Cav's Place

It’s getting quite windy outside and it’s supposed to stay that way until tomorrow afternoon, so thinking I’d better write something now, just in case something will happen with a cable because of it. It’ll have to be a quick post, since I really don’t have much to put in it, and this is also why I’m moving this next bit which I had initially added to the previous post to it. It’s better this way anyway, since it obviously happened after I posted that previous post, even if that same evening.

Wednesday evening, I got to level 16, improved my equipment, got the spells and killed that dirachnid again, but found that to be about it; place the Crux and that’s the end, can’t go back and get more experience then. So, since at that point I could learn Dehex as well, decided to just grind the goblins appearing if I touch that statue for a long time, to get the just about 7500 experience points needed for level 17, to still use those eggs for 18. Would have been much nicer to be able to place the Crux, getting the 5000 for that, and then still go back to use the eggs, but that way it just took a while longer. At 165 for the three that show up when I touch it once, that meant 46 times, but after a more cautious start I realized, when I got back to it yesterday, that I could touch that statue several times and still have no problem, so it didn’t take nearly as long as I initially thought.
What was interesting was that some of those goblins were dropping some expensive stuff, so I actually enchanted and equipped one piece of gear that was dropped and made a few trips to sell the rest, since my inventory was filling otherwise. But I had anchored a portal right next to the one leading to the Citadel and all the stuff purchased there at the end gave the shopkeepers plenty of money, so it didn’t take long to sell and get back, and otherwise it was just a matter of touching the statue several times, killing everything, grabbing what was dropped, going out, resting, and going back to repeat. So it wasn’t long after I woke up yesterday that I was at level 17, then used the eggs to get to 18, and then finished the game for good, on purpose, not accidentally, while trying to see what was left, as I had done the previous evening.
I started Eschalon on March 6, 2017, but after that, according to the dates of the saves, I apparently played until April 16, then made an attempt to get back to it on May 10 but only made a few steps, then on May 19 I advanced in the main quest but immediately stopped again, and then I only got back to it on January 30 this year. So I won’t be writing a review for it, since it’d be too hard to write a proper one after that break of more than a year and a half, and getting back to it close to the end, my current impressions therefore only being about the end. Plus, it already has three on MobyGames and, while I did find it nice enough, quite enjoyable much of the time, it’s not a game I particularly want to write more about. Do find the issue with the trainers and skill books very annoying though, needing to check a guide to know which skills have trainers and/or books and hold off using skill points or reading the book until you use the trainer to get a skill that has one to five, saving seven skill points in the process, or hold off using skill points to get a skill that has no trainer but has a book until you find and read the book, even if this admittedly just saves one skill point.

Otherwise, yesterday I managed to do the 100 squats in 2:47. But to stick to the topic of gaming, I also had another look into Might and Magic II, checking various sources, and confirmed that you can indeed still only save at inns, even if there seem to be more of them in cities, so I came to a final decision to not give it a chance at all. This was what made me abandon the first one without advancing much and there was no point to try the second if that issue remained, even if it seems much better otherwise. So I guess my trip back through that age of gaming will leave the ’80s behind and skip to the third game, which I may even try this year. Didn’t mean to at first, intending to either try the second or, as I eventually did, decide against even doing that much, and not think about the third at all this year, but now I do find myself thinking of it… Worry I’ll be too frustrated and disappointed though, because otherwise I’d have probably installed it already.

The thing is that I find myself wanting to play something else now, and probably not getting back to Neverwinter Nights: Kingmaker or Lords of Xulima, so I’m wondering what else to install. Do have King of Dragon Pass, Quest for Infamy and Serpent in the Staglands installed as well, but Quest for Infamy is definitely out of the question, since I’m still waiting for version 2.0, if it’ll ever get released, don’t feel like starting Serpent in the Staglands, and restarting King of Dragon Pass yet again, only to almost certainly fail badly yet again, seems completely out of the question. So I ended up playing a couple more games in Epic Pinball last evening, this being the other game that’s installed, just to pass a bit more time in some sort of game. But, yes, I’m mainly wondering what else to install and start. Would perhaps be a good idea to use this mood to try to push through Kingmaker, to at least finish that main campaign from that bundle, but the risk of quickly giving up again and then not wanting to play games for months again seems too high.

This week’s run was Monday, and it marked the first time I ran more than ten kilometers since the marathon, back in October, so it’s been just over four months. But with less than three left until this year’s half marathon, I have to slowly start preparing, so I went for 16 kilometers and did well enough, the time of 1:18:08 being the third fastest so far over this distance. Sector times were 4:18, 5:12, 5:56, 4:30, 5:01, 5:51, 4:36, 5:10, 6:01, 4:39, 5:09, 6:02, 4:36, 5:13 and 5:54, making for lap times of 15:26, 15:22, 15:47, 15:50 and 15:43. Two fast laps and then three slower ones, but all five under 16 minutes, though I did need to push during the last two, since my body wasn’t used to this distance anymore, which is also why I didn’t aim for such a time. Actually just meant to stay under 1:20, or perhaps 1:19:30, but after the first sector I started thinking of trying to cover the first three laps in a time which would be normal for ten kilometers, which I just barely managed, since I’d have needed a 1:54 final sector to stay under 48:30, and then at first meant to allow myself to go up to 16:30 on the last two laps, yet then started pushing again and decided to aim to stay under 16 per lap and under 1:18:30 overall, which I managed by quite some margin.
It was sunny, but a bit windy and with a reported temperature of 12-13°C, so it was rather hard to decide whether to take my jacket too or not, but eventually decided to go in just my t-shirt. There were actually a few areas where the wind was a bit of an issue, but there were also a fair number of people to go around, so I should have quite clearly been able to get under 1:18 on a clear track. There were two moments that were more notable from this point of view on sector two of lap three, made even more obvious by the fact that they were seconds apart. At first I saw a guy coming from the opposite direction who was walking with somebody else but seemed to pay attention to me as I approached, yet even though I held the inside line, so it wasn’t an issue of doing the awkward dance, and it didn’t seem like he wanted to block me on purpose, he suddenly stepped that way as well just as I was about to pass him, blocking my way for a moment before moving the other way to let me through. And then, just a little bit later, a worker was pulling something from the back of a maintenance truck and everyone suddenly cleared that area and formed a bit of a wall in front of me, since I was just about to pass that truck.
My knees started hurting a bit once again, that left side of the left one and the front part of the right, from the third sector of lap four, but it was more like a faint warning, more like something I had to pay attention to in order to notice, not in order to manage. On the other hand, had felt just before starting to run that a toenail was jabbing the toe next to it, but there was nothing to do about it at that point, so I just ran like that and then saw the blood on my sock when I took my shoes off after getting back. I’m sure there’s some in the shoe too, but all the way at the tip, so can’t see it if I try to look inside and it didn’t seep through.

After the run, I pretty much just changed and went to Carrefour and Kaufland for a few things, not even taking the recyclables to drop off on the way. At first meant to be really fast and maybe even be back by 7 PM, but had set the TV tuner’s software to record for one hour, giving myself time until 8 PM… And finding that it wasn’t enough even so. Would have been, barely, if I wouldn’t have forgotten something I meant to get for dad from Kaufland, but since I did, I dashed back inside and lost a few more minutes, which meant that even though I pushed as hard as I could on the way back, despite carrying over 12 kg, I still was a few minutes late. But it worked out in the end, and I caught up yesterday.
What was more annoying was Micky getting in my room again later, after I showered. Sat on the bed to cut my toenails, positioning myself so that the clippings fell on my running pants, so I then went out with the clippings in one hand and the pants in the other, to shake off any tiny pieces that may be left on them, and then didn’t put the pants back and close the door first, so the door was left ajar for the very few seconds it took me to go to the kitchen and throw away those clippings. Well, even though I didn’t see her around when I got out of my room, those seconds were enough for Micky to come from wherever she was and dash in, since when I got back she was, of course, right behind the computer again, picking her way through the cables, and squeezing herself right back there if I moved towards her at all. She had a look the other way as well, behind the UPS, but decided against it, staying behind the computer and making me spend a few minutes at first slowly approaching, then getting under the desk and trying to carefully drive her out on the other side and block her way back, until she decided to lie down next to the desk and I could just manage to reach around and grab her. Was quite angry at her after that, and didn’t let her stay with me in the kitchen either when I ate that night because of it.

Otherwise, should have finished Eschalon by now, but I’m yet to do so. The first reason is that Wednesday evening dad suddenly sent me a script to translate, 130 pages, saying he needed it done by Friday evening, since he’ll have to study it Saturday… There was no way I was going to manage that, as I had just done 14 pages in some three hours by the time I went to bed then, but I did get a bit faster Thursday, getting to 50 pages before going to bed, and then the thought of checking the library for the DVD with the movie in question struck me as I was sitting on the toilet after waking up the next day. Since I found it and have a library pass, I asked if he wanted it that way, since the subtitles would definitely offer the official translation of anything spoken, which may not necessarily be the case for something found on-line, and when he said yes I went to grab it, which allowed me to just translate descriptions from then on. When he watched the movie, he noticed that it doesn’t completely follow the script, so putting the two together didn’t quite give him the entire translation, but it was good enough for what he needed and doing it that way allowed me to get close to page 100 before going to bed that day and finish Saturday evening, so he could go through the whole thing then.

Since I mentioned getting that DVD, I actually didn’t have to say a word to do so. Just went to the closest location listed as having it, which is also the one that specializes in such content, did mumble a greeting to the two people working there when I went in, but was otherwise allowed to search on the shelves without either of them asking whether I needed help. Yet at least one kept her eyes on me, and came to stand behind me, still silent, when I picked that one up and looked inside the case, so I just handed it to her, she went to the computer, scanned it and my pass, told me when it was due and I walked out.
After that, considered going to the Carrefour from that area, to look for a kind of cat food which is on sale there now and which I hadn’t found at the location I usually go to before, but dad had asked when I woke up that day whether I’ll go somewhere to get some other kind, which we were out of, and I said I wasn’t going to Auchan, where that kind’s cheaper, so I didn’t want to have to explain why I took the time to look for the kind we didn’t actually need just then and not that other one… And then also realized I could just have the time to get to Auchan after all, since I had the metro card, so I did that, got what was needed for the cats, also found that the bread I want to get was discounted and could also be picked up directly, without needing to ask, so I bought several, and then also some cheap apples and a couple of other things. And I could still safely catch the free bus that got me back here right on time for what should have been the start of ski jumping. The start of the round was delayed for a bit though, so I was even safer than I thought I’d be.

And to return to Eschalon, I could finally get back to it Sunday night, or I guess closer to Monday morning, and I actually killed that wizard and the dirachnid he turns into, but I didn’t mean to do that and got back to the save made before. Actually ran out both before and after fighting the wizard himself, taking out the summoned giant arachnids first, meaning to get the stuff I’ll need for later, deciding to go back and see what fighting him means, then deciding to see how the dirachnid will kill me, and finding that it didn’t even though I didn’t try too hard. However, I got back to the save made after killing just the giant arachnids because I just need a little more experience to get to level 16 and can use that statue to get a few more enemies to kill, at the cost of a curse I’ll need to pay to remove, and I mean to use the points I’ll get then to allow myself to learn any spell I can find and improve my gear as much as possible, just to see how good the character can become, and then use those eggs to level up again. Or in fact I mean to see whether there’s any more experience left to get and whether I may get myself to 17 without the eggs, and then use those for 18, if possible. Not that any of it is needed, of course, but just because I always want to have the best possible character. So last night I went around that place to get the treasure, then quickly killed the wizard again, then ran out again, leaving the dirachnid behind, and now I’ll be checking shops and putting some of the money gathered over the course of the game to use.

As for the computer, Wednesday I installed the Windows updates, including that fix from January for an issue which shouldn’t affect me anyway, and of course I couldn’t log on again, so needed to start in safe mode again and disable Emsisoft Anti-Malware, though just changing that setting to make it not start on startup also seemed to work that one time. Either way, when I tested it after rebooting, I saw that the file guard didn’t seem to work, and admittedly I hadn’t tested it on this version, so no idea whether that problem already existed or not, but at first I assumed it was caused by starting with it disabled and then allowing it to run again, so I restored from that December 22 backup one more time, to allow me to install the Windows updates again and then reboot normally before updating it as well. And since I assumed the issue had been caused by stopping it from running, I didn’t test again right after that reboot to see whether the updates caused it to fail in some way, so I was just left without that active protection and no idea why, because the support guy says it was tested and should work. There is something odd with the driver version though, but he said he’s not sure whether that’s right or not.
What’s odd is that I rebooted again the next day and just changing that setting didn’t work anymore, there was no way to log on unless I disabled the service, so no idea how come it was enough the first time. And, of course, still no file guard, so I really need to look for something else if this doesn’t get fixed, and at the moment there seems to be no chance of a fix and things are only getting worse. And in addition to that, after installing the Windows updates I have an instance of WmiPrvSE.exe that keeps running, as a network service, which frequently uses 1-2% of the CPU and definitely wasn’t there before. Wonder if it’s because of that fix, which I wonder why I installed, since I didn’t need it, and now since I overwrote that December 22 backup image with the one made after installing the Windows updates and before updating Emsisoft Anti-Malware, I can’t go back either. Should uninstall that fix and the February security-only update and see if that gets rid of that process, and if it does then reinstall just the February update and see if it comes back, but not going to reboot again too soon. Something’s definitely messed up, and it just keeps getting worse.

Had something thrown on me and couldn’t find the time to post so far, so I’m late with this and everything that was to say has already been said a whole lot better in a whole lot of other places, but I still have to at least make a little post now that it’s official that Opportunity‘s mission has come to an end. Of course, it was quite clear that this was coming for quite some time, the conditions worsening and therefore the chances of the rover communicating again if it hadn’t done so when they were as good as they’re going to get for a long time to come being almost zero, but I must say I was a bit surprised to see that announcement when I did, less than three weeks after the one about a new strategy meant to attempt to elicit a response. Was very much aware that those were the final efforts and the chances of success were extremely low, but did expect them to try for another month or two since they did decide to try some new things. Then again, also expected them to want to reach over 1000 recovery commands sent and then stop, which I gather did happen.

So… Goodbye, little rover. You left a large mark, and on top of the discoveries made, you inspired people and likely helped usher forward other current and future missions, and at least somewhat lessened the poor state of space exploration. We’re nowhere near where we should be, in this field and so many others, the difference between what could and likely should be done and what is being done constantly increasing, but it would be even worse without you and your success and unbelievable longevity. I can only hope that you will get the recognition you deserve in the future, and that when humans will set foot on Mars, if not even before, thanks to other robotic explorers, you will be retrieved, cleaned, fixed up as much as possible without changing who you are, and enjoy a proper and honorable retirement.

And yes, I’m quite aware I’m talking about, and to, a machine, and should in fact thank the team for all these things, but I did grow to rather care for that little rover… And there is also the fact that she used solar power while Curiosity and the Mars 2020 rover use a nuclear generator, even though it has been proven, mainly thanks to Opportunity, that solar power is completely feasible on Mars, without any of the obvious risks and problems brought by nuclear energy. And if people from Opportunity’s team work, have worked or will work on the teams of those other rovers, I’d see it as tainting her legacy in one important way, so I’d just rather not even think of them… And maybe look more towards the planned European and Chinese rovers, as potential proper successors of Opportunity.

With Windows updates being released today, I’ll be trying to install them tomorrow and then I’ll see what happens after rebooting, likely leading to restoring from that backup yet again when I won’t be able to log on. And since I have that plan to make what will basically be a current backup that should still allow me to log on if I’ll restore it again later, that will require some care and may not go quite right, so I just want to get this out of the way first.
Should really add some non-personal posts too, and at this rate I’ll absolutely need to after this month, but I may just give up on even that rule instead, no idea at the moment… May finish Eschalon this week, though there’s obviously no chance of doing so today, so I’ll need to remember to copy the saves back if I’ll restore that backup, since it annoyingly doesn’t put them in its own folder, but either way I don’t plan to write a review for it to hope that it’ll be this week’s second post, since it already has three on MobyGames and it’s not a game I particularly want to review, and it’d be very hard to do so anyway, after taking a break from it for close to two years. After all, didn’t even review Hordes of the Underdark and that one has only one review and I likely enjoyed it more, but after all the years it took me to finally get to the end, there was no way I could put something together.

Ran again yesterday, and definitely confirmed regaining my speed in what should be the last run with speed as the goal, since next week I should gradually start preparing for this year’s half marathon. I was actually feeling quite tired and thought it’ll be hard, but the time was 47:16, making this the third fastest time over this distance, only a second away from the second. Sector times were 4:16, 5:00, 5:44, 4:25, 4:56, 5:49, 4:30, 4:59, 5:52 and 1:45, making for lap times of 15:00, 15:10 and 15:21. Have quite a number of exact times too, though of course that’s a matter of just when I pressed the button. Still, to list those that would now seem to be in the top ten, the exact total time was 47:16.18, the first lap time was 15:00.10, the first lap’s first sector time was 4:16.32, its third sector time was actually 5:43.80, and I believe the second lap’s second sector time was 4:55.84, though there is a chance it may be something between that and 4:55.78.
The reported temperature of 12-13°C meant I could just have a t-shirt on again, though I did wear the jacket on the way to and from the park, so had it tied around my waist while running, and I felt a bit of wind too early on. Definitely didn’t mean to aim for such a time, just hoping to confirm that I had indeed regained my regular speed and not fail to stay under 48:30 again, yet after the second sector I decided to just push hard and go for a very fast first lap, maybe even under 15 minutes, failing that by the slimmest of margins. After that, I started thinking of getting under 48 minutes, and then, especially after lap two as well, of being faster than last week and preferably even getting under 47:30. Lap three’s first sector was quite slow though, and then on the second sector I spotted a 1 RON bill with nobody in its immediate vicinity, so I took a step to the side and grabbed it, then stuffed it in a pocket. That obviously caused me to lose a bit of time and I thought my chances of staying under 47:30 were even lower, but I pushed like crazy to try to make up for it and did indeed manage a very fast second sector despite that loss, and then finished the lap with a time that made it clear I’ll easily manage that. Had also considered a new third best time as I was nearing the end of the lap, but I thought I didn’t have enough left to manage that, yet just gave it everything again and not only managed it by some margin, but in fact was a mere second away from the second best time. So I guess it can be said that I was 1 RON away from a new second best, since I lost more than that getting that bill. At the same time, maybe I wouldn’t have pushed quite that hard if I wouldn’t have been trying to make up for that, and I definitely lost more time getting around people, since there were still quite a few, though obviously nothing like last time.

After that, changed, grabbed the recyclables to drop off on the way and went to Kaufland and Carrefour. Mainly meant to look for some things for the cats, since I saw that such products were on sale now at Carrefour, but dad mentioned something from Kaufland too and I went there first, to check prices too. On the way there it wasn’t much of a problem that I couldn’t go around the stadium, as I normally do, since there was a match there that evening, which I had forgotten about until a few guys approached me as I got close to the entrance, one asking whether I was going to the match, and I suddenly realized I had to go around. Was quite an issue on the way back though, having to go around when I was carrying quite some weight.
Either way, I saw some better yogurt when I was in Kaufland, discounted because it’s expiring soon, and I could just get one with what little I still had for regular expenses these days and that 1 RON I had found, but I didn’t mean to buy it then and then store it until I’ll get all the other stuff and I knew somebody else was going to get it if I left it there, being discounted like that, so I hid it behind some milk and then went to Carrefour… Where I couldn’t find the cat food I was mainly looking for, so just got the other thing and then went back to Kaufland, to get what I had to get from there and also retrieve that yogurt from where I had placed it, to buy it as well. Carrying it all back was a problem though, even more so since I had to go around the stadium area. Carried more a few of times, albeit with difficulty, but now after a while I seemed to run out of strength in my fingers, first in my left hand, but eventually in the right as well, so I had to keep stopping to keep the stuff from falling from my hands. As I was getting close, I could barely take a handful of steps before having to stop again. But eventually made it…

As for Sunday, since dad had told me Saturday evening that he wanted something from the pharmacy and it was quite a lot cheaper at the one I tend to go to for such things, I went right there after waking up… And basically searched the whole place for it, starting from where I thought it was more likely to be, going down the list of probable locations, then starting from where I was after exhausting said list and looking everywhere else, finally finding it in what was pretty much the last possible place, just before getting to the area with stuff for babies, which is the first one from the entrance and where that thing couldn’t have possibly been. The thing is that if I’d have started from the idea that I had to search everywhere, not thinking that I could figure out where it should be, I’d have started there and found it right away. But at least I did find it without needing to ask. Was very sleepy after getting back though, cold too, was worried something wasn’t right, but it was a fair bit better after catching a quick nap between the rounds of ski jumping, missing the first 12 jumps of the second round before waking up.

Don’t have much to say about these past few days and I definitely won’t get myself to write a non-personal post, but I guess it’d be about time for a shorter personal one too, after so many very long ones, just thrown here to have a second one written this week. Trying to get it out of the way earlier too, and would have done so either way, before I’ll get even more sleepy, but just as I was starting to write it my Internet access went out for a few minutes, and while it recovered quickly I did notice people working at the next building again, after having stopped while it was cold, so I fear cables being cut yet again.

I’m going to be sleepy because, after meaning to go to bed at 4:30 AM last night and eventually managing to be in bed just after 4:45 AM, I woke up at 9:45 AM today in order to attend an event organized by this new party created here, including some of the more leftist “old guard” activists. Thought I should at least do that much since I keep criticizing them for hardly being leftist enough and definitely not being visionary, just supporting some pretty basic center-left concepts that are a mix of “classic” ideas and a modern structure but largely allowing the system to continue when what’s needed is completely replacing capitalism with something else, truly radical leftist policies that are also futuristic, moving on from past and even present concepts. And now I’m also criticizing them for their list of candidates for the European Parliament elections, specifically for their choice of top candidate and for putting all women first, which is discrimination just as much as if they’d have put all men first on purpose and not in any way more tolerable.
Of course, I didn’t say anything there and, with everything on-line as well, there was little reason to attend, since I didn’t even stay more than a couple of minutes to try to listen to what they were talking about when everyone started just chatting after the event was over. Had plenty to say, to them and even to someone else from the audience, but of course I didn’t, just trying to decide whether I’ll write some stuff, much of it one more time, now or just leave it. Still, I just wanted to go, so got ready quickly and was actually out the door just a bit after 10:45 AM, when the plan was to leave at 10:50 AM, and was there more than ten minutes early despite walking slowly after getting out of the metro, and the event started 15 minutes late anyway. Finished some 20 minutes early too, so was back just after 1:50 PM, again with no need to rush, since dad had said he needed the metro card back by 2:30 PM.

Wednesday was a pretty bad day… Or not. Woke up at noon and went to pee, then meant to sleep some more but ended up just staying in bed for almost exactly two hours more, mostly in my own mind, imagining a few moments of an alternate past, things going somewhat better than they did. A few thoughts of some vague future in which things would be good again too, but I guess that’s too impossible even for daydreams… And for evening dreams as well, since I meant to nap in the evening, trying to make up for those two hours, and just ended up staying in bed for some two more hours, things going pretty much the same way. Andra’s birthday being next week probably has something to do with that, but it’s not just that. Not that I hadn’t occasionally done so before as well, but in recent months I’ve been finding myself thinking more and more often of a note I found while looking for something in the desk drawer after she left, while I was still there, obviously written by her early on, saying what she felt and how much she loved me… And I wish more and more that I’d have taken it, a connection like that, a piece of evidence that it was real. But I didn’t, and it’s just something left in my mind, which may or may not remain… And perhaps even may or may not be real…

As for yesterday, when I updated Emsisoft Anti-Malware after I woke up, I saw a notification that my license had been extended by 89 days. Had asked the support guy I’m talking to exactly when it expires, since I remembered that it should expire on February 14, but the program itself doesn’t list the actual date anymore, just the number of days left, and in my account on the site it said February 13, but the exact time wasn’t listed there either. I recalled that it was a bit after 9 PM, but if I either remembered the date wrong or they cut a day from it when they changed something, since they did change things regarding licenses and in ways that harmed existing customers, I assumed they could have changed that as well, so asked whether it’s the start or the end of the day, since I plan to install Windows updates and then see whether this version that was pushed to the delayed channel now will let me log on after rebooting, since the previous one definitely didn’t, and decide whether I’ll extend the license or need to start testing other products again based on that, and said that it was going to be tight either way, since the updates will only get released in the evening of February 12. And, yes, when I checked my e-mail after seeing that I saw his reply saying that it is indeed the 13th, around 8 PM Germany time, so I remembered the time correctly at least, since that’s one hour earlier, but then he added: “In May. You’re welcome.”
So been feeling awfully rotten and guilty about that since then. I mean, I didn’t ask for any extension and he said I shouldn’t feel guilty, that it’s in part just because I have problems with it for some time and they’re trying to make it right in some way and in part that it can even be said that I earned it by spotting that vulnerability, but by mentioning it like that, and after having mentioned it before as well, I do feel like I sort of did ask, in a way. And now I also feel rather pressured into extending it… But if it won’t work, I can’t do that. Quite sure that anything else will be even worse in general terms, have more nuisances I’ll need to deal with and even more serious issues, but if they changed something that simply won’t let me log on anymore, and if their new surf protection module also fails in some common scenarios in any browser and in even more in Internet Explorer, and I use that, as strange as it seems, I’ll need to switch, and meant to start trying other stuff this month. But now that I have three more months, I definitely don’t feel like wasting them on trying something else, yet that leaves me with the problem of what to do after needing to reboot. It may not be so terrible at the moment, if there won’t be any other issues and I’ll just reboot once per month, when installing Windows updates, since I should be able to restore from that December 22 backup again, install updates, update other programs, import changed settings and a few other things, then make another backup and only after that’s done allow Emsisoft Anti-Malware to update to one of these “bad” versions, so I’ll basically have a current backup that will still let me log on, but this is definitely no solution. So not sure what to do…