Mercury in Retrograde

[Drunk Monk]

 mercnret periods in 2025

[*]July 17 to August 10

[*]
covid to open

I have SDCC > Dead60 > OSL in this retrograde. Gonna need some counter spells. Might require a blood sacrifice.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

I thought Gatorade countered Retrograde?

[Drunk Monk]

[Greg]

I have SDCC > Dead60 > OSL in this retrograde. Gonna need some counter spells. Might require a blood sacrifice.

I wonder if your blood is too full of sugar for a good sacrifice?

[Drunk Monk]

Ruh roh!
Merc-in-Ret! Amirite?

Damn straight
stoopik planet

time to burn some sage...

[Drunk Monk]

Boarded. What a mess. Barely made it. Traffic > limited shuttle service > hung up at TSA because of my shoes (?). 
Now the plane is delayed 35 mins because there’s allegedly a lot of traffic to SD. The airplane is stuffy and hot and im seated in front of some kids who keep kicking my chair.

[thatguy]

hung up at TSA because of my shoes (?). 

What's up with your shoes? Did you take them off? 

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/08/travel/ts...heckpoints

TSA will no longer require all passengers to take shoes off at airport security checkpoints
Washington CNN  — 

After nearly two decades, passengers going through airport security in the United States will no longer have to take their shoes off.
The Transportation Security Administration will be eliminating the security requirement “effective immediately,” Kristi Noem, the Secretary of Homeland Security, announced Tuesday.

”TSA will no longer require travelers to remove their shoes when they go through our security checkpoints,” she said. “We want to improve this travel experience, but while maintaining safety standards and making sure that we are keeping people safe.”

The news was first reported by the blog Gate Access
.
“The key to our approach is layered security,” Noem said. “Passengers will still pass through multiple layers of screening. They’ll also go through identity verification.”

The rule was being evaluated under the Biden administration, however she credited President Trump with taking the initiative to eliminate it.
Changes to other TSA rules are also being considered, if they can be implemented safely, Noem said.

In December 2001, Richard Reid, who became known as the “shoe bomber,” tried to use matches to ignite explosives hidden in his shoes on a flight from Paris to Miami.

The requirement for passengers to take their shoes off at TSA security checkpoints came nearly five years later due to “intelligence pointing to a continuing threat,” an official TSA history notes, following a foiled August 2006 terrorist plot to detonate liquid explosives onboard transatlantic flights. The TSA introduced its 3-1-1 liquids rule for carry-on luggage in response.

“In those 20 years since that policy was put in place, our security technology has changed dramatically. It’s evolved. TSA has changed,” Noem said, noting the addition of new scanners and more officers in some areas.

“The REAL ID compliance allows us another layer of security knowing who’s going through our checkpoints and who isn’t,” Noem said.

Participants in the Trusted Traveler Program TSA PreCheck have long been able to avoid removing shoes. However, they must submit to a background check and pay an application fee. Noem said she still expects travelers will see value in this program, even if it is not the only way to avoid taking shoes off.
CNN’s Kara Devlin contributed to this report.

--tg

[Greg]

Why does tg insist on posting in the smallest font?

[thatguy]

I blame the 4m which doesn't like cut/pasted text and is a bear to correct when posting from an iPhone.

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

hung up at TSA because of my shoes (?). 

What's up with your shoes? Did you take them off? 

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/08/travel/ts...heckpoints

TSA will no longer require all passengers to take shoes off at airport security checkpoints
Washington CNN  — 

After nearly two decades, passengers going through airport security in the United States will no longer have to take their shoes off.
The Transportation Security Administration will be eliminating the security requirement “effective immediately,” Kristi Noem, the Secretary of Homeland Security, announced Tuesday.

”TSA will no longer require travelers to remove their shoes when they go through our security checkpoints,” she said. “We want to improve this travel experience, but while maintaining safety standards and making sure that we are keeping people safe.”

The news was first reported by the blog Gate Access
.
“The key to our approach is layered security,” Noem said. “Passengers will still pass through multiple layers of screening. They’ll also go through identity verification.”

The rule was being evaluated under the Biden administration, however she credited President Trump with taking the initiative to eliminate it.
Changes to other TSA rules are also being considered, if they can be implemented safely, Noem said.

In December 2001, Richard Reid, who became known as the “shoe bomber,” tried to use matches to ignite explosives hidden in his shoes on a flight from Paris to Miami.

The requirement for passengers to take their shoes off at TSA security checkpoints came nearly five years later due to “intelligence pointing to a continuing threat,” an official TSA history notes, following a foiled August 2006 terrorist plot to detonate liquid explosives onboard transatlantic flights. The TSA introduced its 3-1-1 liquids rule for carry-on luggage in response.

“In those 20 years since that policy was put in place, our security technology has changed dramatically. It’s evolved. TSA has changed,” Noem said, noting the addition of new scanners and more officers in some areas.

“The REAL ID compliance allows us another layer of security knowing who’s going through our checkpoints and who isn’t,” Noem said.

Participants in the Trusted Traveler Program TSA PreCheck have long been able to avoid removing shoes. However, they must submit to a background check and pay an application fee. Noem said she still expects travelers will see value in this program, even if it is not the only way to avoid taking shoes off.
CNN’s Kara Devlin contributed to this report.

--tg

I was allowed to keep my shoes on until they triggered a detector. Then I had to take them off. Happened both ways. Not sure why. I think my shoes are mostly synth. I wear Keens. 

I had one notable task today - bring the monthly check for my mom's care center. I wrote it out and thought I put it in my wallet, but when I got ther, it was not to be found. I remember pulling out some extra business cards (I stocked up for SDCC and then wound up not giving any out). Perhaps I pulled the check out too. It was embarrassing because I thought I was focused. I can bring it next week - my mom's care center is very forgiving that way. It's not like we can skip out of paying. Nevertheless I am disappointed with myself here, and blaming merc, because that's the whole point of merc-n-ret - it gives somewhere to place blame.

[thatguy]

https://tenor.com/view/knifeboot-knife-b...f-25820807

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

https://tenor.com/view/knifeboot-knife-b...f-25820807
--tg

[Drunk Monk]

I had one notable task today - bring the monthly check for my mom's care center. I wrote it out and thought I put it in my wallet, but when I got ther, it was not to be found. I remember pulling out some extra business cards (I stocked up for SDCC and then wound up not giving any out). Perhaps I pulled the check out too. It was embarrassing because I thought I was focused. I can bring it next week - my mom's care center is very forgiving that way. It's not like we can skip out of paying. Nevertheless I am disappointed with myself here, and blaming merc, because that's the whole point of merc-n-ret - it gives somewhere to place blame.

I don't know what happened to that check. I *know* I wrote it out but I just got back to our bungalow, and it's nowhere to be found. I never lose big checks. My mom kinda freaked out when it happened. She's super paranoid about money and put those fears into me. Fortunately, she's easy to distract away from such conniptions. 

It's going to drive me nuts until I find that check. Feckin Merc.