My computer has a virus!

I have a lot of catching up to do on my blog, but my computer is down. I cannot log on to it. (I have been using Bob's computer.) I think mine is infected with a virus. All kinds of weird things are happening. Apparently my email is bouncing back some (but not all) incoming emails.

I cannot get past my sign on screen. The screen with choices for "Safe Mode," "Safe Mode with Networking," "Open Windows Normally," etc. will not let me log on using any of the choices. If I choose an option, I get the Windows XP screen, followed by 1/2 second of blue screen, then "Monitor Going to Sleep." My computer does not close down, but continues to cycle through the above-mentioned screens until I manually power off the tower.

The message I got on the blue screen one time it stopped long enough for me to read it was "UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME". As if I know what that means!


Tomorrow I plan to take my computer tower to Best Buy's Geek Squad for diagnosis and repair.

My hard drive is not backed up so all data and pictures could be lost if they cannot fix it. Geek Squad said they "think" they can save my data and pics. I sure hope so, I have years worth of pictures in my hard drive.


Last Saturday, Bob and I spent a couple of hours north of Reno at Animal Ark, a wildlife sanctuary for non-releasable wildlife. 

Normally Animal Ark is closed in winter, but they open on two weekends to let people enjoy the animals that are active in cold weather.

Gyrfalcon eating

Gyrfalcon

Gyrfalcon giving me his best pose.

The docent was doing a presentation on gyrfalcons when we got there, so we learned about this predatory bird that lives in cold northern climes. As they are heavier than peregrine falcons, they cannot go as fast so they come at their prey from a lower angle and pounce on it. The bird is so heavy that the prey is usually killed on impact. In the bird area, we also saw a barn owl, peregrine falcon, and great horned owl.

Wandering along the path, we saw a Siberian tiger (napping), kit fox, red fox, grey wolf, a bobcat, three cheetahs, and two mountain lions (also called cougar or puma). 

Bobcat

Grey wolf

Female cheetah

Female cheetah posing beautifully.

 

Male cheetah

Mountain lion/puma/cougar "cub."

The tortoises and bears were hibernating. 

Last week, I went to see "Big Miracle." This movie is based on a true story about three whales trapped in the Alaskan ice pack with only a small hole for them to come up and breathe through. The hole is five miles from the open ocean which means the whales cannot hold their breath long enough to get free and head south. The hole they've been using to come up for air is freezing over and the whales will die if they can't get to the ocean. I thought the movie was very well done and, according to the critics, was pretty accurate. I give it a B+.

Bob and I went to see "The Grey" with Liam Neeson. What an intense movie! I don't recommend it. Very depressing. And, as Bob said, there are lots of inconsistencies in the story. In the reviews I read, it said to stay until after all the credits were finished for a "bonus scene." We were the only ones in the theater who stayed. The "bonus scene" was about two seconds long but it showed the outcome.

Bob had President's Day off. To start his day, he walked 19 miles in five hours. It was 38 degrees outside for part of his walk...I think it warmed up to about 46 degrees by the time he was done.

Tomorrow afternoon I have my phone interview with amazon.com for the 2012 holiday season. No luck with job hunting at the current time. Looks like I will need to hit up the temporary agencies.

The kitties are adorable as ever. More pics when my computer gets fixed. 

Travel Bug out.