WEEKLY UPDATES: A PARALLEL UNIVERSE…

On By Laurel-Rain SnowIn weekly updates

Good morning! Today’s post will link up to The Sunday Salon, The Sunday Post and Stacking the Shelves, for weekly updates.

**Mailbox Monday is hosted at the home site: Mailbox Monday.

And let’s join Kathryn, our leader in It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?, at Book Date.

 

What a morning I have had!  I turned on my computer and found a message that my security had been breached…and long story short, went through a very lengthy process to get everything cleaned up…and new security installed.  For a while, I felt like I was in a parallel universe.  But now I’m up and running…but not entirely caffeinated.  And I still feel a bit stunned by it all.

I read and reviewed three books this week, so that was an improvement.  I’m watching Brothers & Sisters on Prime…and added Homecoming to my Watch List.  I am eager to view House of Cards Season 6.

I am not looking forward to the Fall Back in time tomorrow.  But let’s grab more coffee and take a closer look at my week.

LAST WEEK ON THE BLOGS:

Rainy Day Excerpts:  “Shell Game”

Tuesday Potpourri:  Photos & Books…

Hump Day Potpourri:  A Week of Reading…

Hello, November!  Monthly Wrap-Up

Coffee Chat:  Welcome to November!

Bookish Friday:  “Try Not To Breathe”

Review:  The Neighbors, by Hannah Mary McKinnonReview:  Open Your Eyes, by Paula DalyReview:  A Spark of Light, by Jodi Picoult

***

INCOMING BOOKS: (Titles/Covers Linked to Amazon)

Empty mailbox!  I did download one e-book:

Winter in Paradise (e-book), by Elin Hilderbrand

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WHAT’S NEXT?

This morning I started reading a hardcover book that I have had for a while.  I couldn’t use Wi-Fi while the security issues were being corrected, which meant no Kindle, either.

What Happened, by Hillary Rodham Clinton, was sitting on a stack, just waiting.  Now that we have midterm elections next week, it seemed appropriate to read this book.

***

What was your week like?  Mine was good…until this morning, when it turned surreal.  I will self-soothe with memories of this dessert I savored at one of my birthday celebrations.

***

65 thoughts on “WEEKLY UPDATES: A PARALLEL UNIVERSE…”

  1. Oh no, sorry to hear about the security issues! That’s no fun for sure. And I always have problems with the time change- you’d think one hour difference wouldn’t screw me up, but it always does!

    I imagine what Happened is a VERY interesting read!

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    1. Thanks, Greg, I’m still reeling from waking up to a locked screen and that horrible message. Now I’ll probably be paranoid for a while. LOL.

      I hate changing the clocks…although I’ve eliminated the need for some of my battery clocks to be changed…by removing the batteries. Ha.

      Enjoy your week.

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  3. Oh dear to the security breach, what a nuisance. I am looking forward at some point to a Spark of Light which I have lined up as an audiobook at some point. But thank goodness for books in the hand when the internet is unavailable.

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    1. Thanks, Kathryn, and when I looked around for something to read and realized that the unavailable Wi-Fi would keep me from my Kindle, I did just about lose it. But then I saw my stack of real books….sigh.

      My new laptop had come with a security system that was not compatible with the Windows 10 operating system…or this was how the Microsoft technician explained it to me. Sometimes I get paranoid and don’t know who to believe! At one point, I almost accused the technician of being the hacker. (I had just been reading about hacking scams).

      So now I have to try to settle down and chase away those bad and pessimistic thoughts. Enjoy your week!

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  4. Yikes! Sorry to hear about the security issues. I hate when stuff like that happens. And I agree about how surreal that feels!
    Enjoy your Hillary Clinton book. I find her to be very interesting.
    Have a great week and happy reading!

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    1. Thanks, Trish, I had just settled in to my new laptop, finally getting the settings right so that my cursor wouldn’t leap and jump all over the place…and then woke up to the breached security. Sigh.

      When a series of unpleasant things happen, I’m always poised for “what’s next?”

      Thanks for visiting, and enjoy your week.

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    1. Yes, the Internet Police in the form of a Microsoft technician…but afterwards, I wondered if they were conveniently poised to sell me a new security system…and set the whole thing up. Yeah, bad things do make me a little paranoid. But afterwards, I did do some research and I guess the system I bought and had installed is a good one.

      Thanks for visiting, Deb, and I hope you have a great week, with no issues of any kind.

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  7. Urg! How horrible… I hope you haven’t lost anything during your security breach, but it’s a terrible feeling when your computer gets hacked. I still vividly recall how physically sick I felt when my computer picked up a trojan virus! Glad to hear you have managed to sort it out. I hope the rest of your week is a WHOLE lot more peaceful, Laurel…

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    1. Thanks, Sarah, everything looks to be in order here…despite the hack. And here I thought last week’s leaping cursor was the worst that would happen! BTW, thanks for the tip on changing my settings on the mouse and touchpad.

      Enjoy your week, and thanks for visiting.

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      1. Thank goodness the hack didn’t cause any major damage, Laurel and I’m glad the cursor tip worked – it was doing my head in before my son told me about it.

        Have a great week and as always, it’s a pleasure popping in:)

        Liked by 1 person

  10. How frustrating! I feel so incompetent when it comes to computer security issues… glad you were able to deal with it. I’ll probably read Hilderbrand’s new book between Christmas and New Years. That’s become a tradition over the last coupe of years. My daughter was just talking about House of Cards new season last night… telling us again how much we’d like it. Nice photo!

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    1. Thanks for visiting, JoAnn; I contacted the Microsoft technician…and afterwards, felt paranoid about the whole thing, since it seemingly came out of nowhere. But apparently Windows 10 security is different than my old laptop (7), and an incompatible system creates problems.

      Just when I think I can figure things out, something blasts me and reminds me that I’m…well, incompetent about the nuts and bolts of computers. Sigh.

      I am looking forward to sinking into Hilderbrand’s Christmassy book.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Sophie, and the worst part…it all happened early in the morning, before I had even had my coffee!

      I have my fingers crossed that nothing more will happen…at least not this month!

      Enjoy your week.

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  13. Sorry you had to deal with that, it’s never fun. Thankfully, I have two sons that are very knowledgeable with that stuff. One is an IT Manager for two different teams.

    I may put Hilderbrand’s book on my TBR list.

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  18. StackingMy BookShelves

    I’m not happy with the fall back either but what can you do. I am happy to have finished Sadie this week. That book was amazing. I am working on the review. I want to work on a few reviews this week so I have some up and going. Have a wonderful week. Glad you got the pc fixed.

    Mary #SundayRoundup #43!

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  19. Hi Laurel: we need to pray this election is better. I voted absentee ballot from Canada! Good you are reading Hillary’s book — likely it makes me too mad to face how she was robbed out of the presidency. Sorry to hear about your computer security — that stuff always worries me. Glad it is fixed. Enjoy your week.

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    1. Thanks, Susan, and I am still devastated that the Orange Man robbed Hillary. Then there was that whole Supreme Court confirmation, too. I am beyond upset…but I am trying to hold out some hope.

      Enjoy your week. I have big fears, all the time, about computer issues.

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  20. That is awful about the security breech. Did your anti-virus alert you or something else?

    I agree on the hour back…this day seems to go on forever but good for more reading. 🙂 That’s great about the reading except I get sleepy at 8 p.m.

    Looks like a good week for you.

    ENJOY this week.

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    1. Thanks, Elizabeth, it has been a LOOOONNNNG day!

      I got the alert from Microsoft…which was interesting. I hadn’t set up a separate anti-virus, as the Geek Squad told me there was one that came with the laptop. Unfortunately, it is third party software, which is apparently incompatible with Windows 10. Yikes, right?

      Now I have something that is compatible.

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  21. My week was a hectic blur. Also Saturday, which I had off to do things, the computer took 5 minutes to load every screen and I kept losing my Internet connection. Today it’s fine. But I spent an hour on the phone with the ISP and they are installing a new modem Thursday. I just did a bunch of scans but I will be doing some more scans and backups later this week. So I empathize. I hate computer issues.

    Your blog has such a comfortable cozy feel; it makes me waht to curl up and read right now! Here’s to a better week. Anne – Books of My Heart

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    1. Oh, yes, I have had problems with lengthy loading of pages…so far, not with this new computer. But then, just as I was feeling comfortable with it, the security breach happened.

      Hopefully I’m good now. Let’s keep our fingers crossed. I am glad you enjoy my blog. This one is my favorite of all six…it feels cozy to me too. Thanks for visiting, Anne.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Kathy, and I am almost afraid to hope about the midterms..

      My computer issues, coming so soon after buying the laptop, freaked me out. But they seem to be resolved. Here’s hoping.

      Enjoy your week.

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  28. Kathy Martin

    I’m so sorry about your computer problems and glad everything is fixed now. I am quite eager for elections to be over. All these hate ads are depressing. My fingers are crossed that my candidates win. Come see my week here. Happy reading!

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  31. Sorry to hear about your computer difficulties. I can sort of relate. I haven’t received a breach notice but my home computer is completely wonky. I can’t launch Firefox or Google, only Edge and my word documents aren’t opening either. Time to take it for health check. Open Your Eyes look good.
    Funny you have a beachy book as we move into much cooler weather. And the What Happened book is timely for election week. Happy Reading!

    Liked by 1 person

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