Unusual Fall

We seem to be having an unusually temperate fall this year.  I didn't think we'd see much by way of fall colors, but this tree is quite pleasing.

While I miss the colorful trees from my old home in Sylvania, Ohio, I don't miss raking the leaves.  That's the best thing about life in a condominium; the second best thing is not mowing the grass.

Ransomware Warning

There's a particularly nasty piece of ransomware in the wild just now.  Bad Rabbit lures victims in by pretending to be a ubiquitous Adobe Flash installer.  It then encrypts your files and demands ransom to decrypt them.  A good friend of mine who works for Culver City, CA, told me that the Culver City accounting department got hit with ransomware a while back, and ended up spending five or six times the amount of ransom demanded to fix their computer system and network.

So back up your system and don't take candy from strangers.

Here are two articles that explain Bad Rabbit and what it does.


What Is Bad Rabbit? Ransomware Paralyzes Train Stations, Airports and Media in Russia and Europe

U.S. Warns of "Bad Rabbit" Ransomware That Hit Computers in Europe

Again, your best protection is backing up your system.

In other news...

Item 1 of 2

Since our refuse wasn't collected by the sanitation engineers, I emailed 311@Columbus.gov and asked them the obvious question. Here's my email and their the response:

My email:
10/21/17

My address is 1868 Misty Way, Columbus, OH.  My trash was scheduled to be collected on Friday, 10/20/17, but was never picked up.  My neighbors have not had their trash collected either.

What is our next collection date?


Response:
10/23/17

Hello, Mr. Emery,

Thank you for contacting the 311 Service Center.  We apologize for the inconvenience. On your behalf, we have created 311 Service Request number 1710230392, which has been assigned to the Division of Refuse. Please leave your container at your collection point to be serviced within the next 1-3 business days.

You are welcome to follow the progress of your request at our website at: 311 SR Status.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please email or contact us at 614-645-3111, Monday through Friday between 7:00am and 6:00pm.

Regards,

311 Service Center/mb

 Item 2 of 2

Today's HOA bored board meeting was canceled due to circumstances beyond anyone's control.  The meeting has been rescheduled for 11:00 AM 10/30/17.  Please make a note of it.

Security Alert

I got this from another social media site and thought it was worth passing along.

From Officer Anthony Rogers, Columbus PD:

Suspicious Person

I have been advised that there has been several instances of a "well dressed black man" knocking on doors asking for money all hours of the day and night in the Knollwood Drive area.  I suggest that you don't open your door if you don't know/recognize the person knocking but do let the person know that you are home.

End Message

We have a No Soliciting of Any Kind sign at the entrance to our enclave, but in the past people have either ignored the sign or lacked the necessary skill to read it.  Should you get someone soliciting at your door, please call 911 and inform the dispatcher of the situation.

More Madness

On October 11th at approximately 1:00 AM I heard gun shots from the vicinity of the corner of East Livingston Avenue and McNaughten Road.  This time I counted 12 shots.  I think I'm going to start calling this trigger happy miscreant Two-Gun.  Judging from the cadence and the sound, I would guess it to be one shooter with two .38 revolvers.  This time he fired them simultaneously, one in each hand.

I didn't bother to call the police.

Midnight Madness

On October 7^th at 12:52 AM I heard six pistol shots from the vicinity of the bus stop at the corner of East Livingston Avenue and McNaughten Road.  Or, plainly speaking, in our side yard.

This isn't the first time I've heard shots fired from that area.  Some little miscreant has got himself a .38 revolver and likes to test fire it every so often, always around 1:00 AM.  I didn't bother calling the police - all they'll do is insist I get up and put in a personal appearance.  Who needs that aggravation?  Besides, by the time the police arrive, the midnight gunslinger will be long gone.

If anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears.