Re: Cat Tracks

On Jun 30, 9:38 pm, "Yowie" <yowie9644.DIESPAM...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Kitchen counters are supposed to tbe a 'no go' zone for cats, but I've long
since given up trying to dissuade any feline from being there. Pickle and
Shadow are not really interested anyway, but Suki insists of strutting
between kitchen counter, the window sill and the back of the lounge.

In between the window sill and the lounge is Joel's computer desk, in
between the kitchen counter and the window sill is mine.

Joel's computer desk is full of various bits of rubble and junk, so it can
be tricky for a cat with very little balance to grace to through. When Joel
is using his PC, she tends to like sleeping on top of his tower - its warm
up there and she gets a cat's eye view of the world - indeed, may even get a
few scritches.

But my desk, which is far less cluttered, has plenty of space behind the
monitor & keyboard (the computer itself sits on the floor, because my table
is slighly too small to have it all on there, comfortably). I have even gone
so far as to replace the small cardboard box similar to the one Shmogg liked
to sleep in so that Suki can hang out with me on my computer desk if she
wants.

But she doesn't, does she?

Every time I use my computer, she appears from wherever she was and has to
do the 'circuit' between the kitchen counter, the window sill and the back
of the lounge. Often several times each way.

And every single *&^%^*%$&$!!!! time she has to walk across the damn
keyboard, often stopping to generously place her 'reading eye' directly on
the keyboard so that she can meow at top decibel (as only a deaf cat can) to
me to my face.

I've go so far as to replace my wonderful ergonomic keyboard with one of
those silicone roll up spill proof catfur proof ones, which has slowed down
the rate in which I used to go through keyboards (all suffer the same
death - suffocation by cat *** fur) but it is still quite impossible to
raid in World of Warcraft when there's a mind bogglingly dense cat between
me, and both the monitor and the keyboard.

She's also discovered ome amazing key combinations that change things in
Windows, ones that I never knew about. For example, Control-shift-A will
mark all messages in a newsgroup read, which while useful if thats what you
want to do, is greatly frustrating otherwise. Holding down the right-shift
for 8 second will turn on 'filter keys' whatever that is. And if you if you
press 'shift' five times in a row, you can have 'sticky keys', which comes
as a bit of a surprise when one is about to down the last boss in Naxx.
(Thats a big fight in World of Warcraft, for those of you who don't know,
that involves 25 people who have to work together to get the job done. It
doesn't go very well if one person suddenly stops doing what they ought to
be doing to because their PC has suddenly switched from WoW to the desktop
and needs to have 'sticky keys' undone before switching back)

Suki's favouite trick of all, though, is to just every so gently brush past
the 'power' button on the keyboard, so delicately (and delicately being so
out of character) that at first, I think I'm safe, so I don't do an
emergency 'save all'. I continue doing what I'm doing and suddenly the world
goes grey and the computer starts to shut down. Joel often feels great
concern by my wails of anguish, especially if I'm working on some great
spread*** for work and have forgotten to do an interim save in the last
few hours. And they wonder why I can't work from home!

I'm sure there's a way to disable the power key using Windows software, but
if there is, I've yet to find it. I thought I was ingenious by simply
placing a beer bottle cap over it - it was the perfect height and diameter
such that it just covered the button without sticking out and bothering the
other buttons whilst being a tight enough fit that it didn't fall off if I
moved the keyboard or was brushed by a passing cat fetlock. However, I very
quickly discover that Suki's most very favourite ever toy for batting around
is of course beer bottle caps, and putting said cap anywhere near my
keyboard attracted her and her roving paws even more.
I've given up.

Despite having two perfectly good computers in the house, with one even
going so far as to have a spill proof, cat fur proof silicone keyboard, Joel
& I pretty much now share his computer. Its really only a matter of time,
though, until Suki 'discovers' his keyboard too. I wonder if walking on
keyboards is to cats what reflexology is to humans?

Yowie
--
Lurking is no fun either.

You got that last sentence right. Rejoin the discussions....if MJ is
not your
cup of tea, I can discuss A/c/C's album "Black Ic? with you, having
retreated
during the homage to revisit some old rock friends....still going
strong, in your
country. It is cats; profession, ordered by Bast, to annoy *us* by
respassing
on our PC boards and drapong themselves on our monitors (a gymnastic
feat
of balance, indeed. Your input here is valuable and I myself being
retired for
now from the workforce enjoy your relating corporate skullduggery in
Oz. Not
much different from same in USA. Stick around. Please.
.

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