Timeshare scam warning

I'm sure you've all seen a Wyndham resort in your travels. Well, Wyndham has embarked on a timeshare scam and this is how it works.

First, they bought RCI, which was the granddaddy of the timeshare exchange companies. You would join, and "bank" your week with RCI to travel elsewhere. Fees were low, and reasonable for the exchange program. There were big timeshare scams, where they would sell timeshare at $15K, but could buy them on resale at $500, but these were individual timeshare developers, not RCI.

Well, Wyndham realized that there was a limit to how many timeshare weeks you could sell in a resort. At 52 weeks per unit, you were capped. So they came up with the idea of "points". You don't have an actual ownership, but own "resort points" where you can bank your "points" to travel. They are selling the points for $20,000 for what would be a prime week. Now, remember, you are not buying anything other than the right to use the points. Plus, you still have the $800 m/l maintenance fee on top of the $20K purchase price.

So, now that Wyndham has bought RCI, they're pushing people to convert their weeks to points. But Wyndham wants you to buy an additional $20K in points to convert. You just can't pay $500 for a paper transfer fee. So, you have to buy the additional points to convert what you already own to points, or they'll freeze you out of the exchange program (they own RCI). And you have to pay $20K for the privilege.

Just for giggles I sat through their presentation and was amazed at the people falling for the scam, especially as the points were presented as increasing in value. Wife had gone out on the internet and found you could buy these same $20K points for about $10 plus a transfer fee of about $400.

Points from Wyndham or any other developer are a scam. Yes, they're moving the timeshare industry in that way, but you can buy the points for virutally NOTHING.

DONT BE TAKEN IN BY A SMOOTH TALKING RESORT SALESMAN. BE INFORMED.

National Disability Awareness Month

Did you know that this is National Disability Awareness Month?  Unless you are part of the disabled community, you probably had never heard of it.  We have National Hispanic Heritage Month, Black History Month, and even Earth Month.  Then there are special days for various issues.  All of these get media attention.  The newspapers run series on how these issues have affected our lives, and television runs ads, news articles, and special programming to feature whatever special issue is being promoted.  That is, unless it is concerning the disabled, and then the media is conspicuous in its silence.  But we, the disabled, will be silent no longer. 

Of all the “minority groups”, the Disabled are the largest, with one in five citizens having to deal with a disability.  Further, this is the only minority that you can join, but do not want to.   Except for the ADA, the disabled have been ignored, both by the politicians and by the advocacy groups.  It has been so undermined by politicians, a lack of effective enforcement and the courts that it has minimal effectiveness.  You see this every day when even the doors to many city halls have yet to be replaced so that someone in a wheelchair can open them without help.

Unemployment for the disabled is rampant.  The disabled have an unemployment rate of 15.8%.  But underlying these figures was the fact that a staggering 77% of the employable disabled were counted as no longer in the employment force. 

To that is added the fact that many of the disabled are not hired for main-stream jobs.  With multiple individuals trying to find a job, the disabled are the first to be fired and the last to be hired.  On top of that, the U. S. Government Department of Labor allows the disabled to be paid less than minimum wage.  Goodwill Industries, a major employer of the disabled, has been found to be paying less than $1.50 per hour. 

Where are the advocates for the disabled?  Where are those standing in the doorways of General Motors, Bank of America, and the government, saying “What about us?  Why should we be discriminated against?”  Where are the liberal activists who routinely claim discrimination over the littlest slight, yet ignore the barriers routinely placed in front of the disabled of all races and creeds?

In this National Disability Awareness Month, please, be aware of the disabled: of our needs, our desires, and our contributions to America.  Just because we have issues, physically, mentally, or both, does not mean that we are not as deserving of jobs, employment, housing, access to buildings, and other life amenities that the non-disabled take for granted.  We are not asking for preferences.  All we are asking for is a chance to be part of the American Dream.  So please, join us to help make America more open and accepting to the disabled. 

Facing the disabled life

Everyone has their day, when their lives are irrevocably changed.  Some of these days are those that have a national or world impact, such as the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated.  But for those dealing with disabilities, it is the day that the disability shatters the perceived reality of life. 

All of us, especially baby boomers, are chasing eternal youth and fitness.  Weight loss products, exercise videos, and workout equipment, all are multi-billion dollar industries, catering to the desire to keep that youthful body, no matter the age.  Cruise lines are no longer showing the relaxing Caribbean cruises.  Now, they show people on jet skis and climbing walls.  The newest boats include wave units for on-board surfing.  All of these influence our outlook on life.  The belief is that we can all continue this life style well into our 80s.

But if you are dealing with disabilities, that perception of life can be destroyed by that day of change.  That day, that first day, will remain indelibly burned in your brain.  No matter what happens after that day, that day will keep coming back.  The what-ifs can play endlessly.  What if I had turned left instead of right?  What if I had gone to the doctor earlier?  Could I have caught the disease earlier?  What if, what if, what if. 

What if doesn’t change things.  When you are a  disabled person, facing a life-changing and, possibly, life-threatening disease, you are having to deal with issues that the non-disabled can never truly understand.  Oh, the non-disabled can understand the need to keep the floor free of items so that you won’t trip as you try to maneuver using a walker or canes.  They can understand that you will need assistance getting in and out of bed.  They can never understand the depression, the daily anger that can and probably will arise as you face another day of not being able to do what you used to do.  The fact is, the mental battles that you face as a disabled person are every bit as difficult and important as the battles you face in trying to overcome the physical limitation, and your friends and family need to understand this.

Psychologists have long found that there are generally five stages of the acceptance of a death.  Widely publicized, these are Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance.  In 1986, a panel was convened to analyze the psychological effects of the adjustment to a disability.  This panel found that there were a similar five stages of the acceptance of a disability:  Uncertainty, Shock, Anger and Denial, Depression/Grief, and Acceptance.

The uncertainty surrounding the initial onset of the ailment can range from “it’s just something temporary, something minor” to outright terror.  A pain in the arm can be just a pain.  However, it can be a harbinger of something much more serious.  As more and more doctors and specialists are brought in, as more and more tests are conducted, the fear and uncertainty rises.  This is when the support from family and friends is very necessary, to show that you are not alone in this journey.

Shock and fear can come almost immediately in the case of a massive traumatic injury. In the case of a medical problem, it can come on gradually.  But with either event, as you deal with the loss of abilities, the loss of function, the fear will be there, and it will always be there, always in the back of your mind.

The shock will turn to anger and denial, and the hardest part is to get past the anger that comes with the loss of bodily function.  You will often reject the first diagnosis, looking for a second and third opinion that may give you an answer.  What can be worse is when you see your body deteriorating, but medical science is unable to give a diagnosis, unable to give a prognosis.  The denial will turn to rejection.  You may retreat into a shell, rejecting the help of doctors, of friends, and reject your family, driving them away.  The sad, hidden story of the disabled is that 80% of marriages where one member becomes disabled through accident or illness ends in divorce.

The flip side of anger is depression and grief.  When someone we love passes on, we have to deal with the grief and depression that the loss brings, especially when the death was sudden.  It takes time but we will accept the loss over time.  It’s a part of the healing process.

When dealing with a disability, you have to deal with a loss as harsh, as terrible, as any death in the family.  Further, the loss is not one that hits in a moment, then fades in time.  The loss is one that you face every day.  Every morning, there is a new awakening of the loss, and, once again, you are hit with the grief and depression that this loss brings.  This depression can, and does, inhibit your ability to face the problem, and can lead to giving up.

So how do you get past this?  You truly need the emotional support of family and friends the most.  You have to get past the emotional baggage, and it is going to take all the love and support that you can get.  If you can’t deal with it, you can be more paralyzed mentally than from any physical problems.  Once you get past these, and move into acceptance, you can begin to live again, to rebuild your life, your relationships, and move into the world, ready to accept and face the world, knowing that whatever life will bring, you can face it.