jbgeezus!

IBM

Urgent Message From IBM. Please Open Immediately.

Dear BlueHeronDruid,

We are writing because of an incident that has resulted in the loss of information relationg to our IBM employment, and we wanted to inform you about what happened and epxlain steps IBM is taking to help protect you.

Recently, data tapes were lost while being transported by a vendor. Those tapes contained primarily archival IBM employment-related information, including Social Security numbers. Blah, blah blah blah blah.

As a result, we have arranged to provide you with the ID TheftSmart™ Enhanced Identity Theft Restoration and Continuous Credit Monitoring program from Kroll Inc. Blah blah blah blah blah blah.

One year of credit coverage. Whatever. I left IBM (actually Advantis Corporation, a joint IBM/Sears venture, though my paycheck came from IBM) in 1996. I lasted exactly 51 weeks. For the first twelve weeks, the most advanced piece of equipment on my desk was the telephone. Seriously. I didn't have my own PC for three freaking months. Prior to this job I had only MVS experience, and this was a UNIX platform (AIX). I had no mentor, my coworkers were a bunch of geeks who had no social skills, and I had to learn everything on my own. It was my last job in the tech industry and the cliques and ennui convinced me to that I didn't need to be there.

I'm not worried about identity theft from the loss of this data tape. I'll take the year's worth of protection. (And, yes, IBM provided several means of verifying that this offer is legitimate. I have to provide my Social Security number, after all. And yes, I was initially suspicious.)

Not a happy memory, and not a happy way to be remembering. Oh well.