*RING RING*

“Hello?”

“Hi! This is Steven… We are supposed to be meeting this afternoon?”

“Yes! Steven. How can I help you?”

“Well… I have a bit of a problem…” Nervously, I explained to him that my cat was freakin’ out under the floorboards of my friend’s house and I couldn’t get her out. “So is there any way we can meet up like, tomorrow instead? I just can’t leave without her.”

“Sure… Why don’t you give me a call tomorrow morning when you are crossing the border and I can try to squeeze you in. Children are a great responsibility, aren’t they?”

Thankfully, the landlord was being very cool about this. I was worried how he would respond. Now all I had to do was get the damn cat out of the floor. I went out to the car for my auxiliary can of tuna. I figured it might come in handy and it usually takes only a few seconds before she is trying to climb up my leg when I open a can. Grabbing the electric can opener along the way for added effect, I headed up the stairs, determined to get her out of there.

*bzzzzzzzzzzz*

The room started to fill up with the familiar stench, but there was nothing. The cat just wasn’t budging. wtf do I do now? I was thinking. I decided it was time to see if I could wait her out. I set the bowl of tuna close to the opening in the floor where she was, hoping to lure her out. Hours went by as I puttered around the room, anxiously hoping my plan would work. I pulled out my laptop and just goofed off on the internet, chatted with people, etc, waiting. Nothing. It was starting become clear should would not budge. By the time Daniel and Joyce returned home, I was exasperated. We agreed it was time to resort to more drastic actions…

Most of the people reading this first entry at least will have known me before hand and heard the stories of the exhausting path of twists, turns, rings of fire, etc I was forced to navigate to get to Canada. It only got more interesting once I got on the road… I was forced to abandon my apartment, all my furniture and many of my worldly possessions when I left Atlanta. I hit the road with what I could shoehorn into my Honda Civic behind me and my trusty cat riding shotgun. The longest leg of our journey was to MD to visit my father and stepmother. The 11 hour drive was taxing for me, but I was surprised at how well the cat endured. She was quiet and just sat in the passenger seat patiently for most of the trip, but did not eat or drink anything. By the time we arrived at our destination, I suspected she was getting stressed out. I isolated her and put down some food. After a few hours she started eating, but she was hiding. We were not a happy kitty. After about two days, the cat began exploring my father’s place and getting to know the dog, but by then it was time to head out. The next leg of the trip was only about 4 hours and we reached Pittsburgh without complication. It was once we got there that things started to go wrong… I was able to find my way to Joyce’s house with little effort. Mapquest provided good directions and the kitty seemed to be OK, but definitely was ready to get out of the car, as was I. Joyce was there to welcome us in and Daniel arrived home shortly there after. They were kind enough to have set up the attic as a guest room for us and I wasted no time setting up camp for the little princess. After establishing her home base, I let the cat roam free in the attic and Joyce, Daniel, and I took off for the pub to grab a pint of some microbrew and some dinner. We came back, chatted the night away, listened to some music and then headed for bed. All seemed well, but I was a little sad to be leaving in the morning. I woke up around 6a on the 29th. It was hot in the attic and I decided to go downstairs to check email and get some water. I looked around and saw the cat playing with a board covering a whole in the wall. Quickly I dismissed it and headed down the stairs, only half awake. When I returned, the cat was gone and I knew immediately what had happened. SONOFABITCH! The cat had gotten into the unfinished part of the attic. I went down to the car and got my flashlight. Into the unfinished part I went, searching for the cat and calling her name. Not a sound. She was dead silent and I started to worry… Maybe she fell down into one of the walls and broke her neck. She could be dead. These were the things I was thinking and I felt terrible. After about an hour, Joyce and Daniel got up and helped me continue the search. She was OK, or so it seemed. Daniel had spotted her under the floorboards, but there was no way to get her out. I was distraught. No amount of coaxing was working. I called my new landlord in Toronto…