15 August 2009 -

["Jump Around" by House of Pain]

This is, like many other postings, a long overdue one. When back in the US and more recently in December, people were asking how the Lads were. As I answered, I realized that I had neglected to post one of their escapades here that is somewhat relevant to the general purpose of this blog.

Way back in May or June on one of the many random banking holidays here, I had a Thursday off. Most normal people (and who have the full complement of German vacation days, which exceeds my American alottment by quite a few days) took the opportunity to turn the holiday into a four-day weekend. I had to work the following day and merely took the holiday as an excuse to watch movies late into the night the night before and then sleep in (as much as any Preuscher really ever sleeps in).

So Thursday morning I was conscious around 9 AM, got up, opened the balcony door to let in some fresh air, turned on the Nespresso machine and went into the study to check email and the download status of the Rachel Maddow podcast from the night before. I wasn't quite awake. I thought I heard someone call my name, but realized I was not only sleepy, but also hearing things. But then I really did hear something -- my doorbell ringing. Hmmm....


It was my neighbors in a high state of excitement, so much so that they were actually speaking German to me (not unusual since they are German, but unusual in that they kindly usually speak English to me). But I heard the key words -- schwarze Katze, Balkon, springen. Black cat, balcony, to jump. Accompanied by a lot of gestures. Ruh roh.


So I headed out to the balcony, where I saw Banes looking curiously over the edge. Following his gaze I saw Oxley. Yes, the neighbors had witnessed Oxley jumping from the balcony down to the roof of the building next to ours. The building next to ours (the Rewe supermarket) has a rounded roof like an aircraft hangar and is parallel to our building. So if Oxley had jumped off the lond edge of the balcony, he would have landed on a higher portion of the curved roof, hence a shorter jump. Obviously, a longer jump of a full story if he had gone off one of the ends of the balcony. Nevertheless, he was walking around on the roof and having a fine time, it seemed.

The next question, of course, is how would I be able to rescue him (which assumes, of course, that he wanted to be rescued). The direct option would be to go to the Rewe and ask for access to their roof. Alas, they were closed since it was a holiday. Hmmm....

Next idea was to ask the tenants of my building on the lower floor to see if I could try to get Oxley through their windows, which opened roughly onto the roof level of the Rewe. My neighbor and I went downstairs and tried knocking on the doors of both neighbors, but didn't get an answer. It appeared that they had taken advantage of the long weekend to get out of town. Hmmm....

My neighbor thought of another idea, though. The only remaining option (before I started trying to figure out how to craft some sort of ladder for getting down onto the roof, rescuing the feline, and then climbing back up) was the other building that is part of our building and shares a garage with our building and also happens to be adjacent to the Rewe. So outside we went. Assuming that the mailboxes at the other unit were arranged the same as ours, we hit two numbers that we calculated would be on the second floor. After a while, there was finally an answer by a rather sleepy-sounding guy. My neighbor fortunately speaks German and quickly explained the situation to him and asked if we could try the rescue attempt through his window. He invited us up.

Poor guy was still in his PJs and had apparently had a long night and I felt like a heel for having had to wake him up, but he was a good sport about it. Oxley was less of a good sport and was having a great time exploring the roof. He had no intention whatsoever of answering my call and coming to the window. So I had to launch myself up onto the window ledge and crawl out of the window and onto the roof and chase down the darn animal. My neighbor and the young guy were watching all of this with a great deal of amusement. I finally got Oxley and passed him through the window and made a rather clumsy re-entrance through the building. After thanking the guy, we headed back outside, where of course Oxley started clawing at me trying to get away. Imagine how that might have turned out. I finally made it back inside, though, and the day's drama was over.

Suffice it to say, the Lads are now only allowed on the balcony with direct supervision. It seems rather unfair to Banes since he didn't do anything wrong (and seriously, who knew these porkers could even fit through the railing to make their great escape?), but it is what it is. I consider hin at least guilty of aiding and abetting.