I find there's just one important factor... have I had enough sleep? I can deal with anything if I'm well rested. The more tired I am, the harder it is to restrain a raw reaction to the string of mini-disasters peppering the day... and especially the night these days.
I think I had a decent night's sleep 4 years ago. It was a Thursday, I think. 
I think it's important to acknowledge though that what many carers are attempting to do is right at the edge of human capability. Venting steam is perfectly natural and necessary to stop us having a stroke, but there are obviously good ways and bad ways to do it. As long as we still recognise the bad ways when we've lapsed, then we're still carers, not despairers.
I'm now going to go and have a stern word with myself about that last sentence. But as long as I still recognise a lousy phrase when I write it, I'm still a writer, not a *****...
Hang on, I appear to be stuck in a loop. Time to go vent some steam on a brief damp dog walk.
