No need for flu shots here

When is a cold not a cold? When it's the flu. Well, lucky me, no need for a flu shot this year.

Four and a half hours - yes, 4 hrs and 30 min- WASTED by bastard ad/spyware crap program silently(invisibly) installed without my permission. Worse, without the permission or knowledge of the owner of the original artwork package I was trying to download. So now, 4 1/2 hours later, my PC is once more clean. HijackThis confirms it. And even more important, the horrified and mortified artist is now on the phone with her hosting service asking them what the hell is going on. Then she says she intends to change hosting services over the weekend.

What a nightmare.

Hello World.

Very strange...I get a call on my landline phone late this afternoon, about 4pm. Man says, Hi, This is Giovanni, is this Barbie? Nice, polite, well modulated voice but not familiar. And err, I never call myself Barbie. But, I meet a lot of people and who knows what name they may think of me as? So I say, This is Barb but I don't know any Giovannis so where do you know me from? He says, but we've talked so much on the chat line.

Bzzzt!

No, wrong answer. I've -NEVER- chatted on a phone chat line. I tell him, sorry no way. Never use them. He insists, very politely, that he recognises my voice. I don't think so.

I tell him someone must have given him my name and number but it's not me and I'm not interested. He says lets chat anyway. Jeez, what is this, some new pick-up technique? (This is all the shorthand version obviously) He's very apologetic and extremely polite, sounds as if he thinks this is weird, too.., says he's so sorry, please excuse and we end the call.

Now I'm doing a paranoia-instant replay and wondering if it was a simple mistake or some new scary criminal ploy? Like identity theft set-up or some deviant sex thing.

Arrgh! I know I should have just said - sorry, don't know any Giovanni- and just hung up. I didn't give out any info except yes there is a Barbie/Barb/someone at the number he dialed. But still, it's freaking weird.

Back in the old USA

A relatively decent flight. Saw two very amusing films: Saved, which is a excellent little send-up of the whole evangelical jesus-is-your-personal-saviour nonsense and the remake of The Stepford Wives. Stepford Wives didn't have the taught dark horror of the original. We've moved on and such topics are now simply more comedic fare. Be that as it may, the film wasn't particularly funny, at least not in the intended bits. Lots of unintended humour for me, I assume so from the fact I was laughing when others weren't. However, Bette Midler was great, she was so perfect and so funny. She made the film for me. I seriously think Bete Midler is enormously underappreciated as a great comic actress. But then we don't really like great comediennes as a society. Perhaps we allow Lucille Ball the honours but we're very unforgiving of others. A damn shame.

Anyway, Newark airport has a relatively painless Immigration and Customs set-up. Bravo Newark Airport!

Arrived to cold drizzle. Today is cold drizzle. Dark, gray, wey.

Cashed my damn check, paid phone bill and rent. All's right with the world. Kinda-sorta. Back to the job search.

Actually ended up speaking up at the last moment in London about some serious issues - got the usual frustrating, "why didn't you tell me yada-yada. I had no idea yada-yada." We'll see. More needs to be brought up and discussed. It will be.

On my way back home, I'm on my way home

The cab will be here in about 90 min to take me to Heathrow for my return flight. A nice time here but frustrating as we didn't settle the issues I came here to settle. So, I shall consider that an answer and act accordingly; not much choice otherwise I suppose.

I just keep thinking it's another case of "you don't know what you've got till it's lost" ...

Ah well. Ave atque vale, London and all that.