Blogger Geoff responded instantly when I explained my problem. I had been trying to update my Norton anti virus, only infuriating messages flashed up on the screen advising me to install this programme, or uninstall that, and alerting me to errors that had occured.

I became very nervous when I noticed the Norton desktop icon was suddenly marked with a red cross. It meant I had no protection. I feared that anyone, and everyone, would be hacking into my system, sending me spam, destroying the tools of my trade.

So the next day Geoff put on his walking boots and took the river path from Cambridge to my village 12.3 miles away. He arrived three hours later, as fresh as a spring daffodil, still full of energy. He had carried his laptop in his rucksack and was in excellent spirits when he arrived and instantly set about resolving the problem.

He uttered oaths about Norton, then profanities at the complication of what should be a simple process; I had always managed the updates before without any difficulty. Geoff discovered that in order to uninstall my original Norton anti virus and then download the new version, I needed to install another programme. It was such a pain.

This ridiculous process took the whole afternoon as the update configured this and that. If it hadn’t been for our good humoured conversation, it would have been a very dull and frustrating day.

This is intended as a warning to others considering updating with Norton. Maybe you can commiserate with my experience and recommend some free updates instead. It would be good to know for next time.

Mission accomplished, I drove Geoff to the railway station; he had done his good deed for the day. And I was a very happy bunny. A thousand thanks to Geoff.