Okay Astrology Experts...

...is it Mercury in retrograde? Or perhaps the new planets screwing things up? Because the past few months seem to be wrecking a prodigious amount of havoc among my friends, and that's no good.

I wonder if Trafalmadorians can choose which moments to live in, or if they must constantly experience the bad ones along with the good ones. If it's the latter, I imagine few people would want to opt in.