Blame communication
woes on Mercury

Astrologer Cheri Yamamoto says

Star-Bulletin

Hard day at the office yesterday? Computer go haywire? Faxes go amiss? There's a reason for all this calamity, and no, stupidity isn't the major cause.

In astrology speak, Mercury entered its retrograde phase around 1 p.m. yesterday. It's an optical illusion that causes the planet to appear to be moving backward in the sky.

Mercury is the planet that represents communications and transportation and in this retrograde phase, running roughly through 5 p.m. Aug. 5, the normal progression of events is out of kilter.

Astrologer Cheri Yamamoto said this generally means that "Things get all mixed up. People are late, they forget appointments. For those in the appointment business, such as hairdressers, I tell them don't get upset, go with the flow. If someone doesn't show up, someone else will come in and fill the space.

"If they're traveling, I tell them to take a carry-on in case their luggage gets lost. Expect the unexpected. Flights tend to get canceled or delayed."

Small appliances also go haywire.

Julie Williams, new owner of Sirius Books, said this is a good time for double-checking any work done. "People tend to write down the wrong phone numbers. You can plan to meet someone and end up in the wrong place."

Already, she's lost two sales she chalks up to the retrograde. In one instance, a woman was looking for a book no longer in stock. Immediately after she left, a man came in with a used copy of the book, but Williams had failed to get the woman's number.

In the second case, a computer failed to show a book in stock. Williams later found the book on the shelf but had written the potential buyer's phone number incorrectly so had no way to contact her.

One could chalk it up to normal oversights or forgetfulness, but Williams said, "Even when I haven't had time to follow it, usually a week or two into the retrograde I'll figure it out on my own. In different offices where I've worked, people think I'm nuts or something, but after a while, they come around."

Both Yamamoto and Williams said this is not a time to sign contracts, because during the retrograde period, things usually have to be redone.

Yamamoto once advised a friend to wait before selling one house and buying another, but with only two days left until the end of the retrograde period she felt "safe" and went ahead with both transactions. The sale of the first house failed to go through so now the friend is stuck with two mortgages.

There will be some who seem to thrive under the retrograde, which occurs three times a year. (The next runs Nov. 4 through 24.) These are people born when Mercury is in retrograde.

Said Yamamoto, "It's their time to shine. They get all caught up on their filing. Mentally, they come alive when others go dull."

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