So what the ‘ell is Mercury Retrograde anyway?

Real Conversation I had with a Design Client during the Last Mercury Retrograde:

What I thought we said:
Mr H.: “What is that one?”
Me: Pine.

What he thought we said:
Mr H: “What about that one?”
Me: “Fine.”

A few minutes later I noticed he’d been acting strangely, and I said “Did you not like the pine?”
He looked me dead in the eyes for several hard seconds while he processed out that I had not said fine with an attitude.

So what the ‘ell is Mercury Retrograde anyway?

Mercury Retrograde is an astrological term for when the planetary alignment shifts so that Mercury is physically behind the Earth in the race around the sun. It’s legendary for its ability to tear down our communication network, fry electronics, dredge up pain bodies of the past and leave us in achy puddles of pent up energy. It happens about 3 times a year. Some people swear their computer and communication goes absolutely crazy. Others claim the phenomena isn’t real at all. Read more