Mercury is in retrograde...

Mercury is in retrograde, and has been so since August 2nd, and will last until August 26th.

This website describes the phenomenon nicely.

In general, Mercury rules thinking and perception, processing and disseminating information and all means of communication, commerce, education and transportation. By extension, Mercury rules people who work in these areas, especially those who work with their minds or their wits: writers and orators, consultants, commentators and critics, gossips and spin doctors, salespeople, teachers, travellers, tricksters and thieves. Mercury also has an occult side, so healing, astrology and the transmission of spiritual knowledge are also in his area.

Mercury retrograde gives rise to personal misunderstandings; flawed, disrupted, or delayed communications, negotiations and trade; glitches and breakdowns with phones, computers, cars, buses, and trains. And all of these problems usually arise because some crucial piece of information, or component, has gone astray or awry.

It is not exactly wise to make important decisions while Mercury is retrograde, since it is likely that such decisions will be clouded by misinformation, poor communication and careless thinking. Mercury is all about mental clarity and the power of the mind, so when Mercury is retrograde these intellectual characteristics tend to be less acute than usual, as the critical faculties are dimmed.

The term retrograde comes about because the planet appears to be moving backwards in the sky. These clips from Dr. Ted Snow at the University of Colorado nicely demonstrate the phenomenon (although with Mars).

Anyway, on Monday night, Dr. J.'s warning light for his brakes came on in the truck. So, yesterday morning, Dr. J.left early to get to the dealership before 7AM. Said dealership is about 20 miles away. 10 miles into the drive the warning light goes off. I made the journey anyway, as this is the second time this happened (everything checked out when it happened a few months ago).

So this time, the dealer said Dr. J.'s brakes are still fine, but the brake sensor (the part telling me the brakes have a problem) has a problem and needs to be replaced. Fortunately it's under warranty, but I have to come back as they have to order the part. Dr. J. longs for the good ole days when a warning light coming on didn't mean the sensor was broken, and if you were handy, you could fix it yourself, or at least take it to the local mechanic to fix.