Your July Horoscope Times Publishing Group, Inc. Leo (July 23-Aug. 23)
Independence Day is a time for thinking of right now, not what’s coming next. This is a time when endings are inevitable, and there’s no telling where you’ll be a month from now. It’s best to accept the things you can’t change and hold steady despite your desire to move ahead. You’re feeling the need to make sure your loved ones feel safe and protected mid-month. Your strong urge to nurture and care for others makes you an excellent parent and/or friend. You’re happy to let your true personality shine through at the end of the month. Your warmth and friendliness are two of your better qualities, and you make almost everyone you come into contact with feel loved and appreciated.
Virgo (Aug. 24-Sep. 22)
You are feeling reserved as the month begins, but you still feel the intensity and pressure that come with looking toward the future. There might not be a lot you can do to change things in the long term, but thinking about it helps. Mid-month brings sudden awareness to a part of your past that’s been keeping you from moving on. Forgiving others is a part of this, but forgiving yourself might actually be more important. Everything looks good from where you’re sitting at the end of July, but everything isn’t always as it seems. You know that old saying “if it looks too good to be true, it probably is”? Yup, that’s this energy.
Libra (Sep. 23-Oct. 23)
The month begins with the desire to run before you’re ready to walk. Take some time to rethink the past month and plan for where you’d like to go. The intensity you feel mid-July is unavoidable, especially if you’ve been dealing with a past hurt. Inner reflection takes you to some very uncomfortable places, but it’s needed to find the conclusions you’re seeking. Looking to other people will be difficult. Your friendliness and outgoing attitude late in the month could leave you susceptible to embarrassment and ridicule. Even though you know there are consequences that come from being an open book, you can’t imagine being any other way now.
Scorpio (Oct. 24-Nov. 22)
You might not feel very celebratory early in July. When your mind is on the future, it’s hard to live in the moment. But there isn’t a lot you can do right now to change things. Communication is easier mid-month, making it easier for you to figure out went wrong the last few weeks and maybe how you can fix it. Apologies aren’t the easiest thing, but they help. You might be in the spotlight late in the month, but now isn’t the time to retreat. This a good time to show the world your hidden talents, even if it makes you uncomfortable. You deserve all the applause you get.
Sagittarius (Nov. 23-Dec. 21)
You are anxious to get things started early in the month. The problem is that it’s a much better time to finish what you’ve already started. Try to be patient a little while longer. Mid-month brings the green light you’ve been looking for on new projects and relationships. That patience is about to pay off! Family matters should be your top priority. Being overly confident and/or optimistic as July comes to a close isn’t a good idea, because someone or something is just waiting in the wings to tear you down. Balance is the key to riding out this energy. When you use extreme thinking, the potential is high for being way off base.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20)
You’re the responsible one as the nations birthday approaches. While everyone else is getting a little crazy, you’re worried about the little details and all the things that can go wrong. There’s a valuable lesson here, somewhere. Mid-July gives you a chance to forgive yourself or someone else for the hurt you’ve been feeling for the past months (or maybe even years). Everyone makes mistakes, but dwelling on the past only keeps you from having a happy future. Passion comes back into your life late in the month. If you haven’t been enjoying things because of an endless “what if” scenario playing in your head, it’s time to let the negativity go.
Aquarius (Jan 21-Feb. 18)
Independence Day is a great time to celebrate some of your recent accomplishments! It also brings a reminder not to get too comfortable, because there’s plenty more for you to over the month. Any negative energy you’ve been feeling seems to just fade away mid-month. The next few weeks have a fun, friendly vibe that allows you to be yourself. You’re questioning some of your recent decisions late in the month. This isn’t a good time to ignore details. Take everything into account when making important life choices now, especially if they’re final.
Pisces (Feb. 19-Mar. 20)
You should find making important decisions a bit easier early in the month. The practical energy in the air grounds you and helps you make the decision you’ve been hesitant to make in the past few weeks. That feeling flows through the middle of the month, helping you stand up for yourself regarding an unresolved situation from your past. If you’ve always believed you were at fault, some serious soul searching will help you understand that you’re not the only one to blame. Your dreams and daydreams can be productive late in July if you focus on getting the answer to a question. Signs and symbols from your subconscious are everywhere.
Aries (March 21-April 20)
Sour energy early in the month might dampen your celebrations a bit. As much as you’d love to be living in the moment, your mind is on the future and all you have yet to achieve. A sense of deep awareness and self-contemplation fills you mid-July. You aren’t one to sit alone and reflect on your feelings, but this energy can lead to real healing if you let it. Your world starts to brighten late in the month, bringing passion, creativity, and drama. The coming weeks have a much more playful tone than earlier in the month, so enjoy the spontaneity that comes from this enthusiastic pairing.
Taurus (April 21-May 21)
You feel a mellowness early in July, brings an uncertainty that makes it difficult to predict what might happen next. Stick with the basics in order to avoid making life-changing mistakes. A crisis of self-esteem and selfdoubt follow mid-month, which could be caused by something you did, meaning there’s still time to fix it. If you’re being blamed or shamed by someone else, what’s their true motivation? If they’re projecting their feelings onto you, it’s time to walk away. The latter half of the month is filled with big ideas and dramatic scenes. You’re in the mood to be seen, and you might do some pretty out-of-character things to make sure you stay relevant.
Gemini (May 22-June 21)
The month begins with an unwelcome shadow on your mood. You want to be out having a good time, but the current world situation is holding you back. The lines of communication between you and someone you’ve recently lost touch with open back up mid-month. Finding the necessary words to patch things up between the two of you is within your grasp. You’re overly optimistic about something that you heard or read at the end of July, and it doesn’t help that the people around you might encourage you to overreact or embellish facts and details. Try not to believe the information you get from a third party until you verify it with the source.
Cancer (June 22-July 22)
Something in the air is killing your festive vibe as the month begins. It’s not that you can’t still have a good time, but the energy now is more about getting serious about the future. You breathe a sigh of relief mid-July as you feel things starting to get back to normal. This is a good time to wipe the slate clean of any negative interactions and start fresh with regard to communication. You have a desire to feel safe and protected late in the month. It’s time to evaluate what’s important to you and figure out how to let down your guard long enough so you can get it.
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www.tpgonlinedaily.com 26 / July 2020 / Capitola Soquel Times www.tpgonlinedaily.com
FEATURED COLUMNIST
It’s Not Business As Usual
T
By Ron Kustek
he last 90 days have put a strain on our realities, whether personally or professionally. For those of us who are business owners, the challenges have been even greater, as providing for our families has been upended, and the future is not the past. During these crazy few months you may have had the following thoughts: • I wish I had information on all my customers to know which ones are my most loyal. • How can I get back in touch with all my customers to let them know we’re opening? • If no one is walking the streets to shop, then how valuable is foot traffic anyway? • I still don’t understand social media, or what it can do for my business.
Though it’s not likely another pandemic will strike in the near future, none of us would have envisioned what just happened – or the financial crisis mortgage meltdown – or the attacks from 9/11. The last 20 years have been unprecedented, and without preparing NOW to have your business in a better positon tomorrow, you may not be able to survive the next wave of unpredictability. But there is hope! If you ran your business without collecting, keeping and managing customer-specific information, then it’s likely you’re not able to get back in touch with your best customers, or any customers at all. Now is the time to change that. There are many companies who provide easy to understand and affordable tools to help you manage your customer information. Some businesses in town are using FiveStars, which allows you to capture customer-specific information on who purchased what, when and how long has it been since they’ve been back. You can text and/or email customers directly from FiveStars.
Also, Square is more than just a creditcard transaction company, as they’ve developed customer marketing tools that allow you evaluate which days, times and customers are the best to focus on, as well as providing both email and text features. You can easily separate customers into those who are loyal, those who spend the most, those who may just shop when you have sales, etc. Again, spending $10-$30 a month to be able to have this information and actually use it allows you to be in a better position than your competition who may not be using simple technology to help manage their business. Whatever the case, no one can afford to just go back to the way things were — because they won’t be that way. If you didn’t pay attention to your customers before, then you can’t afford not to now. There have been businesses that have opened with lesser menus and higher prices — not the way to win back customers. “Not Usual” page 27
