Christmas Eve I meet up with Charles and his pretty girlfriend Cassy. We eat bread, hummus and salad at their new home, drink wine and talk. Charles leaps in the pool. Their roommates' little girl is crazy excited about her presents. She's being cleverly distracted as her brightly wrapped gifts are shuttled from their various hiding spots to their rightful home beneath the evergreen.

Obstacles. I was supposed to be in Stock Island on Monday, hauling out Jordan's Ghost and beginning the first of a few basic improvements. I have been planning on getting the boat cleaned up, repainted and possibly re-plumbed before I leave town for Colorado in the first week of January. So far, no luck.

In waking life I lie down to sleep and begin having stress dreamlets. Tiny little dreams wherein I'm placed in some absurd, stressful situation that lasts only a moment and then wakes me into a fright. Then another one instantly over and over. Like a type of torture. This has never happened to me.

I'm returning Charlie the dog to Josh's house, and I'm really stressed because Charlie has to shit and is about to shit on the stairs and I have to be somewhere and I don't know if Josh is home. Awake.

Key West, FL. Change of plans. I've opted to forgo the trip to Central America. Gil will be sailing with a friend (a celestial navigation enthusiast) to Key West once his boat is complete. From there he will be looking to pick up a crew for the trip beyond. I arrived here in Key West two nights ago by bus. I went out with friends Friday night to meander around downtown and dance to some funk music, then caught a ride back to Jordan's Ghost late yesterday.

Zombie apocalypse. Two others and myself escape from a Key West type area towards Miami. There are hundreds of thousands of Zombies. We are on mopeds and make it out of town and t an area where an interstate on ramp has been broken up into sections. It is by a beach.

Miami, Florida. I'm in route to Mobile, Alabama. Once there, I'll be spending some time helping Gil, a friend of mine, to put the finishing touches on his boat before cruising to Key West and eventually further south.

The bus ride to Mobile is some twenty-nine hours, six of which will be spent here in the Miami Greyhound station on layover. I'm beginning to get very familiar with this station. I believe I've been here at least four times.

Hablan Espanol en El Salvador?

Si. Claro. Y Usted? Habla usted Espanol?

Si, un poco, pero yo tengo que aprender mas.

La mayoria de gente en Florida hablan Espanol, no?

Talvez no la mayoria, pero es verdad que mucha gente lo hablan. Porque hay mucha gente de Cuba alli.