Barring unforeseen problems, I will reach my 90th birthday in a couple of months. Come to think of it, unforeseen problems have popped up rather frequently lately, but I expect to see the big 90 in due time. Ninety is old, truly elderly, senior, senior citizen.

Yes, I have heard the spiel that you are only as old as you feel. Show me a 90-year-old who feels like 20 and I will show you a deeply delusional old patient. I feel every one of my years. Wife, parents and all but a few age mates are dead. A sack full of heart issues leads a long list of ailments that show that my body is about worn out and arthritic joints are constant reminders. Yes, I am old. However, it has been a wonderful journey.

Certain marvels of the present world underscore my lack of fit, my being old in a new world, which is reinvented constantly. I have all of the tools that should keep me connected to just about everyone and provide constant security: cell phone, desktop computer, laptop computer, tablet, etc.

However, these are only as good as the companies that “provide” them and the security of the internet. The failure record is scary. Evil geniuses turn technology against us to steal identities and the wealth there-unto attached, flood our emails with scams and junk, screw up our computers and spread dangerous lies faster than a California wildfire.

One of my problems is that my mind is not as agile enough to keep up with all of this. I wonder if anyone can. “You can blow out your candles now. These days are lit by lightning.” Faulkner could not have imagined today. When I do understand what has gone wrong, I do not know how to fix it. Thank goodness my family sometimes can.

Passwords bedevil me. First, I have so many. Connections from me to the outside world via computer or cell phone demand passwords. To avoid breach or theft, they must be strong -- eight or more characters long and strange, something that a hacker would be unable to unravel. Of course, long and strange passwords are hard for me to remember.

All passwords should be changed frequently to avoid the chance that some smart or lucky hacker might figure them out and do mischief. This further complicates the task of remembering them. I cannot do it. Caution–writing each down on a Post-it note to stick at a convenient location will not solve the problem. One solution is to make an up-to-date list of relevant passwords complete with programs, applications, etc., to which they are mated. Make several copies because you never know when and under what circumstance they will be needed. Be diligent about updating the list with changes and additions.

If the list is long, it could take too long to find the one that is required. Some automated communications system demands quick responses. Other systems involve personnel that do not do well with my South Georgianese version of the English language. I have been known to give up on attempts to communicate long, strange passwords under such conditions.

Somewhere in the bowels of my computer there is a list of all passwords currently in its operations. I do not know how, why or when this was created. I only discovered it by chance. If I could go there again, it would make it possible to rediscover them all and make a list. I might be able to change all of them and thus thwart nefarious hackers. Alas, I am a man from another century.

Patient portals as entry systems to healthcare systems – physicians' offices, hospitals, etc. – rank near the top of my most frustrating barriers to communication. First, each one requires another password. Second, they entail a programmed set of questions and responses and might not understand everyone’s spoken reactions.

In most cases, I want to communicate with a professional who is familiar with my health issues. The content might be an important update on my condition or a question about what is happening to me or what I should do. Eventually I get to speak to the nurse who works with my physician to start my conversation with him directly or through her. The portal is at best a delayed entry point.

In truth, some cutting-edge modern ways of doing things are more about money than applied technology. They are about cutting costs by replacing skilled employees with controlled communications or cheap foreign workers with zero competence to solve callers’ problems.  Age has nothing to do with people’s ensuing alienation.

Roger G. Branch Sr. is professor emeritus of sociology at Georgia Southern University and is a retired pastor.