When we took our last picture last night around 6:15pm the 'field of yellow' was looking like it's days were numbered. More rain was predicted for the next two days and a few of those had over an inch of rain per day. Little did I know that "Murphy", infamous from "Murphy's Law" was in the corner of that cabin I spoke of yesterday ... laughing his ass off for what he had in store.
You may have read about my computer crashing last night around midnight as I was shutting it down and heading for bed. That story was my first post of today, listed right below this one. I have updated info on that at the bottom of this post.
But that wasn't the only surprise this morning when the hounds and I started our day. What looked like a lot of water last night turned into a lake today. It was raining when we shut off the lights close to 2am and was still raining this morning when I took this at 7:15am. All of those wild yellow mustard flowers were gone.
Without any chance of a walk this morning, I needed a break from my computer work I was doing even after I got it started again. I figured the hounds would hop and tip toe through the wet yard to the field and dump their tanks ... they were not interested. Sorry for the poor quality picture but it was the only one I had of them this morning. They didn't get any further than this.
I can only assume that large drainage system they installed across their field a few years ago, currently under all of that water, has prevented the water from reaching the green grass and possibly the highway. No matter if it did or not, it looks like they have lost most of their crop they planted a few weeks ago.
By the time it was 11:30 am, Stella was nudging me with her nose while I read on the computer telling me it was time for lunch. She wasn't howling yet but she would if I didn't get up out of my desk chair. Once Heidi heard me opening the dog food container she sprinted from her bed to her food dish waiting for it to be filled.
Another trip outside just after their lunch and it was still raining. Stella sat down in the carport and refused to move. Sadie snuck around the back of the house under the roof overhang to pee and then sprint back to the door to go inside. Heidi was behind the Yews, staying dry and relieving herself.
Although my computer was up and running I still wanted to check a few things and maybe find out why it crashed so hard. What were those missing files that Disk Utilities found missing and repaired?
Every week I run a virus scanner called Bitdefender. Back in November 2014, the Geek Squad at Best Buy ran that program right before they gave the computer back to me after they repaired it. It was in my App folder but I can't say for sure if the computer came with it preloaded or if they download it from the App Store.
Anyway since November 2014 I run that program on a regular basis to check for any malware or viruses. A few months ago I decided to run it every week instead of when I just got the urge. It will update all of it's latest before I choose "Scan Critical Locations". Not once since I started using it in 2014 has it ever found Malware or a Virus. Even when I chose to do their Deep System Scan.
That was until this morning. Nothing showed up when I ran their Scan Critical Locations. I couldn't remember the time I did their Deep System Scan. With it raining non stop and having more data than I would ever use until May 11, I had plenty of time to run their Deep System Scan.
After it had been running for 46 minutes checking every nook and cranny inside my hard drive, blowing out all the dust and bloodhound dog hair ... it struck gold.
Something called "InstallMiez.1" ... I typed that name into Google Search and everything was coming up ugly. It was one of the worst programs I have read about over the years. To make matters worse the first time Bitdefender tried to grab it and quarantine it, it failed. It was a fighter and strong.
This article from 2016 explains just how dangerous it is/was ... you can click here to read about it but I am NOT recommending or telling you to use their removal software they are trying to sell in any way.
It took three times for Bitdefender to grab it, quarantine it and remove it from my computer. Just to be safe, I closed all of my open files, mail, google chrome and shut off my computer in a normal process.
I wanted to restart it after that Bitdefender scan and run that program again with their Deep System Scan. It found nothing was on my computer after searching for 1 hour and 20 minutes.
I am not sure how I acquired the trojan horse. I can't remember the last time I received an email with an attachment. Even then I only open attachments if a friend tells me to expect one in email or text. I do not download free software from anywhere. I don't visit porn sites or malicious websites. I don't play any online games on any of my computers or iPad Mini.
Due to my monthly data limit I rarely watch any kind of videos but with my unlimited data with my new HughesNet service for the first 20 days, I watched sports videos on Youtube and blogs I follow. I looked at videos of different house maintenance, and car repair. I remember the day I reactivated Adobe Flashplayer so I could watch the live interview of IU hiring their new basketball coach.
So it would only be a wild guess as to how and where that file got into my computer. I have to wonder of the Flashplayer reactivation was a factor.
My friend "Murphy" wasn't done though. He must have really enjoyed me blogging yesterday about having cabin fever and sounding like I needed something to do. He also moved from the iMac through the kitchen to my Bunn coffee maker and turned it into a slot machine.
I'd put in 6 cups of cold water to make coffee and it only returned 4 cups worth of water. When I added more water to reach that 6 cup amount I wanted, it not only gave me back the water I added but also the 2 cups it was hiding somewhere and for a total of 8 cups of coffee.
Once I know the computer is fixed and clean ... as long as it is raining ... I'll put the Bunn coffee maker problem into google search and see what I come up with.
It feels like the Pacific Northwest today here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana. I'm hoping "Murphy" has had his fun and has left us alone.