Guilt is good

The loft is Thunderthighs' domain. 

  

He keeps his laptop on a table beneath the velux windows where there is plenty of light.  The other day after a thunderstorm and the room became muggy and he opened a window.  Rinwater cascaded off the velux right into his laptop.  Shortly thereafter the keyboard started “playing up”.  Pressing a key once led to multiple letters, numbers and symbols appearing on the screen.

We took it off to our friendly local computer hospital and were advised to dry it out slowly.  The loft being the warmest room in the house it was left on a high chest of drawers, well away from windows.  48 hours later it was no better so we went back again.

Our friendly local computer hospital replaced the keyboard and gave us the old one (for spare keys) saying “This has got a heck of a dint in it, are you sure no one’s punched it?”

(They know our family well and we have form.)

Thunderthighs looked sheepish but said nothing.

The laptop kept misbehaving and the blue screen of death appeared more than once.

“Are you sure you didn’t punch it?”

“Well … I might have”

So back we went.

He’d broken the hard disc.

They’ve solved that problem by replacing it with a solid state unit.  Which might even be punchproof.

Then yesterday

“It keeps turning itself off and the fan’s making a funny noise.”

“Was the fan making a funny noise before you punched it?”

“No.”

“For crying out loud!  Why didn’t you tell us that at the beginning?  We’re not bloody psychic.  If you don’t tell us things we can’t sort it out.  Tell us everything.  Even if it’s bad stuff.  Especially if it’s bad stuff.”

I emailed the computer hospital
“NOW he tells us the fan is playing up since he hit it.  I despair!  I really do.  You may see one of us again soon ... if there isn’t a murder”

We were greeted with smiles when we went in and we discussed the possibility that the fan problem might also involve dust and cat hairs, as.the cats do like to sit right next to the warm air vents.

“Cat hair’s a more common problem than you might think” said the computer doctor “but we do need to check that none of the fan blades got bent when he punched it.”

Since we got home Thunderthighs has: changed the cat litter; hoovered his room, the stairs and landings; and mown the lawn.

I mentioned this to his father who commented “I wonder what he wants, or maybe it’s guilt.”

“I hope so.”

“So do I.”

And Fester wasn’t even brought up Catholic!