Decisions decisions

Green isn't it

More on the Kela saga: Since registering unemployed a couple of months ago (which I was told I 'had' to do even though I wouldn't get any benefits from it), I have now had four Päätös (decision) letters in the last couple of weeks as well as a request for more information about the week before that.  It seems it has decided it is only going communicate with me in Finnish (as I stupidly wrote in Finnish last time), however with a bit of help from Konna I have worked out that for each 'application' you get a 'decision' response (even if you didn't know you had applied for something).  So after first being told I don't qualify for 'basic' or 'training' benefits (these are loose translations), I now have been told instead I will be getting 'integration' payments for 'foreigners joining Finnish society'. I didn't even know I had applied for it! I'm also pretty sure I will get the 'training' payments when my next language course starts now this has gone through the Työvointoimisto for approval. Not that we are talking big money here, but as my income has been zero since the end of last May it will at least help counter slightly the sizeable drain in our savings.

As it happens our savings accounts are now looking as healthy as they have ever done as we have just sold our London flat in just a month (is this a record!?). Of course in Finland the whole process would only takes a couple of days, not having our tangle of property and contract law to deal with. It is a strange feeling not having our own 'home' in London anymore, but hopefully we have made the right decision to take a decent offer now and get capital out of it to back us up if we need it, (and to stop losing money renting it out!). I can't see we would get a better offer in the next couple of years anyway, and this way we have more flexibility for what to do in the future and less risk.

I like to think I am a fairly rational and logical chap, but sometimes I do wonder at my own decision making process (the above excepted I hope!).  Currently I am on a low income, am training for a cycling event and (temporarily I hope) have a bad back and have hurt my heel.  So what I really needed to buy yesterday was a pair of running shoes, right? Right...