How Dare They → Computer Hacking Is Just Wrong

I just noticed, and I mean really noticed, how long it's been since my last blog post on Monday. I have a few drafts saved that I started & never finished, and some scraps of paper with ideas doodled on it, but that's about it. There is a long version and a short version to all this, & I am going to give you both. Some of you aren't into detail, so I give you the short version:

A link  was clicked on.

The link didn't show what it said it would show.

I got duped by a hacker.

It totally violated my personal territory, and left me feeling small, stupid, and mad.

My poor computer was taken to a repair shop & wiped clean.

Now, it's all better.

The end.

Now, if you're satisfied without that just that, your welcome, but, if you want to know the nitty-gritty... here's the long version:

My husband was on Facebook, and clicked on a link that a friend of his had posted. It was one of those funny videos that guys seem to appreciate the most. On the sidebar were several links to other videos. I don't even remember what it was, just another video that he thought it would be worth watching. I was in the other room when he hollered for me. When I came in, there was a white screen flashing "WARNING!!" in bright red letters, and even though that seemed sort of weird, the more official box that popped up, looking like and claiming to be from Microsoft looked real, and it told me that I needed to contact them right away & that my computer was infected with a virus.

So, I called them.

The man who answered the phone had a very heavy accent, which doesn't really matter, but was something that stuck with me. And his partner's voice in the background, too. I don't know why, but I will always remember them.

He told me to go to a website, had me download a program, and then he walked me through everything that was happening (only, at the time, I didn't realize that he was the one making those things happen). He had access to my computer now and talked to me soothingly as he pointed out the different security features that were turning off before my eyes. Then he jabbed me with a spear of panic as he asked how I used my computer, saying "oh no!" at just the right moments. This cycle repeated, and he had me hooked completely.

What he didn't realize, is that even though I have this little girl voice, it's the same voice that's been warning people for years, "Don't click on that!" or "Watch out for _______" and it didn't belong to an idiot. Even though, I really did fall pretty hard off the Smart Wagon... I still can't believe I actually downloaded that program! But, I am 100% certain that if they would have called me with this same setup, like they have to many other people in the past, I wouldn't have fallen for it. It was that stupid, Microsoft looking box that got me.

Anyway..

Maybe he became overconfident. Maybe it was my naive little voice, but his compassionate voice began to fade and he asked me how much I was willing to spend on their services to clean up my computer. I started to waver a bit trying to think of how to get out of this, because it all hit me like a ton of bricks that I had given someone without a conscience access to this... vault of me. I do so much online and I gave this moron access to it?! While he was rambling off numbers, I was unplugging my computer from the wall and modem, and hanging up on him.

He called me right back. "My apologies, we seem to have lost connection." That's when I informed him that his services were out of my price range and that we'd be taking our computer somewhere else. I kid you not, his voice sounded evil when he said, "Take it where?" My answer, "Uhhh I don't know, but not to you!" *click*

Of course that wasn't the last that we'd heard from them. They couldn't reach us online because our computer was being worked on, but they still had the nerve to call us. The first guy to call us was the hacker. I listened to him for about a minute before I hung up on him. A week later his partner called. He tried to tell me something was wrong with my computer and I was like "Really?" (this is were a sarcasm font would come in handy) and he went on with his yes, ma'am and gave a blah blah blah speech, telling me how there was a virus on my computer, only for me to say, "No, there isn't." "There isn't?" "No, I don't think there is!" *cue defeated sigh* "Have a nice day ma'am." *click*

My sweet husband won't admit that it affected him, too. He wouldn't get on the computer for months, and I really didn't feel inclined to leave my thoughts online for awhile. Blogging exposes you. It feels great to get it off your chest, and it's way cheaper than therapy, but it's public. It's out there for anyone to read. I guess I felt like I'd already been exposed enough.

Well, that is both the long and the short of it. May you never have to go through it!

Three Things I Learned Right Away From Just Skimming...

 "The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun" by Carol Stock Kranowitz (Amazon link). And to be honest, I was shocked. We stop by Half-Price Books often, and when I saw the title I vaguely remembered one of Roo's therapist's talking about it years ago.. and ya know, it was at half-price books, and I figured, why not? MIND BLOWN. This was definitely one of the best "why not?'s" ever!

(On a side-note.. I see Jenny McCarthy's books both there & at Goodwill, and I've never been tempted. If I ever do succumb, it will be to save someone from buying them who doesn't know any better... and later.. I would burn them... with fire!!!! Muhahahaha!)

(On another side-note... Please keep in mind that I have my own version of sarcasm & humor.. And if something sounds crazy, it was probably supposed to be funny..  :-| )

Back to the book..

1. Don't just say "be careful", elaborate. - I am guilty of this all the time. If we're just coming in from outside & Roo's feet are wet, I'll have her take off her shoes, and find myself yelling, "Be Careful!" after her while she runs through the kitchen. If anything, she's probably wondering what she's supposed to be careful about. And if anything, "Be Careful!" was probably more of a distraction than an aide. Something else Roo does is yank on my arm really hard if she feels like we aren't walking fast enough, or she's trying to be silly, or... really, she probably she just gets input from that somehow.. but anyway, it nearly knocks me down the first time, every time, because there's no warning. My first response is to yell. It scares me, embarrasses me, &, frankly, gets on my nerves. This week, I'm saying, "Stop. You're going to make me fall on you and we'll both get hurt." & "You can't do that in a parking lot, or we could fall & get hit by a car. That would hurt really bad."  How long I can say this in a patient voice, I don't know, but so far I'm holding it together.

2. Don't let digital experiences replace real ones. - This is a good one, & it actually caused to me unsubscribe to ABCmouse.com.  For reals, I was sucked into that portal, thinking that it would be good to have around during the summer months. And honestly, they have a great program, if you can afford it.  But if you're letting online puzzles replace sitting down with your child and putting together a real puzzle together, you're both missing out in the end.

3. Special needs equipment can be expensive, and DIY imitations can add up quickly, but the results can be priceless.- Self-explanatory at best, but just to say I laid it out there.. you really should provide what you can for your child. Skip the coffee, skip the girls' night/guys' night, sacrifice a little here and there, & eventually you'll have enough put back to purchase or build what your child needs. Or, if it's something MAJOR (think hospital bed), don't be afraid to set up a gofundme account or raise money in another way. Some kids get trampolines because they're fun.. my daughter got an indoor trampoline when she was nearly 3, because her therapist recommended it, & she still uses it. It was one of the best things we ever purchased for her, because we could tell that it made her feel good. And it made her feel good, because it was filling her sensory needs. That in itself could be another blog post, so I will leave you with that.. annnnnnd this really cute pic of Roo & her cousin from back in 2011! Thanks for reading! :-D

Pinterest: For When Your Mother Was Born With Perfect Eyebrows

Not a whole lot going on here today. My brother-in-law is in the hospital, very sick with pnuemonia from the H1N1 flu virus. Say a prayer for him if you're the praying type, he needs them. Terry has been traveling back and forth to the hospital a lot this weekend and everything is thawing out around here. Halfway to a hospital in Indianapolis, he hit a large chuckhole on the highway and blew a tire. There are chuckholes everywhere! He was able to get the spare on and continue to the hospital, but on the way home he hit another hole and blew the donut. In his defense, it was foggy and pouring down rain, so it wasn't like he saw them in time to miss. I'm just glad that he wasn't hurt either time.

Today, he took the car to a guy that another brother of his knows & had a couple of new sway-rods put in for $20. Ultimately making what would have been a nearly $200 fix at a shop (including parts) for $50 by buying his own parts and going to a former mechanic. Seriously, it took "The Guy" 20 minutes to put both of them in. "The Guy" is awesome.

After that, we had McDonald's for lunch and I locked myself away in the bathroom. I noticed that I was looking a bit frazzled when I looked in the mirror, & since Terry wasn't going anywhere, I decided to pamper myself. I have fine, multi-textured, naturally curly hair & if I don't put anything in it (gel, mouse, etc) it puffs out. Hugely. In elementary school, I wore my hair in a braid nearly everyday because of this, and even with all the Freeze-It my mother put on the top of my head, I would have a top hat of frizzies after recess. I still have vivid memories of kids going "You look like Bozo the Clown!!" and the whole class laughing.. but it's not like I'm scarred or anything.. [sarcasm]   And my darling middle sister would always call me "MUFASA!" when she brush out my hair.. In fact, sometimes she still does.. Good times. Okay,  yeah, back to my frazzled look! So I gave myself a coconut oil treatment, and took extra time to take care of me.

Looking in the mirror again, I noticed my blonde Marcho Grouch eyebrows and gathered my weapons of choice.. a.) eyebrow pencil b.) tweezers c.) facial cleansing wipes for afterwards d.) my daughter's ipad with the Pinterest app open. Weird right? That I needed the Ipad? But I pinned a pinned that solved all my eyebrow worries. My mother has amazing eyebrows. They look professionally done, and she's never had to pluck them. Ever. So it's not like she could show me how to do it. And my middle sister, the same darling one mentioned above, inherited these amazing eyebrows. My oldest sister & I share the special joy of inheriting dad's. They bear a slight resemblance to shrubbery. They're large and bushy. This sister was also friends with a couple of diva's who showed her the tricks of the trade. I did okay, but wasn't usually satisfied. Now, honestly, I'm a little confused to what this website is about, but whatever it is, they give great advice on plucking eyebrows.

That's pretty much my day. I've started working on Roo's Birth Story, so that should be coming out soon, but tonight I'm going to finish watching Dance Moms (DVRed)  while I wait for clothes to finish drying.  Tomorrow I start a new workout routine. :)

Tis' Just A Virus, They Said

This has been a long week... or two? I can't remember.  School started during the first week of August around here, and it seems that Roo and I just keep passing germs back and forth to each other ever since. The first round of colds struck the weekend after school started, & she literally missed 4 days of school for that. 

Four days. 

School. Has. Started. There are things I need to do. Things that I've been wanting to do all summer, and now I have to wait even longer?! And then we hit a calm phase.. We coasted along for about a week and she went to school and I tried to get up in time to get her to the bus while I to get better myself. 

Less than a month into the school year and we have Labor Day off. This year is so much different that last year. About this time last year, I was thrilled to have Labor Day with my daughter, because I was having a hard time adjusting, and I was missing her a lot during the day... This year, I'm just trying to keep us both healthy enough to get out the door & one of those healthier-ish days happened to be Labor Day. I'm going to leave out the lingering red, gooey eye left over from the cold.. and obvious bacterial infection around her g-tube. Sure, she looked like a wreck, but she was happy..? (This is where a sarcasm font would come in handy.) 

I was doing okay at this point. There was a little fluid on one of my eardrums, but anyone who constantly deals with seasonal allergies knows that this sort of thing comes and goes (right?) & Roo had been on antibiotics starting the Sunday before Labor Day because we just so happened to have a leftover antibiotic  refill at the pharmacy. Normally we wouldn't do this. Gone are the days of it being okay to give your child leftover antibiotics, but it was a holiday weekend and we felt this couldn't wait until Tuesday. 

Labor Day was fun. We hung out at my Mom & Dad's and had a cookout. I was feeling better. Roo looked awful, but smiled through it all, and my hubby enjoyed himself too. We decided, "Yeah, you should probably keep her home & take her to the doctor tomorrow.." And that was that.

It's Tuesday, and the whole right side of my throat is killing me. My ear is killing me. I call to make an appointment for myself and my doctor is on vacation. *fill in the -beep-* Roo still has and appointment though, so I pull myself together and get us there--on time even. The tech/nurse that checked us in seemed more upset about the antibiotic refill than the doctor who saw us (such a relief! I wasn't up to defending myself) and he gave us something new for her eye and increased the antibiotic dosage. :-)

While waiting for the meds to be filled, we went across the street to this sweet little flea market. I find a lot of good deals in there that I resell on eBay. It takes more effort, but competitive shoppers spend more than yardsalers do, so I usually make a profit. Anyway, while I was walking through the market, that's when the first rounds of dizziness hit. At first I thought I accidentally took my morning meds twice, but then it kept getting worse, even after the 4 hour mark when things should have calmed down. We made it home, made it though lunch (which I couldn't eat), and I was done. I didn't even have the strength to take my daughter to the bathroom. I laid on the couch with a 102-103 fever, freezing, falling in and out of sleep. Thankfully, she didn't hurt herself or break anything. Terry came home and we dropped Roo off at my Mother's & headed to the after hours clinic. Apparently, my lingering effect of the cold was a bulging, infected eardrum. I ran fevers off and on and slept for most of 3 days. All that sleep really messed up my internal clock. I still have trouble keeping days straight. A week later I was able to see my regular doctor and he put me on a second round of antibiotics and a nasal steroid spray. :-/ Yep, I'm on a nose spray. Yuck. 

Woe is me, I guess. I really wanted to tell you about my new BB gun (that I bought specifically with the neighbor's dogs in mind) and about Roo punching one of her teeth out at the eye doctor, but this post is already long enough. So, as our pharmacy says, ..no matter what.. really, no matter what.. until next time, Be Well. :-D