So yesterday I just had a super shit kind of day at work.

It was not that it was shit really, it was just that I am exhausted by having to check and re-check on the same crap over and over again.  In my day I literally run out of time.  Not because I have too much on my plate – which I do – but because I am spending my time doing things that are actually not core to my job, and then I am having to do them repeatedly.

By not doing them, will impact on my job getting through the factory and being delivered on time to my client (I am in print and production.)  Though many issues are actually not “my responsibility” – they do become my problem if they do not occur.

As much as I want to just say well “fuck it, if it happens it happens” and toddle on my merry way. The inevitable result is that my client will be upset – with me.   And my client will not have whatever element they have been promised at a particular time – again resulting in me feeling responsible.

There is always the risk that my client will go “you know those wankers at ******* stuffed up my job and I will never print with them again…”

A few of those clients and well, we may all face a little unemployment in the not too distant future.

For the last month it has got stoo-pid busy at work.  The result is that cracks are starting to show, and I am starting to slowly spin off my axis.  (I have also been restricted internet access, but let’s leave that for another post.)

I realise that part of my job – the main component actually – is checking and rechecking details.  That is what I do when all is said and done.

But at a certain point (this point) I am so exhausted – I am having to check and recheck again and again and again.

Yesterday I got to recheck a proof that I have now checked 6 times – part client error, part our guys who print the proofs, who did not check their work before it was given to me.

I spent more than two hours of my day fighting with our accounts, and the financial director of another company.  I was trying to confirm payment on a job – us paying a supplier COD.  I could not get delivery if we could not prove we had paid for the job (if my job is not delivered, I cannot get it to a client as promised, and we are already pretty far into damage control territory).

I spent another hour sorting out something that was meant to be done the night before, but wasn’t – and I was only informed after 2pm.  So there I was in a mad panic to sort it out (this delay impacts on another company who needs our element to bind a magazine).

I realized a proof that was ready after 11am was left lying unattended and was not delivered until well after 16h30 – and I have a client asking when they can get their job (well clearly not before I get them to sign the proof.)

Each of these things are not huge issues in their own right.  But it is the compounded affect, plus the addition of the dozen or so other things that make my day a bit more challenging than I had hoped, that finally tipped me over the edge.

Unfortunately yesterday afternoon was not my finest hour.

I lost all decorum  – and I just felt the shit was insurmountable.  I had that moment when things get a little hazy and then I totally threw a fanny-flap and stormed out of my office, flinging my half closed bag over my shoulder like some deranged woman!  (this is after screaming what I can only describe as blasphemous comments to a supplier because I was so enraged …. )

Drove my car too fast, spoke on my cell phone – you know me, living dangerously – I was so po(*)s angry.

When I got home and I had sufficient wine to steady my nerves – I decided to tell Kennith what I crap crap crap day/week/month I was having and how totally totally out of control it was.

I started bitching and whining and pulling out my hair.  He tried at one point to offer advise, and actually all I needed him to do was stand there while I just vomited complaints about my day.

When it looked like my story had wound down, and I had a semblance of slight calm about me, and at least another two glasses of wine sorted, then Kennith suggested that:

“Mercy is in retrograde.  A planet is described to be in retrograde when it appears to be moving backwards through the zodiac. Actually this is an illusory planetary motion created by the orbital rotation of the earth with relation to other planets in the solar system. Planets are never actually retrograde or stationary, they just seem that way due to this cosmic shadow-play.

The planet Mercury rules thinking and perception and all types of communication. When Mercury goes retrograde it gives rise to personal misunderstandings. There would be delays, flaws and hitches in all communication related areas like transportation, trade,etc.

Astrologers advise not to make any important decisions while Mercury is retrograde, since it is likely that such decisions will be marred by misinformation, poor communication and careless thinking.”

Well that explains it then ….