Does This Mean I Don't Have To Cook?

Let me begin this entry by saying that the extent of my involvement with astrology is usually limited to glancing at my horoscope for fun if I happen to see it laying in front of me in a magazine or newspaper, but this was just too bizarre to overlook.

This morning I was scanning through Facebook and I noticed my cousin, whom I haven't seen since childhood, posted something to the effect of "What's up with everyone's appliances breaking? Seems like everyone I know has a broken microwave, stove, or television!". This made me think of how three different people I know have had a broken stove just since Christmas! Then I remembered something else. Back in the early 1990's, I worked with a lady who was very much in to astrology, and for some reason it popped into my head that she once told me when Mercury goes into retrograde, you will notice lots of appliances will break and things will be in disarray. I had no idea what that actually meant, but for some strange reason, it stuck with me.

So after thinking of all the appliances being out, I did a quick Google search to read up on this subject. Imagine my surprise when I discovered Mercury has been retrograde since December 26, which happens to be my birthday. I still wasn't sure what that meant, so I decided to read more. it seems "a planet is described as retrograde when it appears to be moving backwards through the zodiac. This traditional concept arises in the illusory planetary motion created by the orbital rotation of the earth, with relation to other planets in our solar system. It's a bit like travelling on the road watching another car beside you: when the other car slows down, or you speed up, it looks as though the other car is moving backwards. So planets are never actually retrograde or stationary, they just seem that way, due to this optical illusion".To make things even more interesting I read that since this retrograde occurred during the Capricorn period, it would affect those born under this sign even more drastically. Of course I found that interesting since that happens to be my sign, this began on my birthday, and I've been in an unexplainable state of high anxiety for the past few weeks.

Not to worry, I'm not going to change anything I do, and I'm not going to start following astrology; I just thought this was kinda strange. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go make sure my stove is working.