Asking for trouble?

Once upon a time I did some really stupid things. This is not an all-inclusive list, by any means.
1. I failed to break up with a guy when I should have. Prolonging the inevitable was dumb.
2. I bought a timeshare.

So I'd gotten a "free" cruise to the Bahamas. All I had to do was pay the departure tax and listen to a talk on timeshares. I was with Colin, the guy I should have broken up with. I told him not to let me get suckered into buying a stupid timeshare. I don't vacation that way. I don't want to vacation that way. I want to travel around, not stay in one spot. I explained this, and Colin said he would make sure I didn't buy one. Not under any circumstances! He never did listen to me.

First they tried to sell us (since Colin had to listen to) a timeshare for $10,000. That was easy to say no to, $10,000 is a lot of money. But they made it sound really good.

I thought we were free after that, but we had to talk to another guy who wanted to sell us one for $4,000.

I know I can be a sucker. I know I can be weak-willed. That's why I enlisted Colin's help!

Instead, what does he do? He said he'd pay half and we could buy it together. By this time I was pretty sure our relationship was circling the drain. I think Colin knew that to. He saw buying a timeshare with me as a way to tie me to him, I think. I did to, and I didn't want to buy the timeshare with him, but at that moment, I shamefully confess, he looked so cute.

Fast forward a couple months to break up time. I told him I didn't want the timeshare. He could have it. I didn't want any money, he could take it. Unfortunately, he said he didn't want it either. So last year I paid the $400 maintenance fee and another several hundred dollars to put it on a website to get it sold. It hasn't sold. Why? Because no one in their right mind wants a timeshare!

As an aside, the timeshare company drives me crazy. They address the mail to Colin, so most of the time, I didn't get it. They call me Mrs. Colin's last name, which really PISSES ME OFF! (There may be some left over animosity towards him which makes me a little sensitive.)

So the other day, I got an email from the timeshare people. Since I've moved (and they probably addressed the mail to Colin), next year's maintenance bill had been returned. They wanted a good address. I gave them Colin's. Luckily, I could still read it through the scribbles in my address book.

So what's going to happen is this: I'm going to hear from Colin.

I broke up with him in March of 2007. The aftermath was horrifying. He called me every Sunday at the 1500 hours (usually when I was in the computer lab at FLETC). I wouldn't answer so he would call every half an hour until I did. I'd agreed to be friends. I don't know why. I guess because being friends has worked in the past, with other guys. But the calls really were making me angry. He was trying to get me back. He wanted me to explain myself over and over. He wouldn't let go.

I told him he couldn't call me for two months. I wanted him to calm down. I told him no emails either, but, like I've mentioned he didn't hear things sometimes. He wanted to buy me a laptop for my birthday. He sent me a text (since it wasn't calling) on my birthday that said, "Happy Birthday Baby" which made me so mad I nearly threw my phone off the New River Gorge bridge (876 feet high. It's on the West Virginia quarter).

In two months to the day, the calls started again. I didn't answer, knowing that crazy people prefer negative contact to no contact at all. I've blogged about this before. He called my parent's house around December 2007, my mom yelled at him, and I sent him a follow up email threatening legal action if he contacted me again. It was a hollow threat, really, he lives in Scotland. What are they gonna do? But it seemed to work. In March of this year, he did send me an email, but I didn't respond, blocked his email, and haven't heard a peep since. WHEW!!!

I have a new mailing address and a new home on the opposite side of the country. But my cell phone number is the same. So in my reluctance to pay another maintenance fee on a stupid timeshare I never wanted, I have now opened up this old can of worms.

I know what you're all thinking, "Just don't answer the phone!" And of course I won't, but my blood pressure will go up just the same. I just want to be done with him and this stupid timeshare!