Still a lazy poster, but saying hello all the same

I suppose it's all due to the heat wave, which was truly horrible but seems to have broken. So we're back to more surviveable temperatures around 32°. Finally. Last night was nice and cool, so sleep was refreshing for a change (as opposed to getting up in the morning and feeling as if the 10th Legion had trampled all over me).

Life continues to be quiet in a good way, with the occasional highlight. Such as last Saturday, when the whole Embassy went to Veles, where they're having a gastronomic festival, and the 16th was dedicated to Austria. It lasted from 9 p.m. till 2 a.m., the food was marvellous, the wine very nice and the company delightful. I intend to return to Veles for the Swedish evening on the 30th.
Since I'd gone to bed at 2.30 a.m. on Sunday and got up at 6.30 (critters, 'nuff said), I spent the day alternating between sleeping and reading, feeling jet-lagged and groggy, and also deliciously lazy.
Speaking of reading: I started re-reading the HP series -- just the right thing on Sunday, because not overly challenging -- and have progressed so far to PoA. Am intending to re-read the whole series and am looking forward to it.

Today after work, Irene and I will join Anita, the trade delegate, and nip to Katlanovo (some 30 km outside Skopje), where there is a nice pool. It'll just be arrive -- jump in -- swim for an hour -- back to Skopje, but that's just what one needs after a hot day at work. (Not that there's too much to do, but the heat makes you quite tired)
Since the pool we discovered last year has totally gone to the dogs (seven steps in, and you can see only three -- YUCK), we, i.e. Irene, me and Pinar, will be going to Struga on Saturday. It's also on Lake Ohrid, but not as full of people as Ohrid itself, and there's a hotel with a nice private beach. We won't be staying the night, but the mere idea of a day spent swimming and sunbathing makes me very happy.

Boss will be back on Tuesday 26th, and I hope I'll be able to take Thursday or Friday off work, as a recompensation for holding the fort during his absence. The sinister plan is for going to Veles (same place where they're having the gastronomic festival) in the morning and spending another day swiming and sunbathing -- it's a smaller, artificial lake, but perfectly ok for swimming. Plus, they also have a pool and a very good restaurant. So that should be nice, too, if things work out as I'd like them to.

Re. cats and my former-friend-then-acquaintance-now-just-neighbour Alexandra: The woman finally succeeded where many have failed -- she made me explode when talking to her on the phone. The fact that she took in an 8-week-old kitten as companion for the resident stray (and I daresay the kitten was even younger than 8 weeks) and then, two days after the kitten had arrived, went off to Pristina for a 2-day seminar, leaving the cats to themselves, was the final straw. I wouldn't have exploded, had cat and kitten harmonized well. As things are, the stray in residence is terrified and stressed, and keeps hissing at the little one, and the little one is a) not healthy (mycosis, inflamed eyes, sneezes), b) seems to have behavioural issues, and c) needs to be bottle-fed in addition to giving it solid food -- the poor little thing keeps sucking its own teats. Both are heartbreaking to watch. So while she was in Pristina, Irene and I went over to care for the mismatched duo, and I wrote her what I think is the most strongly-worded email I've ever written. Didn't get an answer, but neither wanted nor expected one, and from now on I'm not going to give the situation any more thought. When she went off to Pristina, I thought long and hard and came to the conclusion that knowing what was going on next door and not going there was something I couldn't very well take on my conscience. Now, however, I don't know anymore, and so there won't be any more visits. I feel truly sorry for both cats, but there's really nothing I can do.

Last but not least: shiv5468 , I'm going to comment on your mod post anyway, but maybe you'll be reading this first. I can't promise anything great, but I'd do a pinch hit for the exchange, if you still need pinch hitters.
Everybody else, I'm reading the f-list but haven't been commenting much lately.
Will mend my ways.