Question: Regarding Social Security, my husband and I don’t have the online accounts they keep talking about. We share a single smart phone. We don’t have a landline. Are we going to be able to do this? I don’t want to buy a second cell phone.
Answer: Yes, according to the Social Security Administration, which has a long list of trouble-shooting tips on its website, ssa.gov, for people who are trying to create an online “my Social Security” account for the first time, or who are trying to transition their existing account to the new sign-in procedure at login.gov. FAQs at 808ne.ws/4jZTGpe explain that there are a number of ways a person can receive a one-time authentication code to set up the account, including by phone call, text, email, letter or in person at a Social Security office.
“Both you and your spouse can add the same mobile phone number to your separate login.gov accounts. If you would like to use your mobile phone as one of your Multi-Factor-Authentication methods, you can choose to receive your MFA code via text or phone call,” the website says.
You each will need a unique email address, however. One option is through gmail.com.
Q: Is Alan Wong, the Hawaii chef, a billionaire?
A: No. The website for Ecole Ducasse, a network of culinary schools, mistook him for a technology entrepreneur when it listed him among the richest chefs in the world. Wong doesn’t appear on the corrected list and a note at the bottom explains the earlier error, saying “there was a conflation between Alan Wong, the renowned chef, and Allan Wong, a tech billionaire worth $1.1 billion.” The full note is at 808ne.ws/4kf4xem.
Allan Wong the tech billionaire is richer than the culinary website gives him credit for, according to Forbes.com, which estimated his net worth Monday at $1.4 billion. Forbes described him as a co-founder of electronic toymaker VTech Holdings, “which is also one of the largest manufacturers of residential phones in the U.S.”
Alan Wong the chef is one of the founders of Hawaii Regional Cuisine and does business as Alan Wong’s Consulting Co. “I am not the billionaire,” he said in an email.
Q: Are the rules getting any easier for kupuna going through TSA? We have REAL ID. We are not in wheelchairs, we walk through the screener. But bending down to take off our shoes and put them back on is getting difficult.
A: Passengers age 75 and older can leave on their shoes as they pass through a Transportation Security Administration airport checkpoint, although “if the alarm goes off during security screening, you may be required to remove your shoes for further screening or undergo a pat-down. You can request to be seated during this portion of the screening,” according to the TSA website.
There’s no age-related exemption for removing a light jacket, though, which is required for Advanced Imaging Technology screening, it says.
Auwe
Auwe to the criminals who vandalized cellular towers in Windward Oahu on Saturday. People could not communicate, even if it was an emergency. Once these criminal(s) are caught their case(s) should be turned over to the federal government, since it deals with communications. — G.F.
(The Honolulu Police Department said on social media that it is investigating “the vandalism-related criminal case” that caused outages Saturday for some cell phone towers in Windward Oahu. By Sunday morning at 9:15 a.m. the affected cell towers were fully operational and phone service had been restored for customers of all affected cellular carriers, HPD said.)
Mahalo
I appreciate Kapolei High School’s tradition to recognize the senior class graduates along the entrance of the school. As I drive by regularly, the portraits make me smile with pride. — Kapolei supporter
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 2-200, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
