A few nights ago, one of the cats had a brief attack of what some cat owners call "the evening crazies." Probably Lady, at age 12 and counting, Grinch's days of zooming madly through the house are dwindling.

But someone zoomed across my feet and ankles after the lights were out at bedtime. Several trips across, in fact, each trip ending with a jump to the window sill and then a thud on the mattress on the return trip down from the window. I didn't think there was much to be gained by turning on the light to see who was thundering up and down the hall, so I just waited for the eventual calming off period.

Then came a series of strange thumps from the vicinity of the kitchen, followed by total silence.

I got up to investigate.

I have a small netbook computer I usually keep on the kitchen table. I have wi-fi in my office, and after I hooked up a set of small speakers to the computer, I can listen to any radio station I choose. WNYC from New York is a favorite, and there are several others I've stumbled on which I also enjoy.

When I got to the kitchen and turned on the light, the mystery of the thumps was solved. The computer, thank goodness, was still on the table, but the speakers and the cables which connect them to the wall, the computer, and each other trailed across the floor, around the corner, and down the stairs to the basement.

One of the speakers was near the top of the stairs, the other nearly halfway down. All the cables were still connected, although the electrical plug was out of the wall socket. Neither cat was anywhere to be seen.

I collected the speakers, untangled the cables, plugged everything back into the wall, and turned the speakers on. The green power light glowed reassuringly. Next morning I powered up the netbook and connected to WNYC. All was well.

So, to repeat, thank god for integrated circuits!