It started out like any other day, but slower. My lupus was acting up due to the storm fronts moving through and I felt guilty since I had promised Misha a trip to the lake. Misha loves walking on his harness, and is very calm about it all. He took to it right away and being a bright, inquisitive boy it was a perfect match for him. Stumbling around trying to chase the fog from my brain with half a glass of Coke, I hitched Misha up in his purple harness for a short but hopefully enjoyable mini-adventure on my balcony. I use the harness out there simply because I don't want him nose diving off the side. Did I mention my patio door has a built in security bar that drops into place when you shut it? Can you guess where this is going? Out we trot, Misha looking handsome in his harness and lead and me looking bedraggled with unkempt hair and my nighty. Here is where the cat comes into the story. I live with a wonderful cat, a beautiful chocolate point Siamese boy named Connor. Connor is very attached to me. And he loves going onto the balcony. However he makes me nervous because he loves to lean way way out and look down. I fear he will jump just to see what it is like. He only has two brain cells and they don't fire at the same time. So of course he comes trotting up and yodeling at the top of his lungs when he hears the patio door open. I don't want to fuss with him, not having Misha to watch also. Remember the afore mentioned security bar? Yep, you guessed it. I shut the patio door to keep Connor in. Unfortunately, it also kept me and Misha out. I stand around for 15 minutes or so, periodically banging on door hoping to dislodge the bar. Can we say unrealistic? I speculate how much force it will take to break the glass. Finally someone walks by. I yell, He gets his wife, who comes over with her cell phone. No I can't call the manager, because while the apartments allow caged animals, and I have paid a pet deposit on the cat, I am unsure about the status of the ferrets. So she calls my friends with the key. After a rather humorous phone call involving hard of hearing friend, woman who she can't understand, and then my other friend, the key is on the way. Did I mention he lives over half an hour from me, more with current construction? So I plant my butt on the balcony, amazed that suddenly there are all kinds of folks wondering by. Misha is enjoying the sun, and wonder of wonders, decided to be a lap ferret. He NEVER does that. I think he must have felt sorry for me. Well, until he decided to go in and started scratching at the door. He was rather upset when I didn't open it immediately at his command. I got the stink eye. Friend finally shows up, can't unlock the door. Goes to find maintenance man who figures out he is using the wrong key. Friend then has to unlatch the security chain from inside the door, walk upstairs and undo the security bar on patio door. Did I mention my friend doesn't like ferrets? Oh and the cat I was worried about? He sat and yelled inside the entire time. The...entire...time. I love them meezers, really I do. Margie and the Madcap Mustelids [Posted in FML issue 5177]