Project Move: Day 9 Sanity Checks and Closing Memberships

    My moving "To Do" list is almost all checked off now.  I actually did start taping boxes up and packing today, but not before I made sure that all my start up services were a go.  Fortunately, that little feeling that something was amiss was correct.  It wasn't DirectTV that had an issue, it was Comcast who is in charge of my landline and Internet.  I definitely needed to fix that issue---my city and state address were input for Arkansas!  That's a little off.  It's all fixed now which is good.  I hate being without the Internet.  "I am Borg.  I must connect!" lol
    Next came cancelling my local memberships.  I started with the hard membership, Sundance Meadows/Vail Lake.  Apparently, the contract that I had signed was for life and when I die my kids are responsible for the maintenance fees of my membership which is $500/year.  There was no cancellation clause in the contract for the buyer!  How stupid of me to have signed such a document. 
    The manager explained that the best way to get out of the membership is to sell it to someone else.  Once I realized how horrific this situation is for any buyer, I opted to find a way to cancel and not trap someone else into such a predicament.  After reading the contract that was about 12 years old, I calculated my attorney fees for reviewing it and challenging the legality of it---$600 or 2 hours of work. 
    Then I called the manager again and explained that I had diligently paid my membership for all these years and haven't used it in years.  I will be moving and don't want to default by not paying and accrue late fees, which is one way of voiding the contract with the presumption that the seller will end the contract and not legally pursue me for fees.  I couldn't assume that this seller would roll over with such a despicable contract. 
    I told the manager that I want her to get me a "buy out" of the contract that is reasonable or else I will have my attorney get involved.  She quickly called me back and explained that the accounting department will allow me to be free of my membership for $500.  She added, "That's the cheapest offer that I've ever seen.  Normally it's $1200."  So I had her send me the official paperwork.
    At least my Pure Fitness membership was easy to cancel.  I will miss that gym.  I loved working out there.  The manager even remembered that I was the former owner of Elite Fitness Spas for Women.  When they had purchased our memberships, I became a member of Pure Fitness for $0 for life. 
    This of course, did not go over well with the owner, so he paid me a visit to renegotiate my membership fees.  He is a former pro football player for the Chargers, devout Jew, attorney, and gracious.  We had a lovely time negotiating my membership so his business and I would stay healthy and an even lovelier time commiserating about gym employee issues!