Still in Deland, FL

So, hi, everyone. Long time no see. Sorry I've dropped off the planet, no doubt disappointing all my faithful readers and losing most of the rest. I'm back, kind of. Or will be soon. After the disaster of the computer loss, not only did I sink into rather deep depression, but I had no way to post. Things are getting a little bit better these days. Still no computer, but the sunlight in Florida is doing wonders to clear up the depression. It's forecast for eighty degrees here this week!! That'll make anyone happy.

The news is: we ordered a replacement computer on eBay, spent a week on the boat in Daytona Beach waiting for it to arrive, only to have it come in and not work at all. It didn't even turn on. It seemed that things were going from bad to worse for our little adventure. I was ready to curse eBay and die, as Job would say, but after a long period of negotiating with the seller, he's agreed to refund us half the asking price. The deal's not closed yet, but that should allow us to either buy another computer and use the first one for parts, or to repair the first. So send good juju towards him, and pray that Karl's soldering expertise saves our behinds once again.

I've been enjoying doing nothing, especially having access to TiVo and satellite television at our friends' house, probably a little too much. Not to mention having a full kitchen again. It's definitely reminded both of us of how great life on land can be, and we've both started to look a little longingly towards Maine. But then, I remember that it's forty below up there. And eighty degrees--eighty!!--here. I reread my journals today from when we were trying to put the boat in the water, those torturous days when none of our work seemed like it would ever reach fruition, and comparing that to now made me perfectly content.

The boat is my home, now. The first one I've had in an eternity. Yes, we've spent a lot of time away, and yes, we still have a lot of money to spend before we'll be back to square one, but I can't wait until we're home again, back on the water, moving towards our eventual nonspecified goal.

Still, with all the computer debacle, I've decided to fly home to Tennessee for a week to visit my parents and my grandmother, who recently broke her hip. Karl's going to stay here and solder his heart out, and I can use the high-speed internet at my parents, hopefully to post all of our pictures from the trip. Pictures, pictures, pictures galore!

So, stay tuned. County and Marzipan and all their adventures will return soon, with a vengeance.

Deland, FL

I'm at the library in Deland, Florida. We've finally managed to hook up with Karl's friend Danny, to get a brief respite from the disasters of the last weeks, only to be followed by a disaster here. Tornadoes swept through the county the night we got here, killing one family of four that Danny's girlfriend Sam knew personally. One of their twin daughtes is still in critical condition, not even knowing that her mother is dead.

It does put our loss in perspective, certainly. I'm not sure what kind of juju we're dragging around, though, and we left our boat at anchor in the Daytona Beach harbor, and we have no idea if it made it through the storm. Karl's trying to get a new cell phone so we can check with the police in St. Augustine to see if any part of our bag has shown up, but it's pretty much a lost cause. I refuse to give up hope entirely, but it's hard not to abandon hope a little.

I still appreciate any prayers, if you're praying folk. We'll survive, I know. We'll get through all this. We always do. But the Bahamas sure feel a long ways away.