Mercury Retrograde and other Ramblings

Yeah, Mercury is retrograde as of yesterday.

My favorite late astrologer at a local rock station, Darryl Martini, used to open every astrological forecast with a saying, "It is a wise person who rules the stars, a Fool who is ruled by them."

Never-the less, Mercury is currently appearing to move backwards from our view here on earth, and it is known as "Mercury Retrograde." Happens about three times a year and lasts for about three weeks.

I have had hard-core non-believer friends call me up and asks me, "Is Mercury retrograde?!?!"

NEVER sign contracts or begin major projects when Mercury is retrograde. Expect delays and mechanical breakdowns. Communications go haywire. If possible, take a vacation and definitely back up everything.

Mercury is currently retrograde in Aquarius, my sun sign, and I have been particularly affected.
Yesterday the car wouldn't start. Of course I didn't take my own advice and didn't start it on Saturday. Yesterday the battery was totally dead, except for a dim glow from an overhead map light that had been mysteriously turned on since Friday. Oh yeah.

No worries-we were having a snowstorm, unexpected, that totalled about 6 inches and required the driveway to be plowed out. I would just have my plow guy jump start the car. Of course he showed up way later than expected, near dark, and I was in the middle of major dish detail. Ha. He didn't have his cables with him, so I opened up a pack of emergency cables that were a joke. They wouldn't jump the car.

That is the abbreviated version. The full version is that they were also really short and he couldn't quite reach with the plow on the front, so he kept climbing over snow banks to open the hood. Finally I noticed my car was on a hill, so I threw it in neutral and with one leg out the door pushing against the snow, and one hand on the wheel, shoved it down where he could reach it. We then tried for twenty minutes to jump the car with those crappy cables. In ten degree temps.

No worries, I had already checked with a friend to borrow a battery charger-which he said he could bring over this am. My sweet plow guy also offered to come back today with better cables and his charger if I got in a jam.

By the time I got around to pumping goat water this am, I discovered I had a frozen waterline. I have heat tape on it, but I check it every year to make sure rodents haven't shorted it out. Last year I didn't even need it. So, this morning I was trying to make pancakes and climb down in the hole to check the tape. I have a trap door in the kitchen.

Well, spiders from hell have decided that would make a nice home. And although it was cold enough to freeze the waterline, they were certainly lively enough. Yeah, I came out of that hole pretty quick when the spiders started scurrying. I am not normally afraid of spiders, but recently I have had a couple of bad bites and these suckers looked evil. Big and black with bloated bodies. Probably didn't help that we watched Return of the King last night with the scene with Shelob the giant spider. Eek.

Well, the heat tape didn't blow up, and my friend finally showed with the charger and the car fired right up. Water line thawed successfully. I was late getting out, but I made the PO, grain dealer, bank, grocery store, dump, and hay run.

Now I just have to sort a pile of laundry and get that done tomorrow (the laundry soap is thawing by the woodstove after being discovered frozen solid in the back of the car while searching for cables.)before the next winter storm hits tomorrow night.

Oh yeah, winter in Maine with mercury retrograde.

I need a vacation. :D