Mercury stationed and went retrograde this week, and I’ve already experienced the typical mix-ups, mishaps and confusion it so often brings. Minor annoyances, yes, but they do add up.

I was first in line at the greengrocer, but my cashier turned to help out her colleague. After five minutes, a third line opened up, so I switched. As I walked across the floor, another woman purposely ran in front of me to get to the register first! When she did, she gave me a wide grin, very pleased with her success. Mercury retrograde’s sense of displacement seemed to work better for her than for me.

I wanted to copy a few pages from a library book when I returned it. However the machine was turned off and no librarian was at the desk. I spent several minutes and finally found the button to turn it on, then waited at least five minutes for it to warm up. I wasn’t sure it was working – why was it turned off? I was impatient to leave and didn’t want to wade through the many instructions necessary to make a simple copy. Remember when it was simple? But Mercury retrograde can make things appear more complicated.

A bird pooped on my jacket and I didn’t notice it until I got home and it was dry. I did get it off. But Mercury retrograde may also relate to hitting an unintended target since accuracy is a Mercurial trait.

I sat on my glasses and went to the optician for a repair. I ended up going back a second and even a third time. Each time a different technician was there, though no one seemed to have the skills to do this task properly. Repair should be an appropriate Mercury retrograde “re” word, but this shop is under new management and does not appear to do a good job. Or is it just Mercury retrograde?

I needed to send an item by Federal Express and called to be sure I had the proper instructions. The representative was so generic in his response, I thought he was a machine! I embarrassed myself by telling it that I wanted a real person. He assured me he was human, but his response was still so glib and general, I wasn’t convinced I had the correct information and needed to call again.

We’re only in the first week of the retrograde – I’m sure there’s more to come!