We seem to be having an appliance meltdown at our house. Sure, the little things always go; the clock radio ceased to go off at the required time, the handle fell off the garlic press, and we have broken more glasses than we currently own. But this week, the big things went too.
First it was the refrigerator. The repairman was dispatched and gave us a quote for $1200 to replace the compressor, and a suggestion to consider getting a new refrigerator. A little on-line research and a few phone calls turned up some substantial sticker shock. A new basic model stainless steel Sub Zero refrigerator now costs $8000, plus tax. Say what? We explored other options and discovered that you can’t fit a Sears Kenmore peg in a Sub Zero hole.
Next, we booked Miele to come in and take a look at our very slow yet very hot clothes dryer. Verdict pending.
I tried to call home to see how things were going and got a recording stating that the line was out of service. Apparently, the Verizon guy came to work on the cable T.V. service, and cut off the phone line in the process. Add cable and telephone to the growing list of problems.
Trying to see the last remaining glass on the shelf as “half full” I remarked that at least we were busy work-wise. Just as Spencer finished a big job and booked 2 more, one of the studio computers went down. You know, the one that the digital camera runs off, of course. The Apple Genius declared it dead of natural causes (5 years is ancient in Macintosh terms) and steered him to the sales floor.
Fearful of the whole house falling down, forcing us to live in a Sub Zero refrigerator box on the street, I searched for the root of our problem. It seems, that Mercury is in retrograde. Yikes!
For years I have heard people refer to Mercury being in retrograde as the root of life’s disruptions. But I was not aware that the planetary forces actually had an effect of appliance function.
This particular retrograde (the time in which Mercury appears to travel in reverse through the sky) is in Capricorn, the Earth sign, and as chance may have it, my astrological sign as well. Mercury officially turned retrograde on August 20, and will not turn direct until September 12.
According to California Psychics, now is a terrible time to negotiate contracts, file a lawsuit, travel without a back-up plan, start a new job, or, you guessed it, buy or repair electronics! In our case, short of living urban prairie style, we are going to need to do something about our appliance situation before a major planetary realignment.
They do however recommend reviewing the past and using this reverse energy to re-apply for a job, rewrite your resume, re-contact people from the past, and do research.
Currently, we have restored cable, telephone and refrigerator service. We replaced our clock with another one in the house with a reliable alarm, and are patiently awaiting the dryer repairman next week. With only 2 more weeks of Mercury in retrograde to go, we are hunkering down and toughing it out. Until the next one that is, expected November 24.
