Today was just a lousy day all around.

I had a hard time sleeping and woke up an hour and a half before I had to. The chlorine pump shut down in the middle of the night, so we had no swim team practice. My swimmers were devastated; I hate seeing them upset. I found out there’s a good chance I’ll get swimmer’s ear in the next few days.

I got to scoop puke out of a pool and shock it with chlorine (I got a chemical burn in the process). I stayed at work for an extra two hours because of the vomit; and I missed my brother’s swim meet because of it.

So right now I’m wallowing.

I despise bad days. I wrote about happiness yesterday. I know you have to work to be happy, but some days it seems nearly impossible.

I mean how do I find the good in scooping puke out of a pool? My chemical burn certainly wasn’t fun. Nor was explaining to about 150 people that they couldn’t go swimming on one of our first really beautiful days of the summer.

Anyway, I’m trying to get over it. I followed my bad day routine. I made a batch of brownies. Baking always helps me calm down. I called my best friend to complain. I turned on one of my favorite angry CDs from middle school. I’ve been singing along loudly.

In a little bit, I’ll turn on some ‘80s dance music, probably something from Pat Benatar or Devo, and dance around my house for a while.

I’ll watch the 8 p.m. Daily Show with Jon Stewart and I’ll go to bed early. Because as Little Orphan Annie said, “Tomorrow’s just a day away?”

So how do you combat bad days? Do you just cough it up to bad luck? Do you fall into a funk, or do you climb back out? Let me know.