I AM SOOOOO SAD ... AND SOOOOO SORRY ... BUT FEEL THIS IS NECESSARY ... AND ... WHEN I SENT THIS NOTE TO EVERYONE IN MY ADDRESS BOOKS... I SKIPPED THE LISTS THAT I BELONG TO ... BUT ... I GUESS ... I SHOULD HAVE NOT DONE THAT ... BECAUSE ... I GOT SEVERAL NOTES TODAY ... WITH ATTACHMENTS FROM GENEALOGY RESEARCHERS AND MY PRAYING PALS. :-( ... WITH ATTACHMENTS. THAT IS VERY UNUSUAL. And I hope this will not offend anyone. THE NOTE I SENT OUT ... SAID ... The magnificent technology of these machines ... could make our lives so much easier and better. HOWEVER, THE EVIL MINDS OF SOME PEOPLE ... have made this note necessary. BECAUSE I USE THIS MACHINE, PRIMARILY TO WRITE FAMILY HISTORIES ... and am in the big middle of trying to complete one of the Hoopers [my dad's family] ... AND I RUN MY OWN ... ON-LINE PRAYER REQUEST GROUP ... AND BELONG TO 3 OTHER SUCH GROUPS ... I need this machine to work all the time ... with as much ease as possible. I ... WILL ... NO LONGER OPEN MAIL THAT IS ... fwd: or ... with an attachment. I WILL DELETE THEM WITHOUT OPENING. The reason for that ... is ... YEP!!! I GOT A VIRUS ... AND ... someone is sending out mail in my name ... with a virus in it. DO NOT ... PLEASE ... DO NOT ... OPEN ... anything from me that says ... a new website ... or ... a great new website ... or ... a swell new website ... IN THE SUBJECT MATTER. Or any note about a swell new game you will like. I actually found out from a cousin of HL ... that he had gotten a note from ONE OF MY screen name ... that I did not send. ***Then, I got notes from yahoo mail master ... and ... aol postmaster ... RETURNING ... UNDELIVERABLE MAIL ... all 3 of which ... I did not send ... and they had the virus in those notes. THIS IS INDEED SAD ... TO ME. SAD, SO SAD!!! BUT ... TO KEEP MY MACHINE IN WORKING ORDER ... I will ... from this day forward ... only open mail that I know is personal ... and/or pertinent to my research, or from one of the prayer groups. (((I put in ... pertinent to my research ... so that Hooper researchers and Shelby County list, and the prayer groups ... will know that I will open all mail from them, UNLESS THEY HAVE AN ATTACHMENT ... and hope that none of it is corrupted.))) ***I am sending this out tonight ... because I got a note today ... supposedly from someone in one of those lists ... although I have never received an attachment from them before. I do know ... that there is a very good possibility that some of you may have gotten corrupted mail from me, already. BUT ... IT IS EASIER TO PASS A 'VIRUS' IF YOU ... fwd: IF YOU GET SOMETHING THAT IS TOOOOOOO GOOD NOT TO PASS ON ... YOU CAN COPY AND PASTE ... AND ... THAT IS WHAT I DO ... BUT I AM NOT KNOWLEDGEABLE ENOUGH TO GUARANTEE THAT IT WILL BE 'VIRUS' FREE. :-( It used to be ... you had to open an attachment. Not any more. I GOT THE VIRUS ... FROM A NOTE ... I THOUGHT ... FROM A PRIEST IN WISCONSIN ... AND I OPENED IT ... BECAUSE IT DID NOT HAVE AN ATTACHMENT. ***That is when I learned ... you do not have to open an attachment ... to get a virus.*** I do know ... we all need virus protection. Recently, I had my machine repaired ... and they deleted my McAfee program. Tomorrow ... I will try to retrieve it or some other program. If any of you know some ways of avoiding these problems ... please just hit ... reply all ... and talk to all of us. I am grateful for the connection I have to all of you ... but if you want to take me out of your address books, I will understand. My life is so busy right now ... with writing the book and trying to travel for research and to visit our granddaughter in Illinois ... that I am glad ... that national news comes on 3 times a day. That is when I sit in the living room and get on line. :-) Je t'aime for now ... and ... DIEU TE BENISSE! GOD BLESS. Macile