h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Today, as the sun came out and the cat pranced around in the garden, little did I know what would come to pass.

The noise a cat makes, well mine, when it wants to attract attention is a plaintive squeek. Not a rusty squeek, more a half squeek; sort of hitting the nerve endings and disturbing the subconscious.

It began at around 1425. The half squeek, hitting my subconscious, and then, by a process close to osmosis, making me feel disturbed and anxious. Was that the noise from a cat in distress?

I dismissed it, for a while, until the subconscious started prodding. Then adreniline set in, and I was up and searching. Where was the half squeek coming from? Was the cat in trouble and distress? Had it been caught, run-over and crawled back from the road with all limbs smashed? I searched all the nooks and crannies inside the house, even though I knew the cat was outside. I searched the length and breadth of the garden, calling out. At this point my wife joined in too. We searched parts of the garden even foxes are scared of, while rattling a carton of Whiskas Temptations and calling out his most familiar phrases. No sign. No trace, nothing.

Back into the house, for both of us and then, after a few minutes that half squeek again. Nerves on edge. Where is the cat, where?

Then wife, who had recently downloaded a game called Virtual Villagers, Tree of Life, demonstrated a sound emanating from the game when the mouse selected a small baby. The half squeek!

That's another 30 minutes I could have done without...the cat strolled up later for snacks.

I've heard a similar tale, which turned out to be a neighbour's new baby making the weird animal-in-distress sounds

How's the search going?

No joy yet, thanks, but I'm waiting to hear the results of two recent interviews.

I'm looking at diversifying into another area of IT, but it would need a lot of training.

Think Trident replacement and simpler code for low cost mass extermination.