A PIN-sized landmark...

Okay...

I've had the same number for 20 years...I knew it in my sleep. I could punch it out on a phone, on a PIN pad, any pin pad--I was lightning in the grocery line, at the bank, Wal-Mart, gas station--you name it. I could spend money faster than any teacher I knew, with just a flick of my lightning fast fingers.

Alas...no more.

Because I had to change my PIN number...I mean, it helped that my babysitter got her purse stolen--along with all of the checks I had pre-written for her over the summer. We had to change bank-accounts, etc., and when I was resetting my PIN number, I had a sudden thought.

There are a number of things you are not supposed to use as your PIN--your name, your kid's names, your birthdays, your kid's birthdays, your parent's names, any numbers that appear in your purse--that sort of thing.

Well, no problem. My number was a name of someone who didn't exist. No one had ever heard of her--she was a figment of my imagination and a promise of someone I wanted to be.

Well...I sort of am her, now, aren't I? I mean, some of you know my real name--(see a couple posts back!) but most people who know my real name know that I'm Amy Lane.

So Amy Lane is a real, living, breathing person--and as such, she has no business controlling my money. Goddess help us if both of us start spending with that card, we'd be doomed! I'm going to miss her on the PIN pad--I mean, I'm nowhere near as fast with the new number, but (and Mate can attest to this!) I get plenty of practice, so I should be up to speed in no time. But gees...it sure is fun that a bunch of people get to meet the real Amy on a regular basis, isn't it?

Today I stopped by the Almost Perfect Book store to see if they needed more books (yes--actually, they sell them with quiet regularity) and the owner--one of the sweetest people on the planet--asked me, "So--does it ever get weird being Amy Lane?"

"No," I replied thoughtfully, "In fact, it's really starting to fit."