I'm Back!

Fun fact: You must be 13 years old to have a Gmail account.

Not so fun fact: In my haste, I bypassed a screen yesterday prompting me for my birthdate which caused Google, Blogger, and Gmail to lock me out stating that I did not meet the minimum age requirement.

I'm proud to admit that I can indeed often pass for much younger than I am... however no one ever mistakes me for a 13 year old, I've come a long way since then...

Yup, this is my awkward eighth grade school picture.  If you look closely you can see that my braces were multi-colored, somehow decorating my mouth hardware and drawing more attention to it seemed like a good idea back then.

Anyway, back to the drama of the last 24 hours... once I realized that by not putting in any birthday information Google had inactivated my e-mail and blog, basically my whole existence, I panicked.  Things got scarier when a Help Screen told me that if I did not prove my age within 30 days all accounts associated with jmwheeler@gmail.com would be deleted!!!!

After faxing them my driver's license and proving that I am old enough to have an e-mail account, I was reinstated!

Friends, there's a lesson in all this.  Actually several lessons:

1. Take time to read what pops up on your screen.

2. Don't lie about your age.

3. Make a list of all your e-mail contacts in case you lose them.

4. If you have a blog, find some way to back it up (I was devastated to think my blog, my "online scrapbook" might be lost forever).

5. Hug a thirteen year old if you know one.  Not only are they not allowed to have their own e-mail account, but it's possible they look like a dork too.

Thanks to everyone who e-mailed me to let me know my blog was down, sadly I wasn't able to access those e-mails, but it makes me happy to know that people realized my internet existence had been momentarily wiped out.  It feels good to be back!