Saturday 16 March 2019

Disconcerting.



I returned to my laptop yesterday afternoon, to find a small black screw on the table, just to the right of my machine. Where the hell could it have come from?

Even after serious interrogation (thumbscrews, waterboarding, etc), Lady Magnon denied all knowledge of the offending object. I searched everywhere to see if anything lacked a small black screw; nothing. I looked up at the ceiling; nothing was up there from which it could have fallen.

So, I'm baffled. It's worrying thinking that something is lacking an essential part; a bit like having pieces left over after having dismantled and rebuilt some simple machine. 

I've checked everything that has stood on the table for the past month or so. The laptop itself, my camera, my binoculars, even my sticky-tape dispenser; nothing lacks a small black screw.

It's enough to drive a chap mental.


46 comments:

  1. Reminds me of a prank that was common in motorcycle racing circles. Folk used to drop a nut under a bike and watch as the owner frantically checked everything.

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    Replies
    1. Nasty. I can picture the scene; and probably for months after!

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  2. I have a small box of bits and pieces that I have no idea what they belong to. I keep them hoping some day their purpose will be revealed.

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    1. I'm keeping the screw for the moment. If nothing falls to bits within the next couple of months, I might be rash and put it in my box of 'assorted screws'.

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  3. I think we all have a container with odd screws etc waiting for their home.

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    Replies
    1. This one seemed to appear out of nowhere. Very puzzling.

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  4. Reminds me of the ghosts from Tom S.'s blog.(May be your cute dog brought it from somewhere.).

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    Replies
    1. That's a theory as good as any! I've just had another look at everything on the table; nothing seems to lack anything.

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    2. Just what I was thinking. Also, we've known he has had a screw loose for years.

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  5. I seem to always be coming across these little screws, I pop then into a pot in case I find out where they came from. They stay there lurking together and nothing ever seems to fall apart, mystery...
    Briony
    x

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  6. Possibly something that had stuck to your clothing from another job? Or got wedged in a crease in your peaked cap (you get the idea!)?

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  7. Box of assorted screws?? Do you also have a box of pieces of string too short to be of any use?

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    1. No, I keep those in my pocket. You wouldn't believe how many times I've taken them out for something, and found them too short. I did it yesterday.

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  8. It is always a worry to discover you have a screw loose.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you.... I was waiting for that!

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    2. Damn. I should have read down before leaving a comment.

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  9. I’m the same as Crafty Cat Corner ...... am always finding little screws for no reason and pop them in a pot just in case but never find out where they came from. It’s a bit like losing socks in the washing machine ..... where do they go ?!!!! XXXX

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    Replies
    1. Lady Magnon always washes her socks separately. One at a time.

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  10. Oh dear, Cro. You have a screw loose. xx

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    Replies
    1. Oh, I see JayCee got there first. :)

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    2. I was the last to get there if that's any consolation.

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  11. Like Doc I have a container with screws and things that "appear" and I have no idea where they belong. Grant was very technical and even 15 months after his passing, I'm totally lost when something goes wrong with anything I use in my daily life. I love the first comment about the bolt under the motorbike. As a biker I can relate. I hope you solve the problem of your lone screw! Jo

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    1. I somehow doubt that I will. If it had been something simple, I would have found it by now.

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  12. Someplace around you, there are three screws holding together an item that used to have four screws.

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    Replies
    1. That's my problem; unless the dog found it.

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  13. My favourite programme is Air Crash Investigation. They can identify where every tiny screw comes from if it has fallen out even if they have to retrieve it from the bottom of an ocean.

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    1. I've seen photos of huge aircraft hangars with reassembled crashed planes. Amazing; it must take months; if not years.

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    2. Yes, sometimes years. I would like to have been an air crash investigator.

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  14. Perhaps the screw has been left down by your fairy godmother and she is trying to tell you something personally pertinent !

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    Replies
    1. You're probably right... I'll have a word with her!

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  15. Billy found it and gave it to you as a small gift.

    cheers, parsnip

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    Replies
    1. If he was capable of jumping up onto the table, I'd certainly suspect it was from him, but he can't even make it up onto the sofa yet.

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  16. You know how these things go ….. Simply throw it away and as soon as it's gone, you will figure out what it belongs to. Of course, then you have to retrieve it.

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    Replies
    1. I've put in in a safe place.... JUST IN CASE.

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  17. I recognise it. It's out of a Whatsit.

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  18. A worrying nut
    It's a sign of our age

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  19. You've reminding me of something that I'd totally forgotten about. I had the same problem at my old house. Every now and then I would find a little gold screw in the hallway. Wha? This went on for over 6 mos time. Then, one day, I opened the folding door to the linen closet and the door fell off. I kid you not. Until the last screw fell out of the top hinge, that door operated just fine.

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    Replies
    1. I like that. I also like that you have GOLD screws in your house; I only dream of such things!

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    2. Brass. But gold sounded classy. LOL

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  20. could it have worked out of your laptop? If you have a cd or DVD player built in there is a screw right behind mine and that has fallen out before when I had the battery replaced and I kept looking at cd's to find a picture...

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    1. I've never used the retractable CD thing, and I've looked everywhere on, and under, the laptop. I've used a torch to look inside every hole. Nothing is missing.

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  21. It didn't fall out of your beard leaning across the desk, did it? Or do you own a beard brush?

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