Disappointed

My World of Warcraft account has been hacked and is being used to spam other players. I have had my account suspended twice in 48 hours for spamming when I haven't even been on! Account services have been next to useless apart from the quick suspension of my account which has hopefully stopped too much crap. At this stage apart from being extremely frustrating (and has resulted in me not wanting to play) there does not seem to have been too much damage done apart from the spamming. From what I can tell so far, my characters gold and items are intact. I haven't been able to check the guild bank yet so I will reserve judgment until I do.

I have all my system up to date, my anti virus is up to date and even after changing the email associated with the account and the password it was still compromised a second time. My anti virus showed up nothing. I installed Windows Defender which picked up nothing and then Spybot Search and Destroy which did pick up a tracker - my guess is this is how they were getting access to my changed email and password. This has now been removed. Initially I think it was installed at a website that looked like the Warcraft account login due to a message I received in game that appeared to come from Blizzard. As I accessed this when I was tired, I wasn't as vigilant as I could have been. I will not make that mistake again. Hackers piss me off no end and so does the fact that you almost need an IT degree to play a favourite game safely on line. It also pisses me off that hackers get paid to do what they do - until it becomes financially un-viable for them to do what they do this kind of behaviour will continue and I believe escalate. I don't think we should have to know exactly how everything has to work inside and out to play something casually however it appears that may be a naive point of view and one that may have no place in our spiraling out of control society (that is another rant for another time).

I have tried to contact Blizzard accounts for Warcraft but they are experiencing a high volume of calls at the moment and cannot take my call. I wonder why ?

On a positive note relating to my last post, Cleopatra did come home that night and we have had no more escapes to date :-)

Surviving

I have survived my two days in Sydney for work and my trip to Forbes today. I am tired now but it was worthwhile. I tested my Powerpoint presentation at my first of many meetings today and all in all I got a lot of positive feedback so feeling good. I also have some ideas now on how to tweak it :-) The group were great and very supportive - thanks!!!

I am feeling bad though now - I didn't check to make sure the front door was locked properly. Cleopatra the clever cat can open the door - she let herself, Rex and Candy out. Candy got so frightened she flew back in the front door not long after when we opened it and Rex hid under the caravan (Shadow was trying to round them up - typical Border Collie). Unfortunately Cleopatra is now missing - down the paddock somewhere no doubt chasing bugs or something, Dylan is feeling miserable - we have neighbours that shoot anything that comes on their property so I can understand why he is worried :-( I feel so bad!!!! Hopefully she will come home soon for her dinner and bed - I really hope so! We have locked Shadow up in the pen so when Cleo comes home he cannot chase her. What a mess!!!

Easter and other sundry stuff

Had a lovely weekend camping with the family at Easter - the weather was perfect, the fish were biting, I finished 3 books in 2 days, lots of good food - what more can you ask for? LOL

I have had this week off work - vegged out, played Warcraft (when my internet connection was working), made some jewelery (some as gifts), got some not so good news about a good friend who is in hospital (wishing you a speedy recovery!), did Target Archery this afternoon and talked lots of SCA stuff, got the house mostly cleaned, did washing - you know, the usual boring stuff ;-)

This week I am off to Sydney Monday and Tuesday for work, then Forbes on Wednesday. The following Monday I am in Bathurst, then back to Sydney on the Wednesday and Orange on the Friday. The 29th and 30th I am in Canberra - next month I have trips to Orange, Sydney, Young and maybe even Broken Hill. Nothing quite like traveling across the state ;-) I may as well enjoy it whilst I can - my position finishes at the end of July when B returns from maternity leave. I will then go back to my substantive position as PA which I will have been away from for 18 months! I will probably have to relearn everything! LOL

I need to follow up with a couple of people and see if they are coming to the feast next month - it will be a smallish affair again this year but that's okay - we will still have fun ;-) Really looking forward to RWIV - complete with Viking wedding :-) I need to start planning and timetabling - I want to be more organised this year. I know laugh away - me organised? Yeah right ;-)

Anyhoo, off to do some browsing methinks :-)

Tuesday evening

Played WoW for a bit but the lag got too bad. Work is crazy busy and I now have a date - I will be acting in the IMRC role until the 26 July 2010 when the substantive returns from maternity leave. I will then do a week hand over with her and back to my normal job.

I worked out today it will be 18 months that I have been out of my substantive position when I go back! I'm in two minds about going back - my boss is awesome and I love working with her so that will be great, on the other hand, in a way I feel like I have 'moved on' so mixed emotions about that. You never know what opportunity may be around the corner (such as for project work) so I will keep my eyes and ears open ;-) Of course then there is the money too which will drop when I go back ;-) (But I knew that when I took this on so it is not a surprise.)

Had a bit of a 'meh' afternoon yesterday but it is all sorted again.

Festival is on this weekend but we won't be going - just too far and too costly. I think that first camping experience a few years ago at Glenworth Valley has scarred us a bit too ;-) Instead, we will be camping with family on a property on the river just the other side of Warren - we haven't been for ages so really looking forward to it! I will miss catching up with people at Festival, market day, watching the fighting etc but at the same time I won't miss the rain, the humidity, the mozzies and leeches, the loos and the lack of campfire and shower. At least where we are going we will have a 'loo with a view' and 'a shower with a view'. All temporary stuff but T has it made really well :-) Looking forward to his cooking on the campfire too and sitting around the fire gazing at the stars. So much family time to look forward too! I hope to catch up on some reading and calligraphy ;-)

Only two more sleeps to go! Candy will miss us and probably won't talk to us for days when we get back ;-) I must admit I will miss that brat ball of fluff! When the alarm goes off of a morning she uses both T and I as a trampoline until we get up!

Disco duck is home

and got a prize for best 'air guitar' for his impersonation of Angus Young doing AC/DCs Highway to Hell (complete with long hair and baseball cap). LOL

Thursday

A fairly uneventful day today - got 2 new claims' paperwork sorted today and attended a PAB training session. Caught up on emails etc. Went grocery shopping, bought all the Star Trek movies, T's birthday present had come in (phew!), need to go pick Gryffen up from the school disco shortly and Manfred advised all the stock clerk books arrived safely (huzzah)!

It looks like we will be camping from the 1st April to the 5th April out on the river at Warren - thank goodness mum and dad will be here to house sit and look after all the animals! Poor Candy will be lost and probably won't talk to us when we get back, at least for a day anyway! She will have to sleep with the other cats instead of us - shock horror! LOL

Wolfstanus is going to a Metal Concert tomorrow night so will have to straighten his hair before he goes! LOL He has got me listening to Drowning Pool, Ramstein, Bullet for my Valentine and Disturbed - some if it is pretty good! Cradle of Filth isn't one of my favourites though ;-) I actually really like 'Upside Down' by Drowning Pool, had it blaring on the way home tonight! LOL

Anyhow, better go get my disco duck!

Life is interesting

So much for writing more often here - I think I just need to get back into the habit instead of just going to Facebook and then playing WoW ;-)

On the SCA side of things, I have finally sent the books off to the new Stock Clerk - after 4 years it was time to hand it over to someone else. I have finally completed the paperwork to make a small change to my device - removing the Ermoinois. This will make drawing it a lot easier! I need to help Danieru and Johanna with getting their devices conflict checked. I have lots of sewing to do but just can't seem to get motivated at the moment. Part of the problem is I have so much I want to do I don't know where to start!

It's T's birthday on Saturday so having the family over for a BBQ. Then Easter we are off camping at Warren for the weekend - I have the first week of the holidays off and then off to Sydney for two days and then Forbes for a day. Can't say I'm bored! LOL

We have the Radburne Feast coming up in May - at this stage it looks like just the usual local crowd - that's okay though. In August we have Radburne War IV complete with Viking wedding - really looking forward to that!

I have Conrad's 18th to organise next year along with my 40th - the year after that is Wolfstanus' 18th and our 20th Wedding Anniversary. For our anniversary I want to organise a hand fasting to renew our vows - I have an idea of what I want to do but have lots of research and planning to do before hand. I also want to make T a cotton voile shirt to wear with black work embroidery.

Hmm...it's been awhile again

I was going okay but sort of fell in a heap again with updates ;-)

Went to Border War last weekend which was awesome, Conrad fought his authorising bout against Duke Siridean and passed - he conducted himself really well :-) So he is now an authorised Combat Archer and Heavy! Wolfstanus has been asked to be Banner Bearer for Whyte Companie (by Duke Cornelius) and has officially been released from obligations to Baron Sir Osric (distance played a big part in this). So happy and sad at the same time :-)

All of us, including the rest of House Radburne seem to be invigorated and we have two new members which helps liven things up ;-)

I have managed to bugger my ankle up again, I can't get in for an ultrasound for 2 weeks to see if there is any ligament damage so resting it at the moment under doctor's orders.

The new car is going awesomely well but I am not allowed to drive at the moment *sigh*. Will try and post more regularly but not making any promises ;-)

Internet connection that keeps dropping out = no posting

My internet connection is all over the place at the moment so I am fairly limited to what I can do right now.

Have been doing some family history research which is really interesting - I love that stuff ;-)

We have had over 90mm of rain so far today and it is still raining steadily - the storm water drains are not coping and the highway had water over it in three spots between town and home tonight. A lot of the paddocks look like lakes - haven't seen this much rain this quick in a very long time!

Forgot to get my WoW Game Card today so that means no WoW tonight - damn!!!

Happy Birthday Gryffen!!!! I can't believe you are 12 today!!!

Gambesson dilemma solved :-)

With a few slight modifications, I will be using the gambesson I made for T as he doesn't use it. Problem one down ;-) I need to make an arming cap now!

Got the second lion's head sewn on Gryffen's banner - need to mark the eyes etc and sew them.

Got a bargain today at one of the local bookstores - Tudor Treasures to Embroider by Pamela Warner for the princely sum of $9.95! It has some really cute projects in it I hope to do, *sigh* the list just gets longer!

We are hoping to go to Rowany's Newcomers Feast in March but it will depend on if T's work picks up - it's a bit quiet at the moment. February is our crap month where a whole heap of bills hit at once and we have Border War at the end of February so we'll just have to wait and see.

A few projects started......

I have had internet on and off over the last few days - has to do with hitting our cap and having speed throttled - the reception isn't that great then and with 4 computers trying to hook up you get the drift ;-)

Bought Family Tree Maker 2010 on Saturday and have been entering data and searching online stuff - it is going to take years! I have a heap of research from years ago that I need to enter, documents to scan, my grandparents old photos to go through etc. It's been really interesting and exciting!

Today I started painting some sample scrolls - they aren't too bad but my hand isn't as steady as I would like it to be yet! I also did some more on Gryffen's banner, got one lion's head sewn on. I need to get some bottle green wool or crochet cotton to do the other one. Watched Mama Mia and Ever After this afternoon whilst I was sewing ;-)

Thoughts whilst driving........

I seem to do most of my thinking when I'm driving - something about the open road, the freedom, I don't know.......I have been thinking about buying a dictaphone because when I get back and by the time I get to post here, it never seems to come out the same. At least if I could record it as I'm thinking it, I could in theory transcribe it later on. I digress.......

I did have an interesting drive to Bathurst today, in a good way! LOL Just under three hours each way including a stop both ways ;-)

Between Lucknow and Vittoria is a hilly part of road where there is not a lot of opportunity for overtaking. About half a dozen of us got stuck behind a slow moving vehicle for some time. Finally we get to an overtaking lane and we all move out and around - the lane ends fairly quickly so everyone speeds up a little to get past in time. As we are doing this, over the crest of the hill comes a highway patrol car! Talk about brake lights coming on left, right and centre! Very funny! No-one got booked, the max we would have been over was 5km/hr.

As I was driving through the valley coming into Bathurst I had the most amazing feeling of euphoria. You know what, there are a lot of things to be grateful for - especially with all the turmoil in the world and things like the Haiti earthquakes. I don't think we appreciate all the good things often enough, no matter how small they may be.

Today the sun was shining, I got to drive through some beautiful countryside in a comfortable car (work car) with air conditioning, having the freedom to listen to my favourite songs, singing as loudly and as off key as I liked! LOL I was listening to the song 'Twisted' by Brian McFadden and the words really struck me. I know it probably sounds silly but I was almost moved to tears - because it really hit me how blessed I am. I have an incredible husband, incredible sons, incredible extended family (including both sets of parents) and friends, and although there are times we may get frustrated with each other, I love them none the less and I am grateful they are in our lives.

I love my life - I feel content and I would not want to trade with anyone!

Anyhow, the particular words that struck me were:

And I smile my twisted smile when I say,
Let the world keep turning
Cause I'll be standing still
And the earth feels closer to heaven
Just because you're here
I've been chased by angels
I've been drunk out of my mind
And the earth feels better than heaven
Just because you're here
Twisted

So true :-)

While I was in Bathurst I bought 2 new cds - Black Eyed Peas 'The End' and Toby Keith's Greatest Hits 2.

And it's Thursday again already!

Got lots of filing and archiving done today so was at least a productive day! I'm off to Bathurst for work tomorrow - 3hr drive, 3 meetings and a 3hr drive home. Then I'm off for a week! Hanging out at home, appointments and getting the boys ready to go back to school. I can't believe January is nearly over!

And the words of today are.......

chronic autoimmune urticaria. Say that 4 times really fast!

That is the name of the condition I have - at least now I can Google it! LOL

Shooting combat arrows is fun!

T, the boys and I, shot combat arrows at a dummy tonight until it got too dark to find the arrows in the scrub ;-) Was much fun! I am a shocking shot and only hit the target by dumb luck. T and the boys on the other hand are naturals *sigh*.

Now I need to get my gambesson made so T can finish my armour and I can start practicing! I need to get authorised at RWIV so I can keep my promise to Will and shoot his arrows back at him ;-)

It was really nice to spend some time outdoors as a family too - pity the weather won't stay this cool! Now I just need to find the armour I want. Was thinking about learning to make chain mail but I don't think I have the patience or the fine motor skills to do it! LOL

Sad and disappointed

I guess that is one way to describe how we all felt when we went to the RSPCA yesterday to help by walking the dogs. I probably should have posted as soon as I got back while my thoughts were running but needed to get ready to go out for lunch with T's parents - it was their 51st Wedding Anniversary (congratulations!!!!).

Poor Gryffen was most upset when he realised just how many dogs and cats are out there at the moment - they have had over 150 through since 1st January. It's really heart breaking - there are all sorts out there and all ages. Some are outgoing and friendly and others are timid, scared and obviously haven't been looked after. We walked about 16 dogs I think in total in the hour or so we were there - plan on going back out on Saturday. I am really proud of Gryffen, he dried his tears, picked a Chihuahua cross to take for a walk and gave it lots of love :-) They have even had to double up with pens as there are just too many and the Ranger keeps bringing them in. I hope that it starts to slow down now - the workers do an awesome job but there is only so much they can do too :-( The problem would be pretty much non existent if people were responsible pet owners - unfortunately there appears to be a large number that just don't care or think that animals are worthless. To me, they are the worthless cretins! The hard part of going out there is knowing that a lot will need to be euthanased, and of course knowing we cannot adopt anymore! There is always at least one we would love to take home! We come home, give our animals a hug and a pat and know that at least they are getting what they deserve - a good life! I love that when I go for my walk that the dogs come with me. I just have to say to Scrappy - going for a walk? And he talks right back and gets so excited. He always stays with me and if I drop behind a bit he comes running back and grabs my hand to make sure I am okay. You can't get better than that ;-) I love that when the cats come in from their pen that you get a happy meow and cuddles - and that Candy curls up next to me to go to sleep at night. Although it is absolutely heart breaking when we lose one, there is no way I would be without them. I am lucky that T and the boys all feel the same way.

Although it isn't much, we will keep doing what we can to help. If everyone just looked to themselves and their own backyard it would already go a long way to changing things.

Drooling!

After a random conversation with T this morning, we are looking at maybe traveling to Europe in about 5 years time (the boys have been warned they will need to start saving LOL). Where do you start? What do we want to do? I naturally want to spend some time in the Netherlands but it would be good to do some other stuff too. I know we won't get to see a fraction of the things we would like to see but we could always go back ;-)

Looking at spending 4 weeks there all up - so I thought I would look a few things up out of curiosity, and then went OMG I will have to start planning now to be ready to go in 5 years! None of us have ever been overseas.......

Anyhoo, when thinking about interesting places to stay, I came across this one, The Chateau De Clavy-Warby in France. I figured 2 weeks in the Netherlands, a week in France and maybe a week in Germany. *sigh* I might have to start buying Lotto tickets!!!

Excited!!!

Went out for nummy dinner with T at Hog's Breath tonight, boys are at my cousin's for a night of Warhammer and PS3. Yes, it is very quiet!!!

I decided to try and do some more research on Delden and couldn't find a whole lot - some lovely people on The Shambles had some great suggestions which I will pursue (will need Dad's help though for translation).

I also came across this site by 'accident' when broadening my search to Medieval Low Countries. It is a Review by Elisabeth van Houts of 'The Narrative Sources from The Low Countries' website. I am off to do some reading!!!

Just had to share :-)

Iz tiredz, needz bedz now........

Busy, busy week back at work but at least I feel like I have achieved something! Still a long way to go tho..........

Watched some more episodes of 'The Tudors: Season 3' last night - may be 1 more episode to go or we may have watched them all - then will have to wait for the final season *sigh*. Funny thing is T bought the original for me but he got really engrossed himself!! Yes, I know it is loosely based on History, it is after all a soap opera written to keep viewers entranced rather than being historically accurate. I am okay with that - I watch it for entertainment value ;-) Hmmm...Henry Cavill as Duke Charles ;-)

Anyhoo........after doing some reading on the net about the Tudors (the real ones), I decided to start doing some research for my SCA persona, who is from Delden, in the Low Countries in the 14th Century (haven't pin pointed exact date yet LOL). I must admit I am a little frustrated - Googleing 'Delden History' hasn't exactly given me great hits first up. I know, patience! LOL Anyone got any tips?

Oh well, time for bed. I have been good and getting up early for my walk everyday - tomorrow will be day 5 in a row and week 1 completed! Yay me :-)

This reminds me of a few people in the morning.......

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