The Windows Scam
On a regular basis I seem to be getting phone calls, which by the accent and the level of echo on the call appear to originate in the Indian subcontinent. The caller is unfailingly polite and tells me that my Windows computer is sending error messages and they represent the Windows technical support group and they will help me sort out the problem if I will only switch on and supply them with copious amounts of information which will enable them to hack goodness knows what.
Funny, that as I don’t even possess a Windows computer.
Everybody I know in Switzerland seems to be being bombarded with these calls at the moment.
They are so obviously a scam that I can’t imagine anyone in their right mind falling for this – unless they are very old or very naive, but even then I doubt it.
I have two tactics – the string them along for as long as I can routine – thereby incurring big international phone charges for the wretches – and the tell them I know it’s a scam and do they think I’m stupid routine.
While both can be quite satisfying, I can honestly say that these people are really, really annoying and they don’t get the message and keep calling back. I can’t even block their number because it never shows up.
What to do? Does anybody have a brilliant idea? And is it just Switzerland that’s being targeted or do you get these in other countries too?
Happy Maundy Thursday,
Helen
My life is a juggling act!
I guess all we women, mums, grandmothers could say that really. Many of us seem to be pre-programmed to multitask and live life at a run!
Because I am self-employed and work from home, I sometimes think I get caught in this trap more than most. There have even been fleeting incidences when I’ve thought how nice it would be to go out to work again and be able to sit in an office and just focus on doing the work work in hand and not try to juggle getting the other work done in between.
The problem with being a freelancer is that you never really know in advance how much work you are going to have – mostly it lands in my in-box unannounced and with a tight deadline attached – which makes advance planning tricky. I’ve learned to be very flexible – I can’t afford not to deliver when my customers ask me to do something – they’d be off quick as a flash to somebody else and I’d lose their repeat business. So, as you can imagine, I bend over backwards to be professional and deliver a good product.
But in the meantime, ordinary life does still go on….
This morning is a case in point.
6.00 Up to make sure the kids are already up or almost and getting ready to leave – the first went out at 6.20 and the last at 7, by which time the washing machine was running, dishwasher emptied, living room tidied and hot cross buns (which I had promised to make before I knew about this week’s workload) were rising. Drink coffee.
7.00-8.00 Start to edit and correct a paper for a German post doc which has been re-jigged since I last looked at it. Drink more coffee.
8.00 -9.15 Shower, dress, make beds, do the ironing, bake hot cross buns (the recipe is here)
9.15 – 10.15 Finish the editing project and start on a huge translation on fine art (which turns out to be very interesting – one of the perks of the job). More coffee please!
10.15 – 10.30 Deliver the hot cross buns to the church warden to take to church on Easter Saturday to fortify the ladies cleaning and decorating the church (my contribution as I shan’t be there).
10.30 – 11.00 Write blog post
11.00 – 13.00 Translate, translate, translate, look longingly at Hopscotch blocks on the floor, translate, grit my teeth and force thoughts of sewing out of my mind.
And it’s still only lunchtime. My afternoon break was supposed to involve planting broad beans and onions, but as it’s tipping down that isn’t going to happen. It’s also Gründonnerstag (Maundy Thursday to the Brits out there) so I think the kids will probably be sent home from school early, so I’d better have my nose to the grindstone till they get here, at which point concentrated work becomes fairly impossible as World War 3 is usually breaking out.
Because sports activities don’t take place after school and on school premises here – and we live in a village where none of the after-school activities the teenagers are involved in are to be found, I generally spend the late afternoon and early evening in the car, periodically running into the house to cook one of the at least 2 sittings of dinner or to assist with homework or cajole eldest daughter to help with things that I can no longer remember (principally maths and physics).
By 21.15, when with luck everyone has finally come in and eaten, the kitchen is cleaned and everyone has headed off to bed (seldom) or to study, I am to put it quite frankly, about as much use to anybody as a wet dishcloth.
That is my life.
If I’m honest I wouldn’t have it any other way!
Helen
Making big things takes a long, long time….
Don’t worry, I’m not going to show you more triangle pictures! I could though, I’m still going, although life has rather got in the way, so progress is slow. 15 more to go by my calculations and then I can sew them together. That will mean a lot of pinning and seam matching, and no doubt ripping out too….I think the end is in sight though….almost!
The problem with big fiddly projects and blogging is that there really isn’t a lot to show you. More of the same, sometimes for weeks. Most bloggers seem to work small, or make blocks for bees, or to be honest, make pretty simple quilts. I guess I’m past the stage where sewing squares together does it for me, so you’ll have to bear with me. At some point in the not too distant future I will have something lovely to show you. I’m thrilled with how Hopscotch is coming together.
I do remember in the not too distant past that I decided to try to work smaller and to stop alway making great big quilts. there seems to be a bit of a mental block on that one – and I should realistically start asking myself how many bed quilts a girl needs? Anyway, in the next few weeks I have a few little projects in the pipeline, so you might notice a sudden and unaccustomed burst of starts and finishes in close succession….that’s the plan anyway!
- First up is a Stitch Tease block for Quiltova (aka Di in the Czech Republic). This is her starter block. Lovely, isn’t it – I love pinwheels, so this one should be fun to do. Unfortunately there was a last minute bee rebellion and the starter blocks are no longer being sent to each person to help with block making, which makes it a lot harder as we’re only going to be working from photos, but I’m not too worried about this month.
- Second is a secret name tag for my swap partner for the FQ retreat in June in London. I have some ideas in mind on this one and how long can a name tag take? Ha ha….
- Thirdly I’ve agreed to take part in a secret gift swap at FQ – so need to make 4 gifts….no ideas yet here, but I think covered notebooks might be the way to go unless I see that’s what everyone else is making in which case, who knows?
- Finally I need to make something for my lovely SIL in Canada for her birthday at the end of the month. The socks are on the needles folks…aided and abetted by Mel in Starbucks yesterday who taught me a cool new method of casting on….having ripped out twice, the new cast-on is now firmly anchored in my brain!!
Now it’s back to (real, bill-paying) work for me –
So there you have it…another exciting day in the life of Helen in Switzerland…NOT!
Helen
