Describing the Setting of the Novel

I started reading Operation Mincemeat instead of The Secret Rescue because I could not find the book at the Mason Public Library. So I found this book in the same section as The Secret Rescue (940.547) which is the World War II area.

The book starts off describing a Spanish man, José, looking for sardines off the coast of Huelva, Spain.  This is taking place in 1943 during World War II.  José is a regular spotter who tells other fisherman where the fish are.  José is a non-educated 23 year old who was born on the beach.  Today was a bad day to spot for sardines.  José had found a body with a yellow life jacket while he was searching for sardines.  José dragged the body to Playa de la Bota where everybody gathered around the stench of the rotting corpse.  The body was examined closer by the children.  The bystanders found him in a khaki tunic and a trench coat along with large army boots.  There was a silver chain with a cross around his neck.  This was a huge mystery to the villagers since Spain was not in World War II by 1943.  "On the part of the beach called La Bota-the boot- José and Pepe dragged the body up to the dunes."

Operation Mincemeat information

What I Plan to Read Next

As I finish up Yellowstone Treasures, I must find another book to read.  I plan on going back to what I love to read.  I will read an aviation related book.  I went to Mason Public Library's site and found this book under 'airplane crash'.  The Secret Rescue is a book about how the passengers and crew of an American medical evacuation plane, including thirteen nurses and thirteen medics, survived after it crashed in Nazi-controlled Albania in November, 1943, until they could be rescued. This sounds like a good book for me to read because it is related to aviation and in history class, we are getting close to learning about World War II.  Also, this is a non-fiction book which I like also.  I really want to get back into reading these types of books because they interest me the most.

MH370 Update

1.  The co-pilot's cell phone
A cell tower in Penang, Malaysia detected Fariq Abdul Hamid's cell phone searching and made contact with the cell tower.  The phone was detected about 250 miles from the last known location.  The phone will keep searching for a connection unless it is on airplane-mode.  Experts say that the phone may get connection if the plane is under 10,000 feet, the plane is flying less than 160 miles per hour, the radio communications do not interfere with the cell tower communication, and the fuselage does not interfere with the communication as well. Of course, just because Fariq Abdul Hamid's cell phone was detected, that does not mean that Fariq Abdul Hamid caused the incident.  Many people 'forget' to turn off their phones or turn on airplane mode.  I am guilty of that but I do it on purpose.  Fariq Abdul Hamid may have been  a phone that was forgotten.  Most airline's procedure include turning off all electronic devices.

2.  Bluefin-21 Day One
Unfortunately, the underwater search ended early due to the depth of the water

3.  Bluefin-21 Day Two
The second search has started and the AUV should map the ocean floor for any possible wreckage until 10AM est Wednesday

“Krista Ramsey Introduction Activity.”

Krista Ramsey's column
This column is about 2 things.  One, the children need to learn for themselves by experimenting and learning to follow directions.  Second, the parents also need some personal space.

The most important quote is "If you want to play with the toy, you have to make it first." This impacts the reader because they can put themselves in these shoes.  If you want something, you have to work for it.  The diction used in this column is very low and informal.  Anyone who reads this will understand this.  The overall sentence length of this is long.  I did not find any short sentences.  In columns written by Ramsey, most of her sentences have been long.

Krista Ramsey's writing style has been consistent in the three articles I have read. "The Pied Piper that has drawn them is the Monthly Mini Build at the high-traffic Lego Store. "  She uses lots of real word companies and puts them into good examples.  The lego one, the Thanksgiving one, and the vision one all include her own voice.  I do not like this type of writing but her voice is very obvious to me.  She sounds like she is having a conversation.

Questions:
Why do you write the way you write?
Where do you get your ideas?
What got you into writing columns?

What have I learned from reading my book?

I have learned lots from Yellowstone Treasures ranging from the history of the park to how these geysers and color pools work to the trails/ roads within Yellowstone National Park.  I will share a couple of  things I have learned.

1. On page 88-90 of the book, Chapple explains how geysers work.  "The basic requirements are a water source, a heat source, and some rather complicated plumbing" (Chapple, 88).  I already knew that before she said so and most of you do too.  The cycle of a geyser is very easy to understand.  Right after a geyser erupts, there is very little water in the crack, or the constricted part of the geyser. Then, hot water seeps into the crack.  The hot water will fill up all the way to the vent and sometimes spill over.  The pressure of the hot water in the crack is very high at this point.  The hot rocks continue to heat the water until it boils.  The steam will exit out the vent first then the water will follow.  Remember, the crack is not that wide so the water and steam will come out like thrust from a jet engine.  



Very good comparison to geysers.  If you look at engine #2(left side here) you see jet wash.
Water and steam come out just like this.

2. If you see pictures  of colorful pools or go to Yellowstone and see colorful canyons, you may wonder why they are colorful.  The simple answer is the combination of minerals and living organisms.  "Rainwater and the oxygen in the air break down the rhyolite that is the predominant rock of the canyon" (Chapple, 181).  The chemical reaction change the color of the rock/ water in that area.  In moist places, the water will seep up from the ground and cause the ground/water to change color also.  If you see a really green area, it may be algae or moss growing.

What is the Context of Yellowstone Treasures?

I have not been reading much over break so I am not far into the book, Yellowstone Treasures.  The guide book I am reading takes me (the reader) through the trails and roads of Yellowstone National Park.  "The mustard yellow, orange, and brown runoff over the side of  Excelsior's crater into the Firehole is a perennial favorite of photographers" (Chappple, 64).  This is an example of the vivid imagery the author provides.  Janet Chapple goes through the whole park with pictures and words to describe what you may see.  There is also history throughout this park to help you understand the guide better.  For example, "Old Faithful has never recorded time erupted 'every hour on the hour' as you may have heard.  Here are some figures given for average expected intervals between eruptions: 60-65 minutes in 1870, 65.5 minutes in 1964, 78 minutes in 1990, and 92 minutes, 2008."  Unless you kept track of the wait time, I am sure you would have not known that the overall wait time has gradually gone up over the decades.  The author gives helpful tips that would help you enjoy the trip more.  In my guide, I will read the Upper Geyser Basin to come to my blog next week for more.

Atlas Air, GTI600 at FL340

"The search is the most difficult in human history"-Australia's Tony Abbott

Where is the airplane? How did it disappear?

Questions everybody is dying to know.  I am also stumped by this mystery.  Back in July 6, 2013, when an Asiana Airlines flight 214, also a Boeing 777-200ER, crash landed at San Francisco, I had an idea of what happened.  I was coming home that day from Japanese school and I got a call from my dad sometime around 3:30 pm and told me there was an airplane crash at San Francisco.  As a frequent traveler, especially to San Francisco (my dad's side of the family), I knew almost every little thing about the airport and the land around it.  I know the approach by heart and seen multiple views of 28R/L and 19R/L approach.  As soon as I got home, I turned on CNN and saw a horrific live streaming of a burning Boeing 772 beside runway 28L.  The weather was fine and saw the damages to the aircraft.  Seeing most of the fuselage intact, it seemed like a crash that wasn't bad in terms of other airplane crashes of similar size airplanes.  The tail was missing and the Rolls-Royce engines were missing.  Later that day, there were speculations and I thought the airplane did not come in at a normal speed.  I learned this from early experiences on my flight simulator (I did make terrible mistakes).  Many "aviation experts" came on the national news and gave their two cents.   Everybody speculates.  Even the investigators speculate even though they are told not to.

Just over eight months after OS214, MH370 occurs.  Yet again, I heard the news on a Saturday(March 8,2014).  The first news I saw was that a Malaysia Airlines plane had 'lost contact' with controllers.  My first thought: Northwest Airlines flight 188.  That airplane also lost contact but had reestablished it over an hour after it lost contact.  I kept refreshing multiple pages to see it there were any new information.  Next: Malaysia Airlines says it was a Boeing 777-200.  I thought, "Could it be like AF447?What in the world is happening and how do you lose such a massive, technologically advanced airplane?!" I could not think of what happened other than mechanical failure and some type of terrorism.  Very little information was given to the public.

Fast forward to April 3, 2014.  There 14 aircrafts dedicated to finding MH370 reg[9M-MRO].   They will be searching roughly 83,800 square miles.  Look at the size of the Indian Ocean.  Also, the investigators aren't even sure if the plane disappeared in the spot they are searching!  Finding the airplane in next to impossible.  With the assist of two dozen ships and autonomous underwater vehicles, remotely operating vehicle, and a towed pinger locator, there is a sliver of hope.

CNN Article MH370

Farewell ANA Boeing 747-400D

The Boeing 747-400D was retired today after the short flight from Okinawa to Tokyo Haneda.  The Boeing 747 was first introduced to ANA (All Nippon Airways) in 1978.  The Boeing 747SR (short range) was used for the high density routes in Japan.  As ANA was successful with the 747SR, they ordered the 747-200, a more modern version of the 747.  The -200 opened up more destinations for ANA in Europe and North America.  In 1990, ANA received the popular 747-400 (international and domestic).  For a while, most airlines with a 747 were successful as fuel prices and the maintenance cost was not comparable as today.  In 2000, the fuel prices began rising and the inefficient quad-jet was burning fuel a lot more than the airplanes introduced to the world during that time period such as the new twin engine Boeing 777.  Airlines started to retire the 747 from their fleet and so did ANA.  First, ANA closed the international routes then the domestic version of the 747.  Down to their last two 747, they flew for the last time with ANA March 31, 2014.

Airchive's reliable article on the ANA 747 retirement
New York Times article on ANA 747