You Can’t Fool Mother Nature

I thought about waiting until Wednesday to buy the new car but was really fed up with my old one. Losing power, remotes that no longer worked, trunks that didn’t open, locks that didn’t lock and a weird smell from which I couldn’t quite place the origin, was making my life more difficult than it had to be. Yet I knew it was probably a bad idea to buy a car when Mercury was in retrograde.

For those of you not familiar with planets in retrograde: a planet is described as retrograde when it appears to be moving backwards through the zodiac. On April 18th, 2010, Mercury the wise communicator—and universal trickster—turned in the sign of the Bull, sending communications, travel, appointments, mail and many electronics into chaos. So if you have been having problems with your computers, cell phones, cars, busses and train schedules, the stock market, negotiations, trade etc. - you can thank Mercury.

It's best to avoid making set plans during the Mercury Retrograde. This means being cautious about things like signing contracts, and forming partnerships. What gets put in writing at this time may turn out to need serious revising after Mercury returns to direct station. I also knew that Mercury wasn’t going to go out of retrograde until today. The salesman wasn’t going to be there today though and those of you who know me, know I am not long on patience. I tried to convince myself that 5-10-10 was a cool date to buy a car and maybe numerology would win out over astrology. So I boldly signed the papers and bought the car.

I was at the Acura in Libertyville and drove off with my shiny new car about 9:30 pm. I drove over the train tracks and flash: a light comes on that says my ABS brakes may not be working properly. Great. I kept driving and the little voice in my car (not my head) told me to turn the car off and then on again and if that didn’t fix it to call the dealer. So when I got to my next red light [this time the little voice in my head] said "go ahead, turn it off and see what happens". So I am on a very dark part of Route 83 in a left-hand turn lane (thank God) when I turned the car off and pressed the button to restart it and .....nothing. That’s right. N-o-t-h-i-n-g! No lights, no hazards, no nothing. DEAD. One mile from home. I quickly called my husband to come and park behind me with his flashers on so no one would hit my black car on a dark road. I then called the cell phone of Scott, my salesman. He had written it  on the back of his card with a cheery "If you ever need anything you can call me directly" .  So I stood behind my car with my iPhone warding off any would-be turners and started laughing. Mercury in retrograde! Served me right. Within a few minutes the Lake County Sheriff arrived and stayed with us until Scott showed up a few minutes later with wrench in hand. You see, the car had been on the showroom floor and they had removed the battery so that it wouldn’t be used every time someone looked inside. When they put the battery back in, someone forgot to tighten down the bolts. When I went over the railroad tracks it loosened it.

I must say, I was very happy with the service I got at Acura of Libertyville. Things happen. What is important is how willing someone is to help you afterwards. My salesman Scott could have told me to call roadside assistance, but instead he immediately and personally took care of me along with a boatload of apologies. I’m glad I bought the car there. But, as my husband said "You can’t fool Mother Nature!"