Imaginaaaaaaaaation-land ...

Bye bye, boat. We hardly knew ye.

There are few things more depressing to coming back from a week's vacation to autumn thunderstorms and incessant cat fights. Fucking furbags.

We had a great time, despite somewhat inclement weather and a nasty encounter with the equivalent of an entire bottle of tequila in a seaside bar in Cozumel. My head remains swimmy and my body fatigued, but at least I have another day before I have to drag my ass back to work. Joe has not been so lucky. Poor bastard is stuck with a 12-14 hour shift today, and potentially another one tomorrow. I will not belabor a point regarding my thoughts on the subject.

Key West. Yes. I'd move there tomorrow if given the option. However, it doesn't take too far a delve into reality to figure out that, sensibly, there are no jobs worth having and no way on earth to afford a roof over your head. Sure, be homeless, live on the beach, maybe knock off one of those chickens for sustenance every now and again. Drink a lot on the generosity of others. Right. A brilliant fantasy, but really, little else. That particular realization, however, will not stop me from buying this book and keeping my ear to the ground.

Cruise-thoughts in general? Decadent and expensive. A lot of fun, but something I probably don't need to do again unless it's one of the 10+-dayers that actually allow for a bit of time at the ports of call (we had 6 hours in Key West and 8 in Cozumel). The buffet food was mostly good and available pretty much constantly -- the dining room food was very good, but not the best option if you're into super-casual consumption. Drink options were everywhere, and about the same amount you'd pay at an average bar. Service was exceptional. Other passengers ranged from acceptable to lame to older than dust (though surprisingly few opportunities for Teaming). I could count the freak quotient on one hand, we'll say. About 100 kids too many, but I wasn't pulling my eyes out of my head.

The flight home was grueling. We got to the airport at around 11a, and our flight wasnt scheduled to depart until 4:40. We didn't actually get on the plane until 5:20ish, and didn't actually take off until 6:30. Got to Philly around 9:45, and home somewhere around 11p. Bullshit, all around. Unpacking sucked. The laundry will suck further. This vertigo thing is driving me kind of batshit, so I hope that goes away soon.

Not totally cohesive yet, but there you have it.