Data likes dirty sheets

By , December 16, 2010 6:28 am

Data slept in his room last night:

I guess Data likes dirty sheets!

(the laundry room – his room because his food and litter box is there).

It’s like the equivalent of your spouse sleeping on the couch. Data always sleeps with us at night, so something must be wrong.

Possible theories:

  1. Is he upset he hasn’t received his holiday gift yet?
  2. Just kidding – that’s not it (but after getting some weird email about a discount to buy that cat hammock, I DO want to buy it). We got him his favorite toys – mice:

    Complete with nice long tails for him to eat.

  3. Is he upset that we don’t know who will take care of him over the holidays? Oh, how I miss our close neighbor friends who used to check in on him each day while we traveled.
  4. Is he upset at Steven? This is what Steven thinks. During the day, Data constantly steals Steven’s (preferred) seat on the couch when Steven gets up. It’s funny when I am there to witness it. Steven will get up to fill up his water bottle (or some other quick task) and Data immediately gets up and curls up into a ball on Steven’s seat. Ha. Anyway, Steven thinks Data is upset that Steven makes him leave his seat on the couch. The other day, after Steven made Data get up, Data spent the rest of the day upstairs, away from Steven.
  5. Steven sitting on Data because he won’t share the seat (“he” could refer to either of them).

  6. Or maybe it’s just warmer in the laundry room? That is where the furnace is.

Do you feel guilty for leaving your pet behind when you travel? Or do you bring your pet with?

I feel extremely guilty for leaving Data, especially on holidays (like he knows what they are or something!). And I even think he enjoys being alone and sometimes needs the “break” from us. Still, I always miss him and feel bad.


I wanted to tell you guys a story and ask what you think.

On Tuesday morning when I got to the elevator lobby of my building, someone was walking in to the last elevator. I pressed the elevator “call button” and it kept that last elevator door open for me. However, as I got to it, it started to close, so I stuck my bag in it. My bag got STUCK in the elevator door. I thought the person inside the elevator would press the “door open” button, but he didn’t, so I had to pull my bag out and go press the “call elevator” button again, and wait for another elevator.

Was he being rude by not opening the elevator door for me, or was I being rude my sticking my bag in the door?

I HATE riding the elevator with a ton of people and waiting for it to stop on 23098098 floors. I am a brat like that. However, I think I would open the door for someone if their bag was stuck in the door!

26 Responses to “Data likes dirty sheets”

  1. Amy says:

    I don’t know much about elevator etiquette but it seems like it would have been friendly for the person inside the elevator to push the open door button for someone whose bag was stuck in the door. But not everyone is friendly like that, I guess.
    I bet Data just likes the laundry room because it is warm…I would!

  2. bobbi says:

    I hold the door for everyone. I can’t help it. That door never would have shut if I were on it, and DEFINITELY not on your bag.

    I feel like as a society, we’ve lost a lot of “common courtesy” in recent years. It bugs me…

  3. We always feel bad leaving Mosie, but she’d probably hate it even more if we brought her along.

  4. Kandi says:

    I would have pressed the “open door” button for you. That does seem rude (unless nobody was close enough to the buttons when the door shut).
    My roomie always pulls those tails of the mice for Sully because I guess he eats them too. Delilah seems to like them too, though she has gotten a lot better about not destroying them now that she’s older.
    That cat hammock looks amusing.
    When I travel to visit family, Delilah almost always comes with me. The only exception is when I go to visit my brother and his family. If there is anyone that can take care of her while I’m gone, then I leave her becuase it’s so much easier for me!

  5. gina says:

    I think Data wanted to cuddle up on the sheets, near his food and water. Sounds heavenly to me! I busted Manny sleeping on the couch early this morning. He looked a lil sheepish and then followed me back upstairs.

    I have no idea what the dude in the elevator was thinking by not pressing the door open button. What else did he have to do in an elevator.

    Sometimes I wait an extra few minutes to catch another elevator in hopes that not alot of people will get on.

  6. J says:

    Oh poor Data. Sometimes my cat acts funny too, never really know why but she snaps out of it. She also goes outside during the day so maybe she just gets depressed when its really snowy and she stays inside cause she doesn’t get any vitamin d!

    I guess I would say that guy was being rude, I mean your bag was stuck in the door! Oh well, I have come to terms with people being rude (especially around the holidays which I hate!) but thats the world we live in.

  7. Jen says:

    Have you seen the patty-cake cat video on youtube?? Hilarious!!

    • kilax says:

      The one where the cat does patty cake in reverse and is on his back? Or am I thinking of something else?

  8. diane says:

    Aw! I hate leaving my kitties behind for the holidays. Even though I know they are very well cared for and have no concept of time passing. Actually I think I just miss them a lot!
    I would also feel very weird if the kitties chose to sleep somewhere other than my bed, they always sleep there! (Is Data still licking? If he continues to sleep in different places and do the licking thing I would actually be worried that something is wrong)
    re: the elevator–well, I can see it both ways. What the guy did was rude and normally I would definitely push the door open button*, but I’ve been very guilty of getting honked off at people who hold up my elevator ride instead of just waiting for the next one. 😉
    *I say definitely but another problem is I am often in my own little world and may not have even noticed!

    • kilax says:

      I think he is cutting back on the licking, but I think leaving him will make him pick it back up even more!

  9. Erin says:

    I always felt guilty leaving the pups. Except for Phil. I suppose that’s what should have tipped me off that he wasn’t right for us 😉 I wish my family was more animal-friendly so we could have taken them with us. Hell, I wish our dogs were more travel-friendly!

    Every so often Trinka Deu would sleep downstairs on her couch instead of with us and come up later in the night after we’d been asleep for awhile. I think sometimes she just preferred to come upstairs once we were settled.

    As for the elevator, maybe the person was pushing the button and nothing happened? Sometimes I try to hold the elevator for people and the door closes anyway.

  10. martymankins says:

    When we went to Hawaii in March 2009, we had a friend’s daughter come over to house sit and pet sit (we had 3 cats then). We felt guilty to a degree, but knew that someone was at least watching the pets.

    As for the cat’s spot, he gets one of those fleece blankets we put on the couch for him. Makes it easy to keep his fur off the couch.

  11. Stephany says:

    I’m definitely someone who holds elevators for other people when I see them coming. I just think it’s a nice thing to do and I would want someone to do it for me! So yes, that person was RUDE!

    My dog usually sleeps with me, but lately when I get into bed to read, he sits in his little bed across the room and just stares at me so I have to physically put him in my bed, ha. So crazy how our pets behave sometimes!

  12. Definitely seems rude on his part if you ask me. I mean really, was the button so far away that its asking a lot for him to reach out and push it?

    I LOVE that Data didnt sleep with you guys. Thats too funny. Lexie has started moving to the floor once she thinks Im asleep. Its strange, and I dont know why she does it. Pets are weird sometimes.

  13. jamie says:

    Cats are too funny. When we visit family our cat Maggie comes with. She gets annoyed by the long car rides but hates being by herself more. When we travel for vacation our neighbor kids watch her and make some money 🙂

  14. Alice says:

    oh my god i love that cat hammock!!! 🙂

    i feel super bad leaving my cats, but oliver hates being in a car SO MUCH that it’s far meaner to take him up to NJ with me. i wish he’d just chill out and sleep or something so we could all go up to NJ and enjoy ourselves!! instead he cries for the entire 3.5 hours, is hoarse by the time we get there, and sometimes anger-pees on my seats for good measure. NOT WORTH IT!

    also: yes that guy was an asshat. who wouldn’t open the doors?!?! goodness!

  15. OMG I RELATE TO YOU SO MUCH!

    I am leaving my kitty (Webster) behind for 10 whole days (the longest I’ve left him before is 5)! I have two different friends who are going to be checking on him so the longest he’ll go without being checked in on is probably 24-36 hours but I’m still SO WORRIED about him – to the point where I couldn’t fall asleep last night!

    I’m trying to tell myself that leaving him alone (with people checking in on him) is better for him than a stressful plane ride and 10 days in a house with 2 dogs and another cat (my moms) but I still feel SO BAD about it 🙁

    • kilax says:

      I think we will be gone for 10 days too! And would LOVE to take him with us, but that would make it worse. 🙁 At least you have friends checking in so Webster can stay at home! We are still trying to decide if we want to leave Data at home and do that or take him to a kennel 🙁

  16. ChezJulie says:

    Cats really love their familiar habitat, so it is actually a lot less stressful for them to stay home on their own than it is to go somewhere with their owners. If they’re home, at least they can feel like, “Yeah, the house is running smoothly. I know where everything in my territory is. I’m safe and comfy.” I’m sure he’ll miss you, but he would probably rather be home. Of course I know Data is more adventurous than most!

  17. Kim says:

    Data is so cute! I bet he likes the warmth in the laundry room! I feel really bad when leaving the cats, but we have a great pet sitter so there’s some comfort there 🙂
    And, yes, that’s totally rude of the guy not to hold the elevator for you!

  18. Christina says:

    My cat used to sleep with us more than he does now. I am not sure it is because our small dog sleeps with us too or he is loving his new kitty condo that he adores. Plus he sometimes likes to sleep next to our other dog cause she lets him and tends to give him all the space he wants.

    He does visit a few times during the night!

  19. I get my feelings hurt when my cat doesn’t sleep with me, haha. I’ve gone to find him and make him get into bed with me 🙂 That hammock is awesome.

  20. I wish I wasn’t allergic to cats because I would just bring him to our house! The kids would LOVE it. We would be happy to check in on him while you are gone (just let me know when) and my kids would have a blast playing with him again. I know it isn’t the same though, and he’d still be alone a lot. I feel bad when I am gone from Maya for the whole day so I can’t even imagine how you feel about him being alone longer.

    That elevator thing is annoying. I always hold the door for people. One time I pushed the button to get on and when the doors opened, I stepped out of the way and waited until everyone got out before I was going to get on. One guy wasn’t getting out and the doors shut before I could get in because there were so many people. I can’t believe the guy didn’t hold the doors for me! People can be rude sometimes!

    • kilax says:

      I cannot believe that guy did that to you in the elevator! What a total jerk!

      Aww, I wish we could take Data to your place too. He would love being around your kids! Steven is going to call the kennel tomorrow, but maybe I will give you a call if that doesn’t work out and see if I can pay you to stop by… it would be quite a bit 🙁

  21. Kate says:

    I think it’s hilarious that Data steals Steven’s seat. Your cat is funny! We only have fish, so … can’t really bring them with us. We have a couple of automatic fish feeders, plus neighbors who come and check on the fish when we are out of town for a while.

    Kim, you shouldn’t stick anything in the elevator doors! I always think of that guy in, like, Texas or wherever who got decapitated a few years back because he tried to jump into an elevator at the last minute. He got stuck and the elevator started moving anyway. It didn’t end well (obviously). I do think opening the door for you would have been the right thing to do, but maybe that guy had a bug up his butt that morning.

Panorama Theme by Themocracy

33 ‘queries’.