I never thought I would fall prey to a smooth talking scammer.  In fact, I clearly remember
watching the evening news, and hearing warnings in regards to all the scams that are happening, and wondering to myself, "who would fall for those?"
Last week, I received the call from a professionally sounding man, claiming to be from the Microsoft Company and claiming that they are calling to inform me that my computer is so infected with viruses, that unless I do something soon, it would crash.  He said, "they rarely call, unless
a computer is near to the crashing point.  He gave his name, company, security number,
and phone number.  He said, "there was no pressure, but that he would highly
recommend installing Microsoft's Security System, and all that it offered.  The cost...
$149.00 a year.  I told him that I would not make any decisions without first checking
with my son-in-law. 

Fortunately, I did not give him any personal information whatsoever.  But, when my
son-in-law stopped over, he went to turn on my computer and realized immediately
that the caller had given my computer a virus, and we could not even turn it on.  The
screen was black.  It was done.  One phone call.  One gullible person answering the
call, and that was it.  This is just a warning to each one of you. 

I have gone many days without a computer.  Don't worry though, my hours filled
up with many other things.  Thanks to his amazing skills, expertise, and untold
hours, my son-in-law successfully got rid of the virus, saved all my information,
and added more security devices to the computer.  Today, I received it back from
him, and it was almost like welcoming back an old friend:)  I am so grateful to him!

 

I learned some more good lessons through this event.  I learned that I don't need to

visit my computer everyday.  I don't need to do blog posts.  I don't need to download

pictures as soon as I take them, and I can still open recipe books and look up

recipes.  It did surprise me though, how often I found myself walking into

check on something at my computer.  Me, the one who really was not interested

in learning to use the computer, just a few years ago.

 

While I was on my unexpected break, it did snow here, and what a lovely winter

scene it offered.  I could not help grabbing my camera to capture

some of it.

 

And, I made a few pretty little jelly jar lanterns, while I was gone.  In the last few weeks, I
got the idea from Yvonne, at Stonegable blog.   
You can see her creations here...  www.stonegableblog.com  She offers easy instructions,
in case you want to make some for your home.

I took some clean jelly jars, painted them with mod podge and rolled them in Epsom
Salt.  So simple and yet so pretty, especially when a votive is burning inside of them.
Some ribbons and greens add a nice touch.  They add a festive touch to my kitchen
table.  Thank you Yvonne!

Here are a few extra lanterns, waiting to be decorated and perhaps given as small gifts.

Hopefully, I am a bit wiser and believe me, I am sure I will more skeptical of calls that
I may receive.

Thanks so much for stopping by once again, after such a long absence.