Oh, thank you, that's so kind of you. The landlords are pretty good about getting it fixed promptly when this happens, and I am reasonably sure it will be taken care of by lunchtime tomorrow, so I'm not dreadfully worried. I have a very hazy understanding, but the boiler itself is only about 8 years old. The issues, I think, are with the steam pipe and radiator network, which is much older and sometimes causes the beast in the basement to sort of ... eat its own tail. (It's a good thing I do not work in this industry.)

But I did find those obituaries gave me a sense of perspective about a situation that had me on the verge of boiling over myself.