SOBER CHRONICLES

with Marc Lee Shannon

VOLUME 11: STOP RESISTING

I’ll admit that I am a little out of whack. Out of phase. Not sure what’s happening lately to me.

My pre-COVID-19 routine is now a faint sense of something, like a daydream or a grainy 8-millimeter home movie. It’s like a yearbook or a box of photos on the top shelf of the bedroom closet, and although I see that person I used to be, I don’t quite recognize or connect. Now everything is so very changed, so different, and I have the nagging feeling that what I used to know is never going to be the same. My premonition is that what was my pre-pandemic normal-ish, kinda cool life… is gone. still using the same approach to sell their stuff? Really? All I want to know is if or when it will rain today and when I can escape for my daily salvation and respite of sanity: The daily walk.

Taking a deep breath and a pause to refl ect, I’m thinking back to my time in the corporate arena. Years ago there was a popular phrase used in the business team-building community:

Paradigm shift. “An important change that happens when the usual way of thinking about or doing something is replaced by a new and different way,” according to Webster.

Six weeks ago, I would wake up early and start the day in my house with a quiet meditation vibe. Set the scene with soft low lights, a candle or some incense from my travels in Japan all those years ago. There would be sounds of Zen music from Amazon Music on the too-large rectangular dream-giver in my living room and a dog at the back door. With the predicative constant like the ringing of a 6 am daily alarm, my best friend’s nose would be in the crack of the door jamb, tail wagging and morning intention clearly set. Like mine. That’s pretty much the deal around my pad, my life, my whole world.

There is a voice inside my head that says I need to get it together and get going. “Don’t you know that you need to get off your arse and get busy making your keep? You need to make money, man. This is pretty serious! And, by the way, you haven’t been connecting with your sober community. You are out of your old routine and that could be dangerous, right? You could be in trouble here, man… “ WTF?

I used to love to turn on the morning local news with my fi rst ultra-strong coffee with stevia and soy vanilla creamer. Yesterday I sat on my bed with a bittertasting instant blend, black. That guy with the furniture warehouse commercials is driving me nuts. I don’t care about the lowest prices, guaranteed. Also, I don’t want a new freaking car. Even if you will personally deliver it and with the deepest of caring for my concern, delay the payments for several months.

I don’t want to be blindly led to the endless cycle of consumerism and consumption that seems to be the message every morning. Every commercial that wants to sell me something feels so out of place in my world. Have they seen my checkbook? Why are companies Deep exhale. OK, I’m better.

In the fi rst days after the shutdown, I ran across this thought and pondered the meaning during my morning refl ections and reading:

“Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it.” — Eckhart Tolle

In other words, stop resisting, dummy.

You cannot swim upstream during this global health crisis that has derailed everyone’s life. You cannot put on your red and blue Superman t-shirt and leap tall buildings and fi x this. Your only option right now is to be pushed on by the fl ow of the fast-moving stream. Just fl oat. Do not resist. Change has happened, and you and your ego, your pride and your desire to rescue the world, the universe and the City of Cuyahoga Falls are powerless. You must live in this moment. Take every opportunity to help ease the suffering of the souls that happen to wander across your path. But do not resist.

I want this to be over! But I am not in charge here. I need to stop whining and go with the fl ow. Get out of my poopy diaper and get moving. Ride along with the natural fl ow of this pandemic and let it work itself out.

What can I do?

I can exercise and socialize. My saving grace. Walking in my neighborhood and smiling and waving to strangers is uplifting. People are actually having eye contact and saying hello. Wow. Also, yoga… yes, yoga. I can eat healthy food. I have been following a restricted-calorie diet and really paying attention to the stuff that goes into my body. Cheat days, of course! But on the whole, I do feel better. Self-care. What a concept. I can breathe emotionally. This break has allowed me some really great solitude and refl ection time. I think that will be something that will stay in my routine on a larger scale. I can get to the books, magazines, and studies that I have been putting off for some time. I can create. Manna for the soul and my way of making a living. My income has to come from new places. Streaming, teaching online, a new idea for a podcast, selling things that are laying around. I can connect. Use the ultra-modern communication tools and touch a part of my past. I have been reaching out to people that are back there a

bit. Maybe even a few years. It’s a trip... and again, this will stay a part of the new normal, I hope.

In the end, even if I’m not doing so well some days, I want to go on record and say that I am holding steady. This historical, once-in-a-generation event will have a beginning, middle and end. I know this. All of this will work out if I can just face the wind, stop resisting and let it blow me where it will. Do the work and let the results happen. But the fi rst step has to be to resist resisting.

I do hope that the rest of you are holding out, hanging on and holding fast to the knowledge that we will get through this and be together again. To my loved ones, friends, band or music-mates and recovery family, I miss you and my heart aches for you. But until we can be in each other’s presence, fi nd some comfort and fl ow with the changes. Resisting won’t change anything.

And of course, as always, stay standing.

Steady on.

mls

// Reach Marc Lee Shannon at marcleeshannon@gmail.com.

Photo: Angelo Merendino. Used with permission from Marc Lee Shannon. Editor’s note: Marc Lee Shannon holds the trademark to “Sober Chronicles.”

WITH JOHN NICHOLAS

USING A VPN

We hear about phishing scams, malware and ransomware all the time. Those threats are common and real — and there are other, hidden threats lurking too. We can protect ourselves from those threats by using a Virtual Private Network (VPN).

Think of a VPN as the “Cone of Silence” from the 1960s sitcom Get Smart. A VPN is a kind of electronic tunnel through which your data can be sent. Do you need to enter a password and connect to a certain server if you want to log into work from home? That’s probably because your company is using a VPN. But that does not provide you protection when you are not logged into the company VPN.

You may not want to use a company VPN for your private use, as all of your personal communications will be routed through the company’s network. That could mean that they can see your personal communications, claim ownership of them, or both, depending on company policy.

So a VPN is a tunnel and my data We talked about Wi-Fi last time, and the details of secured versus unsecured Wi-Fi. When you are on an unsecured Wi-Fi network, when you type in a username or password or send an attachment, it is sent in plain text — like the text you are reading right now. Anyone who is also on that same network and has the appropriate software can capture your data and either read it directly or piece it back together easily. These are known as man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks, because the attacker digitally stands between you and the Wi-Fi connection.

One of the most common MITM attacks is called an “eavesdropping attack” like the one described above. In an eavesdropping attack, not only can the attacker capture your data — they can actually alter the data contained in the communication, both sent by you and coming from the other side, changing the content or meaning of the original message.

A VPN encrypts, or scrambles, your data so that when the attacker captures the data, it is unreadable to them.

The cyber-criminal who is eavesdropping is looking for easy targets. They want to get as many passwords as they can and sell them on the dark web, which is the black market of the internet. The going rate for stolen passwords and usernames ranges from $12 per password for retail establishment passwords to as much as $260 for bank credentials. So, if a hacker sits in a coffee shop for three or four hours harvesting unencrypted usernames and passwords, the profi t can be signifi cant.

But when data is stolen from a VPN connection, unencrypting that data is often a waste of time for hackers. With strongly encrypted data, it would take months or years with supercomputers performing the unencrypting. Only those

On which devices should I have a

VPN? On all of your electronic devices that can connect to a network — which almost certainly includes your smartphone, laptop and tablet. Many of the top security companies such as McAfee or Norton have downloadable VPN apps for all of your devices.

How do I know which one to use?

While there are some very good free VPN apps available, many of them allow limited usage per month based on how much data you use. Once you exceed the limit — which is often only about a day or two’s worth of data for the average user — you are not protected until the next month rolls around, or you have to pay a fee. In some cases, these free VPNs are provided by well-intended groups who do not have the resources to maintain security in real time.

Personally, I now use only commercial (paid) VPNs because of the certainty involved. I recommend you do the same, even if it requires reworking your budget. Many of us are moving toward a digitalonly existence, and even those who remain slow to adopt this lifestyle are vulnerable — and maybe more so — to attacks.

Isn’t my cellular data encrypted? Yes it is — but that only applies to the data that is being transmitted through your cellular connection. When you see only bars on your phone, you are connected through cellular. But when you connect to Wi-Fi, you are not using cellular data. Most of us set this up by default so we do not use our cellular data when we can take advantage of the free Wi-Fi.

I use a VPN for both my cellular and Wi-Fi data so I am protected regardless of my connection. I have moved to an unlimited data plan so I can take advantage of the cellular encryption and rarely do I make use of free public Wi-Fi. I realize this is not economically feasible for many, so

Data: The information that is being transmitted over the network or internet. Unencrypted: Plain or clear text readable by anyone who intercepts the data. Encrypted: Scrambled or encoded text that can only be read when unencrypted by someone who knows the secret code. Virtual Private Network (VPN): A virtual private network allows users to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if their computing devices were directly connected to the private network. Public Network: Wi-Fi or wired connection at a public place (hotel, coffee shop, restaurant) that is accessible to anyone who chooses to use it. Private Network: A Wi-Fi or wired connection that requires specifi c log-on credentials and is only accessible to those who hold credentials to use it. Credentials: Username and password. Eavesdropping: A network layer attack that focuses on capturing data from the network transmitted by other computers on the network. This type of network attack is generally one of the most effective when no encryption services are used.

Man-in-the-Middle Attack (MITM):

The attacker makes independent connections with the victims and relays messages between them to make them believe they are talking directly to each other over a private connection. The entire conversation is being viewed by and possibly controlled by the attacker.

using a VPN allows you fl exibility in your connection choices.

Take some time to protect yourself and your loved ones by using a VPN.

// Dr. John B. Nicholas is a Professor of Computer Informations Systems and cofounder of the Cybersecurity Degree Track at The University of Akron. Dr. Nicholas has over 30 years of experience in the technology fi eld in both the private sector and higher education. Reach him at jbnicholasconsulting@gmail.com.

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