Project: Figure out how to get a "Real ID"
Status: Nevermind
Looking over today's online Yahoo News articles early this morning, one caught my attention. It announced that we U.S. citizens (residents?) have until March 2023 to procure our "Real ID". My first thought, "What the heck is a "Real ID"." Second thought, "Why am I only now hearing of this?". Online research revealed that a "Real ID" will soon be needed for such things as entering a federal building and boarding an aircraft. I then checked with my state, again online, for what is required to get one. Here, they are part of an AR driver's license. A special "star" is printed at upper-right on the front. Lots of documents are needed. Stuff everyone ought to have on hand, some of which I suspect many people don't bother to save.
Packrat that I am, I have more than of enough on hand to meet requirements. Next step was to call our DMV and determine whether a special appointment or simply walking-in is required. It then came to me that 2023 might be the year I renew my license. If that were the case, I'd just wait and get my "Real ID" in January. I grabbed my current license to double-check. Nope, it expires in 2024. That's when I noticed the star at upper right on my license. I have a "Real ID"!
Hours later I finally recalled knowing about the "Real ID" requirement when it was first announced, and had at that time done what was necessary to obtain one. Some time later, I began recalling the process in detail, and remembered that I had helped my brother obtain his. Rather I helped him acquire a piece of two of misplaced documentation. Whether or not he actually followed through has faded from memory. I think he did, but . . .
Full Version: Your projects
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Weren't you glad the project needed to be done was already done? 
"Real ID". Sure. Hand in all your fake passports and finally get a real one! 
Whatever will they think of next. 
Whatever will they think of next.
Project: Stave off potential disaster
Status: Potentially solved (crosses finger)
When it rains, it pours, as they say. As if this past Saturday's deep lawn tire-rut dilemma (detailed elsewhere) wasn't enough, a new catastrophe reared its ugly head early yesterday evening. It began thus:
I seldom use Brave Browser on my Primary PC, though it is my second PC's primary browser. There are, however, certain things Brave handles better than Firefox, the printing of some emails among them. One such email arrived in my inbox yesterday. A receipt for a Train Simulator DLC purchased earlier in the day.
Having not launched Brave (on this PC) is quite a while, it had passed the two-week mark and been automatically signed out. No biggie, thought I. I sometimes have trouble signing in with Firefox (not recently, thankfully). Brave, on the other hand, signs in sans issue, barring user error.
Yesterday it didn't. I attempted to sign in as I always do. Now, with email address and password submitted, instead of opening my email client I'm greeted with a screen, stating that my account verification info needs updating. One of the two now-required fields is entry of my mobile-phone number. I neither have nor want one. Nothing I tried allowed me to bypass the mobile phone requirement.
Oddly, I could still sign in to myATT without issue on Brave. Which was of no help as there is no link to my email from there.
Lengthy web searches found others with this issue, though all discussions I unearthed were around four years old. Nothing I read provided a simple, ironclad solution. I eventually admitted defeat and called AT&T customer service. After several failed attempts to reach a live rep, I at last fooled the automated response system into transferring me.
There followed a LONG two-way discussion, the rep attempting to track down and solve the snafu. Turns out that, due to a recent policy change, the requirement to provide account verification info that isn't either an ATT email address or VoIP phone can not be bypassed.The most that could be done was for the rep to do something behind the scenes that allowed me to sign in at that particular time, but not again. Which only postpones the inevitable. No email access. Leaving me dead in the water for a good number of official interactions, such as ordering medicine via the military.
Then, when things looked to be drawing to an unsatisfactory close, the rep said to hang on. He had contacted another ATT section about my issue. A response had just been received. My account was now set so that, when the fatal verification screen appeared, I was to attempt to submit it with nothing in the mobile phone field. Several failed submissions later, lo and behold, an option appeared immediately below that accursed field. An option that allows entry of an email address. I was told to enter my AT&T email address, and warned that this was a short-term bandage only. Should I need to actually have my account verified for any reason, the AT&T address would not be accepted. At that point, my account would be locked, with nothing further they could (or would) do for me.
The solution, the rep said, was to sign up for an email account with someone else, then, at myATT, replace the AT&T address with the new, non AT&T email address. This was acceptable to me. It HAD to be acceptable. Certainly preferable to spending money on a mobile phone and plan that I'd likely not use enough to justify the expense.
My initial thought was to go with gmail. I have a Google account, after all. I believe it was required during YouTube channel creation. Now far past my normal bedtime, brain fried, enough was enough. I shut down both computers and retired to the sofa.
First thing this morning, I resumed my investigation. In the end, gmail required changes I did not wish to enact. I instead settled on the free version of ProtonMail. Sign up was easy. There, thankfully, we are given a choice between mobile phone and email verification from the get go. Since I already have AT&T email, that's what I chose. Once my new account had been verified, I returned to myATT and edited my profile to include the new ProtonMail address. AT&T sent verification email with code, Once submitted and approved, I was in theory good to go, with no fear of being unable to sign in or having my account locked. Indeed, I signed in on Brave not long afterward. Is this the end of it? Time will tell. I hope so, but am not holding my breath.
Status: Potentially solved (crosses finger)
When it rains, it pours, as they say. As if this past Saturday's deep lawn tire-rut dilemma (detailed elsewhere) wasn't enough, a new catastrophe reared its ugly head early yesterday evening. It began thus:
I seldom use Brave Browser on my Primary PC, though it is my second PC's primary browser. There are, however, certain things Brave handles better than Firefox, the printing of some emails among them. One such email arrived in my inbox yesterday. A receipt for a Train Simulator DLC purchased earlier in the day.
Having not launched Brave (on this PC) is quite a while, it had passed the two-week mark and been automatically signed out. No biggie, thought I. I sometimes have trouble signing in with Firefox (not recently, thankfully). Brave, on the other hand, signs in sans issue, barring user error.
Yesterday it didn't. I attempted to sign in as I always do. Now, with email address and password submitted, instead of opening my email client I'm greeted with a screen, stating that my account verification info needs updating. One of the two now-required fields is entry of my mobile-phone number. I neither have nor want one. Nothing I tried allowed me to bypass the mobile phone requirement.
Oddly, I could still sign in to myATT without issue on Brave. Which was of no help as there is no link to my email from there.
Lengthy web searches found others with this issue, though all discussions I unearthed were around four years old. Nothing I read provided a simple, ironclad solution. I eventually admitted defeat and called AT&T customer service. After several failed attempts to reach a live rep, I at last fooled the automated response system into transferring me.
There followed a LONG two-way discussion, the rep attempting to track down and solve the snafu. Turns out that, due to a recent policy change, the requirement to provide account verification info that isn't either an ATT email address or VoIP phone can not be bypassed.The most that could be done was for the rep to do something behind the scenes that allowed me to sign in at that particular time, but not again. Which only postpones the inevitable. No email access. Leaving me dead in the water for a good number of official interactions, such as ordering medicine via the military.
Then, when things looked to be drawing to an unsatisfactory close, the rep said to hang on. He had contacted another ATT section about my issue. A response had just been received. My account was now set so that, when the fatal verification screen appeared, I was to attempt to submit it with nothing in the mobile phone field. Several failed submissions later, lo and behold, an option appeared immediately below that accursed field. An option that allows entry of an email address. I was told to enter my AT&T email address, and warned that this was a short-term bandage only. Should I need to actually have my account verified for any reason, the AT&T address would not be accepted. At that point, my account would be locked, with nothing further they could (or would) do for me.
The solution, the rep said, was to sign up for an email account with someone else, then, at myATT, replace the AT&T address with the new, non AT&T email address. This was acceptable to me. It HAD to be acceptable. Certainly preferable to spending money on a mobile phone and plan that I'd likely not use enough to justify the expense.
My initial thought was to go with gmail. I have a Google account, after all. I believe it was required during YouTube channel creation. Now far past my normal bedtime, brain fried, enough was enough. I shut down both computers and retired to the sofa.
First thing this morning, I resumed my investigation. In the end, gmail required changes I did not wish to enact. I instead settled on the free version of ProtonMail. Sign up was easy. There, thankfully, we are given a choice between mobile phone and email verification from the get go. Since I already have AT&T email, that's what I chose. Once my new account had been verified, I returned to myATT and edited my profile to include the new ProtonMail address. AT&T sent verification email with code, Once submitted and approved, I was in theory good to go, with no fear of being unable to sign in or having my account locked. Indeed, I signed in on Brave not long afterward. Is this the end of it? Time will tell. I hope so, but am not holding my breath.
Oh modern times with all the high tech requirements...
This story reminds me of something that happened to me back around year 2000. I had to make an account with an American organisation - a scientific body, and the account was needed to register for a conference. No, they couldn't do it on-line, I had to call them. Fine. Calling from Europe. First we had the usual issues with our postal codes not adhering to the US standard. But the operator did some magic and my "all wrong" postal code was accepted. Then my phone number appeared to be a digit short... Err... and it didn't start with 1. Oh. Ah. Not in USA, eh? Ok, the operator managed to solve that dilemma too. Finally there was just one last check - my credit card number. I did not have a credit card (still don't) and our debit cards were not accepted (although cash machines in the US happily provided me with cash).
"I need your credit card number," says the operator.
"I don't have a credit card," says I.
"I need the number."
"Ain't got it."
"You must have a credit card!"
"Nope."
"It can't be."
"It is."
After some ten minutes going in circles, she still could not accept that a person might be able to survive without an internationally-accepted credit card. I was not able to register and had to miss the conference.
This story reminds me of something that happened to me back around year 2000. I had to make an account with an American organisation - a scientific body, and the account was needed to register for a conference. No, they couldn't do it on-line, I had to call them. Fine. Calling from Europe. First we had the usual issues with our postal codes not adhering to the US standard. But the operator did some magic and my "all wrong" postal code was accepted. Then my phone number appeared to be a digit short... Err... and it didn't start with 1. Oh. Ah. Not in USA, eh? Ok, the operator managed to solve that dilemma too. Finally there was just one last check - my credit card number. I did not have a credit card (still don't) and our debit cards were not accepted (although cash machines in the US happily provided me with cash).
"I need your credit card number," says the operator.
"I don't have a credit card," says I.
"I need the number."
"Ain't got it."
"You must have a credit card!"
"Nope."
"It can't be."
"It is."
After some ten minutes going in circles, she still could not accept that a person might be able to survive without an internationally-accepted credit card. I was not able to register and had to miss the conference.
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