Unrelenting? That sounds right.

Unrelenting is right. We've all heard it: "Don't like the weather in New England? Wait five minutes!" And it's not grossly exaggerated: Both Saturday and Sunday delivered 50-degree, spring-like weather; Monday, we shoveled six inches of wet, heavy snow.

The way I feel about this winter is pretty much the way I feel about the economy -- just keep my head down and power through it. We're buried in snow and we're buried in negative news reports -- and I'm just trying to shovel out a path.

The other day I was (get ready for a confession of nerdiness) listening to "This American Life" on NPR, which has been doing a handful of really informative programs to explain the giant mess we're in. "TAL" did a show on the mortgage crisis, a follow-up on the credit crisis, and, most recently, a show on the banking industry crisis. They break it down into plain language that anyone can understand, and after listening to these shows, I feel like I have a better sense of what's actually going on.

And that's been the key thing for me: finding out what is happening. Not what Bill O'Reilly thinks is happening, not what Jon Stewart thinks is happening, not what Katie Couric thinks is happening. I mean, how long does it take to explain -- in plain language -- what's going on and what the proposed solutions are? If you listen to "This American Life," it takes about an hour. But the 24-hour cable networks have, well, 24 hours to fill, and an unrelenting storm of apocalyptic news is just not what I'm in the mood for.

I can't really sit this one out. None of us can. But I'm trying to keep in perspective what I can and can't control. I can't control the Dow. I can't control whether the government nationalizes banks or buys up toxic mortgages. To some extent, I can't even control my employment status.

But I can work harder than ever. I can go to the gym and sweat it out. (I take a kickboxing-type class in which the instructor always says, "Bring something to class that you don't want to leave with." I love it.) I can make dinner at home instead of going out, which is probably healthier for me anyway. I've got a great excuse for turning down invitations to things (concerts, movies, restaurants) I didn't really want to do anyway -- I just say I have to conserve.

And we all do. But I'm hoping all this will, sooner than later, relent.