Magnolia Moon

There was some long awaited sun today, after the day started with grey skies and heavy showers.  I wanted to see how the 100 year old magnolia at Heligan was doing, as there is often early blossom.  There is a really heavy frost forecast for overnight tonight and many of the buds may be lost. 

But I was to early, and the buds were only just beginning to show their colour.  But I lied the glimpse of the moon - it was only around 15.30 this afternoon.

Going off at a tangent, and trying to ignore the crazy idea that you can email people who illegally attended parties and ask them if they did (they've lied so far, so why would they tell the truth in an email questionnaire?), I have a cat flap problem.  It's a microchip catflap, becasue next door's cat sneaks in and steals the cat food.  It has suddenly stopped opening in response to the chips in my cats.  I emailed the maker, and got all these instructions:

"Please can I ask you to forward us some more details to help us diagnose the issues you are having?

1. The serial number of your unit (this is located underneath the battery cover lid)
2. Your full delivery address and mobile phone number
3. The type of door your SureFlap is installed in (especially if there is any metal in the installation that could interfere with the cat flap)
4. What brand of batteries you are using. (Please make sure you are using 4 high quality alkaline batteries, like Energizer or Duracell)
5. If you cat flap is brown, is the reflective sticker still present, clean and in good condition.
6. Your cats' microchip numbers and roughly when the chip was implanted
7. Please press and release the "Add Pet" button. Does the grey motorised catch drop down and the red LED start flashing every second? If you press the button again, does the red light stop flashing and does the grey catch lock again? (Please do this test without your cat)
8. Please reply with a picture of your cat flap

Once we have this information, we can move forward as quickly as possible".


I answered SOME of those questions (they have the model number so why would they want a photograph?) and their response was to tell me:

"It is important that we know all the information in order to find the right solution for you. 
I have sent you out one of our Range Test Kits, which is a diagnostic tool that lets us know where the fault could be happening in your unit. This comes with full instructions and shouldn't take you long to carry out. Please contact us with the results of the test kit and I'm confident we can move forward as quickly as possible to resolve the issue for you.

1) Please, could you test the cat flap installed.

2) If the reading is below 24cm please also test the unit uninstalled from the door, this way we will be able to see if there is a fault with the sensors or any interference in the installation location. Removing the cat flap from the installation area is a very easy process. To remove the unit, simply take out the 2 screws on the outside of the unit.

3) If the unit reading is improved once uninstalled, please send us a picture of the hole the unit is installed in and the dimensions of the installation hole so we can investigate further."


I am losing the will to live!