house hunting

I am being tormented by land agents!!!

I want to move closer to the university, not only because it is close to uni, but because all the research facilitates in the city are on that side of the river, so it'll continue to work when I have finished my degree.

I found a nice enough house, small but tidy and one hundred thousand less than the house I'm in now. BUT, it also has a train track in the backyard! So, I have to weigh my options, and hope to find something similar in a area with no train, or P lab next door. This, as you can perhaps imagine, is easier said than done.

Oh, but I went back to have a second look, mostly to check out the neighbor hood. Now a have land agents calling me daily, wanting me to formally register my interest, all the better to bully me into buying by warning me that some possibly fictional other buyer is looking to make an offer.

The guy called while I was at work, and I told him I was at work and wasn't able to talk. So what does he do? He blah blahs at me about registering my interest, and explains what that means, like I've never bought house before, and carries on like I am the one inconveniencing him. I never said I was keen. I never said I wanted to do anything more than have a second look around, that is a long way from asking where to sign!

so angry. I hate feeling bullied. Especially when I know that it is all because I look so much younger than I am!

ggrrr

Three years ago I became a World Vision sponsor. I have never written a proper letter to my child, but have sent stickers and balloons and such every now and then.

The other day I got a letter from World Vision, apologizing for an error made by World Vision Rwanda when they took down my child's original details and letting me know my child was not a girl called Berthe, but a boy called Bertin!

I'm not particularly concerned, I don't actually care about my child's gender, just as long as he is getting an education and clean water. But I'm a bit gutted about having sent pink balloons, and stickers with rainbows and flowers, for the past three years.

The same day I got a card from Bertin. Each year they fill in the card, and leave a space for the child to draw a picture or write something, which is then translated into English in a different colour pen. This year, he wrote his message in English. He told me that he was happy because I was helping him, and that he was going to school, and that it was okay. And then he said, "I want to be like you". He doesn't know anything about me really, just that I give, so that he can have a better life. I have to admit I got a bit teared up.