Defiance

This isn't a complaint, but an attempt to understand. Jamie is an extremely well-behaved cat, if you ignore his fascination with electronics (he loves the phone, printers, and DVD player). The only taboo zone in our house is the counter area including the sink, range, and clothes dryer (because of the range). He'll be seven in April, and, except for the first few weeks he lived here, he has abided by that rule. The past 4 or 5 days, however, he has really been defiant. As soon as one or both of us are in the kitchen, he jumps up on the dryer or range, and hunkers down till we physically remove him. I started back to work on Monday after a two-week break, and his nemesis, our half cat ZsaZsa, has basically decided to live full time at our neighbor's, only coming here for an occasional meal. Our (recently resident) nephew turned 18 last Saturday, and moved into his own apartment on Sunday. Those are the only recent changes I can think of. Jamie is used to me having relatively long breaks, and then returning to work, has always been extremely nasty to ZsaZsa, and resentful/jealous of our nephew. The older he gets, the cuddlier he becomes, and he's had lots of cuddles. He had a health check-up yesterday, and the vet pronounced him perfectly fit. What message am I missing?

can you get feliway??? he may just be a bit stressed

I'm thinking just his way of getting your attention, because that's what he wants some more of.

Feliway is what I would say too. Maybe he IS just stressed out a little. lol, I found the older I got after the age of 18, I was getting more and more stressed out everyday. Maybe getting older is making him mad. lol, like a mid-life crisis or something.

But yea, I would say try some Feliway?

How old did you say he was?

Well Tricia, it sounds like a plea for attention. When you put him on the floor, you give him contact, which is what he wants. Maybe you should ignore him when he does it, and remove the positive consequences?

I've thought of another possible cause. Jamie usually has unlimited access to a secured balcony, but we've been having daytime highs in the teens for about a week, so the doors have remained closed. He has been getting his daily walk, but generally turns around and walks back inside after about 2 or 3minutes. Not being able to use his balcony is something he's experienced before, but maybe it's just the cumulative effect.
I think I'll pick up some Feliway diffusers. We're having new windows put in downstairs within the next 2 - 4 weeks, and I'm sure he'll be stressed out by the noise.