Daily Coping 8 Oct 2021

Posted on October 8, 2021 by way0utwest

I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here. All my coping tips are under this tag.

Today’s tip is to avoid saying “I should” and make time to do nothing.

Today is quarantine day for me. I’m in Belgium, actually, who knows. I flew to London overnight, then a trip to Brussels. I have to test and quarantine until I get results, so this is really a day of travel and doing nothing.

My wife and I will likely just relax in the airport between flights and then relax in a hotel in Brussels, avoiding trying to do work or get things accomplished. I’ll likely even avoid any exercise with the quarantine and long travels. If I have results and feel better in the evening, maybe I’ll walk or lightly exercise, but overall, I want to have a day of rest.

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Security Concerns with the Tesla Payment

Posted on October 8, 2021 by way0utwest

This is part of a series that covers my experience with a Tesla Model Y.

Before we could get our car, we needed to make our down payment for the car. I wrote about the ordering experience. Part of that process was choosing the loan (or case or lease) and payment. I had left it near the default of US$4500 and two days before our pickup appointment, we got an email that we needed to check the paperwork and make the payment.

As we logged on to the Tesla site, part of the workflow asked us for the credentials for our bank account.

Wha?!?!?!

We backed out and looked again and sure enough, when you click make payment, you get a popup from the Tesla site asking for your bank (Wells Fargo for us) and your login credentials.

This isn’t a recurring payment, and this isn’t from Tesla. The fine print shows this is from Plaid, a financial company. Lots of banks use their service, and maybe I use them for something, but I hadn’t seen a request to give my credentials to a third party. This is apparently a model being used as other businesses ask this from customers.

I’m not comfortable.

A Workaround

Fortunately, I searched and found a few posts from Tesla owners. This one noted that you can click the “X” in the dialog and then get a popup to enter the bank routing information. We did that, and it worked fine.

I think this is a poor business model. I’m not even sure this is legal with some of the computer security acts in the US. While some posts indicate this generates a token from your bank that is used for access, I think providing login credentials is a problem.

If you run into this with any other company, I’d try clicking the X and using a semi-more secure method of entering routing and account info.

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Crossing Borders

Posted on October 7, 2021 by way0utwest

I’m about to cross a country border for the first time in almost two years. I last left the United States in December 2019. Today I’m flying to Belgium for Data Minds Connect and then to the UK for some work in the office.

I’ll be in and out of touch for the next week as I adjust to travel, moving around, and a strange schedule. After being either in my home office or the Redgate Pasadena office for the last 22 months, I’m finally working and traveling to a different environment.

Next week the blog will be quiet, other than coping tips, as I navigate a familiar, but somewhat forgotten world.

Hopefully I have packed everything in my laptop bag, but if not, I’m sure I can purchase what I need.

Glad to be back to traveling, even with restrictions and hassles.

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Daily Coping 7 Oct 2021

Posted on October 7, 2021 by way0utwest

I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here. All my coping tips are under this tag.

Today’s tip is to accept yourself and remember you are worthy of love.

This is one of those tough things for me. I’m definitely a giver, and with history as someone that grew up in a broken home, I’m usually more concerned with others than myself. I also sometimes question if I deserve something.

Over time, I’ve learned that no matter how I feel, I am worthy of being loved and cared for. I still struggle, but I constantly remind me of this.

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