ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER FIFTY DOLLARS

We have a timeshare. How we got boonswaggled into buying a timeshare I don't want to delve into. It will just give me heartburn and make me feel like an idiot. Suffice to say that however good it sounds, with rare exceptions, they are lying. They are making promises they won't and can't keep and you are going to wind up with a mortgage on nothing. Air. And you will pay a fortune for that empty promise.

Years later, we are still paying for that mistake. One of the things we usually do to try and not feel quite so ripped off, is go on an annual vacation. That way, at least we've gotten something -- not much, but something -- for our money.

This year, at Hotel Hell, it's hard to feel the money has been well spent. And yesterday, we got a call from the resort in Maine where we are technically owners to say they aren't getting the money we send every month to cover the annual maintenance fees.

But ... that money comes out of our account automatically every month. I know, I can see it on our bank statements, online, on paper. Anyway you look at it, the money gets taken out of the account by someone (everyone says "someone else" is doing it -- don't you love that?). So where, exactly, is it going? In all honesty, I'm less concerned with the mechanics than the bottom line.

We don't have spare money, so if that monthly payment is not getting to the Mountainview in Maine, then who is getting it?

Another mystery amongst the many mysteries which make my life so rich with meaning.

To brighten your day, today's pictures of Hyannis harbor are brought to you by Garry Armstrong, photographer deluxe. Whose pictures of the harbor turned out to be far more interesting that mine. Drat!