00:00Second update 9 days later. Well, it's been an interesting few days. I thought crap had hit
00:05the fan before, but that was more of a fart compared to what's happened this week. For this
00:09to make sense, I need to provide some financial context. My folks have never been any good at
00:13saving money, I've been doing their taxes for years, so I know pretty much everything about
00:17their finances. Their house is paid for, and they have minimal debt, but they didn't save much for
00:22retirement. Both of them get social security, my dad gets a solid pension, and they have a bit of
00:27savings, but there's no treasure chest in the basement. I bought their current car for them
00:30after they retired as a retirement present so they could have something nice to drive,
00:34it was the first car in probably 20 years they didn't lease. My sisters are convinced our parents
00:38are dripping with money and that they'll be leaving everything to the two of them since I don't need
00:41more money, so they've never cared about saving either. Turns out my oldest sister and her husband,
00:46they have three kids, have been living beyond their means for some time and are in financial
00:49straits. They've maxed out their credit cards and are behind on their car leases to the point that
00:53one is about to get repossessed. He'd bragged in the past about making X amount per year, but it
00:58turns out to be about half that. She confessed all this to mom on Tuesday because they need a loan,
01:02and because, and this was a WTF moment for mom and dad, for the last three years, instead of staying
01:07at the vacation house regularly, she's actually been renting it out once a month or so and pocketing
01:11the cash, we're talking $2,000 plus for a weekend and at least $4,000 for a week. With her
01:17being cut off
01:17from using the place, she's had to cancel one group already. She's now worried they'll lose
01:21everything. My folks aren't in any position to give them a loan. My other sister was aware of
01:26her renting out the place but, of course, never said anything. I suspect she's done the same thing
01:31as well because I went up there once to drop off an ATV I'd had worked on, and there was
01:35a family
01:35there who claimed to be staying there with my sister slash her family and that they'd gone to town
01:38for something. At the time, I let it go, I figured she'd loaned out the house to some friends.
01:43But I've always wondered. I found all this out through my folks, who are pretty stressed about
01:47it, mom more than dad. He's mainly just pissed off about it all. I know dad feels betrayed,
01:53and I imagine he's embarrassed that he's in no position to help his daughter out.
01:56He did reiterate that, as long as it's up to him, the girls won't be using the vacation home anytime
02:01soon. My folks let me know what's going on because they figured my sisters would put a full court press
02:05on me next. And they were right. On Thursday, my sisters came to our place again, without their
02:10husbands this time, and waited outside the door until I got home. I had to choose between fighting
02:15with them in public, letting them make a scene if I went in without them, or letting them in,
02:19so I let them in. I got a BS story from my older sister, with the younger one backing her
02:23up,
02:24regarding why I needed to let them use the mountain place again immediately. They also said I've been a
02:28crappy brother and that I needed to step up and plan on paying for their kids' college tuition since
02:32that's what family does.
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