I got a surprise but unwanted “gift” from a trusted colleague via e-mail when my company laptop went tabs up this weekend with a bad case of malware. Thanks to a timely holiday backup to an external hard drive and after a truly epic battle- I finally overcame the nasties infecting my laptop. It should come as no surprise that this struggle would spawn yet another addiction analogy.
Click “Read more” to see how Donny Osmond help me keep my sanity during this trying time…
Starting yesterday it took a good day and a half before my old travel companion got a clean bill of health. During this trying time the stress was starting to wear on me as I waited through yet another long scan in safe mode. Similar to the trepidation one feels before a loved is released from the security of an in-house treatment center; almost wishing time would stop while everything was tame and controlled far away from the real world (hooked to the internet). The results were also all too familiar, starting with the misleading ads popping up and then a rapid progression to total relapse and the blue screen of death. I tried all sorts of treatment, including Norton, Malawarebyte, AdAware, and TrendMicro-but disappointment was never far away.
Last night I came close to losing my patience (sanity) as my task became more of an obsession, but thanks to the tools of a strong recovery program I was able to persevere and emerge victorious. Not only did I put the serenity prayer into practice but my wife’s Christmas present, a 42” high def LCD and media computer, kept me company through the ordeal. I watched the entire first season of Arrested Development on Hulu and almost busted a gut watching Donny Osmond in the rough cut of Weird Al’s White and Nerdy (yes that’s Donny in the embedded video). The laughter helped immensely, I guess you could say I let go and let Donny… and stayed sober and sane in the process.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
TDA,
Denial of the problem is the first hurdle to overcome. I.E. My PC is REALLY acting NORMALLY!! There’s nothing wrong!! Everything will be OK!!
People think I’m being anti social when I delete emails with attachments.
Sometimes the only fix for an infection is Format c:/
Don’t want to go through the trouble of data rescue and reinstall.
Now if I could only generate an excuse for not answering phone calls…
like this, I guess I had started to feel bulletproof… only to be led to the slaughter by one I trusted -LOL.
You know, even though you run this site and have talked about your addiction/alcohol history, sometimes I kind of forget that you struggle just like the rest of us.
I just wanted to thank you for this post because it was a simple reminder that we’re all human and we all struggle from time to time… even you
because I didn’t have any hair left to pull out! A very frustrating time- it was made even worse by the fact that I needed data off the laptop for a year kickoff presentation.