Could it be Mercury Retrograde?

PCs in the office have been going bonkers, with people complaining about system issues coming up more frequently than before. I'd usually shrug it off and say "must be Mercury Retrograde. Restart and if it doesn't work, call IT and use a different PC in the meantime."

And they'd usually go, like, "Mercury what?"

As per Dictionary.com, the word "retrograde," in astrology, means: a. moving in an orbit in the direction opposite to that of the earth in its revolution around the sun; or b. appearing to move on the celestial sphere in the direction opposite to the natural order of the signs of the zodiac, or from east to west.

According to astrologyweekly.com, Mercury goes retrograde 3 times a year, with each event lasting for 3 weeks; one such event is happening now, from from January 11, 2009 to February 1, 2009. The site further has this to say about the phenomenon:

"Mercury rules over the mind's processes, studying, communication, businesses, travels and the like. When Mercury reverses its direction, all these areas are affected as well.

The mind turns naturally inwards and people tend to analyze more the own thoughts and follow the common thinking patterns, rather then be curious and eager of new intellectual experiences or challenges. This helps the meditation or the thorough lonely long-term study of a specific matter, but it affects the study of new subjects, the communication with the others, the attention oriented outwards.

Businesses, travels and communications tend to experience delays and different problems. Computers and other processes that work with information may experience crashes, unexpected failures.

Don't enroll to courses, don't buy expensive Mercurian items (books, cars, mobile phones etc.), don't sign important contracts and do not marry."

Cool.

Except that things have been happening lately that made me think twice about this "phenomenon" (is it the real thing?). Aside from the unusually slow PCs in the work place, a friend's PS2 recently conked out on him. My Dad mentioned that their PC at home isn't working. Plus, it's been especially difficult to turn my mind toward positive thinking (not that this is new, though, but the level of difficulty has noticeably gone up, and I am not pleased).

Be warned, then. Should either your phone or your significant other start going berserk, don't be surprised.

It's Mercury Retrograde.