Back to work today and my ambivalence about having to do so quickly turned to active dismay when I saw my email and landed instantly in the poisonous atmosphere of the office.

Do workplaces tend to be collection points of negativity? I was so tempted to hand in my resignation letter there and then. If going to work is such a dreadful thing, why do it?

The saving grace is that the politics tend to be contained in the rarefied atmosphere of upper management. The downside is that the rest of us get dragged into it too. It seems that the day before I came back to work was a particularly bad one.

I spent the day clearing my email (is there anything which is more time wasting??) and listening to the grouses of fellow workers. At about 7.30, a drink seemed like a great idea so the women on the desk headed to BJ's next door for a bottle of wine and some chicken wings.

Thank God it's the raspy end of a long drawn out week, for these guys. Me, I wish I was back on holiday.