friedkitten.com - insanity included.

You are probably one of the millions of computer users that use a computer each and every day, yet have no idea how to look out for themselves. You run scared if you hear the words "malware", "virus", "trojan" or "APT". "DDOS" doesn't ring a bell, but "cybercrime" and "spam" sound familiar because you've heard about those on the news before.

Well, all of those are threats for sure, but you don't need to panic about them. Common sense will help you more then high tech software, firewalls and consultants.

Some tips :

• Don't just click just every link you find or see on the internet, or receive by mail.
• Keep your computer and programs up to date

The first tip is more about being aware that something could be fake or a potential issue, and as such avoiding it. Keeping your computer and the programs on it up to date can seem a difficult task, but I'll just point you to Secunia PSI, which is an excellent little tool to help you do that.

It's free, reputable and easy to use. Even if you run it in simple mode, it'll help you - or rather your computer - stay up to date, less prone to security issues and trouble.

So, take the next 30 minutes of your time (it'll probably take much less) and take a big step forward towards a safer computer experience.

1. Surf to https://secunia.com/ (I could link to it, but security awareness is not to just click whatever link you see, remember?)
2. Find the free PSI tool, download and install it.
3. Run the Personal Software Inspector (PSI)
4. Be all amazed how many programs, applications actually need an update
5. Follow the instructions to get things updated. Even if you can't make some things update, it'll have been worth it.
6. Reboot your computer after you updated as much as you can.
7. Surf to http://www.safer-networking.org, pick your language and download Spybot S&D
8. Install Spybot S&D and then run an update for it (Update Spybot-S&D)
9. Run Spybot S&D and let it fix whatever issues it finds
10. Reboot your computer
11. Enjoy using it, feeling and being quite a bit safer.

If my name was Alvin, I'd be eating frozen nuts. Damn, it's cold! The thermometer is stuck at -8°Celsius, but thanks to the windchill, it feels like -16. Insane!

Quick entry : I've taken the day off from work and will go shopping, as I could use some nice clothes. Hopefully the weather won't be too bad, though I'll be prepared for wind and rain, lol.

Tomorrow it's probably off to the movies, see trailer below.

In order to find and repair the leak I blogged about yesterday, I took out my shower completely. Which leaves me with no shower, nor bath for the time being. Not as pleasant as I'd like, but one can wash at the sink too, at least for a while.

After finding the leak we decided to take the radical approach and seal off the complete section of water there, since it was just feeding the shower - which I had taken out in order to reach the plumbing, remember?

Once the section was sealed off, we checked for more leaks and turned on the boiler again. Which overheated in a matter of seconds, resulting in seals coming loose, water dripping from joints and steam coming out of my faucet in the kitchen. Ouch! Luckily no one was hurt and we managed to shut it down before really bad things happened. To be on the safe side though, we closed the gas line and water intake to the boiler itself as well, effectively taking it out of service till it can get repaired and serviced by a qualified technician. Which you - of course - have a hard time finding these times of year.

To make a long story short : I went from excessive hot water leaking somewhere under my shower to no shower, no warm water and a broken boiler in under 16 hours. Still I dare call that making progress, I really do. Because, if you look at it from the right angle, that old shower was destined to be taken out anyway, the leak had to be stopped no matter what and the boiler was eventually due for replacement and a servicing at a minimum. It's just all happening at a less convenient time, grin.

Anyway, that seems like a good note to end 2011 on and in 2012 I think I'll do some more construction, replace broken boilers and eventually throw a bathroom party with loads of naked people enjoying hot baths and showers, lol. Well, the bathroom party may not have "loads" of naked people, but I promise that I'll throw a party once it starts looking less like a construction yard and more like a real room with walls, tiles and such.

Stay safe, be healthy, have fun and all the best for 2012!

I just called my customer to check whether it would be OK not to come in to work tomorrow. Whilst that may seem as a nice day off from work, it is quite the contrary. My neighbors just rang my bell to announce that they heard what they though was water running, for the last two hours or so. Since I had used a bit of hot water earlier - I did some dishes - that wasn't too surprising, but since the sound kept on, they decided to come check. I headed off to the boiler room and noticed my heater was on full power, heating water, which shouldn't be happening if no hot water is demanded.

I checked my bathroom and sure enough... there was a bit of a leak visible, but nothing major. However, when I leaned on my shower, the complete enclosure was hot to the touch, so I think I know where the leak is situated : under my shower, excellent. Instead of a slow day at work and a nice and quiet evening later, it'll be an early morning, cutting away a wall - at least partially - to see whether I can locate the leak, then assess the damage and find a way to fix it.

Since I don't know how bad the situation down there is, I'm already mentally prepared to take out the complete shower - which was on the to do list anyway, though not this soon - and replace all of the pipes in order to avoid more issues in the future.

Off to bed early, deconstruction derby in the morning :)

Yes... there is no reason to feel bad, sad, angry or upset about it. It is what it is and I'll deal with it accordingly. I already called in the troops and dad will be coming over in the afternoon to see what we can or need to do. I bet that gift voucher for the local DIY store I got for x-mas will come in handy sooner as I expected, grin.

As the end of 2011 approaches at neck breaking speed, I just wrapped up a letter to my tenants, informing them that monthly provisions will be increased starting January 2012, and - unfortunately - that they have an outstanding debt due to the fact that they seem to heat the place up rather well, pushing heating costs through the roof.

I've got no clue how they'll react - I don't usually have to interact with them all that much, they pay on time and don't bother me, so I leave them alone as well - but I've made sure that the letter is in line with legal regulations and I've referred to the proper stipulations in the contract.

I can imagine their new year starting off in a better way, but unfortunately this is the way it'll be I suppose. In order for them to feel a bit less pressured, I've included an option to pay off the outstanding debt in two terms - which should make the pill a bit easier to swallow. There is no point in me losing good tenants, so I'd rather give them some extra options opposed to getting them into financial trouble.

Anyway, enough administration and drafting up things for today, off to bed I go.

Oh, the visit to the dentist this morning was pretty damn swift, I was in and out in under 20 minutes and my teeth are looking swell again :)

PS : I'll try to write out that mail tomorrow, but I got caught up in this whole tenant and monthly provisions administration thingy.

Dammit! For the third time this year a piece of my front tooth has chipped off... I'm gonna try and get hold of my dentist tomorrow to get it fixed for a last time. I guess that if it comes off again, we'll need to come up with another and more permanent solution. I'm not pleased :(

In order to end this post with something a bit more positive, I've just bought x-mas cards and I'll be sending or handing some out this year :) Yay me...