Can there be such a thing as a delayed astrological effect from Mercury retrograde?

The anticipated chaos of Mercury retrograde passed us by without so much as a computer breakdown or a delayed train. But it seems that two weeks later Prediction is being hit by a delayed planetary reaction...

'Mercury retrograde' describes when Mercury, the planet of communication, appears to travel backwards in the sky. This happens about three times a year for a few weeks.

Mercury symbolises: words, travel, computers, transport, post, telephones and, well anything to do with communication. So when the planet turns backwards it slow down, screws up and generally upsets anything to do with these issues.

It happened a few weeks ago on 26th May and ‘went direct’ (finished) on 19th June. It was a particularly noticeable one because it was travelling backward through its own sign, Gemini (also connected with words, communication, computers, talking etc.)

Maybe the reason I’m still feeling it is because I’ve got Mercury in Gemini in my birth-chart. For the past two weeks, almost exactly when Mercury stopped being retrograde, I’ve been waiting to exchange contracts on a new house and everything connected with communications has gone a bit mad. Important things have been lost in the post, I’ve had problems re-directing my mail, travel plans have been delayed, computers have stopped working, alarm clocks fail and I’ve had to re-book so many different services and people that it has become a joke!

Mercury symbolises words, reading and therefore magazines… so it figures that everyone on the mag has suffered with the most random hold-ups and frustrations. Files have disappeared, stuff got deleted by accident, we’ve all been held up by frustrating travel delays from either commuting or driving. We even laid out the plan for the Prediction annual (196 pages) to have a freelancer point out there was no page 50!

Good god, the electricity in the office just went off! The lights, the machines, the lot.

A friend who’s trying to rent his flat had people that didn’t like the colour of the living room (yellow, Mercury’s colour) and I’ve been trying to retrieve things from computer that simply won’t let me open the files. Hands and arms are Mercury’s related parts of the body – and I discovered I’ve got Dupuytren’s Disease - (more dramatic than it sounds, it's a painless, lumpy palm condition).

I can’t even get on to the website to post my blog because it won’t recognise my password!

Has anyone ever heard of a delayed Mercury retrograde effect? Maybe we should post Prediction's birth chart and look at what's going on there...