NOT a Pretty Picture ..This is my smashed Treo!
It began a couple of weeks ago. The world of technology seemed to be turning against me. First my trusty Treo started having an identity crisis, some of the features not working, so I began looking for a backup on eBay just in case. That was before I dropped the phone a couple of days ago and created this colorful display. I do not consider this a pretty picture.
And also before my wonderful tech was able to coax what was left of the phone to sync to my computer - a process that took hours instead of the normal seconds - so that I could at least find out what appointments I had.
And just to top things off, the back of my two faced watch fell off - again - and this time it was lost. (Not to worry, I have a back up watch.)
At first I figured it was must me, but then I noticed that almost everyone I talked to had a similar tale of technology and communications gone haywire.
My buyer who is scheduled to go to settlement on Tuesday reported his DSL suddenly went out. His agent tried to fax a repairs list over, but her fax was down. Another agent asked about the counter to an offer. I never received that fax. An appraiser couldn't email information to the lender - the message kept bouncing - but could send it to me so that I could forward it on. Our own Colleen Kulikowski had to go to the library to get to the internet when her whole complex lost its wireless service. I was preparing a contract with a buyer when she started telling me what a bad day she was having...a huge misunderstanding with people at work and also with relatives and there were some harsh words exchanged. Another client of mine was irrational about not having her sidewalks cleaned from the ice. These incidents were very much out of character.
I happened to mention these technoglitches to my client in California who is negotiating for a home here in Baltimore. He had two words to explain it all: Mercury retrograde. Excuse me? You heard right - Mercury is in retrograde, from February 14 through March 8. The smallest planet (since Pluto was demoted) is blamed for disrupting and misguiding communications, breakdowns in phones and computers, and transportation snafus involving cars, buses, and trains during its retrograde phase.
Three or four times a year it does this little routine, and people who study the phenomenon know the symptoms well. This client takes it seriously; he planned his trip to Baltimore and several important dates around this period. And he wasn't surprised at all when I told him that his counteroffer kept bouncing back when the other agent tried to send it to the seller.
When I called Tatiana, click here , the owner of the wonderful historic church, to tell her about a cancelled appointment her reply."Not surprised, you know that Mercury is Retrograde." Does everyone know about this except for me? I just had to find out more.
Yesterday I was losing it with my phone broken, my watch broken, and did I mention my GPS that suddenly decided to change the route home? If you've ever been around a Type E over the edge, you know it's not a good place to be. Thanks to my clients, today I have an explanation. To explain my multi-tasking way of working, I say "That's just me, a Type E," and now I have a reason for the unexplainable: "It's just Mercury in retrograde!"
Does Mercury have it in for us mortals and our tech gadgets? Or is it the full moon tomorrow? Or just coincidence? Whether the answer is none or all of the above, I'm handling it better. Now that I know about Mercury, I can roll with the punches. Now when someone is having a tech crisis, I can explain why! Speaking to an agent this evening as she complained about her computer I said, "I'm not surprised...you know, Mercury is in retrograde." Smiling, now that I have an explanation
And if you think about it, doesn't it generally work better if you admit when you can't control a situation and just roll with the punches?
Have you noticed any technology glitches recently?
Baltimore,Md.
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