And when you think you're being particularly clever...

...sod's law strikes.
My heating system has been a bit dicey since the beginning of the year -- it's losing water, not at an alarming speed but still, and when I saw, on Wednesday, that the water pressure had dropped, I called the plumber, asking him to come on Friday to put some water in. (The central unit isn't connected to the main water supply, and so I prefer not to do it myself)
I did, of course, think that I was being particularly clever, because sod's law dictates that problems with the heating always happen on very cold weekends.
He came, did some work (Slavica was here, so I don't know exactly what he did), and left a message that he was going to come back on Monday, because he suspected that a defective valve was causing the water loss.
Last night, the heating worked fine.
This morning while making tea I thought that it was a bit chilly and went to check the thermostat -- maybe I'd chosen the wrong programme and therefore the heating hadn't switched itself on.
I'd chosen the right programme.
With a sinking feeling I went to have a look at the central unit -- the water pressure was below minimum, and the alarm light was on.
After a round of sound swearing, I called the plumber. He told me he wasn't in Skopje but would send a colleague. I told him to give the guy my number, so we could arrange the time for his visit. This happened at 7.30.
When there hadn't been any call by 9.30, I wrote him a message asking for his colleague's number, so I could contact him myself. Five minutes later the phone rang, and Other Plumber promised that somebody would come by within the hour.
Macedonians being Macedonians, I suppose it won't happen before 12, but that's sort of ok.
I even refrained from formulating a sharp response to (my) plumber's answering message asking me to be patient. Because, you know, never ever anger a dependable plumber.
Still, I think I'm entitled to be slightly pissed-off, seeing as the heating had been working fine till yesterday, and then he came, and then suddenly the bloody thing lost so much water that it doesn't work anymore.
The room temperature is still 20°, but I'm yearning for my usual 22. Lucius is yearning for his habitual sleeping spot on the radiator.
OTOH, tangible proof that sod's law is still working fine somehow reaffirms my belief that the universe isn't going to collapse anytime soon. (So there, you Mayan wankers!)

To end this post on a more cheery note, here's a pic I took today of "my" street cats, all eight of them, while they were having breakfast:

I particularly like the smaller black-and-white one, i.e. the one sitting in the background on the ledge. It's extremely shy and eviently the runt of the herd, and I always take care to put its food in an extra spot so it can eat in peace. It has the most marvellous eyes: they're green, but not the usual yellowish green of feline eyes. They're almost emerald.