Hazards of This Author

I tell you! What is one of the worst fears for me? When my computer doesn't work. Yes, I have backed up all of my books and important information, but still. The heart wrenching feeling when you press the on button and NOTHING HAPPENS!!!

You have to understand, I go through laptops like water. I don't know what it is about me. I am on my fifth laptop in less than six years. My husband still has his desk top from 2001!

When I decided to devote myself to a career as an author, I mentally prepared myself for rejections, totally rewritten manuscripts, mental blackouts and have learned how to deal with bad reviews, but I didn't realize the impact of not having a computer can do to you.

The sad thing is, in a prior life, I used to work as a Help Desk Assistant for three years. I know what kind of trouble can lurk out there if you're not careful. With this last laptop, I made sure it was for writing and checking emails only. I don't play games on it and I don't subscribe to any lewd webpages. I write and I promote my work via social media. That is it.

So who knew I could pick up Malware from Facebook, even though I have McAfee? Well, I did.

It was suggested by Office Max that I install Malware Bytes. I did and I thought I had the problem fixed. Nope. I turned on my laptop and it read: Your compute is at risk!" from McAfee. I tried running a scan and it wouldn't work. In the meantime, I kept getting messages from Malware Bytes that my trial subscription was about to expire. It did.

I dug into my files and found the original paper work for McAfee and mentally prepared myself to uninstall it and then go to my online account to reinstall it. For a fleeting moment, I thought I better uninstall Malware Bytes since I didn't want to purchase it. I did and lo and behold, McAfee worked! Apparently, they were in contention with each other. I ran a full scan and am a happy camper.

This morning, I made an English Muffin for breakfast. It was kind of crumbly and a huge chunk of it fell into the bottom of the toaster. (The toaster belonged to my mother in law who passed away almost eleven years ago.) It's a four slice which comes in handy when making breakfast for company. I carefully unplugged it and shook it into the garbage can but there was still this little piece wedged underneath a wire. I jigged it carefully with a knife and the piece fell out. Feeling triumphant, I put the remaining muffin in, plugged it in and turned it on. PHZZZZT! Now only one side of the toaster works.

Maybe I shouldn't touch anything else for the rest of the day...