Can a cat use the computer?

Do your cats “help” you on the computer? Mine do. Here are some things they have actually done when I wasn’t looking:

Performed a Shut Down
Restarted the computer
Sent folders to the Recycle Bin
Deleted files and folders, somehow bypassing the Recycle Bin
Turned on the Key Filter (hold down the Right Shift key for 8 seconds)
Locked the Desktop
Turned on the Caps Lock
Opened multiple windows
Sent an email before I was done with it.
Erased an email while I was still writing it!

It finally dawned on me that I have one very easy option to protect myself, other than doing a Shut Down every time I need to walk away from my desk. And it was one of the things they had done to ME. Other than Logging Off, you can also do a much faster function: Lock the Desktop. Just press the Windows function key plus the letter L. When you get back, just mouse click the user button. It’s much like logging on, but it’s faster, because there is no actual login (because you didn’t log off), which can take a few minutes.

Cats 'n' Clutter

Cats sure are helpful in dealing with clutter. One of my worst faults is collecting things. No, nothing as interesting as stamps or rocks or antique salt shakers. More like stacks of magazines I think I will get around to reading "some day." Of course, magazines aren't the only thing in these stacks. I also "collect" newspapers, some of the more interesting junk mail (to study, of course), and letters from friends who don't do email.

After a week or so, the pile gets a little high... not bad... but annoying.

So where do the cats come in? Well, they like to jump onto the table where this teetering pile rests, landing on the top magazine, sending themselves, along with several of the slippery publications, off on a slide adventure right back onto the floor.

If I'm not home for a few hours, I find quite a mess when I get back. Oh, not just a scatter of papers all over the floor... it's worse than that. Much worse. There is something about loose paper that attracts many cats. It's a mystery to me, but for some reason, they simply must urinate on it.

I don't get it. But that's OK. At this point, I have no choice but to throw the wet ones away. It's too late to care about reading them now, I'm sure you'll agree.

Although the lesson seems to be, don't let these things pile up, I still do it. I'll never learn, but at least the cats help keep the pile down.