An Unexpected Turn of Events

 It's been a strange week and a half here. It all began last Tuesday. We were planning our usual trip to Donegal town to return and pick up books at the library. I had a heavy pile to carry back and I was all packed and ready to go when I checked the 'real time information' page to see what time the bus was expected. I tapped on the map and there was no bus icon on it. Back to the home page of the website. I scrolled down and saw that the service for that day and time had been cancelled due to an incident. That's all it said. So I unpacked my backpack and went back to the task I was engaged in before all that happened, which was a discussion about a property for rent. The letting agent sent me a video. We felt it was worth looking at, so I clicked around, found the bus times that would work to get us there and back, and made an appointment for Thursday. We'd be going through Letterkenny with a little over an hour between buses so we decided to take the opportunity to bring books and a couple other items to donate to the charity shop right by the bus stop. We each had a backpack full of books, so when we got there the charity shop was the first stop. Our bags now empty, we headed for the bookshelves. The backpacks did not stay empty for long, but at least we donated more books than we bought (on this day, at least).

Then we went outside, ate the sandwiches we'd brought, and waited for the bus that would take us to our destination. We hoped it would be on time because we were only going to have about half an hour in the village before we'd have to get back on the bus to Letterkenny. If we missed that one, we'd miss the last bus back home. There we were, eagerly looking at the roundabout to get a glimpse of the bus we were waiting for. It was 5 minutes late, then 10, then 15. The bus we rode into Letterkenny on was due to leave in 10 minutes by that point, so we started talking about what we should do. There was another bus to the village that was due at about the same time, but there was no sign of either of them. Twenty minutes late. The bus we rode in on appeared. We decided to get on it and go home. When it pulled away from the bus stop, one of the buses we could have taken was 30 minutes late and the other 25. Presumably, they showed up at some point, but given how late they were and with the potential for further delays along the way, we simply wouldn't have had any time to look at the place. 

On the bus home, I messaged the guy we were supposed to meet in two ways, but there was no response. I sent messages to friends who wanted to know how it went after we'd looked at the place. One of them was out of town, but replied immediately, saying that he was coming back that day and he'd drive us over the weekend or Monday. I was chatting with another friend. Still no reply from the letting agent. Then we were in the middle of nowhere and I lost my phone signal. When we got home, it was the same time we were supposed to be at the cottage starting to look around. I called. The letting agent was very nice and immediately asked me when I wanted to reschedule. I explained about our friend's offer. The letting agent chose the Monday and said to just give him a call to let him know what time. I worked it out with our friend later that day and confirmed with the letting agent on Friday morning.

On Monday, our friend came for pastries and coffee, but we left in plenty of time and were there early, as expected. I'd brought the heavy pile of library books I'd been unable to return the week before and dropped them off in the book drop at the library there. Then we went to look at the cottage. Letting agent had to rush off to do a slot on the local Irish language radio station about the insanely difficult rental market, so Bill and I stood in the front chatting with our friend for a while about the place and what we all thought of it. Then we came home. Later, I sent the letting agent a message saying we'd take it. 

We've been wanting to find another place to live for quite some time and have been actively looking for months. We were close to viewing a tiny apartment in a town that looked great, but the owner told Bill that some guy had contacted him and offered 'crazy money' so he was going to come look at it. Given the tight market, finding a place is difficult even with insanely high rents, so this opportunity came completely out of the blue. This is a letting agent that we've dealt with before and the cottage we'll be renting is in a village we've lived in before. The rent is not obscene for what it is, because it's in a rural area which isn't as desirable to most people as other places are. However, the bus service there is excellent and far better than what we have in our current town, so we'll be able to go places much more easily than we can now. There's a library, which is a big deal for us. A beach is just a few minutes walk away. It's a more scenic area. I love the cottage. There is no bar nearby and no obvious place for people to hang out and party. Our days of hearing bad covers of bad country western music performed by talent-free individuals at live noise pollution events is coming to an end. The very last straw was when someone--perhaps the Tidy Towns committee--placed benches on the bridge over the river. They wisely bolted them down. If they hadn't, it was only going to be a matter of time before someone tossed them off the bridge and into the river. These benches happen to be right under our window. I told Bill at the time, 'There's the new hangout/party spot. There are going to be even more drunks out there yelling, shrieking, laughing hysterically, and being obnoxious.' And so it is. Last weekend I was giving thanks for good friends who send ear plugs as I shoved them into my ears to try to get some sleep. The party went on until after 2 am.

So we've paid our security deposit for the cottage and given our notice here. I can't quite believe it--it's all so sudden. I'm grateful.

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