Why post a blog after a cruise is done? Good question. Why not? I figure that nobody is likely to be checking it now anyhow, so why not keep the log of the Lillie Mae going. A sounding board for myself.

It is now over 3 months since we got back from the Bahamas, a longer period of time than we were actually out cruising (away from the dock...). Looking back, things were an incredible whirlwind when we first arrived, and they have not slowed down.

After returning to the boat from 3+ weeks away on a roving tour of relatives and holidays, we were all exhausted. What we had hoped would include a week or more of very quiet, slow and relaxed rest time did not pan out. Michele was literally falling apart. Her fibromyalgia and chronic fatique syndrom reached new peaks of intensity and she was rendered into a pain wracked gelatin gooped in her berth. We were trying to get away from Jekyll and on our way north to the Elizabeth Islands so I was very busy with boat prep and the stress really got to her.

Her situation was bad enough that we set our plans aside and decided to head back to Atlanta so Michele could visit her doctors and seek new help and tests to try and figure out what was going on. We were both afraid, she had all the symptoms for MS among other things.

Off to the doctors and hospitals we went. She began seeing her chiropractor several times a week along with a massage therapist. She also starting taking between 10 and 500 of every vitamin and supplement ever invented, several times a day. At least it seemed like it. We met several times with a neurologist as well as her regular doctor. We had 2 MRIs done, a spinal tap and every blood test known to man in an effort to seek and identify ANY possible disease or syndrome. This included several visits to the emergency room including for an EXTREMELY painful blood patch procedure where she had the spinal tap done to try and alleviate monumental migraine headaches that went on constantly for over 10 days. I figured that with the supposed salvation of the massive Health Care Bill signed into law while we were off sailing, the bills would be reasonable. Oooooops. Lets just say I could purchase a LARGE new dinghy complete with engine for what all this medical care costs. (our health insurance is a catastrophic policy.... Giant deductible, all we can afford). The funny thing is, because we knew we would be paying out of pocket for all the care we sought, we were very diligent about asking care providers what things would cost. Nobody knew. Ever. Not one doctor could tell us what their services cost. The hospital could not tell us. None of the bills we received were remotely close to what we had ever been told. It's crazy. I figure any business where the service providers have no idea how much their services cost is BROKEN. Glad to know the Govt. is on top of all that.

All the tests came back negative. She does not have MS (thank God!). She does not have anything that the tests can specifically identify. This means...... Fibro hell. Fibromyalgia, interstitial cystitis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome..... some others too I am pretty sure. The Cure? That's up to us to figure out.

When we first returned to the boat, I had begun a big project - Refinishing all the interior cabin sole, repainting in both the heads and doing tons of varnishing work. While Michele was staying with her parents and recuperating/seeing doctors, I came back to the boat several time to focus on getting all this work done. I am on the boat now doing the same. One thing for sure... this is going to be an amazingly good boat for someone. The interior is really looking fantastic.

When I returned home after the last trip to the boat, Michele was feeling somewhat better (meaning she was not totally bedridden) and I learned that she had decided that we were definitely done with cruising. We had not really discussed plans or options too much. I had started efforts to sell the boat, but I also had figured we would stay aboard and cruise slowly while we were trying to sell, planning to come ashore when the sale was complete. Yes... I hoped that selling the boat might just take a LOOOOONG time. That's off the table.

As I was digesting this, we got all our stuff out of storage and moved into Michele's parents rental townhouse which happened to become available.... Just in the nick of time, or as a horrible coincidence depending on your point of view. J

So before I knew what was happening, we were suddenly full tilt back into life in Suburbia America. Walmart... Publix...Massive Traffic...Cable TV...Money flowing like beer at a fraternity party... and a nagging question in my head about how on earth I was going to earn a living.

I was in the Mortgage Industry for over 17 years. But as I have learned over the past month, the industry I left is gone. It has been replaced with an absurd Govt. micro-managed joke that is doing more to destroy the US housing market than its easy to believe through enforcing credit guidelines that are so tight even the best borrowers get dizzy with the hoops. We have not gone back to sane lending as done before the latest housing bubble stupidity.... We have knee jerked FAR to the opposite side of the spectrum. Still, I am somewhat desperate to get an income stream coming in and mortgages are what I know. Hate yes.... But at least know.

I spent 20 hours in special licensing classes, had to spend tens of hours navigating the online hell that is the new National Mortgage Licensing System, had to take a National and State Licensing tests that made the SAT's look like cake (yet does absolutely nothing meaningful relative to all the problems that caused the housing debacle). The Feds are down right serious about making sure all loan professionals know exactly what all the cute acronyms for all the massive new Federal bureaucracies mean and how many new agencies said loan professional must now pay new and large annual fees too. I also had to get fingerprinted, retinal scan, anal probe.... Well, that first one at least for real. Also passport photo sent in and criminal background checks that I bet go beyond CIA screening for double-nought secret agents.

So now I have all my licensing stuff submitted, but I cannot actually take any actions to participate in the mortgage business until the license is approved. That means until the State of GA says I am approved to work and earn a living. Gee I sure hope they grant me the privilege!

I understand it may take awhile. There are apparently only a couple of guys at the Dept. of Banking and Finance who are working through a massive stack of licensing paperwork. The State takes in over $16 million a year in fees and fines from mortgage licensee's but all that money just goes into the States general fund so the Dept. has no funds to hire enough people to deal with all the paperwork all the new bureaucracies have mandated. So it could be after the first of the year before I am actually licensed. When I am.... What then? I have no idea if it is even possible to earn a living in the business now with all the issues with negative equity, declining property values and crazy tight credit standards.

Back in America.... Or Generica as Michele and I like to call it. Generic. Everything in the US sure seems the same. Walmart, Applebys, McDonalds....traffic jams...bad news on TV constantly and a simmering economic depression sitting like whipped cream on top.

I have tasted of the forbidden fruit, and it was SWEET. A shame really as it makes the fare that is my fate all the more bitter.