Deirdre writes:

There’s a local little newspaper around the corner from where I live where I do freelance layout sometimes. There are articles about local politics, or which church is getting new bells, and if the University plans to renovate or move. Most pertinently, though, there are also weekly horoscopes, and I was curious about them.

On my first day at the newspaper, I sneaked a peek at the “Horoskop” file and found 52 weeks worth, each sign having three sentences, all neatly laid out on one big page. The weeks in Germany are commonly assigned a number, and right now, in case you don’t know, we are in Week 34.

Today I was substituting for Eggbert who is on vacation on the Baltic Sea with his family, so it was my turn finally to put the Horoskop in the layout. When I opened the Horoskop file, I noticed there was no Week 34. There was a Week 33 and the next one was Week 9 and the one after was 10. If Connie is out there in ElsaElsa reader land, she can tell you something’s up with the Horoskop, because she lived here, and you never see any 9 ever coming after number 33.

I asked the editor which Horoskop week I should grab and he waved his hand with a flick of his wrist, “Oh that — it doesn’t matter, just pick any one.” I smiled with glee. “I see, so it’s an Orakel!” The editor stared at me blankly.

So it just goes to prove two things. First: stick with name-brand astrologers who you know and love, and second: don’t believe everything you read in the newspaper.