Ever been through that phase when everything you touched broke, everything you did went wrong or landed you into deeper trouble? When you felt you were simply being drowned under more and more tasks, much like level 95 of Tetris, where you were simply unable to process anything anymore?  Self-help books and those cosmic consciousness type gurus often simply tell you to hang in there, but guess what? Sometimes, it really works :D Just when you think that things couldn't get any worse,  you get a bit of respite from old man Murphy, much like the tax office sometimes sends you a refund check, realizing that they've screwed you too hard.  This could be something active, like winning a lottery, or passive, like a fine being waived off.  It's the timing that really makes even a small respite seem so very relieving.

I'd put off my washing for the longest time and was now clean out of clean clothes! The washing machine in my apartment doesn't have a dryer, and is rather small, so I could only get a small washload done, if at all, and it would take a long time to dry, and I had to pack for a trip to the US, tomorrow.  I was feeling bad that I hadn't booked a slot at the communal laundry which has a really nice dryer, but thought that I'd check anyway. Sometimes, people do a no-show, and it's acceptable to 'pinch' the slot, if the booker doesn't show up within 30 minutes or so. I know this, as I'd lost my washing slot once in a similar fashion.  Having nothing to lose, I checked on the laundry room, a full hour into the final washing slot of the day and it turned out to be one of Murphy's refund checks! Though the chart showed the slot as pre-booked, nobody had showed up.  I quickly got my lock onto the door and ran back to get my washing and managed to run it! The load runs for an hour and then needs moving into the dryer.  At this point, happy as I was that I'd got the use of the laundry, I was wishing that I'd booked an appointment for a haircut before-hand, as I really needed one. It would have been the perfect way to use the hour that it took for the washload to run!

I decided to take a stroll anyway, and see if the neighborhood salon would take an unscheduled customer (he operates by appointments only), but he was closed; Guess he'd left early as there were no bookings for the final slot. "Just my luck!", I thought and began to trudge back home, when I thought of going over to the other supermarket where I could buy a do-it-yourself hair clipper.  Even as I was heading there, I saw a second hair salon, which was still open! And it was past his closing time! I knocked, entered and asked, and it proved to be Murphy's refund check number two. Though it was past his closing time, the barber told me that he'd cut my hair if I waited, and that's exactly what I did. Getting the use of a laundry facility or a barber's services without prior booking might seem to be small, but when things are not going your way, the smallest of things can be very welcome! Thanks, Murphy, for those respites!'