See, for years now, the boy has enjoyed napping on the DVR box - for the warmth, I would assume, after all, he's not got too much extra padding on him. The box sat in front of the TV in the living room. Personally, I would have thought that, being that close to the TV, the volume would have deafened him by now, but it doesn't appear to have done any damage. He doesn't ignore me anymore than he did before he took up residence on that box.
Anyway, that DVR box died about 6 months ago, and the technology has changed so that the box that replaced it in the living room is the size of a thick CD case. (i.e., too small for one long, lean, cowardly lion). Meanwhile, a box of similar size was installed to replace the deceased DVR unit and my as-of-yet-still-living-maybe-because-Gizmo-didn't-nap-on-it DVR in the bedroom. This new box had to be close to the internet outlet, so it sits on the desk in my bedroom.
It didn't take long for my handsome boy (he may not be quite the dim bulb I've always thought him to be) to realize that the new box on my desk was THE place to be.
Now I know I am not Bill Gates, technologically speaking. But I think it is reasonable to believe that while Gizmo's sleeping on (and therefore covering up) the heat vents of the old DVR might not have been the ultimate reason it died, I figure at a minimum it didn't help. So for about six months now, in the evening, I'd crawl into bed and sit there facing Gizmo on the (I'm going to say "DVR," because I don't know what it is exactly) and think to myself... "I really need to do something to keep him from frying this thing by smothering it to death." Plus the wireless modem sits on it, and he keeps knocking it off because there's not room for both of them in that town - and NO ONE comes between me and my wireless!
Well, again, after SIX MONTHS of this, I finally got around to it. At first, I planned on hitting the Office Depot store a couple of miles from the 'Do, but that didn't happen so I hit up the Office Depot website! I knew exactly what I had in mind and 1) they did not have anything similar; and B) what they did have was incredibly expensive! After about 40 minutes of surfing and wobbling back and forth between the dining room, where the laptop was, and my bedroom, where the DVR thingee is, to get the thingee's measurements (and yes, I could have written them down, but this was really my only exercise that day) I found one that I liked and could stomach the price - $59, but shipping was free.
I have no idea why it didn't occur to me first thing, but I thought I'd see if I could find it on Amazon. (My favorite website in the world!) Not only did they have the exact same thing, it was literally HALF the price AND would ship free with my Prime membership. But, upon reading the reviews, I realized that even though it said it was 15 inches wide (and the DVR is 14), that wasn't the width between the legs. Between the legs, it was only 12 inches. Back to the drawing board.
Another half hour, but on Amazon this time, I found a very nice "monitor stand" (in case you want to know what to look for) for $30! It arrived in 2 days (Prime - free 2 day shipping) and I put it together. Et voila!
It's wide enough for the thingee; tall enough for the thingee AND the modem, and there's room for it to breathe. I'm not sure Gizmo is thrilled about the change, though. When I compare the face in this picture to the one above, I see disappointment and sorrow.
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