There are days at work when I just want to go home, and days at home when I just want to go to work. Both problems have the same cause: I just want to get away from the frustration.

Sometimes it's someone who won't stop getting on my nerves. Sometimes it's a problem with personal communication. Sometimes my code just won't do what it's supposed to do. Sometimes it's a matter of trying to please all of the people all of the time. Sometimes there's just too much stuff that needs to get done. Sometimes there's just stuff, but I'm too tired or too disinterested to do any of it.

Whatever it is, it's all the same basic issue: I've got a problem and I don't know how to solve it. This may or may not be a guy thing -- as a gender, we're known for wanting to fix everything around us. Usually when this happens, I resolve it by dropping the problem until I can come back and look at it from a different angle. Sometimes I'm not allowed to. And sometimes there just aren't any other angles.

I have a Rubik's Cube sitting on my desk at work, all the time. I keep it in prominent view. I figured out how to solve it some time ago, largely on my own, and it stays solved where it sits. But every once in a while, usually when the frustrations are starting to build, I pick it up and scramble it. Then I take a few minutes to solve it again, methodically and quickly. The sequences are second nature by now: top edges, top corners, side edges, bottom corners, bottom edges. Twist, turn, spin. And then it's back to its former aesthetic perfection, and I can put it down and go back to work.

It's strangely comforting. Some people get out their stress by punching walls; I get mine out by solving problems. The Rubik's Cube is nice to keep around for just that reason. For most everybody it's an incredible puzzle, too difficult for them to even bother with. But no matter how bad it looks, I can fix it. Perfectly, and every single time.

I know I'm not the first person who wishes everything in life worked that way.