Pets and Workbenches

[Tom45]

Didn't get a picture but one time one of my cats was curled up in the empty plugin space of a Tek 7704 mainframe that was sitting on the floor.

Even though they get into almost everything else, for some unknown reason they stay off of my electronics workbench.

[Mr.B]

Our boy "Gadget" has never jumped up on my workbench. I don't know why not as he is a very curious boy.
This is him settling down in one of the dogs bean bags.



For the slightly more observant...
The carbon dioxide insurance in the background was kept handy during a recent lab experiment that some people may consider potentially incredibly fucking stupid.
(No, I will not elaborate on the details.)

[rrinker]

 Either a fire so large it might need two extinguishers, or else just a backup just in case the first one didn;t work... now you MUST elaborate on what you were doing!

 Years and years ago I had a cat whose favorite toy was the pull tab from a bottle of milk - dunno if this is the same in other parts fo the world but in the US it's common for milk and similar products to be in palstic bottles with a plastic cab, and there is a tear away bit that acts as a seal around the cap, you need to tear that off before unscrewing the cap. That piece was like catnip to this cat, he'd carry it from room to room, bat it around, you name it. Even when he went off to do other things, some time later he'd come back for his piece of plastic. At the time I had a nifty program that let you create your own text adventures, so I write a little one about the cat trying to find his piece of plastic.

[SeanB]

You need a class D extinguisher, and a nice thick fire resistant ceramic base to test lithium battery failure modes, and really good ventilation as well if they do go the S7 route. CO2 just moves the flames around, and the best thing otherwise is a large bucket of very dry silica sand.

[Mr.B]

 
No, not lithium batteries.
I appreciate your safety advice for when I may want to test those...

[james_s]

You need a class D extinguisher, and a nice thick fire resistant ceramic base to test lithium battery failure modes, and really good ventilation as well if they do go the S7 route. CO2 just moves the flames around, and the best thing otherwise is a large bucket of very dry silica sand.

Lithium batteries do not contain metallic lithium, at least not in significant amounts and when they catch fire it is not lithium that is burning. While it may sound ridiculous, plain old water works fine to put out a LiPo fire, sand or dry chemical extinguisher will also work. A class D extinguisher is not required, nor even particularly desired.

[SingedFingers]

This thread reminds me why pets are banned in my house

I have children instead. Actually I'm not sure what's worse.

[GreyWoolfe]

This thread reminds me why pets are banned in my house

I have children instead. Actually I'm not sure what's worse.

Children.  Pets don't live as long.  They don't leave the lights on all the time.  They don't drive the car into the garage door when they get their permit.  The dogs always give us love and never talk back and disrespect.  The list is endless.  The 27 year old stepdaughter is still here with the granddaughter.  I think I will be dead before she is able to move out.

[Miyuki]

Buddy everywhere 

[ZeTeX]

Buddy everywhere 

Weird alien you got there 

[SeanB]

It's a Sphinx, to them you are just a nice warm place and a food source, plus a source of entertainment.

Nearly had one Thursday, but the sick feral kitten was nowhere to be seen, but Grandma, the black kit, the sorta munchkin tabby and the sorta abasynnian kits were there. Grandma much improved now she is getting some food and can see again, and we want to get them spayed, vaccinated and released again when we catch them. Kits might be trainable, but Grandma is too traumatised to ever live near a human.

[Red Squirrel]

If your cat is going on your workbench it means your workbench is not messy enough.  You have room to start another project on it.

[james_s]

If your cat is going on your workbench it means your workbench is not messy enough.  You have room to start another project on it.

Cats don't seem to mind, sometimes I suspect they're made of rubber on the inside. I've had one of my cats lay down on a pile of scrap PCBs I was harvesting bits from. Didn't look the least bit comfortable to me but she didn't seem to notice.

[borjam]

A friend bricked some expensive piece of apparatus when, during a firmware update, the dog ran under the table and tripped on the power supply cable   

Dogs are FAR more awkward, clumsy and attention-seeking than cats. No wonder a dog did it - cats are slow, sleek, stealthy and flexible.

Indeed, it's widely known that while dogs see you as the boss of their pack, cats seem to consider you as their pet. 

[SingedFingers]

As they say: "A dog has an owner but a cat has staff."

[rrinker]

 Except when it comes to the bed. It seems to defy the laws of physics that a 17 pound Pug can push a 300+ pound guy out of bed, but it happens on a regular basis. The cats just lay on top of you.

[Quatrerwin]

Has anyone here made anything like cat shelves?

[james_s]

Except when it comes to the bed. It seems to defy the laws of physics that a 17 pound Pug can push a 300+ pound guy out of bed, but it happens on a regular basis. The cats just lay on top of you.

My dad used to have a retired racing greyhound, more than once I was visiting and slept on the sofa, the dog climbed in bed with me and stretched out, I woke up on the floor. The cats don't push me out of bed but one of ours does manage to steal my pillow somewhat regularly. I think he curls up against my face and I automatically scoot over a little at a time until he's got the whole pillow.

[Lord of nothing]

How about that: [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClSch3zLC0k[/video]

after some shocks the cats dont try to jump on the desk. 

[Red Squirrel]

My cat does not seem to mind the shocks. 



I make sure to unplug anything mains related if I step away lol. Was messing around with a HV transformer I made, and just had a long wire and I was making it light up CFL lights and stuff.  Then cat decided to start attacking it.  It's like "noooooooo!"  While scrambling for the switch. 

[george graves]

Has anyone here made anything like cat shelves?

If I ever had a cat that for some reason couldn't be let out - I'd totally make something like these:  https://www.pinterest.com/explore/cat-enclosure/

[james_s]

After having one cat killed by a car and another by coyotes within a 2 year period, I don't let my current cats go outside. They're now the oldest cats I've ever had, two of them are 10 and we have one that's 19. I've had cats I couldn't keep indoors but these seem to have no interest in going out, they're content to sit on the windowsill and survey their kingdom, sniffing at the outside air.

[ZeTeX]

After having one cat killed by a car and another by coyotes within a 2 year period, I don't let my current cats go outside. They're now the oldest cats I've ever had, two of them are 10 and we have one that's 19. I've had cats I couldn't keep indoors but these seem to have no interest in going out, they're content to sit on the windowsill and survey their kingdom, sniffing at the outside air.

coyotes? is this common to just have random wolfs outside your house? :\

[james_s]

Coyotes are common out here, they're native animals and live in the woods. They usually keep away from humans but I've seen small groups of them wandering the neighborhood a few times when I've been out for a walk at night. They're smaller than wolves and less aggressive, but they are predators and feed on small mammals.

[Howardlong]

The biggest problem with cats is when you're in the middle of a repair and they spill your carefully organised piles of screws on the floor.

Even keeping the screws in compartmentalised bins doesn't help if the lid's not shut properly.