Hacked

A few days ago, I got a link in Messenger with the message, “it’s you in the video” from a cousin. Cousin’s photo was the same as on his Facebook site, so I thought it might just be something Cousin found interesting. I replied that the link required a login or starting an account and didn’t want to do either.

A day or so later, I got the same from another relative. This time there was the, “it’s you in the video” and what appeared to be a personal message something like, “How are you doing?” So, a reply was sent to Relative. The reply back from Relative had several errors, so I assumed, rightfully so, that the link came from the source that sent the fake message with Cousin’s picture.

Today, an immediate family member called saying a link had been sent saying it was from me. A quick investigation showed it was the same link I initially received from Cousin and Relative.

I changed my password, logged off, removed the FB app from my other devices, and logged back on with my new password.

Within minutes others were notifying me about the link allegedly sent by me. They, of course, know my grammar habits and that I rarely send a link to anything unless we’ve discussed a topic.

Investigation showed that everyone I’ve messaged or to whom I’ve replied in Messenger received the same “it’s you in the video” and the link as if I’d actually sent it.

It took over an hour to notify those who I knew received the fake message.

I sent, “Do not, DO NOT, respond to any messenger link that says it’s from me. I’ve been hacked – If you did respond, change your password now. Log off and start over with your new password.”

As my octogenarianism continues, my mind wanders as I wonder.
Or could it be that my mind wonders as I wander?
…

Pears

It is a fact that I have opinions – or is it?

So, then, what happened when a widowed woman with seven children was given two bushels of pears? Well not just pears, but any spoilable fruit or vegetable. It takes little imagination to determine that the gift could not be eaten before most of it rotted away.

Our cellar had shelves full of gray beans¹Boiled for 20 minutes then hot water bathed for at least 30 minutes to prevent botulism, thus the color change., manila folder color peaches, similar color corn, kind of pink crabapples, and other odd color stuff.²I’m sure it was all eatable because we survived.

So, then, how did the stuff get there?

Yup! Home canning.

So, then, what about the color of the stuff?

Well that is how this octogenarian remembers them.

I wasn’t gifted more pears. Our tree just produced a bunch of fruit. So, then, bunch applies more to the grapes to be picked next, but I’m sure you get the picture.

I’ve made juice before, but there is more this year.

Oh snap! I got off track!

So, then, I was going to make a point about knowing now why Mother was so tired after a day of canning.

As my octogenarianism continues, my mind wanders as I wonder.
Or could it be that my mind wonders as I wander?
…

Prolix

It is a fact that I have opinions – or is it?

Someone suggested that on occasion, that is now and then, I have a tendency to over word simple statements primarily in my writing of those simple statements.

So, in reference to the remark about my prolixity, my long-windedness is a covert result of my boyhood initiation of forced critical subsystem development which presented extremely interesting challenges to the grammatical design, based on required word-count requirement notions.

Get it?

I did not!

Confusion overcame me.

As my octogenarianism continues, my mind wanders as I wonder.
Or could it be that my mind wonders as I wander?
…

Cognoscenti

It is a fact that I have opinions – or is it?

Before blogging was a thing to do, I wrote opinion papers related to nearly any issue of the day, but none were submitted for publication. Most of those papers were dumped years ago, but some were still on floppy disks I found during a move.

In 1986, I wrote: I am agitated again! Enough is enough! I just heard another mass media ‘expert’ say, in effect, that if the American education system does not improve and start to challenge the native intellect of students, their learning will continue to fall behind the level attained by students in other industrialized nations.

Education system and teacher bashing by politicians and others with highly visible forums is popular.

Was my preceding sentence an opinion or was it a fact?

Did masses of American students fail?

Was the ‘expert’ trying to say his abilities came from a better system? Was that cognoscenti educated in another country? Was…

Considering the average age of entering school in 1986 was 6, those who became newscasters, doctors, nurses, lawyers, teachers, pilots, mechanics, and other citizens contributing to our wellbeing are now 40. Granted, some fell by the wayside. But how did the American education system fail the majority?

Aren’t mass media education ‘experts’ part of that majority?

Sometimes I think, If there isn’t a real issue, one will be peddled to start a banter which results in nothing.

As my octogenarianism continues, my mind wanders as I wonder.
Or could it be that my mind wonders as I wander?

I
I

Murder She Wrote was one of the TV shows I enjoyed, and I still watch re-runs of Midsomer Murders.

The other day I saw several crows involved in a murder. The murder was of crows, not by crows. The murder alerted me to a body under the flowering quince outside my window. I felt no need to call on the investigative skills of Jessica Fletcher, Tom Barnaby, or his cousin John Barnaby to solve the murder. Limited research tells me two crows are not a murder. But there were three on the lawn, two of which were near the murdered.

I did have questions. Was the victim killed where the crows found it and alerted me or did the killing take place elsewhere and the body dragged to under the bush? Was the victim injured and made its way to where it died? Was the deadly assault targeted or random?

I checked my Ring doorbell history and there was no record of motion. But the quince bush could have blocked detection of the killing or dragging of the victim. I don’t know of human witnesses, so the culprit is still at large.

Crows seem to have a mind of their own. By most definitions, the mind is the conscious product of firing neurons. At least one study found that crows know what they know and can ponder the content of their own minds, a manifestation of higher intelligence and analytical thought long believed the sole province of humans and a few other higher mammals.
My observations are not scientific, but

Crows seem to be like cats – no one can tell them what to do.
Crows seem to be like dogs – they claim territory and loudly let other beings know when that territory is being approached.
Crows seem to be like sharks – they’ll eat anything.
Crows seem to be like fraternity brothers or sorority sisters – they stick together.
Crows seem to have military like organization of duties – one appears to stand apart as if on sentry duty while the other two eat – rotation of duty seems almost as if scheduled.
Crows seem to be quite assertive, even to the level of aggressive bullying.
Crows don’t usually kill a squirrel or other small animal except in defense of on their own kind.

I envisioned a scenario: a murder chased the victim into the street as a vehicle approached. The rabbit was injured, then dragged itself to the murder’s feeding station.

As my octogenarianism continues, my mind wanders as I wonder.
Or could it be that my mind wonders as I wander?
It is a fact that I have opinions – or is it?

I

Category: Blog

Hacked

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Pears

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Prolix

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Cognoscenti

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Murder

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