Readers of a certain vintage will recognize the title of this posting as coming from a song by the Carpenters.  Karen Carpenter let us know that rainy days and Mondays really got her down.

This Monday morning in Chicago is not only rainy, but extremely muggy.  I staggered to my car under the weight of my accumulated dry-cleaning only to discover that the clicker to open the parking lot wasn’t working.  I stood there helplessly until someone else showed up.  His clicker didn’t work either and we ended up unhooking the mechanism and, with considerable physical effort, pried the gate open.

I tried to drop my cleaning off, but the street was bristling with police cars and ominous “You will be towed” signs. Ah, well.  I got into work and my computer wouldn’t boot-up.  Major panic was followed by several deep breaths and the decision to try starting it up again – it worked.

Accessing my email, I realized (oh so belatedly) that I am scheduled to be at a conference in San Jose, California this coming Friday at exactly the same time that a friend from Paris is arriving in Chicago.  Eek.  What to do?

It is barely 8:00a.m.  I am already brought low by this rainy  Monday.  What can I do to redeem the day?