The return of the prodigal pussy

Sunday 22 Nov: 11am

We had just finished a long week of work and were looking forward to having Sunday off. It's not often that we do nothing, but on this particular day, it seemed like we had earned it.

The morning was cold and for a treat, we decided to light the wood burner, put our feet up and get into some TV. So while I prepared the fire, Pen went to the garage to get a few extra logs.

We had no idea that the back door had not been properly shut and since she had also pulled the curtain across the door to keep the draft out, we never actually saw Biscuit as he made his escape.

About two hours later, I opened the curtain and discovered the back door ajar.

"Shit!" I exclaimed and ran round the house like a demented idiot calling out, "Biscuit! Biscuit!" and with no sign of our cat, both of us went straight into panic mode.

We were out for ages, scouring the neighbourhood for our little cat, but with no success and Pen was beside herself. Well, we both were.

I put out posts on several lost pet sites on the internet, with descriptions of Biscuit, while Pen phoned people we knew in the area for them to keep their eyes open in case they spotted him.

Of course, everyone was commiseratory, wishing us "bon courage", "good luck" and other words of hope, but as the days went by, we were beginning to think that whether he had nine lives or not, he wouldn't survive out there in the big, wide world and wasn't coming back.

We were told by a friend that when she had moved house and let her cats out, they would take three or four days to return, so once again, hope was rekindled and we redoubled our efforts to try and find him. 

We posted posters of Biscuit in the shops and pharmacy and hoped against hope that someone would spot him and call us. We even left our kitchen window open, so that if he did find his way home, he would have a way into the house, but all it did was make the place bloody freezing for us.

Pen went out at around twilight one evening with a bag of Catisfactions (known as Dreamies in the UK) as just the noise of the bag could bring him from anywhere in the house. Down a little alley in the village, about twenty cats appeared, but by then and with no torch, Pen couldn't see whether Biscuit was among them.

So every evening thereafter, we went out several times in the hopes that we would be able to see him and draw him away from them and get him to come home.

... but we had no luck at all.

Living in quite a rural location, our village, whilst sporting many amenities, is relatively small and has many potential hiding places. Finding a small cat like Biscuit would have been more down to luck than judgement and even if we were just a few feet from him, he could have gone unnoticed.

Also, our village, like most other rural villages here in Normandy has a 50 kph speed limit. Nevertheless, it appears that speed limits are nothing more than suggestions to the population of rural France. People whip down the main road like their lives depended upon it, with little - if any - regard for the lives of people, let alone little animals like Biscuit. We have lost count of how many cat pancakes we have seen as a result of speeding drivers.

Day six

We had all but lost hope by the end of day five and by then, the idea that Biscuit had fallen foul of a lunatic driver, one of the many birds of prey or even another cat was a very real possibility.

We weren't prepared to give up, but our efforts were beginning to seem more and more futile with each passing day and what was worse, no-one had called to say they'd seen him.

So on the morning of day six, we had virtually accepted the fact that whilst we wanted nothing more than to have Biscuit back in our home, it probably wasn't going to happen. We had resigned ourselves to being Biscuitless to such a degree that we hadn't even left the window open before going off to work.

By eleven, we decided to make coffee for us and the man who was laying the flooring, but we had run out of what we'd taken with us, plus there was no milk either.

I was sent home to get some more as well as a few other bits and pieces and on my return, a little ginger cat crossed my path.

"Biscuit?" I said, not really believing it could possibly be him.

Immediately, the little cat turned and in a loud, clear voice, "Meowed", before he running straight towards me. I bent down and picked him up to head for the house we were working in, all the while, Biscuit sat on my shoulder, meowing louder than ever.

Pen couldn't believe her eyes and after lots of stroking and cuddling of the cat, we brought him home. He got a bowl of food, which he munched his way through without pausing for breath, so I imagine he didn't eat much during his time away.

Pen went back to work, but I stayed to keep Biscuit company. She'll be back shortly and I don't suppose Biscuit will get a quiet moment for some time.

Right now, he's curled up on my lap as I write this, quietly snoozing away after an adventure we'll never get to hear about. 

Shame. We'd really like to know what happened.

Fit for purpose

Something that's fit for purpose, is something that actually does what it is supposed to do.

We have all heard the recent news about VW and the fact that their cars are not actually doing that. They're deficient in some way and this is set to cost the company millions.

But what about other products that are advertised to do something and don't?

Ronseal advertise their products with the phrase, "Does exactly what it says on the tin", and it does.

I wish that could be applied to all products, but sadly, this is not the case, as I have found out.

My experience however, has not been with Ronseal - my experiences with their products are that their claims are true: their products do exactly what they suggest they will.

No, my recent experience concerns McAfee's Virus protection software.

It's a sad fact of life that we all need virus protection on our computers, as malware, viruses and other malevolent code can attack our computers at any time.

These attacks can cause all sorts of problems, as most of us have documents, photos, videos and many other files on our computers that we hold dear and on top of those, we also have information regarding our banking, mortgages, taxes and much more personal information, none of which we can do without, and none of which we want falling into the hands of the unscrupulous elements who would wish to steal our identities.

So when you're looking for a virus protection program, which one do you opt for? Do you opt for something you haven't heard of or do you choose something that is recommended to you?

If you're like me, you'll do a little surfing and find out what other people say about the proprietary and lesser-known brands before you shell out your hard-earned on something you're about to trust to keep all the above-mentioned information safe.

Ironically, I was in two minds whether I opted for McAfee or a free system. Avast came very close to being the chosen program, but I thought that there was no way I could get the same level of protection from something that was free compared to something that all the computers sold nowadays are pre-loaded with; at least on a thirty-day trial basis.

Boning up in this instance didn't help, as the information I found, did not warn me about McAfee's issues with Win XP. In fairness, when I first got McAfee, there wasn't an issue.

Yes, I know. XP is an operating system that has ceased to receive support from Microsoft since April 8th 2014. However, as I have discovered, there are many people who like me, continue to use equipment that cannot be upgraded. It may be old, but it's not obsolete - yet and it does exactly what it says on the tin.

McAfee appear to be in denial that their product and XP are incompatible.

Odd really, as they were quick enough to take my money for the second licence, a fee they upped by nearly 50% in the second year and after their product's issues with XP were discovered.

I of course tried the help - which for this is on-line. The program asked me for my country and preferred language, however, my country is France and my preferred language is English. Sure I can converse in French and understand some technical stuff, but it's easier and quicker for me to get through stuff in English, but McAfee wouldn't let me. Naturally, I discovered nothing.

Sending McAfee a message to let them know that I wasn't happy yielded nothing either. Their customer service never even replied to say they would look into it.

Disappointing.

So in a fit of pique, I decided to delete McAfee from my computer. It told me that I still had a valid subscription, so worried that I may be acting in haste, I cancelled the deletion. Lo and behold, it appeared to cure the issue, the download went ahead and everything was again up-to-date.

At that time, my XP machine was used only occasionally, but in the last few days, we have found need for both and once again, as soon as I'd booted it up, McAfee's program went into overdrive, locking all the resources and preventing me from doing anything.

After leaving it for nine hours to download the updates and having pulled a lot of my now very grey hair from my head, I decided I'd had had enough. I uninstalled McAfee and installed Avast instead. Now my machine runs as sweet as a nut and from what I have discovered, Avast is about the best out there, its free download competing with its subscribed counterparts.

Once McAfee runs out on my other machine, it will be uninstalled and Avast put in its place too.

I have of course sent yet another message to McAfee's customer service people to let them know that I cannot deal with products that are not in my opinion, "Fit for purpose". I told them in no uncertain terms that I wasn't happy with the level of service or treatment I have received from them or the way product has failed to work on so many levels. I told them that I would not be renewing my subscription - which went through automatically earlier this year - so this time don't even think about taking my subscription.

I even received a reply this time.

They had disabled automatic payment.

That's the only good thing they have done. They have not - like other companies - asked if there was any way they could improve the service or if they could change my mind, so I can only think they really don't care.

In all honesty, McAfee has kept my machine safe, but I believe I am well rid of this overpriced piece of junk. Okay, it might protect my PC, but it hogs resources and becomes intrusive, preventing normal use of the PC, which I consider poor. In addition, they should have been more forthcoming regarding my XP machine, but instead, they said nothing. I cannot think of a more user unfriendly program and I have been using computers since the days of DOS.

In short, in my opinion. it really isn't fit for purpose.