Personal

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Hijacked!

Earlier this evening, I became aware that my main site, uskeba.ca, had been hijacked by a hacker. There was a taunting message on the front page that made me sick with dread. I quickly tried to log into my control panel to discover that the password had been changed. The hackers had full access to everything under uskeba.ca, including my blogs and my email! Fortunately, the only obvious damage at that point was to uskeba.ca and its WordPress installation.

First order of business was to regain control. I emailed my webhost who responded surprisingly quickly (even though it felt like AGES). They reset my cPanel password and told me that the hackers got in through an old version of WordPress. I update the WordPress installations for my blogs immediately, but I rarely think to do so on the static sites.

The new password allowed me to get back in and make an inventory of the damage. I started by changing every single password–all of my email accounts, all of my WordPress installations, the cPanel, FTP, everything. The uskeba.ca WordPress installation had been compromised, so I scrapped it entirely and started from scratch (which was a nice reminder that I really need to work on make it look a little more professional).

The next thing I did was go through folders under uskeba.ca to delete anything that looked suspicious. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of files, but a list of recently access files provided by webhost provided breadcrumbs as to where I should search. I found several folders I could not delete, so I sent the list to my webhost who deleted them. Talk about stellar support! If you need good webhosting with solid support, you can’t go wrong with 100 Megs Web Hosting. I’ve been with them for years.

Finally, I made sure that all my WordPress installations were updated to the most current version.

I think/hope I’ve done everything needed. What a night!

It is about three hours past my bedtime. Thankfully, I’m not working tomorrow.

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Five Jobs Everyone In the World Should Have At Some Point

My guilty pleasure over coffee every morning is to see what’s new at cracked.com. This morning’s article about Five Jobs Everyone In the World Should Have At Some Point made me reflect on my own job path and how my various work experiences have shaped who I am today.

#5 on their list is waiting tables

I’ve never done that, but I have worked extensively in the customer service world, both in retail and in hospitality. I agree with the article that serving others tells you a lot about yourself and can influence how you treat others.

#4 is something with kids

My baby-sitting career lasted from about age eight to about age 20 and then I said, never again! But, again, I agree with the article that working with kids gave me a sense of being an adult and of being responsible. I wasn’t just watching kids for an evening. It could be for a stretch of a couple of weeks. I also supervised mentally handicapped adults during this period of my life, again for weeks at a stretch, while being responsible for the full running of the household. I felt more like an adult during those years than I have since.

#3 is tech support of any kind

I wore many hats during my first position in the Federal government, and one of them was telecom officer. I was responsible for getting phones hooked up, walking people through the set up of personal options, and troubleshooting problems. I was also the conference room scheduler who had to know how all the equipment worked, from the conference call telephones to the projectors. Yeah, I certainly learned how to deal patiently with people who don’t speak the same language as me.

#2 is something where you have power

I’ve had roles with weak power in the past, but nothing like my current position. I have the full weight of the Alberta tenancy act behind me in dealing with deadbeats and jerks. I decide if someone is going to get an apartment or not, if I’m going to be patient with late rent or evict them, let them have the cat, put up with their party, etc. I’ve never had a job like this before and I am shocked to discover that I am good at it. The comment I get from all my tenants, even those I have to be strict with, is that I’m the best manager they’ve had. I’ve discovered that I know how to use power positively and that I can command respect. This job has been transformative and I am truly grateful for the experience.

#1 is something mindless/labour intensive

I experienced this at the nursery in Oliver. My mind is too active for this kind of work, but I am glad to know that I can do it, that I can put in an almost relentless eight-hour day of bending and lifting or assembling cardboard boxes, one where there is no doubt that I have earned my supper.

I think that there is one job missing from this list, or, rather, there should be a sixth. Everyone should try working for themselves for a while. By doing so, I’ve discovered that I am actually a very disciplined person.

Now, would you believe that this post only covers about half of the jobs I’ve had? 😀

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Looking Back Fifteen Years

As 2011 slowly winds down, I can’t help but marvel that it has been 15 years since 1996, which was one of the most important years of my life.

It was in 1996 that I graduated from high school, took my first solo trip (to Quebec City), started college, represented Canada at an environmental youth summit in Colorado after being invited by Dr. Jane Goodall, and traveled to New York City (with my awesomely named history professor Dr. Jones!).

Seventeen was a great year for me!

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Tribalism

I had a lot of time to think on the drive into BC this weekend, mostly about the slew of birth, wedding, pregnancy, and new house announcements streaming from my loved ones in my old life.

It really hit me how little I have in common with these people any more. Their milestones are insignificant in my life and they certainly don’t understand mine. There’s no point posting “I got a solar panel!” to Facebook, for example, because they just wouldn’t get how significant that is to my life. My milestones are so different–achieving electrical independence, financing my life on the road without rely on outside work, mastering mountain driving, backing into a tight spot with crunching anything…

For the first 29 years of my life, I felt like an outsider, like the background player on a popular sitcom. I just never belonged with anyone or anywhere and I dreams of traveling and somehow stumbling on my ‘tribe.’ On my Friday afternoon drive, it hit me that this dream came to fruition! I have met people in the last three years I would most likely have never met, much less connected with, in any other context. I have found kindred spirits in Donna and Ken, Sarah, Jody and Gary, Croft and Norma, westerner by choice, Les, the Sands, and a number of other RVers and nomads, the list being too long to enumerate here (and I would be afraid to omit someone!).

These people might not be part of my daily life, but we can come together at any point and pick up where we left off without having to explain our milestones or our choices. We all understand the need to seek the next horizon, to find fulfillment in a foreign sunset, to experience how others live. We might not all live the same way or have the exact same values but we don’t need to explain ourselves to each other. We are a community bound by common understanding rather than roots.

I had no idea on that potluck afternoon of November 4th, 2008 that the neighbour who was just 10 years old than me and her wonderful husband would become such amazing friends, that I would enter their rig like it was mine, babysit their pup, or help myself to a beer before stretching out on their couch.

And I bet Jody had no idea what she was getting into the day she fired off an email inviting me to stay in her and her husband’s back yard this summer! With her and Gary it was ‘right’ from the start. I have always felt welcome and safe in their home, as though we have known each other forever.

We never know who will be the special people in our lives, those who won’t just pass through but rather stick. I miss and love my friends and family from my old life. I am always happy to connect and forever sad that our bond has eroded so much. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m no longer on the outside looking in because I have found my tribe at last.

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I Love This Road

I have a couple of blog posts to do about my weekend’s travels, but first I have to share the new Travels With Miranda anthem, Emerson Drive’s “I Love This Road.”

It started playing as I crossed over into the Rockies and I could not have written a more perfect song about my life right now. Lyrics are below!

Emerson Drive — I Love This Road

Well there’s a long long stretch of highway
Here in front of me
It just seems to keep on winding
As far as I can see
Sometimes these wrong turns are sweet mysteries
Sometimes they take us where we’re meant to be
I love this feeling of freedom running through my veins
Been too long at the crossroads
waiting for the light to change
Even if it takes forever and I never find out where it goes
Heaven knows
I love this road
Well these days become a lifetime
It happens way too fast
And you miss what’s ’round the corner
If you just keep looking back
Sometimes it feels like you can’t find your way
Sometimes all you have to go on is faith
Wind at my back and the sun on my shoulders
Pushing me moving me a little bit closer
Sometime a little trust is just enough to take you there