The call came in from our U.S. Office late Thursday afternoon: "We need a desk made out of Habitrail components for the Rosie O'Donnell Show."

As I began to visualize how the desk would look, I was told that we needed it in New York on Monday night. We had three days to come up with something. This is when panic set in. I asked if there was any chance of getting an extension on the deadline. This would give us plenty of time to plan and build a great desk. No, I was told the desk had to be there on Monday.

On Friday morning, we frantically began to gather all the materials needed to make the desk. One of our biggest challenges was how to support the entire structure. We contacted our plastics supplier to lend us a hand. We experimented with several different configurations, assembling Habitrail Main units, Trails, Add-Ons, Add-Ins, Wheels and Spinners in a variety of set-ups, until we finally found one combination that was solid enough to withstand shipping and handling.

When we finally pieced the desk together, we put it in a truck and headed for the Big Apple. When we got there, we were met by a steady flow of NBC employees who shuffled us off to the next point until we got to the studio where the show is shot.

We made final adjustments and added the hamsters for the test shooting. Everything worked as planned. The desk looked great and the show went off without a hitch.

We received a number of compliments both at the show and after. It gave Habitrail and Hagen excellent TV exposure and definitely created interest in hamsters.