So, I picked up this really nasty bastard Trojan called Rapid Antivirus. This has been one heck of a hard piece of work to beat and I've been doing work on it daily since last Tuesday.

First the thing pops up a few porn links on your desktop which upon deletion, instantaneously reappear. They're also setup such that they can't be rename or the destination link altered. After that, it brings up a popup on the task bar telling you that your computer has been infected either with itself or with other fake items. It dresses in Windows Defender getup to try and look legit. Paying attention to this sucker causes it to install the full blown program which then asks you to hand over money to remove itself. You can "uninstall" but it isn't really gone and if ignore continues to create error messages about viruses and other fake safety concerns. It even generates a false blue screen of death and pretends to shut your computer down.

But it gets better. Rapid antivirus then hijacks your browser. In the full blown hijack mode it basically prevents you from going to most websites, either redirecting you to something different somewhere within where you'd like to go or otherwise redirecting to a blog entitled "Why I hate Spyware". The makers of this little beast have done some research into the methods which are most commonly used to wipe out their little Trojan and extended its functionality such that it can prevent the two programs that will find and kill it from installing or running on the computer. Of course, the other eight programs I used didn't quite remove the whole thing.

I had managed to chop it down a fair bit. No registry entries (or so I thought), no porn links, no task bar annoyances, no error messages, no false blue screen of death and a semi functional browser. The semi functional bit was the last clue. I still couldn't access the Malwarebytes website along with anything that seemed to have a definitive answer to solving the problem and a few other randoms such as neopets (WHY?). That and when I did get my hands on a copy of Malwarebytes install program through other sources, it wouldn't open.

Fortunately, a clue from one site I did have access to and a little bit of the know how meant I could get it to work and sure enough, a stack load of DLLs and another two registry entries (one to kill my active desktop and the other to keep itself alive) were found and destroyed!

My goodness... the run around has been awesome. I've been installing all sorts of programs and looking at processes, active X, registry entries, combing dlls and jumping in and out of safe mode. Malwarebytes in safe mode was the absolute last line before a format and clean install of windows.

I may still do that anyway to clear out all the extraneous matter on the computer and speed her up but I didn't want to do that without first beating the virus. I'd done it once before but it was nowhere near this kind of drama! However, I can finally claim VICTORY!

In the meantime, I've got an infected callus on my hand (WTF?), I'm back at work and enjoying it, Christmas is tomorrow, my cousin found me on facebook, we got awesome cutlery from my sister's family for Christmas & a sandwich iron from mum & dad, I can now deadlift 80kg, got my interval timer & some interesting DVDs from ebay, got my favourite organiser diary for Christmas, finally used up the last of the Matrix Orange Cream and used our dryer for the first time!

Last few days before heading back to work again. Think I'm about ready to do that for the sake of getting into a pattern and being able to properly clamp down on the diet. Still having difficulty with the idea of launching straight back into DDNN configuration for goodness knows how many weeks. I'm sure I will get there and survive as in the past.

It is about time also to switch from house mode to wedding mode. I am rapidly running out of time to get things finalised and take care of those smaller details. If I'm not careful it will disappear all the quickly! Soon to be... Mrs...

Today had an absolutely killer kettlebell session. My legs are sore already and I am somewhat fearful of what tomorrow will bring. All high intensity interval work. I did pretty well all round but my technique tends to be less than desirable when I get too fatigued. Felt really good by the end though. Will have to start writing this stuff down in a special book so I can put my own combinations together.

Had been intending to run in the morning but I suspect that I may not be able to do that if my legs are too sore. Something to assess in the morning...

He's left to play with mates for the afternoon/night. I feel instantaneously lonely...

"What it all comes down to. Is that everything's gonna be fine fine fine."

It has only taken me a month to work it out but at least I got there in the end. I guess the next bit is working out what to do about it.

We went out to a friend's 30th last night in the Stocks & Bonds of the Bank Vault Lounge. Really great night munching wood fired pizzas and mudcake, drinking cocktails and playing pool. Got home feeling painfully overfull but happy. :-)

Today, not feeling quite so brilliant. More from overeating than anything else. Only ended up having three and a half cocktails all up. I tried for a second Honey Bear but filled up on milk too quickly and my stomach refused to process any further. Ah well! Should be doing exercise or something but not in any mood or physical state that will allow for a happy performance. So, it will be fresh fruit and veg today with lots of water and sleep. Start again on Sunday and prepare for a return to work.

I think I am about ready to get into some kind of routine and hopefully, reach daily exhaustion providing sleep.

Wanted to add a little more to what I started but I haven't got my thoughts that well organised yet. Perhaps it all just didn't matter anyway. Trapped is the word of the day, brought to you by the dancing parabolas. (See link on lower right hand side).

We have new matching bedside tables. Better than a pile of books I say! Also got a hedge clipper, rake and a few other bits and pieces as part of combined birthday/housewarming gift. :-)

Been a hot and stinky day but a good one all round.

Got back into the interval training this morning and fortunately, everything went well this time. Went for a cold shake and didn't wait quite so long before hitting the treadmill. Finished up with a small service of silicone spray and now she runs whisper quiet! Didn't realise how much of a difference it would make.

Would have liked to do kata or kettlebells this morning but had a little too much to sort out before my mother in-law to-be came around. The morning exercise left me feeling much better today and despite feeling incredibly sore was keen to get on with the extra. Oh well. That will have to be Friday given no karate.

Out for dinner tonight at Vino's. Should be nice! :-)

Been feeling absolutely wrecked all day. Had intended to get up, do cardio and practise my kettlebells. No such luck. Went back to sleep. Felt foggy all day. Not sick. Just foggy and lacking in energy. Suspect I might have one of those virus things again... :-S

Was in a distinctly more placid mood today.

Went to karate tonight and issued myself the challenge of training in both classes. Success! It would be the second time when I was pushing really hard and normally at the point where there is nothing left but found I could keep going. So proud! Fitness has gone up a lot.

Worked hard and got a stack of great feedback - hooray! So, I've got a lot to practise now and over the holidays.

I like how sharp I am feeling but I am going to have to learn to relax a little. When I can do that everything will be even better.

Caught up with an old face from karate. It was like stepping back through time for the both of us. A lot has changed but a lot hasn't. :-)

I love how much I am enjoying karate. Just want it to keep up when I go back to work.

Oh and I am so pest controlling those stupid spiders tomorrow. Had enough of those webs popping up in a matter of hours so we can't walk safely around the perimeter of the house. Grrr...

That's all for tonight... Feeling great!

This is the truth. Up. Down. Up. Down. Happy. Monster. Happy. Monster. Tired. Monster. Tired. Happy. MONSTER. WTF??

Today, no one likes me. That's right. No one. Not even me.

I like Reflex Instant Whey. $155 for 4.4kg Best value of any protein powder I can get my hands on.. Tastes great too without too much random other stuff. Love that I can have it with water, mix it up 15 minutes before I start, train very hard and never feel like vomiting.

Bought a new flavour the night before last. We were going to stick with choc mint but they only had vanilla, strawberry or banana. Got a discount from buying lots at the GEN store at the gym. Not hard to do when protein costs that much in bulk. Anyhow, the guy there was sure that the strawberry had a very natural flavour and a lot of people liked it. He did also tell me that Matrix in orange cream flavour was good. Didn't really like that in water much. But fortunately, it is really quite tasty and a natural flavour indeed. Not too sweet and reminds me of strawberry paddle pop. Goes really well in the bulk natural Bornhoffen yoghurt that I get which will be good when the Matrix runs out. The choc mint didn't work in yoghurt. Oddly, the strawberry actually tastes the best in room temp water rather than cold.

Anyway, nothing more to add. Slow release Stilnox is not that much better than the ordinary stuff. I'm going to go distract myself with something useless.

Monster.

Sometimes it amazes me how life can be the same for so long and then just change in the blink of an eye...

Dojo got canned. Apparently, the powers that be have decided to finish us up a week early and then kill the second class next year. A decision which just cost a few black belts and an instructor. Not sure what to think or feel...

Aside from this, had a really good time last night. Things were working well and now that a few others have graded I get to play with my grade katas a bit more.

This morning had a change of plans and run through Thursday's kettlebell circuit with a few extra bits. Man makers were still killers but easier this time around. I really enjoy working with the kettlebells. They are versatile and I feel kind of macho. :-)

Speaking of macho... discovered while demonstrating how I can't do chin ups that I actually can! Not many, one or two good ones but that is an improvement on a couple weeks ago. I'm beginning to actually feel strong now!

Also, beginning to think that I might be seeing some rapid improvements in strength. Not sure if that is a product of the Andro Jack, ZMA & Methoxsyn or the addition of kettlebells or both. Starting to break out a bit which makes me think the Andro Jack is stirring as I've not had that happen quite like this since I was in high school. Will need to maintain observation.

Really enjoying karate at the moment. :-) Been spending some time in front of those DVDs trying to work out what the shoulders of GKR do so well. Starting to formulate an improvement plan of my own. Nothing like a bit of motivation!

Wow, feeling a tad bipolar today. One minute I'm high, the next I'm circling into a pit of self grrr...

Had a much better sleep last night but probably more out of sheer exhaustion. Still avoiding the Stilnox tablets and too afraid to try in case it mucks me up physically. I still have strong memories of being physically unable to keep up with the pace of pre-BB grading Nabil seminar. Was I really the most unfit person in the room of all the old and young etc? Probably good thing I didn't cause I'm sure I would have blamed this morning's performance on it.

I am beginning to suspect that I've amped things up a little quickly recently. My cardio absolutely sucked. Had a heck of a time getting to the end of my intervals. At the moment I can only attribute it to either fatigue or diet. I've pretty well returned to some kind of diet normality although not quite back measuring and planning in CalorieKing. This of course means tapering the carbs towards the end of the day to suit with activity levels. Although I get into the carbs in the morning before a work out, I am wondering if I am noticing a pattern...

Anyhow, got into my kettlebell homework after that and practised some swings, the windmill extensions and the bit where the kettlebell circles around the body. The circling bit was much better this time but it is definitely stressful on the arms! The faster the circle the harder I've got to work to keep my body still.

Opted out of cardio given training tonight. Figure tomorrow will be a rest day and then will have to consider Sunday. Would like to repeat Thursday's kettlebell session before next week but if I'm struggling from fatigue then I'd like get rested... What to do...

Today's title is brought to you by my home organisation efforts. :-)

I got my head down and cleaned up the garage. Again was feeling liberated because I not only shifted all the gym frames around by myself, I also reassembled the punching bag stand and hung the bag. Who needs men huh? So everything is now neat, tidy and organised with room for my car in case of hail.

Was also proud at my efforts on the bookcase. Worked out how to move the silver doodads with the aid of a wrench so that the shelves could sit a different height and fit the magazines and textbooks nicely.

I also consolidated his study clutter and the rest of his clothes in the spare room.

So, accomplished is how I am feeling today!

All that is left to do is organise pest control next week and relax before I head back to work and reorganise my life... yet again.

Barely had sleep last night. Fourth night in a row with these bizarro dreams and broken sleep. Apparently my subconscious is trying to communicate. Perhaps it should do that in language I can understand during daylight.

Mood has been all over the shop today and have swung between complete self loathing to the height of self confidence. Although appear to have stabilised with a bit of air conditioning and food.

Did some more kettlebell work this morning. I love these things! Finding it a heck of a lot easier to clean and rack them now. Starting to also feel much lighter. Revisited the windmills and now feeling much more confident with them after having a play on Sunday. Will probably repeat today's workout on Sunday and work on my specific homework tomorrow after intervals. Got to have a go at doing this exercise called the 'man maker'. I didn't think I was advanced enough for that yet, but as usual I was shown otherwise. Basically comprises of push up, bilateral renegade rows, burpee, clean, squat, press and repeat. Killer. But made it through 10 reps. Also learned how to do something else which I can't remember the name of other than it is an extension to the windmills. Found there is a surprising art to making circles with the kettlebell around the body. I have much to practise! I love just how much variety exists in training with kettlebells and just how easy, yet hard they are to use! I look forward to these sessions.

Tomorrow, I'm planning on some intervals, followed by kata and kettlebell practise. Been reviewing the kata DVDs. Yes, that music never gets old, particularly the twangy bits. See! (I'm sure whoever put this up is breaching some kind of copyright and will have GKR on their heads soon).



Anyway, the secrets of the universe hardly revealed themselves to me but I did pick up on a few bits and pieces to work on for the time being.

So, that be all for today.

Two entries in one day!? What is happening??!!! Nothing too exciting, just had share my achievement for the day.

I have officially acquired a new skill. Although at this stage my execution is not so skillful.

I got fed up with looking at the long grass and feeling like the street bogan so I taught myself how to use a lawn mower. For the large part, I managed to make the grass shorter and look much tidier. But this was not without my share of sweat, frustration, several stalls, lots of revving and a few choice words to mix it up. In the end, I was only really defeated by the stupid grass catcher which would not stay nicely attached to the machine no matter what I did with it. Unfortunately, I will have to consult him when he does get home as the instruction manual failed to shed any light on the reason for the failure.

Aside from the catcher, I found myself feeling quite liberated, despite not exactly approaching the job in the most economical way and occasionally forgetting all the requirements for starting the motor. Although, it is not something I wish to have to try and repeat in any great rush and not without a whipper snipper to conquer those edges.

I also dug out the little decorate rocks to clear the little wall hole and prevents termite infestation, used the secateurs to do the best makeshift hedge trim (bring on hedge shears), deposited ant sand into ant nest near wall hole and sprayed every bit of outdoors with Mortein Outdoor big killer stuff in an effort to control the rapidly breeding spider population until pest control.

Needless to say I'm feeling quite well accomplished and after a cold shower, am boycotting any further activity barring retrieval of the laundry and gis. :-)

Taking a break to blog up this morning. Feeling substantially better than I did when I first woke up. My sleep quality is still less than desirable at the moment. I had to mildly OD on Temaze in order to get a full night of sleep. The next day all I wanted to do was sleep and generally felt terrible. On the bright side, I am not waking up quite as frequently since that point.

Doctor has prescribed a slow realise version of Stilnox. Not exactly keen to get back into that stuff because I know I developed a tolerance quite easily and I seem to remember it not having great consequences physically. Although that may have been more related to fitness...

I am hoping to take a slightly more natural approach. A friend had recommended tribulus to me and after a bit of research, found myself in the realms sport supplementation. I went out to buy Andro Jack and came how with that plus a complimentary bottle of methoxsyn and ZMA. Although, how I am going to manage an empty stomach before sleep for the ZMA is something I am still trying to work out...

In theory the combination should improve sleep, increase energy and help to build lean muscle. Just starting with the recommended doses to begin with as I'm light and lacking the tonnes of muscle that the guy at the shop had! Can always work up from there. Just not keen to be downing half a bottle a day if I don't need to, especially when the big $$ is involved.

Anyhow, this morning's exercise incorporated the usual 20 min intervals with kata. Feeling sore and suffering a bit in terms of cardio today. Haven't quite recovered from kettlebells on Sunday and then did heavy resistance yesterday. Only did bench press and dead lifts yesterday but numerous sets of very light and then very heavy weight. Soreness...

I've tentatively decided that I'm going to have a stab at this nidan thing. WHY??? There is a challenge. I'm going to have to be good. :-D I'm going to have to train hard and be outstanding. I believe I can do that now. There is motivation and there is value in the end result. But a tentative decision because I need to see how things play out with work when holidays finish up. But I have some inspiration... a vote of confidence. From the greatest insult to the greatest compliment. I believe he is right. From here it is largely about my head space.

I need some sleep!

Found myself at the black belt grading for the first time in a while. It was an interesting show although three and half hours of sitting on a wooden seat and waiting an eternity while the shoulders discuss kata is not my idea of a good time.

Sensei Gavin appears to be genuinely interested in what is going on which makes a very positive change. However, as before, it would appear that unless attempting nidan or above (times apparently have changed) there is not the greatest deal of attention paid and your passage is pretty well guaranteed as long as still standing at the end.

The class generally appeared to be about working the basics so the combinations weren't overly complex, just repeated a multitude of times. I suspect there are a few people with some very sore arms today.

In terms of the higher grading attempts, it is good to see that there is no autopass and mediocrity will not be tolerated. Having said that, the judgement is balanced by age and other uncontrollable limitations.

I have found myself sucked back into the vortex of karate. Yes, GKR is a drug and I despite my best efforts at walking away, I am an addict. However, unlike before, my fitness and strength have greatly improved and it is far easier to achieve the performance I wish. Dare I say that I am actually finding enjoyment again, as much as to even look forward to my next class. The thought has entered my mind that perhaps I could try this nidan thing. Perhaps is would also be fair to say that it has been more than just a passing thought. However, I have reservations. I am not sure that I wish to go through all that stress and pressure. I am in a good place right now where I feel like I have room for cardio, kettlebells, weights, diet, work and even karate. There is a handy balance that exists there. I am not sure I want to beat myself around the head for the next six month or year or however long it is likely to take. I am also unsure as to how I may make such an achievement around work when it does resume. I guess something to play be ear for the moment...

In general, have been a tad on the snuffly side this morning although I don't actually feel sick. Decided against cardio this morning as my legs are quite sore from yesterday's kettlebell games. I went through and repeated the workout from Thursday with improvement, although I am still having some difficulty with the windmills. My left forearm is also quite significantly sore.

Will do a double tonight. No doubt it will contain contents of last night. But looking forward to it all the same. :-) Currently waiting on the delivery of our new dryer. Hooray for convenience. I should be cleaning up the garage but this stuff nose has put a block in my brain which has a rather negative impact on my general motivation. I did however, clean up my desk this morning, washing the blankets and towels as well as do the weeding. Those nasty little pebbles around the side look lovely but are going to have to go... That and I am not overly enjoying doing the duck and weave around the clothes line!

Anyhow, shall call it a day here!