Life goes on….

And on and on….. We have been blessed with two weeks of absolute quiet…. No Hack Attacks…. I’m not sure how to act!

Oh wait… Yes I do. I’m back to dealing with our favorite idiot who can’t remember how to empty his temp files…. grrr….

I’m on the Dean’s list again. 4.0 average!!!!

It is cold too. Had our first snow storm. Brrr…..  Pete had a fender bender and crumpled his pretty SUV’s bumper. He hit ice. I told him we should have taken my old truck, but… oh well. Mr. Clark got into a fight with a pitbull and we had to rush him to the vet. No real damage besides a puncture wound. Oh, and my nerves.

Off to dinner in a bit…..

Holy Hoppin’ Horny Toads!!!

Wow! We’ve had a hacker that has been using a virtual machine to try and hack our system. Argh!!!! 52000 attacks in one day. Gads.  I’m just glad that George got a new firewall set up. He’s using Endian. Open source software. It is really working well.

Meanwhile, I’m almost done with class for this section. Wheeee!!!! However, next time, I have to be careful I don’t get Pete as an instructor. Do Not want the stigma of sleeping with the teacher!!!

Our weather is getting colder. Not totally ready for summer to be over. Oh well…..

Another one bites the dust…..

I know it has been forever since I last posted. Let’s see…..

I’ve been on vacation! I took a week off and then half of another one because I got a nasty cold. Pete was very sweet and nurse maided me. :> I learned he could cook!!! He and mom vied for my appetite. She almost won with chicken and dumplings. He did win with chocolate cream pie! sigh……

I got lots of stuff done on my classes right up until I got sick. Good thing too, because I didn’t have to worry about being behind on assignments. Plus, I think Pete put in a good word for me. It helps dating a professor…..

Work….   George called the FBI. Three days later, they sent a couple of suits out to check what was going on.I had to be there because my computer was one of the “hacked” ones. It actually felt good to be able to go in and then leave when I wanted to. Not that I don’t like my job, but I really needed some time away. Back to the FBI…  Since it was business hours, the hackers did not oblige them and show up. However, George had about 300mg of logfiles for them to go through. They were so stereotypical it was funny. Dark suits, dark glasses, etc. I kept expecting to hear the theme music from the Matrix. They took lots of notes and copies of the log files. Then they left.

Of course, the hackers attacked that night. George redirected them and battened down the system. He has this little logo of a Wilson’s cricket bat that he sticks up on the dry erase board every time we giet rid of a hacker. There are now 35 on the wall. Our system has been updated at least once a week. It took me three days to get use to the new passwords. We’ve gotten into a routine too. First thing in the morning, George checks the log files and sees what has gone on in the night before I turn on my computer. Some idiot tried to install  root kit on my laptop. Silly hacker, root kits don’t work as well on Linux!  Then after the all clear, we get to work. At quiting time, George sets a bunch of alarms and then shuts 95% of the systems down. He only leaves up the essentials. That way there is less for the hackers to hit. Best of all, George is finally getting some sleep.

The only other excitement in our lives was an old girlfriend of George’s showing up. She stopped by and we visited for hours. Not that I have any proof, but…. I think George had a “really good time”. He whistled around the office for days after she left. I hope she comes back again soon.

Hackers

Work has been interesting. Slow, but that is ok. Probably a good thing all considered. Between me trying to cope with my classes, dates with Pete and everyday stuff, the hackers attacking our network has made things frustrating. Three days ago, George noticed that the network was working harder than it should be. He started investigating it and noticed that we had someone trying to hack our server. He smiled and went to take care of it. He figured that it was gone, as we have hack attackes from time to time. Just the sort of thing that happens because we are an ISP. Idiots think that they are l33t h@ks0rs… and have to prove their testoterone driven systems by attacking other computers. No, I do not understand that aspect of being a geek at all.

Then last night, George’s computer started screaming at the top of it’s little speakers voice. A claxon alarm. Once he got it shut off, all I heard was “Dammit all to fuck” and the sound of the network being torn apart. Good thing I was done with work early and we had just been sitting around talking. When I left, George was knee deep in computer wires. He was ripping things apart because some hacker had gotten all the way into his system. Not sure if he was shredding the network because of safety issues or because it stung his pride. Either way, I was getting out of there.

Came to work this morning to find that my desk had been moved. I have a new monitor to use with my system and the entire office has been redone. It will take me at least a week to figure out where George has relocated everything. I’m not even going to think about the actual system. I really didn’t understand all the ins and outs of the various machines, and George has taken off all the taped names off them for the moment. They had been named after Lord of the Rings characters. Aragorn was the server, my machine was Galadriel, etc. Now I think George said he was using the Kama Sutra or Hindu mythology. All I know is that the big bad server is now called Kali. I’ll have to wait until he gives me all the particulars and passwords later. Meanwhile, I don’t even have a printer. If I want to print, I have to drag a cord across the offce.  I’m just wondering what George did to the hacker. He has a bag of tricks, and none of them nice.

I’ve got a date with Pete tonight. I think we are going to the movies. Night at the Museum II is playing. What I want to see is the other Iron Man movie. At least while we are at the movies, Pete won’t ask me how class is going. I’m doing alright, but I am not sure I am ready for Accounting II. Yuck. I have psch I and Business ethics coming up. Wheee…. I get to learn how to ethically play with your mind.

Viruses are us…

Oh. My. God! I am so sick of viruses that I could scream. Here I am supposedly studying for my A+ exams in a month and all I do is load Clamwin and debug machines at the moment. There are a bunch of new viruses out that just hammer machines. Open up back doors and copy keystrokes, take screenshots, turn off your virus and update programs and make a hash out of your system. Ugggghh….. And why am I doing it all? Well……

After the other day when I made an off the cuff comment and came up with a solution, I get to “sharpen” my skills. All I said was that “if you can’t get the desktop to respond, why don’t you shove a live distro disk in and see if that will let you access the data”. Apparently, that was the answer sent from heaven and I didn’t even know it. I’d just been listening to George and Kevin complain about this virus that left your icons up and didn’t let you use your mouse. I thought about the live distro and suggested it. It was an answer to the problem. Wow…..

So, I’m doing all the low level stuff so that they can concentrate on the big and bad stuff. Oh, and redoing yet another Hughes job. The guy is an idiot. However, he is our best asset. He gets us more customers than an ad in the papers.

However, the best thing going on lately and the main reason I haven’t posted as much…. is because I have been dating!!! No fainting! Oh hell, I about passed out. Pete, the guy I did the install for….. the #7 on the cute scale, came in a few days later to say that he was having some issues with Fedora. Learning curve stuff. So, George sent him over to me. I was so embarrassed. Here is this gorgeous guy asking me computer questions. So, I took a deep breath, pretended he was my brother Jim, and started answering questions. It took about an hour. Most of it was file issues and music. Fedora doesn’t do mp3’s, so you have to add stuff via root. It took a little bit, but not too long. I gave him the bill, and as he paid it he said he had one more question. I said, “ok”, and was putting his check in the drawer when he asked if I’d like to go out for lunch.

I’m pretty sure you could hear a pin drop all the way to the corner. I just blinked and then like an idiot, asked him “What?”. Where upon he was nice enough to aske me again. After turning beet red, I said yes. Ten minutes later, we were out the door and off to the Bistro. It’s a new place that serves decent food. I had only been there once as it is clear across town and I usually don’t have time. We ate and then Pete dropped me back at work.

I was ready to hit George and the other techs, because they would not stop asking questions. And, if I ever find out which one of them called my mom,…… Geeze! One Lunch, and they have me married. OOOOOOOOHHHHHhhhh!!!

Three days later, he called and asked me out. Pete had forgotten to get my home number, so he called work. Of course, George answered the phone…. and afterwards I had to deal with him teasing me.

We went to the movies, and saw Taken. Wow! That was a cool movie. Funny part is that I kept thinking that the Liam Neeson character reminded me of George. Odd….. Granted, I don’t know what George did before he came here. Maybe I’ll ask. Back to the date. It ws a nice relaxed date. He didn’t even try to kiss me. However, we chatted a lot about work and families. (single, no former wives lurking in dark corners, 1 dog, fairly new to town, no family locally, works for the city) When I asked him why he decided to ask me out, he said….”you seemed a bright and intellegent woman. someone I could hold a real conversation with who didn’t giggle everytime I said file, byte, gigs or notebook in a conversation.”

Huzzah for being a g33k! I love being appreciated for my brains. Even if they are scrambled by blue screens of virused death!

Certifiably Geekieeeee!!!

We have been working our asses off! Hughes screwed up some major jobs and we have been rewiring things until I’m seeing wiring diagrams in my sleep. Oh, and let’s not forget the phones. They  have been ringing like crazy too. I’d thought with so many out of work, that we’d actually slow down. Nope! Weird!!!

We had to go up to our warehouse supply store that does all the right bits for the right prices. Windtronics. They are always so nice. Bottles of water, good conversation, cookies sometimes and lots of cool stuff to buy. George went in for two phone connectors. (yet another Hughes job) What he found though was this bag he could put all of his tools in for half the weight and price of other bags he’d been looking at.

George wrenched his back a week or so ago trying to lift a toolbag weighing 75 pounds on the run. (stupid man!) So, he has been trying to downsize his stuff ever since. His new Samsung NC10 came in and he has been over the moon with it. But,… back to the bag. It was adjustable, just like a camera bag. Lots of bits to change around and fiddle with. He put it up on the counter and said if he could make things fit, he’d buy it. The counter help at Windtronics just laughed and helped him out. 25 minutes later, everything except the laptop was in the bag! We were paying for the bag and the connectors when the boss came out and gave us each a tool kit with pouch about the size of a small apple and a pocket protector with Windtronics on it. I laughed so hard I could barely breathe!

They said that I was now a certified geek! LOL!!!! I proudly stuck it in my handbag with the ad flap sticking out. The tool kit is pretty cool too. Drivers, hex tools and a mini wrench. Best of all, I don’t have to share!

Back at the keyboard…

At last.

My laptop died. Not just the BSOD, but the No Screen of Death. No backlight. No power etc. Not sure what really happened, but it took forever to fix. sigh…

Work has been slow. Good thing, as I’ve been having to use the training computer at work for my workstation while my laptop was fixed. This thing still has Windows on it. XP, but… only because our A+ training software needs a Windows machine. I felt like I was stepping back in time. After using Ubuntu, it was like driving with your grandma. Slow, plodding and doesn’t always go where you want it to. (sorry Nana!) It made me really appreciate Linux.

Then I got sick. I got the flu. Ugggghhhh….. I hate throwing up. I hate being sick. For the first few days when I wasn’t in the bathroom, I was asleep. I know George called and Mom came by, but what we said??? No clue. I just knew that Gatorade appeared out of nowhere and Mr Clark wasn’t crying to be fed. So, someone had to of been by.

By the time I started feeling better, I realized that it had been eight days (!) since I’d last stepped out the door. Called George and asked him if he really needed me, or could I take a few more days off. I just couldn’t see me coping with work yet. Plus, no voice. A squeak, a rasp, but no voice. George teased me about trying to sound sexy on the phone. If I could have reached through the phone, I’d have thumped him. I settled for telling him to hit himself for me. He laughed.

He also said it was fine, and by the time I got back on Monday, my computer should be working. Huzzah!!!! What they didn’t tell me until I got into work on Monday-Groundhog day!- is that they had switched me over to Fedora 10. It had been so long since I’d been on my laptop, that at first I just thought it was that… But then I noticed some subtle differences. Like when I went to switch to a second screen and the CUBE Flipped!!! It was so cool that I shouted! George and our new tech Dan came in to see what all the noise was about. However, they both had such cheesy grins on their faces that I knew something was up. Apparently, Dan lost a $3.00 bet. He figured it would take half the day for me to notice. George bet 15 minutes. He was closer. 19 minutes.

It is really cool. I like the new features and oh my is it fast. I feel like I’m doing 90 mph on the highway in comparison to the training computer. Oh I am happy. I even forgave them for springing it on me.

Well, I had better get going. Today looks like it will be busy. Our favourite client still calls at 9am to tell us a joke. George’s latest angle is to have one ready for him. Only 25 minutes to find our joke of the day!

Happy Holly-Daze!

It’s been slow at work today. Slow enough that I took time off to pay my electric and utilities bills.  I guess everyone figured that we’d be closed by noon and so kept their computer problems to themselves for at least a day or two.

If it is anything like last year, the phone will be ringing off the wall by the 27th. All the new games, computers and such will be plugged in, instructions lost and we will get called to bale them out. Wheeeee…… Good thing I don’t go back to work until the 29th. George gets to deal with the calls.

Speaking of George,… I got him to take me shopping!!! I don’t understand why, but my truck likes him better than me lately.  So, I provided the vehicle and he provided the muscle to get us to the mall.  Oh, and I bought lunch.

We found this little Mexican family diner that is to die for. Wonderful food that you can mix and match your chile sauce to make it as hot or mild as you want. So, we ate there after we did most of the shopping.

I got everyone something. Even George’s, because he went off to look at the magazines while we were at Barnes & Noble. Ha! Everything is wrapped and delivered too.  Kevin and George will get their presents tonight. I rented Wall-E for tonight. I figured if we didn’t have a Sci-Fi series to watch with our popcorn tonight, the least we could do is watch a Sci-Fi cartoon.

Mom is having her regular deli supper stuff tonight. I think we are having hamburgers if Kevin is his usual self when it comes to providing food for the feast.  A&W if we are lucky.  George actually made chile last time.  He’s a fairly decent cook.  Me, well… I guess the best thing you could say is that Mom tried. Kelly is an excellent cook. Jim isn’t bad as long as he can add wine or brandy to it or cook it on a barbecue.  Somehow though, I missed the gene. However, I make a mean toasted cheese sandwich and don’t have to use an iron!

I got my certificate of completion for my class in the mail. Wheee…. I can now say I’ve completed an accounting course and have the right to mess up finances legally. (ahem…) George is being nice though and not changing over the accounting system until January.

Tomorrow morning, I’ll head over to Mom and Dad’s for breakfast and presents. Dinner will be around 2pm.  I’m suppose to bring the salad and bread rolls.

Guess I’d better head home and clean off the couch. Only three hours until movie night!

Winter storm watch-Akkkkk!!!

Why am I in a panic? Oh gee…. been sick, been busy at work, and No Time To Shop!!! On top of that, we have a winter storm warning and that means not fast easy trip to one of the big shopping centers. Unless I can pursuade George to drive tomorrow, I will be giving everyone IOU’s or cash in a card.

I usually don’t wait. I usually have everything bought, wrapped and under the tree by now. Not this year though. Between crazy clients, our bank loosing our statement, (don’t ask… don’t EVEN ask) and me getting sick right after finals, I’m behind.

Oh, and it is cold. Windy and Cold! My office is like an icebox. Even my little heater isn’t helping.

Kevin and George are happy though. They’ve been playing with the new antennas and hope to order more next year if they work out alright. They have one of the Ubiquity bullets set up in the windy zone out at the one ranch that blows an antenna every few months. If it lasts a month, our supplier had better be ready for a bulk order.

Meanwhile, Mr. Clark is still pissed at me. I think he had great plans for those balls… Oh well.

Heatwave!!!

It got up to 45 today. After a week of temperatures down in the teens, I thought I’d never get warm! I’ve gotten so use to dressing up in layer upon layer that I’d forgotten what it was like to move my arms freely.  George has really got to get some better heat in the office.

Kevin says I have it easy. He’s been up and down towers in this weather. George has been out wiring houses which involved working inside and out. I guess when I think about it that way, I do have it easy. All I have to do is deal with the phone, the delivery men, stupid customers and a heater that won’t take the office above 60!

can I have some cheese with this whine?

Oh well. At least my sister has finally apologized for being such a jerk at Thanksgiving. I had to take Mr. Clark into the vet for his shots and a then a bit of “elective surgery”… He wasn’t happy with me. Puked all over my bedspread. The vet wondered why I had canceled my first appointment, and after blushing 8 shades of red, I explained. My sister-mom-the ‘dates’. It took her five minutes to stop laughing.

One good thing… Today was my last final. I’m done. No more accounting. No more books! Wheeee!!! I’m so tired of numbers and ledgers that I don’t care if I pass!

One bad thing… We finished the last of the Farscape stuff. Now what am I going to watch? We’ve worked our way through Babylon 5, Firefly, Serenity, and now Farscape. Sci-Fi Channel better have something worth watching!