Fulsome February Fuckery: Mercury Retrograde Scoring Sheet and Drinking Game!

Hello everyone...

With Mercury retrograde upon us again, I was thinking that maybe there was a way I could make it more fun and interesting. With the understanding that when I start thinking we can't really be sure what's going to emerge from my fevered brain, I thought this idea had some merit.

Lots of people say "My Mercury retrograde was really bad!" but I wondered if there was a way to quantify just how bad or bearable Merc retro is for each individual person. And what you see below is what I came up with. 

I put together a list of common Merc retrograde problems in various categories and gave each one a point value. You'll find the list below. Here's how to play:

• Beginning tomorrow (Thursday) at 4:43pm EST, start keeping track of the problems you have, and the number of points you accrue in a given day. 
• Keep tracking it for the entire month of February, through the evening of February 28. We'll still be in the storm then so we'll still be kind of retrograding at that time, and it's easier to just say through the end of the month. 
• Total the points and let me know how you did! What was your worst day/week? What was your final total for the month? 

General Network Problems	Points
Cell phone service interrupted for more than one hour (from service provider)	3/hour
Internet service interrupted for more than one hour (from service provider)	3/hour
Home or office wired or Wi-Fi network goes down due to circumstances beyond your control	1, and 1 for each hour out
Home or office network speed reduced by 50% due to circumstances beyond your control	1, and 1 for each hour slow
Cell Phone problems
Voice mail received more than 6 hours after being left	1 / 6 hours
Voice mail left never received by another person, or you never receive a voicemail left for you	5
Text message does not send due to network problems	1 per message and per attempt to send
Autocorrect fail—wrong word sent to other party or received by you	1
Dropped call	1
Not understanding what a person is saying due to hardware, software, or network problem (phone restarts, voice breaks up, etc.)	1
Call made or received goes right to voicemail without ringing when other party was available	1
Cell phone needs to be restarted/rebooted due to crash or improper operation	2
Computer Hardware and Software
Program/application on any device crashes needs to be closed and restarted	1
Computer or tablet freezes or crashes	1
Hard drive, CD-ROM drive or other computer peripheral (mouse, etc.) dies and must be replaced; in other words, it no longer works	3
Any problem using videoconferencing—delay of sound or freezing screen for more than 3 seconds, crashing, etc.	1
Email Problems
Email received more than 6 hours after being sent by you or another	1 / every 6 hours delay
Email sent but never received by other person due to network problems, or you never receive an email that was sent to you	5
Sending an email to an incorrect address, or having an email returned	1
Meetings, Appointments, and Travel	1
Meeting or appointment delayed more than 15 minutes	1 per 15 minutes of delay
Meeting / appointment cancelled at the last minute—less than three hours’ notice	3
Meeting / appointment location or significant details (like agenda or attendees) changed with less than three hours’ notice	3
Meeting / appointment cancelled with less than one day’s notice	1
Meeting / appointment location or significant details (like agenda or attendees) changed with less than one day’s notice	1
Last-minute significant change to travel plans (change of dates, hotel, airline, etc.)	3
Personal and Interpersonal Communication and Memory
Promise made verbally or in writing not fulfilled (Example: Cable company says they will contact you and they do not)	1
No-show: Showing up at an appointment and you or the other person is a no-show or cancels as it is supposed to begin, due to unforeseen circumstances (like a family emergency) or just forgetting (like wondering where a child is when they’re waiting to be picked up at school)	3
Providing or receiving faulty or incomplete information verbally or in writing unintentionally (example: giving someone a work phone number instead of a cell phone)	1
Any instance of completely and totally forgetting something and not remembering for more than one minute	2
Forgetting why you entered a room or went to a place for more than 5 seconds	1
Going to the incorrect location or realizing you’re going to the wrong place (usual places only; not getting lost going to an unfamiliar/new place)	2
Completely forgetting what you were about to say / losing train of thought for more than 3 seconds	1
Not understanding what a person is saying because the communication is inaudible because of other noise in the area (example: asking someone to re-state something because others in the area are talking)	1
Misunderstanding by you or someone else of a written or verbal communication exchange (example: an email or conversation that is confusing enough that you must ask to clarify)	1

That's the game, folks. I hope this makes you more aware of Merc retro's effects in your day to day life and allows you to have a little fun while dealing with the fuckery. 

I expect to hear from you to let me know if I've missed anything on the point system and how your month is going. 

If you drink alcohol, this also makes a great drinking game. I suggest one drink for every seven points. Depending on how bad your day was, you way want to consider lowering it to one drink for every five points.