I'd Like to Punt-Kick Mercury Out of the Galaxy

Mercury, courtesy of NASA

I have a fairly moderate perspective on things that are non-scientific. Like astrology, numerology, tarot, etc. I find them interesting, and I believe there are plenty of influences we can't measure or truly understand. But I'm not a "believer" in the sense that I give such things much thought in my day-to-day life.

Except for Mercury.

Specifically, Mercury retrograde.

Once someone brought the phenomenon to my attention, it became very clear that this is A Thing. Did you have a misunderstanding with someone, and then you car broke down, followed by your dishwasher, and your e-mail is acting weird and the printer won't stop jamming for no reason? Check the dates. It's probably Mercury.

It amazes me how many people know what I'm talking about when I mention this, and believe in it. My husband thinks I'm insane, and my business colleague has been poking at me about it, but seriously. Every day this week has had multiple mechanical, electronic, and communication problems. People arguing about what a sentence means, when it's interpreted differently by different people. An e-mail in my inbox that made all the other e-mails unreadable until I deleted it. E-mails not sending. Malwarebytes warning me every other day that Facebook has been blocked as a malicious website, alternating with Chrome and Skype. Projects being done by committee (via e-mail, no less) where nothing can be completed because every time we get close to done, someone has a new idea that completely contradicts everyone else's ideas.

It's enough of A Thing that International Business Times did an article on it this week.

I'm sure kicking Mercury out of the galaxy would just make things worse, but ugh. How is Mercury affecting your life this week?

It's Always TV That Brings Me Back Here

Gah, I've been gone so long!

I don't know why TV is usually the thing that brings me back to blogging. Maybe because it's easy to talk about, and more universal than most topics.

Here's the thing. TV is vital to me. It's the biggest thing that makes me relax and turn off my brain.

Reading does it, of course, and I never stop reading. I read in snippets all day long (during meals, mostly), and every night before I go to bed. On very rare occasions, I'll take a big chunk of time to read, but I usually feel guilty because then I'm not writing.

But TV time is different. TV is a signal that I am DONE. No work, no pressures, no household stuff. Me time (though it's better when I'm watching shows with the family).

This summer, we didn't have much TV to watch. Like, 6 shows total, and they didn't always overlap. Royal Pains started and ended early, and The Last Ship finished way before the fall season started. So we had biiiiig gaps of time when we had nothing to watch. And you know what I do then?

I work. Really late. Until 10 a lot of nights. And then I go right to bed because I'm so brain-dead, which is actually a plus because I'm getting more sleep than I got when I had to be up at 5 to go to the day job. Now it's all freelance, which means I'm supposed to be more flexible but it really means I'm working all. the. time.

So! TV is my savior! I binged-watched Jane the Virgin while the rest of the family was off on a trip for a week, and I'm looking forward to that coming back. I'm looking forward to some of the new fall shows, such as Blindspot and Quantico, though I'm more excited about mid-season ones like Legends of Tomorrow and Lucifer. Since we upgraded our TV and DVR system back in May, we have fewer restrictions on recording, so we're giving a whole bunch of things a try. We have the luxury of deleting unwatched if something gets canceled or sucks, and it's easier than trying to catch up if something clicks.

So, Monday is the day things really launch! What are you most excited about, new or returning?