The disaster that is a Windows update

On Monday, after I was done work at 4 pm, I had a Windows update on my work laptop that was pending and had it installed. I left my laptop on for another hour before I turned it off for the day.

I started my workday on Tuesday just after 7 am. I woke up too early. In a way, it was good.

I booted up my work laptop. I could not get Microsoft Teams to launch. I needed it to train the new hire. Rebooting and relaunching Teams did not work. I absolutely dislike whenever there's a Windows update. Ideally, it should work. When it's bad, it's incredibly bad.

At 8 am, I started training the new hire. I noticed that no matter what site I was trying to access, I had to enter my username and password, and my credentials could not be authenticated. I then saw a Windows message saying to lock my screen. I did it. Guess what? I was completely locked out of my laptop. Great.

At work, there's a self-serve password reset. I tried it and couldn't connect to the server. Lovely.

I then called the IT helpdesk. The folks there suck. The woman I spoke to said that she couldn't unlock my account and had to pass it over to her colleague. He would call me back. I asked at what number. At my Teams phone number. Um, no. I have Teams on my locked laptop. You can't automatically assume that the phone number on record is accurate. I gave her my cell phone.

I tried logging in after fifteen minutes. Success! I was able to log into my laptop and train. Sadly, I lost an hour of productivity.

The male helpdesk guy called me half an hour after I had logged in. Such a crazy delay! Apparently, since this Windows update happened, many folks have been calling the helpdesk for assistance.

Such a horrible update!

Working from home for a while, as the office is locked down

I have a virtual meeting every single day this week with my manager. It makes the week longer. Thank goodness each meeting is only an hour.

I haven't been outside since Saturday. I will need to step out tomorrow and get some groceries.

Tonight, my office will be locked down. Our badges are deactivated. Strict measures are in place.

So many changes. Stay safe and healthy, everyone!

Leisurely Saturday afternoon until I locked my keys in my car

I had a mixed afternoon on Saturday. It started off great, as I went into a cafe to get a hot chocolate and a cookie. I decided to place both items in my car and pick up some items at a local empanada store.

While waiting for my order at the store, I realized that I didn't have my keys with me. The dread had set in. I had locked my keys in my car.

I went back to my car with my empanadas. Sure enough, I could see my cars sitting on the passenger side.

I used to have CAA, which is the car assistance folks in Canada. Last year, I decided to terminate my membership as my car has roadside assistance.

The catch was that the roadside assistance card was in my purse, which was locked in my car with my keys. Luckily, I had my phone with me. I also had my insurance with my vehicle's identification number on it. However, trying to find the phone number took a few tries.

The first one went to the United States. I realized that when I got a woman with a Spanish accent. She had to transfer me, but she transferred me to another Spanish woman dealing with Lexus cars. I don't have a Lexus. My guy does.

Anyway, the second woman got me a phone number to try for roadside assistance. In the meantime, I found an online form to fill out for the same assistance. I filled out everything, pressed Enter, and got an error to call the phone number. Oh, yay!

Finally, I called the number. You can also get a text message to start the process of outlining your exact location. I did that and all seemed well. However, considering the weird error message that I got, I decided to call back to confirm that the place got it.

Luckily, I spoke with two women who were great. They made sure that I was safe. They let me know that a tow truck guy would be over. This guy managed to unlock my car and help me out roughly an hour later.

I was thankful for all the help. Every decade, I seem to lock my keys in my car. I am glad that I don't do it all the time, but it's good that folks can help me out when I need it.

Hacked information in the wrong hands and my cell phone reported lost by someone

Here's a follow-up to my post on how a few personal details can get into the wrong hands and how worried the guy is about his actions.

A few months ago, my Starbucks account was compromised. I was at the car dealership, waiting for my car to be done with servicing. I logged into my Starbucks app and noticed two transactions that were foreign to me. One happened in Miami. The other in New York within five minutes. There was no way that I was in two states in that period, especially when I was still in Canada.

I called Starbucks support and the woman was helpful. I didn't like when she asked which card it had come from. I have Starbucks cards in both the United States and Canada. Sure enough, it came from a U.S. card. The balance wasn't huge. The person purchased a drink and some food. Nevertheless, Starbucks reimbursed the funds and cancelled that card for me.

My Starbucks account had my phone number there. If this guy logged on and used that card, he likely got my cell phone number. I have since removed my cell phone number from the account, as it's far from being mandatory.

As for tracking me with check-ins on Yelp and Twitter, he has too much time on his hands. It was a good wakeup call for me. I stopped the Twitter check-in from Yelp. I tried it out on Saturday and all was good.

I don't go down without a fight. I'm interesting that way, as I like to gain a bit of information about this person.

On my Twitter account, which was still public, I replied to my own tweet. I addressed the guy who stalked me. I said that he has been reported. He was messing with the wrong person. I have both voice recordings with his swearing and threats thanks to an app that I have. I recommended that he back off, as he was messing with the wrong person.

It is all true. I lucked out and bought an app that tells you whether phone numbers are safe to pick up. You can also report numbers that are considered nuisances. It also records all calls for protection and potential evidence down the road.

He got scared. This part of the story is still speculation, though.

On early Monday morning, just after I had posted my last post, I got an e-mail alert acknowledging that I had reported my phone lost. Really? It wasn't me.

I got that issue resolved online. As a security measure, I have a PIN associated with my cell phone provider on my account. This person reported my phone lost through the phone, which the person at my provider confirmed.

The woman with my service provider said that it is likely that the person entered his phone number incorrectly when reporting his phone stolen over the phone. Part of me hopes so. The other part of me thinks that this guy panicked and thinks that reporting my phone lost will help slow things down. Revenge? Perhaps. It's dumb, though.

The other thing is that my phone number, if you searched for the first seven digits, comes out being with a different cell phone provider. He would have to do a ton of digging to figure out that it's with my current provider. So, it leads me to believe that my number was reported by accident. I can't prove anything here, though.

Ah, the joys of having information in the wrong hands in a digital age.

Currently, my Twitter account is private. We'll see if that helps, too. I have learned so much this episode. Hopefully, we have reached its end.

My phone locked itself automatically - weird and good

I thought that Friday would be a quiet day at work. Nope. Drama and weirdness occurred.

I will go with my strange incident. After work, after a trying day, I went out to have a drink and a bite to each with a friend.

We went to a bar and grill close by our workplace. I was checking my phone while waiting for him and it automatically went into lockdown. I tried using my known password, but I couldn't unlock my phone.

After dinner, I had to drive to a different part of the area that I vaguely know. I am so glad that I have a GPS in my car. Otherwise, it would have taken me a bit longer to get there, especially when it gets dark so early in the evening.

I got home and called Google Pixel support. I must say that tech support there is pretty slick. You basically type a brief synopsis of the problem online, click a button, and in a minute, you get a phone call.

The person on the other end said that my phone had to be factory-reset. It meant that I would lose all my data.

The cool thing about this phone is that I have unlimited photo storage and my phone is automatically backed up. So, restoring my phone was straightforward. It went ahead and downloaded all my apps.

In some ways, my phone works better than before.

I asked the tech support person why my phone would simply lock on its own and not let me in. He figures that the cause was a bug somewhere, but he has noted the issue down.

I am so dependent on my phone. However, not using it for four hours felt pretty good.

Being playful and seizing his car keys

It helps that my guy and I are playful. I like constantly teasing him about his car and the fact that he won't let anyone drive it, including me.

Before we had quality time on Saturday, we were cuddling. I was hugging him and reached into his right coat pocket.

"What are you doing?" he asked me.
"Looking for your car keys. They are in this pocket, right?" I asked him.
"Yes," he said reluctantly.

I playfully went into his pocket. He stopped me.

"If you take my keys, I will tickle you," he threatened.
"That's not nice," I said, temporarily stopping my quest.
"Good," he said.

He started to tickle me.

"Hey, I am not even near your keys," I said, holding both of his wrists as if my hands were handcuffs.

He smiled at me. He knows that I am ticklish. I know that I can take his keys when he is lethargic.

Well, I did manage to snatch his keys. It was fun using his remote to pop his trunk open and lock his car. Success!