Came into work at 6, hoping to be productive, but my work network is problematic again. Can't reach the Intranet, reach apps, can receive and send email but it takes over an hour. Driving me nuts. Can't reach system status today so I don't know if it's me or what. Chat is working so I can contact those on the east coast and south and confirm they're not having issues. I only work with a few west coast people and they're not showing up on chat. Are they out today, or is that a symptom.

It's just frustrating. I've thought about matters, want to take action, answer questions, organize information, and I can't, and I don't really have an outlet to complain about it.

Well, when in doubt, reboot. Shut everything down and reboot. See what happens.

First, though, some coffee. A study years ago said the smell of coffee promotes focus. I don't know if it's true but the ritual of making it calms me and the brew itself steels my will. Most of all, I need calm when these stupid, maddening systems fail. As I write this, walk away, and make my coffee, I'll remind myself that things can be a lot worse. I know that intellectually but emotionally, I want to scream and take a sledge hammer to my office computer. It's a wonderful fantasy.