Mercury Retrograde

My friend Joana and I have a running joke that when things break or start going haywire, we blame it on Mercury Retrograde.

Until a few years ago, Mercury Retrograde had never crossed my path, at least not consciously. One day, while bored at work, I was sent a link to an astrology website. While I'm not someone who actively follows astrology, it is a great way to waste time reading horoscopes and how they relate to work, love, and life in general.

It is said in astrology that Mercury rules over the mind - including all communication, business, and travel processes. When Mercury reverses its direction, everything that Mercury is associated with is affected. Mercury Retrograde, astrologists warn, is an unfortunate time to make business decisions, purchase things like cars, or get married.

Suddenly it all became clear. It was no longer me making those user error mistakes at work. Obviously, it was Mercury Retrograde. If something breaks, blame Mercury! Flight delays? Oh, that pesky Mercury!

Today felt like a Mercury Retrograde period as everything electronic I touched stopped working. First, on the WebEx call where my presentation was temporarily muted by WebEx (only in front of the entire Americas sales organization for the company I work for and only during my presentation). Later today, the Mystic Tan machine that I desperately need to help me grow a tan by Saturday to compliment the rockin' pale blue dress I bought in New York last week, decided to stop working. Never mind that it had just worked for the customer ahead of me. Picture me standing butt naked in a machine pushing a button to spray a tan that just isn't coming.

The final straw came when all the cash registers at my local supermarket froze up as I was in line buying groceries for dinner. The market had to close early as they had no way to ring up our food manually.

That was the third strike. I almost didn't get in my car to drive home. At this point, it seemed dangerous to tempt fate further.

Surprisingly, Mercury is not in a retrograde period today, although it certainly feels like it is. Then again, there is a full moon tonight. I think I'll blame that for this crazy and frustrating day.