Trouble

Long ago, when we first moved to the Cape, I heard the phrase, "Mercury in Retrograde", a fascinatingly obscure sort of reference from astrology meaning that when that planet goes backwards or something, you can blame any number of mechanical catastrophes on it. But you still have to go through normal channels to fix them.
Our lights began to flicker again this morning, this after a major power surge fried a number of appliances last Monday.
Also I can't seem to download the last of the Flamenco videos I took.
And it's time to program the VCR to record tonight's DWTS!
Meanwhile, my New Age friends tell me Mercury is not at present in retrograde, so I can't blame that.