We had really bad smoke last week. This week it was supposed to be gone. But then rainstorms crawled their way into the valley, trapping the smoke and making me miserable as I doped-up to try and manage my allergies.

But what's worse than waking up to this...

Or, even worse, this...

Is knowing that I'll have to close off the catio, because Jake and Jenny's little lungs can't handle the smoke and particles in the air. I'd rather they stay healthy as long as possible, and so... sorry, but the catio is closed for business.

Now imagine what my life is like. These cats are accustomed to doing whatever the heck they want whenever the heck they want. And since they are well-behaved cats, they don't get told "no" very often. But now they're being told "No, you can't go out into the catio because it's not safe for you."

Chaos ensues.

Jenny is the first to notice...

She decides to stare at me while meowing her displeasure...

Then it's Jake's turn to notice...

When he can't bite the door open, he decides to sit and wait for me to open it...

Then it's Jake's turn to notice...

After a while, Jenny decides to make the situation even more upsetting to everybody involved by meowing out the window towards a world she can see but not go out into...

And then it's Jake's turn to speak with the manager about the door situation...

He can't meow, but he can squawk at me.

This cycle is repeated throughout my morning.

And when I get home from work.

Fortunately today was looking much better, so I opened up the catio.

But of course now they're not interested in going outside.