My 2019 attempt at a cat shelf ended up in the trash after two days, so I feel your pain. The hot glue thing is such a trap, it looks strong until it fails. Duct tape with dowels makes total sense to me now, it is basically the same trick I use for fixing my garden trellis every spring. Strangers have saved me more times than I can count, like the guy at Home Depot who told me to use a cheap sanding block instead of my fancy tool. You are not bad at picking adhesives, you were just using the wrong one for a heavy, moving animal. Cardboard is a liar, it looks sturdy until a cat decides to test it.

Those frozen meals are packed with sodium and preservatives, so calling it winning feels like a stretch.

Man, I just dipped a few records in a bucket of distilled water and called it a day. The Spin Clean did catch some crud a regular rinse missed, but once mold gets in the grooves you're pretty much hosed either way.

Man, I totally get that. I have a little tally counter taped to my old Commodore 1084 monitor because I wanted to see how many times I'd reload a save state in Final Fight. It's not even about the number, it's just satisfying to see that physical mark add up over years of gaming. My CRT has this specific warm glow that makes everything look right, especially the old shooters. Light guns just don't work on modern TVs without that scanline lag, and it drives me crazy. Yours is a nice round milestone, I'm only at 847 on mine but I'm chasing you.

Is it possible that cats are just naturally wired to explore their environment with their paws? I've read that batting at things is part of how they learn about objects and their surroundings, like a tiny scientist poking at stuff. The attention thing might just be a bonus for them, honestly.