Tonight I need to run some last minute errands, gas up the car, pack, get in touch with a few people to make sure some items are taken care of. There won't be much time left over for The Professor. He hates being on the phone with a passion, so other than touching base and saying hi with him, we really won't be talking much until I return a week from Saturday.

This morning, as I was leaving the apartment, I heard a mewing on the second floor of our building. It turned out to be the new cat that a guy I've dubbed "Migraine Man" (because of an painfully long story he told me about having a migraine when we first met) adopted a few weeks back. The cat is an escape artist and must have slipped out the door behind him as he left this morning.

I was at a loss as to what to do. Migraine Man was gone to work and I have no idea where he works. The office to our complex doesn't open before 9:30 (this was 6:30). I ran my stuff out to the car and went back in the building. Migraine Man's cat was no where to be found. I walked down the hall to the back stairway, and saw his cat on the outside of the open hallway window, sitting on the ledge. I hauled the cat back in and tried to close the window, but it was warped open.

Now what? I did the only thing I could do, and hauled the cat back to my own apartment and locked it in the bathroom. I woke the professor to tell him what I'd done (it wouldn't do to let the cat out of the bathroom by accident with the Warrior Princess on the prowl; she's twice as large as this scrawny beast was). I suggest The Professor wait until 9:30 and then dump the cat at the aparment management's office and let them deal with it.

As it turns out, my Clueless Wonder (see my Dear Diary photo album for a picture) was the bigger pain, yowling at the unseen cat through the closed bathroom door. The Professor, upon checking Migraine Man's apartment door, discovered that he'd never locked his door that morning. So he took the poor cat and redelivered it to it's rightful abode. The Prof will probably leave him an anonymous note telling MM what happened, so that he's more careful about his cat AND his door.

Which brings me to my pet peeve (pardon the pun) of the day. If you have a pet, put a collar with ID on it. I don't want to hear that the animal might get it's collar caught and get trapped. Your animal might also be found by somebody who wants to do the right thing and get it home. And if your lost animal with no ID tags and no rabies tag gets frightened and nips at somebody? Then there's a better than even chance that your pet's head is going to be sent to some laboratory and tested for rabies. And if your animal lives inside and never gets out? Migraine Man's pet was one jump away from freedom. The unforeseen happens. An emergency, a fire, a careless door left ajar, a broken screen on a window ... it happens. Indoor pets need protection too.

There are perfectly good break-away collars that will come apart if enough stress is placed on them. I recommend one of those, with the ID tag and rabies tag affixed to it. It's in your pet's best interests.

OK. The Veterinarian will stop lecturing now.