Had an urgent request yesterday morning to pop up to mates place at Sandford (200 k round trip) to debug a home business computer of a friend that had contracted a ransomeware virus which demanded that he pay a fee within 72 hours, or risk losing all his data.
Had a quick look at fuel.... mmm .. about half full, enough to get there and back with a little in reserve for town use until next pension day.
Pretty hot day, I travelled in shirtsleeeves. When I arrived I was directed to park my bike in the shade of the fuel tank on the property.
I was told that they had called the local Indian computer guru regarding repairs, and he demanded a higher fee than the ransomeware?
Got into the operating system of computer by opening it in safe mode, and fiddled the registry to prevent the virus from initiating, then run a series of bug removal programs to eradicate it. Hot lunch supplied by host, and was finally completed with repairs in a little under two hours. My time?... maybe ten or fifteen minutes of keyboard to install and run hunter-gatherers...
All done, and a good meal to boot. Headed out the highway for home arriving around 2.30 pm. When I opened the left storage container to collect my phone, I discovered a pack of ciggies and a thank you note stating that they topped my tank while the bike was parked.
I may not have a lot of money, but I am rich in friends. Life doesn't get much better than this.
