Pacific Vortex: Mount Tantalus Drive and more

pg 52

Pitt snaked the AC through traffic for two miles and then swung onto Mount Tantalus Drive.

The winding, hillside road from Tantalus to Round Top in Honolulu, Hawaii, dates back to 1892. Tantalus Drive and Round Top Drive were gravel roads when they were completed in 1917, but were paved in 1937. In March 2007, a seven-mile stretch of the road was added to the State Register of Historic Places, and in August 2009 to the National Register of Historic Places, the first such designation for a roadway on Oahu. The more populated lower portions of Tantalus Drive and Round Top Drive were not so designated. This road joins the Hana Highway on Maui on the National Register, and 97 such Historic Roads nationally. Not all of the latter are on the National Register, but some are listed among the Federal Highway Administration's National Scenic Byways or All-American Roads

Pitt drove down Mount Tantalus past the Manoa Valley lookout

Mānoa is a valley and a residential neighborhood of Honolulu CDP of the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, United States; the community is approximately three miles east and inland from downtown Honolulu and less than a mile from Ala Moana and Waikīkī.

Like many of Hawaiʻi's neighborhoods, Mānoa consists of an entire valley, running from Mānoa Falls at the mauka (inland-most) end to King Street. The valley receives almost daily rain, even during the dry season, and is thus richly vegetated – though the valley walls are often dry. Seeing rainbows in the valley is a common occurrence, and is the source of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa sports team names, the Rainbow Warriors (for most men's teams) and Rainbow Wahine (for the women).

The neighborhood is composed of private houses built before the 1960s and low-rise condominiums. Mānoa is home to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, the flagship campus of the University of Hawaiʻi System. The University has several faculty and student residence areas in Mānoa.

Other educational institutions located in Mānoa include Mānoa Elementary School, Noelani Elementary School, Punahou School, Mid-Pacific Institute, Saint Francis School, and a handful of small, private pre-schools.

The central shopping area of Mānoa is the Mānoa Marketplace which features a farmer's market several days of the week. More recent development has seen housing on steeper parts of the Diamond Head side valley wall.

Mānoa stream begins at the base of Mānoa Falls and runs through the valley before joining Palolo stream to form the Manoa-Palolo drainage canal, which flows into the Ala Wai Canal. Floods caused by high rainfall have plagued the residents living along Mānoa stream. Most recent was on October 30, 2004 when Mānoa stream overflowed causing millions of dollars in damages to residential homes and University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa buildings.

Mānoa is the site of the first sugarcane and coffee plantations in the Hawaiian Islands. John Wilkinson tended the first crops in 1825, brought on the ship HMS Blonde.(Hawaiʻi is the only state that produces coffee commercially in the United States).

Mānoa is a term that means thick, solid, vast, depth or thickness in the Hawaiian language.

Quonset hut being lowered into place on a base in Japan, post WWII.

A Quonset hut - it looked more like a dilapidated office of a salvage yard

.
A Quonset hut is a lightweight prefabricated structure of corrugated galvanized steel having a semicircular cross section. The design was based on the Nissen hut developed by the British during World War I. The name comes from their site of first manufacture, Quonset Point, at the Davisville Naval Construction Battalion Center in Davisville (a village located within the town of North Kingstown, Rhode Island, USA)

Design and history
In 1941 the United States Navy needed an all-purpose, lightweight building that could be shipped anywhere and assembled without skilled labor. The George A. Fuller construction company was selected to manufacture them. The first was produced within 60 days of contract award.

The original design was a 16 ft × 36 ft (5 × 11 m) structure framed with steel members with an 8 ft (2.4 m) radius. The sides were corrugated steel sheets. The two ends were covered with plywood, which had doors and windows. The interior was insulated and had pressed wood lining and a wood floor. The building could be placed on concrete, on pilings, or directly on the ground with a wood floor.

As the original design used low grade (non-strategic) steel, a more rust-resistant version was called for. The all-spruce 'Pacific Hut' was created for use in the PTO (Pacific Theater of Operation).

The most common design created a standard size of 20 ft × 48 ft (6 m × 15 m) with 10 ft (3 m) radius, allowing 720 square feet (67 m²) of usable floor space, with optional four-foot (1.2 m) overhangs at each end for protection of entrances from the weather. Other sizes were developed, including 20 ft × 40 ft (6 m × 12 m) and 40 ft × 100 ft (12 m × 30 m) warehouse models.

The flexible interior space was open, allowing for use as barracks, latrines, offices, medical and dental offices, isolation wards, housing, and bakeries.
Extant Quonset hut adapted for commercial use, Westland, Michigan

Between 150,000 and 170,000 Quonset huts were manufactured during World War II. After the war, the U.S. military sold the surplus Quonset huts to the public. Many are still standing throughout the United States. Besides those that remain in use as outbuildings, they are often seen at military museums and other places featuring World War II memorabilia. Many were also used for temporary postwar housing, such as Rodger Young Village in Los Angeles, California. Columbia Records' Studio B in Nashville was also called "The Quonset Hut", and Michigan State University's Quonset Village in East Lansing, Michigan, USA.

A number of variations on the Quonset hut design use materials other than corrugated galvanized steel.

Pacific Vortex: Kanoli and more

pg 49

"When the south wind blows
The mountain of Kanoli is seen
And the summit seems peopled"

There are a few Kanolis as for example in India, but none of them match the legend of which Cussler tells. It's an invention for the book.

"According to legend, many centuries ago a family tribe left the islands far to the southwest, probably Tahiti..."

Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous with surrounding coral reefs. The population is 178,133 (2007 census), making it the most populous island of French Polynesia and accounting for 68.6% of the group's total population. Tahiti was formerly known as Otaheite.

The capital, Papeete, is located on the northwest coast with the only international airport in the region, Faa'a International Airport, situated 5 km (3.1 mi) from the town centre. Tahiti was originally settled by Polynesians between CE 300 and 800. They comprise about 70% of the island's population with the rest made up of Europeans, Chinese and those of mixed heritage. The island was proclaimed a colony of France in 1880 although it was not until 1946 that the indigenous Tahitians were legally authorised to be French citizens. French is the only official language although the Tahitian language (Reo Tahiti) is widely spoken. It was part of the Kingdom of Tahiti until its annexation by France in 1880.

"Plato describes it (Atlantis) quite romantically in his Timaeus and Critias."

Atlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC.

According to Plato, Atlantis was a naval power lying "in front of the Pillars of Hercules" that conquered many parts of Western Europe and Africa 9,000 years before the time of Solon, or approximately 9600 BC. After a failed attempt to invade Athens, Atlantis sank into the ocean "in a single day and night of misfortune".

Scholars dispute whether and how much Plato's story or account was inspired by older traditions. In Critias, Plato claims that his accounts of ancient Athens and Atlantis stem from a visit to Egypt by the legendary Athenian lawgiver Solon in the 6th century BC. In Egypt, Solon met a priest of Sais, who translated the history of ancient Athens and Atlantis, recorded on papyri in Egyptian hieroglyphs, into Greek. Some scholars argue Plato drew upon memories of past events such as the Thera eruption or the Trojan War, while others insist that he took inspiration from contemporary events like the destruction of Helike in 373 BC or the failed Athenian invasion of Sicily in 415–413 BC.

The possible existence of a genuine Atlantis was discussed throughout classical antiquity, but it was usually rejected and occasionally parodied by later authors. Alan Cameron states: "It is only in modern times that people have taken the Atlantis story seriously; no one did so in antiquity". The Timaeus remained known in a Latin rendition by Calcidius through the Middle Ages, and the allegorical aspect of Atlantis was taken up by Humanists in utopian works of several Renaissance writers, like Francis Bacon's "New Atlantis". Atlantis inspires today's literature, from science fiction to comic books to films. Its name has become a byword for any and all supposed advanced prehistoric lost civilizations.

Spartan Gold: "In for a penny..." and more

pg 43

"In for a penny-" Remi started
"In for trouble," Sam finished.

Originally with reference to the fact that if one owed a penny, one might as well owe a pound, as the penalties for non-payment were virtually identical in severity. [UP until the early 1900s, a crime in England as innocuous as stealling a loaf of bread could lead to transport to a penal colony in Australia!

Headlights still off, Sam slowly steered the BMW up the road, trying to avoid potholes

A pothole (sometimes called a kettle and known in parts of the Western United States as a chuckhole) is a type of disruption in the surface of a roadway where a portion of the road material has broken away, leaving a hole.

Most potholes are formed due to fatigue of the road surface. As fatigue fractures develop they typically interlock in a pattern known as crocodile cracking. The chunks of pavement between fatigue cracks are worked loose and may eventually be picked out of the surface by continued wheel loads, thus forming a pothole.

The formation of potholes is exacerbated by low temperatures, as water expands when it freezes to form ice, and puts greater stress on an already cracked pavement or road. Once a pothole forms, it grows through continued removal of broken chunks of pavement. If a pothole fills with water the growth may be accelerated, as the water "washes away" loose particles of road surface as vehicles pass. In temperate climates, potholes tend to form most often during spring months when the subgrade is weak due to high moisture content. However, potholes are a frequent occurrence anywhere in the world, including in the tropics.

Pothole patching is the process of repairing an asphalt based road imperfection. Pothole patching is a year round activity performed by City and County Street Department crews to maintain the area's roads and bridges.

Pothole patching methods are divided into two distinct categories, hot mix and cold mix. Just as the nomenclature suggest, cold mix is a suitable material for the winter months and hot mix is used during the warm spring and summer seasons.

Both hot and cold mix are applied with similar methods. The most widely used method is known simply as throw-and-go. The patching mix is thrown into the pothole along with any debris or water present and compacted with the shovel by manual labor. This method is widely utilized due to the easy application and high rate of production, but the failure rate is extremely high.

The next step in a higher quality application is the throw and roll. In the throw-and-roll method, the patching mix is once again thrown into the pothole manually regardless of any water or debris. Next, a truck slowly drives over the repaired pothole and the mix is compacted. The goal is for the compacted patch to have a crown in the range of 0.125-0.25”. This process will take approximately two more minutes per pothole compared to the throw-and-go method. Although more time consuming, it makes for a more durable patch due to the compaction of the patching mix with the truck tire.

The best-known pothole patching method is the semi-permanent repair. In this method, the pothole is completely removed of any water or debris. Next, the pothole needs to be squared. All uneven edges will be cut with a pavement saw making the hole into a square or rectangular shape. The pothole is cleaned once again before the patching mix is applied. Finally, the area is compacted with a single drum roller or a vibratory plate compacter. The semi-permanent method provides the tightest and longest lasting patch. However, it is more time consuming and requires more workers and equipment in the field.

During the "semi-permanent" repair, a material known as a tack may also be used. Tack is a liquid form material used to promote adhesion of the pothole patch mix, and the pothole surface. If tack is utilized during the repair, it is either sprayed or brushed on the clean and squared pothole. Next, the pothole patching mix is applied and compacted in the desired method, and a final coat of the tack is sprayed on top of the patch overlapping the edges a few inches.

According to the Federal Highway Administration, whichever method is used, patches applied in the winter months typically will not hold up as well as patches applied during the warmer months. The goal for winter patching should be to repair the road as quickly as possible to increase the safety and comfort of the roads. With that stated, the throw-and-go method is favorable as long as a high quality material is utilized. The goal in the warmer months is typically to use the semi-permanent. Utilizing this method while the conditions are ideal will create patches that will last to the extent of the roads life.

He began looking around the car's interior and found what he was looking for almost immediately. Set into a panel on the dashboard was a button labeled OnStar

OnStar Corporation is a subsidiary of General Motors that provides subscription-based communications, in-vehicle security, hands free calling, turn-by-turn navigation, and remote diagnostics systems throughout the United States, Canada and China. A similar service is known as ChevyStar in Latin American markets. The service currently has more than six million customers.
Onstar unit in a 2008 Saturn Astra

A new aftermarket interior rear-view mirror with a built-in OnStar module, branded as OnStar FMV, became available to the public on July 24, 2011. It provides some of the features an OEM system has, such as Automatic Crash Response, Stolen Vehicle Tracking, Turn-by-Turn Navigation, and Roadside Assistance.

Overview
The OnStar service relies on CDMA mobile phone voice and data communication, primarily via Verizon Wireless in the United States and Bell Mobility in Canada, as well as location information using GPS technology. Drivers and passengers can use its audio interface to contact OnStar representatives for emergency services, vehicle diagnostics and directions. OnStar equipped vehicles with an active subscription will also contact representatives based in Warren, Michigan; Charlotte, North Carolina; Makati, Philippines; and Oshawa, Ontario[citation needed] in the event of a collision in which the airbags are deployed. Newer models (on vehicles from approximately 2006 and later) will contact OnStar in any type of collision regardless of airbag deployment. This new service is called Advanced Automatic Crash Response (AACR) and is designed to assist emergency response efforts.

When a driver presses the Red OnStar Emergency button or Blue OnStar button, current vehicle data and the user's GPS location are immediately gathered. This information is then sent to OnStar. OnStar Emergency calls are routed to the OnStar Center with highest priority. Three centers exist to receive emergency calls: Warren, Michigan; Charlotte, North Carolina and Ontario, Canada, and all centers are open 24 hours a day.

All OnStar equipped vehicles have Stolen Vehicle Tracking, which can provide the police with the vehicle's exact location, speed and direction of movement.

Starting 2009, General Motors began equipping some new vehicles with Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. This feature allows OnStar to remotely slow down the stolen vehicle. The service is also expected to help reduce the risk of property damage, serious injuries or fatalities resulting from high-speed pursuits of stolen vehicles. Customers may opt out of that function. The first successful use of this service occurred in October 2009 when a stolen Chevrolet Tahoe was recovered and its suspected thief was apprehended.

Also in 2009, General Motors began equipping some new vehicles with Remote Ignition Block, allowing OnStar to remotely deactivate the ignition so when the stolen vehicle is shut off, it cannot be restarted.

All Stolen Vehicle Assistance services (Stolen Vehicle Tracking, Stolen Vehicle Slowdown and Remote Ignition Block) can be requested by the OnStar subscriber, but OnStar will not activate them until confirming with the police that the vehicle has been reported as stolen.

OnStar subscribers may be eligible for anti-theft and low mileage insurance discounts. Since OnStar can help with the recovery of a stolen vehicle, some insurance companies recognize this and offer a discount. Also, with certain insurance companies (for example, GMAC Insurance) and with subscriber permission, OnStar will send the insurance company the vehicle's odometer reading every month. If the subscriber qualifies as a low-mileage driver, they may be eligible for an insurance discount.

Even if the vehicle is OnStar equipped, no OnStar services are available until the system is activated. Vehicle owners can choose between two plans:
- Safe & Sound: $18.95/mth ($24.95 in Canada), which includes Automatic Crash Response, Stolen Vehicle Assistance, Roadside Assistance, Remote Door Unlock, Remote Horn and Light Flashing, Red Button Emergency Services and OnStar Remote Vehicle Diagnostics
- Directions & Connections: $28.90/mth ($39.90 in Canada), includes all services in the Safe & Sound plan, plus turn-by-turn navigation

History
OnStar was formed in 1995 as a collaboration between GM, Electronic Data Systems and Hughes Electronics Corporation. Each of the founding companies brought a specific area of expertise to the enterprise: GM brought vehicle design and integration and a distribution system of millions of vehicles, EDS brought much of the systems development and information management and customer service technologies, while Hughes contributed communications and satellite technology and automotive electronics.

In 1996, GM North America Operations President Rick Wagoner officially launched OnStar at the Chicago Auto Show. OnStar delivered its first product and service to the market in 11 months, in the fall of 1996 for model year 1997 Cadillac DeVille, Cadillac Seville and Cadillac Eldorado models. From 2002 to 2005, OnStar service was available on vehicles produced by Acura, Audi, Isuzu, Subaru and Volkswagen through a licensing agreement.

In April 2006, GM notified approximately 500,000 of their OnStar customers who had analog service that their service would be terminated effective December 31, 2007, because starting February 18, 2008 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) would no longer require US cell phone systems to operate in analog mode. Customers who purchased a prepaid, non-refundable, non-transferable 1-year OnStar Safe & Sound subscription were scheduled to receive an equipment upgrade. If the vehicle is from the 2003, 2004, or 2005 model year, an adapter costing approximately US$200 (includes a one year subscription) can be installed at the customer's expense. If it is older, it will simply no longer be usable.

A law firm in Pennsylvania representing some of the affected customers sought to have a class certified for a class action lawsuit for damages claimed in the cancellation of OnStar service.

On December 19, 2011, GM said OnStar would join with Verizon Wireless to offer video chat and streaming content to automobile passengers.

China
In December 2009, Shanghai OnStar Telematics Co. Ltd., a joint venture between General Motors, SAIC Group and SGM (Shanghai GM), began offering its services in China. It is available on select Cadillac, Buick and Chevrolet vehicles and China Telecom is the wireless network provider throughout China. The service will be available throughout mainland China and will be first launched in Mandarin Chinese.

Advocacy
OnStar advocates tout it as an essential safety tool. GM commercials have compared it to seatbelts and airbags, as the next major technology for safe driving. The benefits, they say, include its ability to aid police in tracking down stolen vehicles; contacting emergency medical services in case of an accident (should the driver request this or be non-responsive); notifying drivers of potentially dangerous mechanical problems; emails are sent to owners that give a diagnostics of their vehicle every month if subscribed to; and unlocking doors for drivers (after verifying authorization over the phone) should their keys be misplaced or locked inside their car.

OnStar's basic subscription also includes Roadside assistance, as well HFC (Hands Free Calling) which is integrated into the OnStar system and operates in the same way as a regular cell phone does except that it is operated through voice recognition.

Automatic Crash Response allows emergency advisors to provide emergency medical services (EMS) with additional crash information such as rollover status, direction of impact, which airbags have deployed (front, side etc.,) and the Delta-V (change in velocity) Force which is a medical measure of the intensity of an impact. All this information allows EMS to respond to the crash with appropriate equipment.

Recently, OnStar has changed its terms and conditions to allow sale of vehicle location and speeds to interested third parties such as law enforcement agencies, which has been criticized in the comp.risks forum.

Use as surveillance device
It is theoretically possible for OnStar to be remotely activated by malicious third parties or under government order. This would enable third parties to track the location of the car, along with the ability to listen to the contents of any conversations carried on by the occupants within the car without their consent. However the FBI has been denied the ability to use this as it disables OnStar's safety features as determined by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In its document of privacy practices, OnStar states that it is not possible for them to listen to or monitor conversations in your car without you knowing it. The hardware is designed so that when an advisor calls into your car, a light flashes, a ring tone is heard, and the radio will mute.

In 2011 OnStar did announce that it would start retaining all the information collected by the GPS and internal system, so that it could be sold to third parties. Although this data is supposed to be “anonymized”, it remains unclear exactly what they mean by this as it is extremely difficult to anonymize GPS data

Pacific Vortex: haoles and more

pg 48

"I think he could tolerate we mainland haoles if he knew that 80 percent of his kingdom was now populated by Orientals."

Haole in the Hawaiian language, is generally used to refer to an individual that fits one (or more) of the following: "White person, American, Englishman, Caucasian; American, English; formerly, any foreigner; foreign, introduced, of foreign origin, as plants, pigs, chickens". The origins of the word predate the 1778 arrival of Captain James Cook (which is the generally accepted date of first contact with westerners), as recorded in several chants stemming from antiquity. Its use historically has ranged from descriptive to racist invective.

"Someday it wouldn't surprise me to get up and see the rising sun waving in the trade winds over the Iolani Palace."

There are many names of Japan in the English, Japanese, and other languages. The word "Japan" (or "Japon") is an exonym, and is used (in one form or another) by a large number of languages. The Japanese names for Japan are Nippon and Nihon . They are both written in Japanese using the kanji 日本. The Japanese name Nippon is used for most official purposes, including on Japanese money, postage stamps, and for many international sporting events. Nihon is a more casual term and the most frequently used in contemporary speech.

Both Nippon and Nihon literally mean "the sun's origin", that is, where the sun originates, and are often translated as the Land of the Rising Sun. This nomenclature comes from Imperial correspondence with Chinese Sui Dynasty and refers to Japan's eastward position relative to China.

Iolani Palace
ʻIolani Palace, in the capitol district of downtown Honolulu in the U.S. state of Hawaiʻi, is the only royal palace in the United States used as an official residence by a reigning monarch and is a National Historic Landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Two monarchs governed from ʻIolani Palace: King Kalākaua and Queen Liliʻuokalani. After the monarchy was overthrown in 1893, the building was used as the capitol building for the Provisional Government, Republic, Territory, and State of Hawaiʻi until 1969. The palace was restored and opened to the public as a museum in 1978.

Papaaloa stopped, gazing off vacantly out a small window at the Koolau Mountains.

Koʻolau Range is a name given to the fragmented remnant of the eastern or windward shield volcano of the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu. It is not a mountain range in the normal sense, because it was formed as a single mountain called Koʻolau Volcano (koʻolau means "windward" in Hawaiian, cognate of the toponym Tokelau). What remains of Koʻolau is the western half of the original volcano that was destroyed in prehistoric times when the entire eastern half—including much of the summit caldera—slid cataclysmically into the Pacific Ocean. Remains of this ancient volcano lie as massive fragments strewn nearly 100 miles (160 km) over the ocean floor to the northeast of Oʻahu. The modern Koʻolau mountain forms Oʻahu's windward coast and rises behind the leeward coast city of Honolulu — on its leeward slopes and valleys are located most of Honolulu's residential neighborhoods.

The volcano is thought to have first erupted on the ocean floor more than 2.5 million years ago. It eventually reached sea level and continued to grow in elevation until about 1.7 million years ago, when the volcano became dormant. The volcano remained dormant for hundreds of thousands of years, during which time erosion ate away at the initially smooth slopes of the shield-shaped mountain; and the entire mass subsided considerably. The highest elevation perhaps exceeded 3,000 metres (9,800 ft); today, the summit of the tallest peak, Puʻu Konahuanui is only 3,100 feet.

After hundreds of thousands of years of dormancy, Koʻolau volcano began to erupt again. Some thirty eruptions over the past 500,000 years or so have created many of the landmarks around eastern Oʻahu, such as Diamond Head, Hanauma Bay, Koko Head, Punchbowl Crater, Tantalus, and Āliapaʻakai. Geologists do not always agree on the dates of these more recent eruptions, some dating them to around 32,000 years ago, others to as recently as 10,000 years ago. Geologists believe that there is at least a remote possibility that Koʻolau volcano will erupt again.

There are three roads that tunnel through the southern part of the Koʻolau Range, connecting Honolulu to the Windward Coast. From south to north:

* Hawaii Route 61 (Pali Highway)
* Hawaii Route 63 (Likelike Highway)
* Interstate H-3

The Chase: Mesozoic sea and more

The Chase introduced a new character and series for Clive Cussler, "tall, lean, no-nonsense detective" Isaac Bell. His stories take place in the early 1900s. This first book in the series was published in 2007.

It rose from the depths like an evil monster in a Mesozoic sea.

The Mesozoic era is an interval of geological time from about 250 million years ago to about 65 million years ago. It is often referred to as the age of reptiles because reptiles, namely dinosaurs, were the dominant terrestrial and marine vertebrates of the time. The era began in the wake of the Permian-Triassic event, the largest mass extinction in Earth's history, and ended with the Cretaceous-Paleogene event, another mass extinction which is known for having killed off non-avian dinosaurs, as well as other plant and animal species.

It is one of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon. The division of time into eras dates back to Giovanni Arduino, in the 18th century, although his original name for the era now called the "Mesozoic" was "Secondary" (making everything after, including the modern era, the "Tertiary"; the current term Quaternary was later proposed for the modern era, following the same numbering principle). Lying between the Paleozoic and the Cenozoic, "Mesozoic" means "middle life", deriving from the Greek prefix meso-/μεσο- for "between" and zōon/ζωον meaning "animal" or "living being".

The Mesozoic was a time of tectonic, climatic and evolutionary activity. The era witnessed the gradual rifting of the supercontinent Pangaea into separate landmasses which would eventually become the seven continents we are familiar with today. The climate of the Mesozoic was varied, alternating between warming and cooling periods. Overall, however, the Earth was much hotter than it is today. Dinosaurs would become the dominant terrestrial vertebrate group late in the Triassic period, and would occupy this position for over 150 million years until their demise at the end of the Cretaceous. Mammals also evolved during this era, but would remain small and modest until their ultimate rivals, the dinosaurs, disappeared.

A steam locomotive is raised from a lake.

Clive Cussler is making use of a real life plot device - that also inspired the Dirk Pitt novel Night Probe, published in 1981. Cussler wrote about the "Lost Locomotive of Kiowa Creek" in his book The Sea Hunters (1996), about a locomotive that had disappeared into a lake and been buried in quicksand. Cussler and his NUMA crew discovered that the locomotive must have been raised - so the owners got the insurance money for the lost locomotive, and also got to keep using the actual locomotive.

Built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad (railway) locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of diesels was far less so. Later, when the early demand for diesel locomotives to replace steam tapered off, Baldwin could not compete in the marketplace. It stopped producing locomotives in 1956 and went out of business in 1972.

His face was as weathered as buckskin.

Buckskin is the soft, pliable, porous preserved hide of an animal, usually deer, moose or elk or even cowhide tanned to order, but potentially any animal's hide,. Modern leather labeled "buckskin" may be made of sheepskin tanned with modern chromate tanning chemicals and dyed to resemble real buckskin. Leather is another product made from animal hide, but with a different chemical process to preserve the hide. Buckskin is preserved with a dressing of some kind of lubricant, physically manipulated to make it soft and pliable, and usually smoked with woodsmoke. Smoking gives buckskin its typical dark honey color, and is highly recommended. Smoking prevents the tanned hide from becoming stiff if it gets wet, and deters insects from eating it as well. Unsmoked buckskin is lighter, even white, in color. Coincidentally, the alkali soaking process is called bucking (from a Latin verb of the type *bucāre "to steep in lye, wash clothes"); buckskin itself is simply "the skin of a buck (deer)." Clothing made of buckskin is referred to as buckskins.

There are many ways to make buckskin, but most can probably be lumped into two categories: "dry-scraping" and "wet-scraping". Before a hide can be tanned, any flesh remaining on the hide from the skinning process must be removed, usually with a scraper. Care must be taken when skinning, fleshing, and scraping a hide to prevent leaving any cuts or nicks in it which will be visible in the finished buckskin.

Pacific Vortex: Victorian settee

pg 47

He motioned Pitt toward a Victorian settee.

The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence for Britain. Some scholars date the beginning of the period in terms of sensibilities and political concerns to the passage of the Reform Act 1832.

The era was preceded by the Georgian period and succeeded by the Edwardian period. The latter half of the Victorian age roughly coincided with the first portion of the Belle Époque era of continental Europe and the Gilded Age of the United States.

Culturally there was a transition away from the rationalism of the Georgian period and toward romanticism and mysticism with regard to religion, social values, and the arts. The era is popularly associated with the values of social and sexual restraint.

The Victorian era is known for its eclectic revival and interpretation of historic styles and the introduction of cross-cultural influences from the middle east and Asia in furniture, fittings, and Interior decoration. Victorian design is widely viewed as having indulged in a regrettable excess of ornament. The Arts and Crafts movement, the aesthetic movement, Anglo-Japanese style, and Art Nouveau style have their beginnings in the late Victorian era.

The most common types of couches are the "loveseat", or British two-seater, and the settee or sofa, with two or more seats.

"Tell me, my friend, have you discovered King Kamehameha's final resting place?"

Kamehameha I (ca. 1758 – May 8, 1819), also known as Kamehameha the Great, conquered the Hawaiian Islands and formally established the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi in 1810. By developing alliances with the major Pacific colonial powers, Kamehameha preserved Hawaiʻi's independence under his rule. Kamehameha is remembered for the Kanawai Mamalahoe, the "Law of the Splintered Paddle", which protects human rights of non-combatants in times of battle. Kamehameha's full Hawaiian name is Kalani Paiʻea Wohi o Kaleikini Kealiʻikui Kamehameha o ʻIolani i Kaiwikapu kaui Ka Liholiho Kūnuiākea.

When Kamehameha died May 8, 1819, his body was hidden by his trusted friends, Hoapili and Hoʻolulu. The mana, or power of a person, was considered to be sacred. As per the ancient custom, his body was buried hidden because of his mana. His final resting place remains unknown.

"Our legends say he was placed in a cavern beneath the water."

From: http://www.to-hawaii.com/hawaiian-secrets-and-mysteries.php

Although the ancient Hawaiians had ceremonial burial rituals for all, the funeral rites given to ruling chiefs were especially complex and sacred. A ceremony that prepared the body for afterlife, including removal of the flesh from the bones, was followed by a secret burial of the chiefly bones.

The location of the bones was kept secret by whomever the duty was entrusted to, usually the decedent’s closest advisor. In the case of Kamehameha’s death, Chief Ulumaheihei (called Hoapili by the King) was given this honor. The bones of Kamehameha were extremely sacrosanct and must be kept hidden to ensure his spirit’s transition into the world of the aumakua, or gods.

Both for physical safekeeping of the sacred bones and to prevent any unwarranted spying, the bones were hidden at night for ultimate secrecy. It was believed that if the burial site location was disclosed, an enemy who came in contact with the bones could absorb the chiefly mana, or power.

Although it is yet to be proven, many believe that Kamehameha’s remains rest in a burial cave at Kaloko, a pond in Kehaha on the island of Hawaii. Other famous rulers, including Kahekili, a famous Maui ruler, are also at peace here. Some say that King Kalakaua ordered Kamehameha’s bones to be relocated to the Royal Mausoleum in Nuuanu Valley, although this is strictly hearsay as well.

If King Kamehameha’s bones were ever exhumed, either on accident or intentionally, there is no telling what chain of events this disrespect might set off. The conflicting accounts surrounding the final resting place of Kamehameha the Great’s bones are perhaps intentional stories conjured up to ensure that this particular mystery stays just that.

Spartan Gold: in a precise Y-turn and more

pg 41

"Yeah, maybe," Sam muttered, swinging the BMW into a precise Y-turn.

A U-turn is the simplest turn maneuver (as it involves no reversal of the drive train), and the fastest that does not depend on tires skidding sidewise as in a bootlegger turn. However, it is often infeasible, by requiring a roadway width equal to or greater than the width of the vehicle plus the diameter of its turning circle; that requirement tends to amount to around a handful of traffic lanes.

For most consumer-style passenger vehicles, a 3-point turn (or K-turn or Y-turn) is feasible on most roads.

An officially endorsed three-point-turn procedure consists of

--pulling to one side of the road,
--turning the front wheels toward the far side as fully as feasible, and
proceeding to within a few feet from the opposite curb;
--turning the front wheels in the opposite direction as fully as feasible,
reversing the drive train to its backward-travel mode, and
--backing toward the curb on the original side of the road until the rear wheels are close to that curb;
--turning the front wheels back toward their center (straight-travel) adjustment,
reversing the drive train back to its forward-travel mode, and
--proceeding forward on the appropriate side of the road.

"But if the pull into an IHOP, promise me you'll turn around and leave the poor man alone."

The International House of Pancakes, is a United States-based restaurant chain that specializes in breakfast foods. It is owned by DineEquity, with 99% of the restaurants run by independent franchisees.

While IHOP's focus is on breakfast foods such as pancakes, French toast and omelettes, it also offers a menu of lunch and dinner items.

The chain has more than 1,500 restaurants in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

"Curiouser and curiouser."

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (commonly shortened to Alice in Wonderland) is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world (Wonderland) populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures. The tale plays with logic, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as children. It is considered to be one of the best examples of the literary nonsense genre, and its narrative course and structure have been enormously influential, especially in the fantasy genre.

Here's the quote from Alic in context:
"“Curiouser and curiouser!” Cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English). “Now I’m opening out like the largest telescope that ever was! Good-bye, feet!” (for when she looked down at her feet they seemed to be almost out of sight, they were getting so far off). “Oh, my poor little feet, I wonder who will put on your shoes and stockings for you now, dears? I’m sure I shan’t be able! I shall be a great deal too far off to trouble myself about you: you must manage the best way you can—but I must be kind to them,” thought Alice, “or perhaps they won’t walk the way I want to go! Let me see. I’ll give them a new pair of boots every Christmas.”

And she went on planning to herself how she would manage it. “They must go by the carrier,” she thought; and how funny it’ll seem, sending presents to one’s own feet! And how odd the directions will look!"