First thing is first… Safety. If there’s a chance that any of these things are effective and keep our pilots and passengers safe, I’m for them. All of them. If it is determined that they are somehow less effective than previous methods or even “just as” effective… something needs to be reevaluated, like, immediately.

The body scanners. Why is there such a problem with these? Yes, there were images leaked from them… but did you SEE them? Blurry, grainy, blobby… and still pretty private. OK, so that was probably from only one type of the scanners… but still. From the amount of people these security people scan every day, I very highly doubt that anyone gives a shit if they can see your titties. It’s not like they don’t have the internet anyway. Grow up a bit and just go through the damn scanner if you don’t want your junk touched.

As for the junk-touching… this one is difficult. When I traveled this past summer, I never once encountered this (flew through ELM, PHL, PHX, OAK, SFO, and SLC). It is more than likely that the scanners just weren’t deployed yet though – so I never had the option. My point is, I haven’t actually experienced any junk-touching from a TSA agent.

What I really don’t understand is how people can be so up-in-arms over something that they have to opt into. That is, the junk-touching is NOT the default option. The body scanner is. Don’t want your junk touched? USE THE FUCKING SCANNER!

Now if you are unsure about the scanners (cancer? really?), you have to get “familiar” with an agent. If I recall, there was some story about a pilot who ended up in tears or in serious emotional distress after getting his junk-touching on. My first thought: WTF? Is this guy that insecure in himself that someone touching him IN THE NAME OF SAFETY humiliates and embarrasses him to the point of tears and an emotional breakdown? REALLY?! Has he never been to a doctor? I think it was an older guy, has he not had a prostate exam yet? I haven’t, but I can’t say as I’m exactly looking forward to it…

Point is… it should NOT be this big of a deal for a fucking pat down at an airport. Ya, it sucks. Ya, they basically touch your balls. But it’s not like it only happened to one person and now everyone is pointing and laughing at that person. It can happen to anyone at these places… and everyone collectively feels your pain. So suck it up… get over yourself and get through security as fast as fucking possible so I don’t miss my flight!

And why not have a laugh about it while you can… I’d love to see a contest to see who can come up with the best line to break the agents focus and get him to laugh while he’s cupping your balls…

I’m actually pretty good about remembering my passwords. But it’s a PITA to have to do a “forgot password” thing for some website I haven’t logged into in 6 months or something. It is way easier to just look it up. And since I always have my phone on me, 1Password is a life saver. Luckily, I picked up the Pro version a while back when it was on sale.

To be honest though, I don’t think it would have mattered if I got the Pro version or the regular version… I honestly don’t know the differences. Wait… I’m going to go look it up… brb.

… (no, seriously, i took a break here to google it) …

Ah, here we go… you can read about the differences on Agile’s website. Nothing crazy, but like I said, I got a deal I think. I don’t remember – it was a while ago. So which should you buy? I don’t know. Most of the stuff I’ve read says that if you think you might eventually want some of the Pro features, buy that first and get it out of the way (honestly, it’s worth it). They don’t really have an effective “upgrade” price in place (which sounds like an iTunes problem). So if you choose to get the standard version first and have to pay for it, you’ll have to pay again for the Pro version.

Anyway, so I have my 70+ passwords in there. I also use the Wallet function for my bank account numbers, reward member numbers (delta airlines, hertz, etc), and various other things. There’s also a Software grouping where I store my product keys for the Windows versions I have. I have a ton of other license codes I should probably put in there too. That’s a whole other mess. But honestly would let me take advantage of the app even more. Not that I need my product codes or anything like that away from my computer – but it’s nice to have them somewhere besides my computer… just in case.

All of this is of course protected by a passcode and various security settings. So if you have a passcode to unlock your iPhone (or iPod touch) AND this passcode, there isn’t anyone getting into your stuff.

Sound interesting? I definitely recommend it. Especially with the ridiculous number of passwords I have discovered that I have.

iTunes Links:

• 1Password: DOWNLOAD
• 1Password Pro: DOWNLOAD

So in a minor bid to change that a little, here is a little positive feedback in terms of “word of mouth.”

If you’ve been following along, you’ll know that I recently had to deal with Progressive with regard to my insurance policy continuing to skyrocket (up to $1028 for 6 months if I renewed straight up – for 2 cars, 2 clean drivers – crazy). After an ordeal of calling up and essentially “complaining” about my policy continuing to climb, they worked with me to start essentially a new policy with all of the same info – which saved me something like $240/six months. And even beyond that – the payments are now every month (instead of 5 on and 1 off) so that’s spread out further, thus making the payment even lower. Suffice to say I’m going from what would have been about $212/mo to $130/mo.

Anyway… after the new policy started and I made the first deposit payment, my online policy kept reminding me to submit proof of my security system and such for the discount. Uh whaaa? The guy that setup my new policy assured me everything would transfer and I’d be good to go.

Well I emailed Progressive again and basically said “I was told this… and it says this.” That was last night.

Got a reply this morning confirming that I’m set. Nothing to mail/fax in or prove. The policy is ready to go and I’m all done with having to fight for a lower rate (for now).

So nothing big. But it’s nice to contact someone about something you think is a problem and then are assured that it is actually OK in the end and you don’t have to worry about it. So thank you, Progressive. You are still showing me that you’d like to keep my business (even though I had to essentially call and ask if you still wanted it after you kept jacking my rates up).