Hello McG!

It speaks volumes for your constitution that you should be so determined to go snow-ridding while down will flu. As far as I am concerned, it can just bloody-well stay where it is.

JRT,

It worked! The Malwarebytes download quarantined no fewer than 14 nasty items made up of Malware, Rogues, Trojans, Backdoor thingys, and Adware! I was told by somebody a few weeks ago that even if you install an anti-virus/spyware utility it will treat threats already installed as the norm - things that should be there. Looks like that is indeed the case because while the currently installed anti-virus package has detected threats since installation, it did not detect things that were obviously already there. Many thanks due to you!

I have just changed my page preferences to 20 in the manner recommended by PV1.

Folks,

MG:

LOL. Taking photos of snow would be rubbing salt into your wounds. I refrained from sending photos of our recent snow to all you snowbound chaps. That would have been tantamount to sending coals to Newcastle, eh, Dux?

Perhaps if something else had been as huge as your disappointment Nurse Goodbody might have shown up....;) As it is the sadistic Dux would have you trapped inside with a seriously horny Olga with no means of escape. Shame on you Dux, shame I say. While the terrified and weakened MG begins dictating his last will and testament to his trusty St. Bernard Max who was out of sight in my previous vision, I'll continue my conversation with Dux. Don't worry MG we'll check in later. I'm sure you want some privacy. Just then Olga lunges at MG.....

Dux:

I am happy to hear that Malwarebytes also worked for you. Beware. One must be especially careful when downloading these tools from online. Far too many are said to actually put viruses, root kits and malware on your computer so that they may then claim to have found and removed them. It has happened to me.

Usually these are disreputable commercial programs. Recommendations by experts or posters on forums that you trust or your friends is the way to go. Be sure to update Malwarebytes and run it once a week for protection against the latest threats. And remember nothing is a more powerful anti virus than smart, defensive surfing.

It has been a bit longer than 30 minutes now since we checked in on MG. Returning to his home we see that someone has torn open the front door and plowed their way through the deep snow to the road. There is no sign of who or what might have done it. The loyal Max sits in the sunshine at the gaping door his long tongue is hanging out of his mouth and he seems to be panting.

We pat a smiling Max on his big fuzzy head and peer into the gloom just beyond the splintered door. Inside there is total chaos. Chairs are upturned, other furniture is capsized. The place is a wreck. By the fireplace a drunken Olga seems to be stirring again.

Gentlemen an unsatisfied Olga is coming to. I do not know about you lads but as for me, I will not consider it an act of cowardice if we all follow MG and just get the hell out of here pronto.....

Gents,

JRT,

I downloaded the latest version of Malwarebytes today and ran it again. Nothing there, of course. Everything was cleared out yesterday - and good riddance. Very pleased with it.

Folks,

Dux:

That is good news. Be sure to click 'Update' and then click to download what they call 'fingerprints' once a week so you'll always have the latest nasties recognition file installed. BTW it also does some work when you boot up unlike most other programs that only work their protection once the OS is completely loaded.

Newly discovered documents have revealed a bizarre footnote to the history of the Second World War: a Finnish mutt whose imitation of the Hitler salute enraged the Nazis so deeply that they started an obsessive campaign against the dog's owner.

Absurdly, a totalitarian state that dominated most of Europe was unable to do much about Jackie and his paw-raising parody of Germany's Fuhrer.

In the middle of World War II — months before Hitler ordered some 4.5 million troops to invade the Soviet Union — the Foreign Office in Berlin commanded its diplomats in the Nazi-friendly Nordic country to gather evidence on the dog, and even came up with plans to destroy the pharmaceutical wholesale company of its owner.

It almost stretches all reason and credulity but apparently, poised on the verge of a major assault upon Russia, the German government had nothing better to do than to devote time, treasure and resources to silencing a dog and punishing its owner. I think such rampant paranoia indicates a certain insecurity don't you agree?

Even though there was a short lived pact between Finland and Germany the man and his dog remained out of the reach of the Nazis. In short order Finland realized the error of its ways and it repudiated its agreement with Hitler and signed another pact with Russia. Many non-aggression pacts, agreements and other long pages of fine print signed for the temporary convenience of states in such volatile times do not seem to have been worth much.

Gents,

JRT,

That sounds like a joke but I can well believe it. Hitler had a long list of people who had insulted him who he intended to dispose of as various countries became occupied.

Speaking of jokes, here's one I heard at a funeral recently:

The congregation had taken to their pews when a beautiful blonde walked in with much sticking out from the top and wearing a mini skirt with a hem only a few inches lower than her belt. She took her seat right at the front and crossed her shapely legs.

The priest, who was accompanied by a trainee novice, duly completed the service and took station at the entrance to see off the congregation. Last out was the blonde, and as she minced away into the distance, the priest asked of the novice;

'Wasn't that Fanny Green?'

The novice replied;

'No, it was just the way the light was shining through the stained glass window.'

BTW:
The word 'fanny' has different connotations over here...

Folks,

Dux:

I agree yet, according to the news service it is not a joke. LOL. I cannot wait for you to tell that one to Olga. Laughing always enhances her libido. Except as a proper name the word "fanny" has only the connotation indicated by the joke here.

Here's another 'Blonde' joke:

A blonde walks into a bank in New York City and asks for the Loan officer. She says she's going to Derbyshire to visit an old friend for two weeks and needs to borrow $5,000.

The bank officer says the bank will need some kind of security for the loan, so the blonde hands over the keys to a new Mercedes Benz SL 500.

The car is parked on the street in front of the bank, she has the title and everything checks out. The bank agrees to accept the car as collateral for the loan.

The bank's president and its officers all enjoy a good laugh at the blonde for using a $110,000 Benz as collateral against a $5,000 loan.

An employee of the bank then proceeds to drive the Benz into the bank's underground garage and parks it there. Two weeks later, the blonde returns, repays the $5,000 and the interest, which comes to $15.41.

The loan officer says, "Miss, we are very happy to have had your business, and this transaction has worked out very nicely, but we are a little puzzled. While you were away, we checked you out and found that you are a multimillionaire.

What puzzles us is, why would you bother to borrow $5,000?"

The blonde replies, "Where else in New York City can I park my Car for two weeks for only $15.41 and expect it to be there when I return?"

Folks,

Dux:

I wonder if they went after Charlie Chaplin when he acted in, produced and directed "The Little Dictator"? That one put up to ridicule everyone wearing a dead spider on the sleeve of his cost...

I'm sure that wouldn't have escaped the Fuehrer's beady eye!

Folks,

Dux:

If he even knew about it, the fellow with the unruly hair and toothbrush mustache probably didn't give a fig about such affronts to his dignity at the time. He thought he would have a thousand years to get even with everybody. No doubt it was brown nosed underlings hoping to curry favor that went after the insolent pooch. I've read that the loyal sycophant Bormann once had someone's property in Berchtesgarten seized and then he sent them to a concentration camp just so he could cut down a few trees that the Fuhrer offhandedly mentioned spoiled his view.

I do hope it will not be too long before you can get your PC crate repaired or replaced so that it will fly again. I look forward to vicariously enjoying all the new pleasures of our BoB fitted out with all the newest bells and whistles. Maybe you might even get ROF and report on that? The new title from Oleg promises to be exceptional but demanding of CPU processing power so I look forward to enjoying that in time through your eyes as well.

Hereabouts BoB patched to 9xx is doing the job and running well. They say it should not even load but it is running smoothly. After a decade I continue to get a great deal of pleasure from it. As a bonus I never forget that had it not been for BoB I'd never have meet you, SNAFU, C51, Jens and so many other fine fellows. I'd never have known Olga or LeRoy or hundreds of other interesting characters populating so many pages of HWH stories over these past ten years of fun and virtual friendship.

With nearly 2 1/2 million views filling our sails moving us happily onward we are now coasting toward the month of April and the celebration of the first decade of SNAFU's amazing thread. If this celebration is also to mark the final chapter in our story then we should put some serious thought on how we might want to bring this decade to a suitable and honorary close.

Mark Carroll may not be with us other than in spirit and we do not know what happened to old SNAFU yet I feel he should participate in some way at least by proxy. Were it not for Mark none of this might have ever happened. Yes that may be a terrible thing to place at the feet of a departed friend. In spite of that, I think Mark would be both pleased and proud of HWH. At the least I hope that he would look upon the stewardship of his thread by you, MG and me with approval.

Aye, to that. I often wonder why he cut off so suddenly.

There are several sims I intend to play including those you mention.
Without knowing the basic spec for SOW, it is probably false economy to buy a new rig now and hope it fills the bill for what we all hope will be Oleg's masterpiece.