6 posts tagged “mercury retro”
There's reserve as in reserve a room ... and reserve as in Black Velvet Reserve Canadian whisky.
And it's the latter in my brain tonight.
Talk about timing! In the day's (prior) post, I'd penned an update about the new job and the various displays of the Mercury retrograde under which it was begun and then deleted it.
Just as well because after tonight, it'd have become dated; a fresh element in the form of a new employee has just been introduced that may abruptly alter the working landscape (Merc retro!). Tonight's shift was a bit like being hit by a bus and thus the Black Velvet Reserve, the medicine du momente. Mixed with icy diet 7-Up on a late temperate night, it's rater refreshing.
Funny now that pet pavilion called when it did; what initially looked like a no go may end up a solution to a problem. I'll know more when the woman in charge returns my call.
Three weeks into the job and changes appear afoot. Mercury retro. In the meantime, I'm contemplating one question: Are four shots in 2-1/2 hours too many?
It’s Mercury retrograde now.
As of Jan. 11. Until Feb. 1.
I’ve written on it before. There’s plenty of information online.
In short, Mercury rules the conscious, logical mind. During retrogrades, the life flow and our thinking reverse, flow backward.
This is a time of increased inattention. Confusion. Fuzzy thought. Forgetfulness. Missing stuff you'd get normally.
I can’t count how many times I’ve noticed that for myself just on Vox. I’ll leave a comment to someone’s posting. Then follow up with another starting with “oh yeah, and this” because I’d forgotten to mention something or didn’t catch it first time around.
Thought processes flow funky. Decisions and actions are revisited or reversed to set them on the right track.
Communications go awry, misunderstandings likely. Mercury rules communication, flow of information transportation. Communication is misheard or misinterpreted. Sometimes you have to repeat or clarify what was meant. Or ask the other party to do so.
Actions initiated during a Mercury retro (or in some instances just before, during the dusty shadow period) will be prone to hiccups. Delays. Headaches. Annoyances. If not at the time, later, when the unexpected surfaces. Projects started in an M-R won't take off as hoped or expected.
It's not a good time for surgeries or to take the car in for repair, unless they were begun prior to retrograde, in which case it's a good time because the retrograde's the cycle to revisit and repair the past.
Sometimes it’s unavoidable, in which case expect some bumpiness.
For example, the repair may not be exactly right. You'll need to take the car back, or look the other way knowing something's not quite fixed. Maybe they didn't catch something, or misdisdiagnosed, or didn't view the whole picture, or the repair didn't take.
There may be unforeseen add-ons, misquoted prices, mislaid paperwork. The repair may take longer than they said.
Car accidents increase in Merc retros, especially fender-benders. People are less attentive, more easily distracted, prone to being in a hurry, impatient, irritable, more careless.
All things related to transportation, movement and communication are ruled by the fleet-footed planet.
These are the areas that can get wacky, funky, haywire-y, glitchy and for no obvious reason. This includes computers, telephones, all things electrical and electronic and mechanical.
That used cell phone I bought from the nice man (before the retrograde), with the camera that doesn't work. Still need to return that for a refund. But I know better than to buy a new phone during an M-R, so am holding off till next month, when Mercury resumes direct.
A basic list of Do's and Don'ts in a retrograde:
Don't:
Start a new job, class, relationship
Make and finalize important decisions; if unavoidable, prepare for future revisions and changes of course
Buy computers, appliances, TVs, radios, telephones
Travel without back-up plans
Sign contracts
Make large purchases -- especially cars
Expect things to move smoothly or at normal speed
Negotiate a contract
File a lawsuit
Make binding commitments
Astrologers are not overlooking the fact that the incoming president is being inaugurated in a retrograde; I'd post on the subject myself except there's no cutting through the Obama mania in these parts, my words and insights would be wasted. I'll say only what I've known all along: Be prepared for surprises, people.
The first O.J. Simpson trial, btw, 13 years ago when he was found not guilty (yeah, right)? Held during a Mercury retrograde. It was certain it wasn't over. That something would resurface down the road for re-examination, review, another look. And how interesting, if not telling, that this last and most recent trial that's finally put him into prison ... also in a Mercury retro. Reworking and completing unfinished business from the past -- very M-R.
Do:
Reapply for a job (if pursued prior retro)
Rewrite projects and resumes
Review paperwork
Re-contact friends and clients of the past
Research
Complete unfinished projects
Clean out closets, drawers, clutter
Mercury retrograde is: REview. REvist. REdo. REpair (if carried over from the pre-retro period). REassess. RE-evaluate. REthink.
And my personal favorite: RElax.
If you know that actions will be delayed ... not flowing in a straight line but a course of detours ... that people will be harder to reach ... communication won't come quickly or clearly ... messages won't arrive or will be delayed ... that now's the time to really stay on top of matters and don't expect things to flow as normal ... you'll be fine.
Thing to understand about Merc retro is, it's doesn't assure that your luggage will be lost. Your flight delayed unexpectedly. That your important purchase won't work. People do travel without their luggage getting misrouted.
It means the statistical odds are very much not in your favor. If you're prepared -- by taking an umbrella with you when the chance of thunderstorms is 90 percent rather than the usual 50 -- then your chances of weathering well the backward flow are all the more increased.
I’ve observed all variety of retro influences in my life of late, many private in nature so you'll just have to take my word on it.
Fit for a public forum, however ...
About a week before Mercury retrograded --- in what's called the shadow period, when early influences can be felt -- part of my computer went all fritzy, weird, glitchy, dysfunctional. For no apparent reason.
So I kept troubleshooting and hammering away. Tried this and that then that then this.
Finally one maneuver worked. It was the second attempt at it. Why it didn't work the first attempt is anyone's guess. Oh yeah, Mercury.
Now it's completely fine.
The other day I was talking with the owner of a small shop that sells herbs, candles, incense, oils, books.
He tells me he used to be a computer repair tech for NEC for three years, dispatched to companies to fix their systems.
Said he didn't believe in Merc retro. Until he examined the rate of calls for repairs during retrogrades through those years. They tripled. Tripled. During each and every retro cycle (which occurs three to four times a year, for about three weeks per cycle). Now he believes.
There's a new cafe that opened down the street.
They took over the premises during the Merc retro in June.
Any astrologer could see that the project would be fraught with delays and headaches and not take off.
Sure enough. They hired eight employees. Five didn't work out at all. They replaced the five. Those didn't work out at all either.
They announced the date for the grand opening.
The shop guy, looking at the ephemeris, advised against it because it was during a retrograde. Said hold off till this date a few weeks later.
They didn't. But it was moot. Because the opening was delayed by an onslaught of building inspector issues. As could've been predicted when they took over the lease in a retro.
When the cafe finally did open, it was juuuuust on the heels of a completed retrograde. Not terrible but far from ideal.
Sure enough, they got no business. Every time I passed, there were two, maybe three customers. A few months later, if that, the place was vacated. Metal shutters rolled down over the windows.
My phones. I've got two, one's a regular account, the other pay-as-you-go, a backup.
The main one normally works splendidly. Lately it's been dropping signals, and the backup, all variety of flukey behaviors, I finally took it in to the store and they fixed it. So far so good.
I really learned Mercury retro through personal (unpublished) experience. I stuck my hand into that fire and discovered for my stubborn self whose temperament is to challenge all authority that yeah, it burns all right.
I don't muck with or test a retro Mercury's mettle any longer.
I know now to flow with the backward flow, peaceful, content and aware. I've made friends with Mercury retrograde. I respect M-R
And am looking forward to replacing that phone for one with a working camera. Next month.
Mercury goes direct today!
And I'm not a little excited.
The planet of communication resumes forward motion at 4:06 p.m. EDT ... 1:06 p.m. Pacific Time ... 7:06 a.m. Thursday Sydney time.
So things that have been on hold, interfered with, stuck, slow to roll, delayed, sorta wacky and weirded out will begin progressing. I for one have really noticed/experienced the effects and am totally ready to move on.
Things don't get rolling instantly BAM! BTW, am I the only one totally sick of that from Emeril Lagasse, the famed Food Network cook?
After Mercury turns direct, it remains in what's called the shadow for about five days. That's like your car engine turning over but not quite catching.
After the 20th, the dust'll clear and begin picking up speed. More so after the 30th, when Mercury passes the degree where it turned retro last month. All good news on the astro front.
Got a call yesterday from Safeway (major supermarket chain). They're looking for drivers for home grocery deliveries. With the holidays approaching, they beef up their staff.
I've a few reservations that are uninteresting to anyone but myself. Still, figured I'd have a look-see. If nothing else the change of scenery will do me good; the interview's in the next town over.
I had to chuckle -- a sad chuckle really -- because I meet every requirement thanks to my illustrious list of crap jobs.
- Customer service. Yes. Food demos at Costco. A couple of bakeries. Gawd I can still taste that last loathsome one in Utah. Also some at the spa & resort where I cleaned.
- Lifting and carrying. An emphatic yes! Assorted cleaning jobs where hauling tools up and down stairs is a matter of course. The warehouse -- long days lifting, putting, stacking, pushing, pulling carts with 300, 400 pounds of product. Groceries up and down stairs? Not a problem.
- Driving. Yep. Paratransit. And again more loading and unloading, people in wheelchairs.
Shit, no wonder they were on the horn hours after receiving my resume.
She expressed concern -- had I ever used a Thomas Guide?
No. Wished the paratransit job provided 'em though. There we were required to mapquest and print out our daily routes. At home. On our own time. Unpaid. An hour plus every night. Didn't tell her those details. Good grief there was so much wrong with that job! Speaking of Merc retro, that's the one that convinced me never do that again, start up a job in an M-R.
The Thomas Guide concern, I chuckled aloud. Didn't mean to, it just poofed out. Have traveled all my life. Been in and out the highways, byways and backroads solo this half of the country (in this past half decade alone). Traipsed through Europe and Asia and managed maps in foreign foreign languages. Learning the Thomas Guide is the least of my concerns.
Sensed she still wasn't picking up on my abilities or intelligence but then she was calling from corporate and that's rarely a promising start.
Oh! Back to Mercury retro -- a fine period for catching up on old and unfinished business, which is exactly what I've been doing and needing to do -- get to some letters dangling too long. Actual letters. Printed on paper. With envelopes printed and stamps. While I appreciate e-mails much as the next person, at heart I'm a wordsmith with undying passion for the printed word on paper. Silly I know in this era of technology and telecommunications but there it is and with that I will stand till I die.
So decks cleared -- feels terrific! -- with letters to:
1. the store where I bought my futon thanking them for their fine customer service -- no hard sell, just good old-fashioned solid customer service, a quality product, affordable prices and all-around positive experience;
2. the Subaru folks who cut me some financial slack in an emergency repair; they were sooo nice, understanding, cooperative, helpful, really went that extra mile; for that I feel gratitude and all this needs to be recognized in the written word;
3. the president of that ad agency with the woman who never returned my calls over the week;
4. OK, not a letter but rebate coupon that returns 3 bucks on a bottle of gin.
Bucks that'll likely go to a beer in a pub. Oh well. Goes to show that even Mercury retro, prankster that he is with the inclination to overturn the apple cart, recognizes when to leave well enough alone.
One more week of Merc mischief. Well, a week and a day.
Man, I'm in the thick of it. Like trespassing the swamp in high waders step by step through gooey sucky soil.
Delays. Roadblocks. Twists unpredictable and turns unseen. RE-do. RE-boot RE-think. RE-vise. RE-pair. RE-turn to unfinished matters. All Merc retro themes.
Lady 1 who needs help moving arranges it for Monday. Calls back a few days later saying not Monday, there's a delay in renovations. REschedules for Thursday. Probably.
Lady 2, meanwhile, who needs help relocating from Olympia schedules it for today. Calls last night saying there's a delay, the construction dudes are knocking out a wall on a whim. So REschedules for Sunday. Maybe.
My e-mail program, normally super solid and reliable, begins behaving erratically, so I download and REinstall; seems to have been a fix.
Peculiarities on a Verizon bill launch into 3.5 hours on the phone with seven people in two days.
I tenaciously plow through, disposing of half a head of hair and a few too many frustrated and obscene words. Still one more REminder that I must continue working on handling things differently than shown by my father.
Glorious kudos to Tom in tech whose patience, skills at sifting, willingness to take whatever time it takes to REsolve a problem and personal commitment to do his very best at his job earn him the Universe Employee of the Month award and good karma.
Thanks to him, the matter's REctified. Tom is everything one could want, need, hope for and dream of in customer service and problem resolution. We were on the phone for more than an hour, it was worth every second of my tired self. I'm writing a letter to his supervisor commending this man to the high heavens. I hope Verizon's aware of the asset that he is and a fine human being. Again, bless you, Tom!
My car heater's not working; REcollection of that appearing after her major maintenance check in March. Perhaps something didn't get REconnected?
Of course I didn't take her when I should've. My boss (and nonbiological family member) had just died in a freak skydiving accident. And shit was coming down from the nazi queen roommate. Too much to deal with and when I'm fighting for survival as I was at home, I get overwhelmed, depressed, immobilized and put things off and in ways detrimental to myself.
So now I REturn for a REpair. Deeply hoping that it is a simple fix like a dislodged hose or stuck flap and not the heater core. That's big bucks. That I don't have. The diagnosis alone is pricey.
Have a number of unfinished projects that have been lingering around way too long. Like letters to write praising individuals and/or companies for their superior service and one to the agency whose manager (?) did not once return a phone call. Merc retro's ideal for clearing decks and completing those is my goal this week.
Tomorrow it's off to Subaru for a REvisit. Keeping fingers, toes and eyes crossed, just not while driving.
P.S. And no cell phone use during it either. Hate that! And thank you again, Tom. Bless you bless you bless you!
Okay, folks, it's official. Mercury's retrograding again. As of today. For three weeks. It's Murphy's laws if you seek to advance. If you use this time to redo, rethink, revise, you'll be fine. The cosmic communicator resumes direct Oct. 15.
I've written of Mercury retro before. Today I'll let someone else do the talking.
Little things get snarled up and a low-grade frustration emerges. Anything involving communications, verbal activity, technology, short trips and journeys can be affected.
This is not to say Mercury retrograde is always a bad thing. Far from it. It is actually an ideal time to do some other things, like:
While Mercury retrograde usually is in the minor irritant category, every now and then a colossal screw-up can take place.
Consider the Bush-Gore 2000 presidential election in
Florida. Now there's a classic colossal screw-up. (That election) was on the
day when Mercury retrograde energy peaked, called stationary direct.
Oh, my goodness. In the end, after weeks of wrangling and legal battles,
George W. Bush was declared the winner. History now records what a mess
he made of virtually everything he did, a classic Mercury retrograde
presidency.
Well spoken. Thanks, greenduck aka Richard Brown (?)
Conclusion: If you don't oblige Mercury's request for a 3-week timeout and down the short road find yourself in a muddle, don't say you weren't warned. By someone else.
Dear Mercury,
Your retrograde is coming to an end today. At 10.16 p.m. East Coast time, 1.16 a.m. Tuesday, to be exact. But who's counting minutes?
I don't hold you responsible for retrograding. It's who you are. It's what you do. You're Mercurial. It's your nature to change course. To fiddle with plans. To muck up the flow and fuck up the processes.
So when I say I'm damn glad you're gettin' your act together and goin' straight, you understand it's nothing personal.
You've made your presence more than perceptible since June 15. Indeed, I'd like to extend a round of rousing applause. But I'm too jittery still to lift my hands off the wheel till your retro's officially completed in 10 hours. Again, who's counting? This has been the most mucked-up retro in a very long time.
Again, nothing personal.
You've delivered plenty. Computer failures -- knock wood -- were not part of the package. However, you sure made up for that in other areas. Transportation, for example. Good one since I drive for a living. You surely know about the accident, ahem, incident.
You know that traffic generally was weirded out or wacko. There's been a bizarre electricity in the air. Imagine 15 computers speaking different languages converging at one intersection. That's how it's been, should you be curious how we here on planet Earth experience you.
There were your typical slowdowns. Delays. Reroutings up the wazoo. Again, nothing personal. You delivered more than a fair share of unpleasant surprises. Turnarounds. Roadblocks. Reversals and U-turns galore.
You directed me down roads that shouldn't have been taken. Away from roads that should've been taken. You delivered faulty directions from several sources and abrupt changes in course or action. Folks complained, I understand the reasons, or sought patience. Me too.
You've had your roller coaster fun. Pushed the envelope pretty far this round. And I know I'm not alone in said sentiment. Most of us are prepared for your direct motion. We welcome it.
So, Mr. Mercury, as you proceed to just that in almost exactly 10 hours from now, again, who's keeping track, let me say thanks for the memories. Cough.
Sarcasm. Nothing personal.
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