Can Garfield Be Fixed?

1
This one?s simple.

The question is whether this broken clock radio can be fixed. The situation is that I bought this really cute clock radio of Garfield that talks in his own voice to wake you up. When you hit the snooze button he says in this very lazy, fat cat voice, ?Go ahead, stay in bed, sleep longer.? I bought it second hand on the Internet as a present, but when I got it I found that it was broken. You couldn?t set the minutes in either the time or the alarm. So I showed it to the person I was going to give it to but I kept it myself to try to fix it. In other words, I still think it belongs to me. I went to about 6 or 7 different places to see if it could be fixed and no one said they could do it. That?s when I asked the question.

July 28, 2004, at 1:06 PM, EDT (+4 hours), at Ft. Belvoir, VA, 38? N 43?, 77? N 09?.

The chart looks pretty definite about it not being able to be fixed. Late degrees are rising, and the Moon is void of course. The significators are, for me Venus just crossing into the 9th house, for the clock radio I took the 2nd house ruler Mars which is way high up there in the 10th house. Like I said I didn?t really give this away yet as a present so I still think this is a 2nd house question.

There are no applying aspects to the clock radio?s significator, the Moon is separating from a trine to it, and my significator is also separating from a sextile with it. Beside being void of course, the Moon?s last contact (they are still tight within orb) was to be opposite my planet, Venus. So the course of events is opposed to me. Before that is was conjoin Pluto. None of that looks good. A funny thing I noticed is that I expected to find the clock radio?s significator to be peregrine or in its fall or detriment to show that its broken. Mars has dignity by face, and while that?s not much, it?s not what I thought.

Why I posted this is to see the outcome, because today I found a repair shop that says he can fix it. This was the 9th store I visited. I really want it fixed. If he can?t find the exact tiny little part that it needs, he is pretty sure he can add a small wire to it jury rig it back into working order. That would seem to throw this whole chart into doubt. But time will tell.

About the only sign of recovery I can see and it?s a stretch is to say that since the clock radio?s significator is angular, that it will ?come back to me?, sort of like in a lost item chart.

Since this one has a definite answer coming up next week and the chart and the situation seem to be saying different things, does anyone want to make any bets as to whether it gets fixed?

I know this isn't earth shattering, but it's kind of nice to do one that doesn't involve someone having a nervous breakdown. (Me included)
Mark F

2
Okay, not astrology related, just old granny offering a thought about the cuddly old Marmalade feline...

Can GArfields innards be replaced? who made the original? do you know? I ask because sometimes the manufacturer is the only one who can fix it.

:(

I wish you luck

3
Garfield's innards don't have to be replaced. He basically works fine, but a tiny metal dome-shaped spring that is used to set the minutes is missing. The guy at the repair shop says that he might be able to get another one of those little pieces, but if he can't he still might be able to get it to work properly by adding two little wires to it.

It was made in China and sold under the Sunbeam name.

I still think the chart looks bad, and this contradicts the guarded optimism I received from the guy at the repair shop. I am particularly impressed that he saw a way to work around the missing part. I don't think he'll manage to find that tiny little dome-shaped spring.

If no one else is willing to take a stab at this, I?ll say that the clock will be fixed, no matter what this chart says.
Mark F

4
Hi Mark,

It's interesting that the Sun is in Leo on the Midheaven. I've often found the symbolism around the midheaven to be descriptive of names - in horary and natal work.

The way I read the chart is this:

The Sun and Venus (your significator) are both separating from an easy aspect of Mars, ruler of the 2nd, which, (as when it is in the 2nd), suggests ?dispersion of substance?, ie., money wasted (easily). The closely separating opposition between the Moon and Venus across the 3rd-9th house axis is descriptive of your recent act of making a purchase over the internet that wasn?t to your advantage.

The Moon makes no other aspect except the sextile to the ascendant and the trine to Mercury, which is already within orb of application although it perfects after the Moon changes signs. The aspect to Mercury is uninterupted so still counted as far as I?m concerned. The Moon and Mercury are both natural significators for timekeeping devices and since Mercury is well placed on the 11th house cusp and strong in its own sign, we can?t say the chart denies the possibility of repair. Your hopefulness is no doubt a contributing factor, as is your legendary determination to make good your financial investment (Moon conjunct Pluto in the 2nd, trine 2nd-ruler, Mars).

However, since Mercury is itself applying to the opposition of retrograde Uranus, you might find the clock is generally unstable and not worth all this trouble.

There?s no planetary hour agreement and the ascendant is very late at 29 Libra ? why ignore those considerations, especially the latter which warns it?s not safe (or reliable) to judge the chart, over such a small matter? Traditional authors claim that a late ascendant brings questions from people who are trying to test out astrology rather than approaching the art with sincerity over a meaningful matter, and it might be that astrologers do that too, with the best intentions of testing it for themself. Could that be happening here? If you view the Moon as VOC that's even more reason to consider that the chart is based on an 'idle' question.

I wouldn?t invest too much into this chart because of the considerations. But, I know, you really love this clock ?

5
Thanks for the input. You?ve brought up a few things that I didn?t see.

Could you explain why the opposition between the Moon and Venus from the 3rd-9th house axis shows something bought over the Internet? Is it that the 3rd house (local things) is opposed by the 9th house (far away things), and that is a symbol for the Internet?

And how does the Moon conjoin Pluto trine Mars, the ruler of the 2nd house show my ?legendary determination to make good your financial investment??

When do we use the natural significator of something, i.e., Mercury as a clock, and when do we use the house ruler? While I can see that Mercury can represent a clock, why would I not use the 2nd house ruler? That would seem to be the more straightforward way.

While I won?t deny that now I am testing this, I didn?t start out that way. I came up with the chart while spending almost the whole afternoon trying to find someone to fix it. I?d been looking for a place that could fix it for over three weeks. I wondered if I was banging my head against a brick wall. When I got home, I took a quick look at the chart and saw a lot of signs that it couldn?t ? especially the void of course Moon and late degrees rising. But the next day I went to two more repair shops and the second one told me he might be able to fix it. That?s when I posted the chart on the forum. So sure it?s a test, but it didn?t start out to be that way. I just wanted to see if I was on a wild goose chase, and whether I should put much more effort into it. Of course, I did what I wanted to do and ignored what I saw as the bad signs.

And I thought that a void of course Moon meant that nothing can be done, not that the matter is trivial. And I thought that late degrees rising mean the time for the event has passed. Lilly says, ?if the later degrees arise, the matter of the Question is elapsed, and it?s probable the Querent hath been tampering with others, or despaires of any successe; however, the Heavens advise you not to meddle with it at that time.? What does he mean by the querent tampering with others?

Lilly says about the void of course Moon, ?Generally consider the state of the Moon, for if she be void of course there?s no great hopes of the Question propounded, that it shall be effected; yet if she be in Cancer, Taurus, Sagittarius or Pisces, your fear may be lesse, for then she is not much impedited by being voyd of course?. The Moon is in Sagittarius, so it?s not so bad as I first thought.

Also, if you count the upcoming trine between the Moon and Mars, that means that the Moon is not void of course. I missed that. Usually I see an aspect made after a change of signs that whatever is wanted, in this case the repair of the clock radio as happening after a change in circumstances. It?s hard to see what circumstances could change given such a simple question.

One other thing I just noticed is that the part of fortune is in the 5th house, which rules gifts, and that its ruler Jupiter is in the 11th house. But the 5th house also has Uranus on its cusp. So the 5th house, gifts, is connected both with hope (11th house) and with things breaking (Uranus).
Mark F