So far, the latest install of XP is holding up.

I took my frustration out on the floor in the hallway. That's to say, I went to Home Depot* and hired a drum sander, and brought it home, and removed all the paint on the floorboards, put there by my roommate, as part of a test of some artistic plan for the whole of the ground floor's floors.

Now, the initial pass is done, and like all British workmen, I'm stopping for a tea break. That's like an American worker's coffee break, only longer, and with a lower dosage of caffiene.

Part of the reason for the tea break, is that when I paused from my labours, I saw Miles, out on the porch looking worried. It seems he went out there because he didn't like the noise of the drum sander. However, once he was out there, a thunderstorm started, which he also didn't like. He was slightly more scared of the sander than the thunder, so he stayed outside, worried.

So, now I'm having a tea break, with Miles, on the porch, and we're watching the rain and occasional lightning flashes together, and we're listening to the rain's soothing pitter-patter sound, as it hits the porch roof and splashes down the drainpipes.

And Miles is smiling again.

*pronounced 'dee-po' by the locals, even though you and I know that it's pronounced 'deppo' due to the word's French origins.