... but I don't know what I don't know.

I am comfortable with cloud computing and have all my stuff online. When I didn't use cloud storage, I used to worry about someone breaking in and stealing it, or hardware failure, or a fire, or a tornado, etc. I agree there are pro/cons no matter where the decision is made to put your information.

I just finished ordering both of the kids headphones that cover their ears to use while doing school. Today I had each of them at a different dining room table and had them facing different directions. I had music going....a playlist of Relaxing Classical Music. It worked okay but some of their lessons have sound so the headphone should help. I'm just trying different things until I find what works best.

[LadyMaverick]

I keep a straight face when I tell both kids "No boyfriend/girlfriend until you are out of school. And preferably not until your 30 years old".

DCousin and his wife became boyfriend/girlfriend in the 3rd grade and stayed together all their life. I don't believe they ever dated anyone else. I was thinking about the wife today at the funeral. She has always shared everything with him her entire life. Everything she does is going to be incredibly hard to do it alone.

I know several couples who did this and it worked for them. But I am not going to recommend it to the kids.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

No, I wouldn't recommend expecting one's grade 3 love to stick with you all their lives!

While our kids have access to our accounts, it was the grey area of whether they could legally access them that was the focus of the presentation. The Power of Attorney or will does not supersede the Terms of Use for the different websites and apps.

So if my kids bought tickets for themselves with my aeroplan points after I died, the tickets could be cancelled by the airline if it knew I had died before the points were redeemed. Even if I put in my will "when I die the dd and ds are to use my aeroplan points for a trip to europe", them doing so is not legal. Aeroplan will sell my estate the points for 7 cents each (in other words, $700 per 100,000 points.) If the kids then cashed the points in for gift cards, they'd get about $800 worth of cards, making the net gain only $100 if they do it legally.

The same goes for Paypal. eBay can be worse since the executor can't legally log in and stop an autobid but is responsible for the estate paying the bill when the item is bought at some inflated price (a reason to never use autobid in case you get hit by a bus!)

Our digital lives leave a lot of extra work for the executors to track down and shut down. The example of eHarmony came up. Both as an autopayment issue and because even when you delete your account, they hold onto your information indefinitely which could be an issue if there is another Ashley Madison type hack and all the names of the users get released.

I've had a slightly productive evening. I printed off some stuff for my work tomorrow, paid the refugees for June and sent an email about the June 10 service.

I should go find some information on Thoreau now.

[LadyMaverick]

I posted a "save the date" message to the extended family about Labor Day reunion. I don't know why I do this type of stuff. Everyone expects me to be the organizer for these type of events ........and guess what.......I do it.

DBro called tonight and talked for over an hour. He walked from his house to the barn today for the first time. (a distance of about a block). Once he got to the barn he still felt strong so he got on the 4 wheeler and rode it to check on his steers. This required him to get on/off the 4 wheeler two times to open/shut gates. He was exhausted from the adventure but was sooooo very thankful to be this far along in his recovery. Yesterday he got another $14,000 shot to help him to continue to build the stem cells. I've lost count of how many times he has received this shot - I know it is well over a dozen times. The cost of this procedure is staggering.

[Lynlee]

Happy birthday Dee
Wishing for you every blessing, and for a safe trip north.
Praying that a solution to the north south living situation will unfold.

[lucylee]

HELLO to EVERYONE!

Happy birthday, Dee, and lots of good wishes for safe travel!

(((Norma))) What a horrible shock — I am so sorry about the loss of your dfriend.

Today I’ve ironed all day. Sooo glad to have that done!
Dgs was here for a lot of the day but he was not a problem — although he did want me to play with him instead of ironing, so we played Battleship while I ironed. He also watched Legends and Lies with dh.

Also cooked supper big did not clean up the kitchen afterward!

Went to bank this morning to sign paper for church stuff. Bank had “misplaced” the original.

Yesterday — we took dgs to SEC baseball tournament. Long day but he said he was glad he went, so I guess if was fun.

Today he was with us bc dgd had appt with rheumatologist. She is now in “medical remission,” so doctor was very pleased.

Sorry I can do no more than WAVE to ALL!