Cats and Mice

Cats and mice go together. That's what gives rise to all of the Cat and Mouse jokes for computer users. In my case, I don't use a typical mouse; I use a Kensington "Turbomouse" (i.e. a trackball). Nevertheless, the Universe has ensured that there's still a relationship. It's a hairy relationship.

Today I had to take my trackball apart and clean out the accumulated cat hair. With four cats, there's cat hair in the air. Plus, Bebop occasionally sits on the trackball. And, of course, cat hair just... is. It wraps around the little wheels inside the trackball housing. I know I need to clean out the fluff when the ball spins and the cursor doesn't move in one dimension. Then out comes the micro screwdriver and I open the trackball housing.

The first time I needed to do this I was unsure. So, I called up Kensington. They told me that's why there are little screws on the underside of the trackball housing. Ah. How convenient. User-servicable; whoda thunk?

p.s. the cat pictured on the t-shirt is Stuart Katt. I have several representations of Stuart on T-shirts and greeting cards. Unfortunately, I haven't seen anything new of Stuart's for years and a web search doesn't turn up any hits. Sigh :-(

I don't know who the other guy is; he asked to be in this entry and I said OK.

Cats and Mice ( in category Random Thoughts ) - posted at Thu, 22 Jan, 11:05 Pacific | «e»