C James

Thank you very much for this! As long as it's possible, I'm happy. I've always found alarms interesting. I much prefer hardwired systems (I hate anything with batteries) but I can see how a retrofit installation could be a real pain. I wonder how many people realize that their alarm system records every set and entry, along with the date and time, and often makes that info available to others? Probably not too many, which makes this very much akin to the "black box" issue with some cars; their computers record a great deal about your driving. Or, a GPS car navigation system, which automatically logs your ground track, making a nice map of everywhere you've been, and you can't disable it. You can delete the log, but you can't stop it from logging. (this is true for Garmin units, I don't know for sure on others). Thanks again!! That doesn't always work. I remember over ten years ago one computer manufacturer whose office security system used a touch pad where the numbers were displayed when it was activated. That is, it didn't have a permanent set of 0-9 digits, but had blank buttons that would only show the digits when the keypad was activated... and the digits would appear in random locations. That way, the actual keys used would vary each time the keypad was used. I believe the idea was to stop someone from observing the buttons pushed, and the coming along later and trying those same buttons. Of course, that's getting exotic and over-the-top for most applications, but it shows how there is a lot of variations possible. Security companies are always on the look out for how people can bypass/fool/break their systems, and then come up with ways to plug those holes. That's a great idea! My own variation was definitely low-tech... I dirtied up a button that wasn't in my code. That wouldn't have prevented someone from seeing which keys I pressed, though.

I've put the alarm comments and my replies in a separate thread "Alarms"{because I'm out of my depth on this one and I really need any help or comments anyone can make. Thanks!! That poor trimaran has seen better days.

The issue of alarms came up in chapter 33 of Circumnavigation (the quoted text is from that thread), and I may have it depicted wrongly in the story. Any advice or input would be very welcome! Thank you for raising this issue. I'll be honest, I was operating on assumptions, which is never a good idea. This story is part mystery, and as such things HAVE to work in the story as they would in the real world, otherwise it is very unfair to the readers who are trying to figure out what is going on. My only experience with alarms is very limited, and as a user, not a pro. Therefor, I may be wrong, and please let me know if I am. All I can say for sure is that some alarms don't work that way. This may, however, be rare, and thus inappropriate to use in the story. There are different types of alarms, such as monitored (when an alarm is transmitted to a monitoring company) or a system that just sets of the audio alarms. It doesn't say that Dirk's store is on a monitored system, though it could be, and IMHO would likely be. Also, not all monitored systems do time windowing. My home one (At a home I had at the time) didn't, nor did the the one at a business (a small storefront) that I used to have. I dimly recall there was a way to set the one at my business to do that, though. I assumed that Dirk, as the owner, would often go there outside of business hours (I did for mine) so wouldn't bother with a time-limited setting. I went in many times at weird hours, and that never triggered a call. What did trigger a call was power failures (this was true for my home system as well) even though it has battery backup. My current system is unmonitored, and just triggers internal and external flashing lights and alarms. The disarm codes are a bit more complex than I portrayed, and I might have bungled it. There is not just one code that works for ever model of a specific alarm. I think you'd need to know the serial number, or at least a date of manufacture, and the master code would differ, probably by production batches. The way the police do it, or so I've been told, is they check with the installation company to get the specs and serial number. What you mention, a "precinct code", makes far more sense than what I was assuming. I honestly don't know if the use of a master code (Or a precinct code) would trigger a call if it was on a monitored system. I've only had very limited experience with that; seeing an alarm installer disarm my system that way, without knowing my security code. In other words, he had a code other than mine that disarmed my system. I was standing behind him when he did it, and offered my code, be he said he'd just use his. Was this a master code from the manufacturer? Or one programed in by the original installer that this guy had access to? I don't know. This would have been in 2005 0r 2006, so it fits in with the story (currently August, 2006) but I have no clue if this is a normal occurrence or not. (and that's something that I need to know). Are code entry times and the code recorded somewhere? I'm sure it varies from system to system, but I think (as you mention) in most cases they would be recorded. They were in both of mine, sort of. The alarm system would log them, and then, once a week, it did a systems check call to the alarm company, and transmitted status data and also a log. I do know that the alarm monitoring company knew when, and which codes, were used, at least on a few occasions. (In both cases, I could set up multiple codes so I can assign them to different people, such as employees, plus Duress Codes, which would turn off the alarm but notify the monitoring company) Would it trigger a call to the monitoring company if the master bypass code was used? I wish I knew definitively, but I don't (other than that it didn't when the installer used one, though I'm not sure if his company was the original installer or not). My best guess is that it might for some systems, but not for others. (when the installer used such a code on mine, it didn't call anyone, because he was on my line at the time, and had the system wanted to report it would have grabbed the line and cut him off. As an aside, I don't know if his company was the original installer or not, but I am certain that his company set me up with that monitoring service). One thing I have been told by an alarm installer (a different one, quite a few years ago), though, is that the most common use police have for master bypass codes is to turn off a ringing alarm (the overwhelming majority of alarms calls are false alarms). If it's a monitored system, the monitoring station can do it for them, but on a non monitored system, they have to do it themselves. I did see them do this once (around the year 2000) in person, while visiting a friend whose neighbor's alarm went off. The neighbor was away on vacation, according to my friend. The police asked around for someone with access, and upon finding no one entered and shut off the alarm (which was apparently not monitored). I assume they picked the door lock, but couldn't see from where I was. This was in a small city (population around 10k) in a rural area, so maybe in an urban area they operate differently. I don't know. I also don't know if the police would normally have access to ways to disarm alarms. I assumed they must do, for legal searches, shutting off false alarms, etc, but I'm not sure. Here's the scene from 33 that mentions the alarm;

Good point; there is most often little to no info sharing between the locals and the feds. There can be, but it takes a lot to make it happen. It almost never does in a preliminary investigation. BTW, did you notice that Bridget showed remorse and regret regarding Trevor's little going away present? See, she's got a good heart. The debris from Ares that Bridget found are interesting, eh? She was telling the truth (the narration said so) so that was all true. Yep, a great many things point at Australia... And what is in Australia? Graeme is in Australia! Is he the antagonist in the story? Yep, a long engagement. He kind of has to; Lisa's father would object otherwise. Speaking of typos... The words "dock" and "docking" appear a lot in this story. Now, combine that with my unrivaled penchant for typos, and you'll understand why I scan the chapters for a specific typo before sending them into beta. The specific typo? typing an i instead of an o. Yep, on more than one occasion, Atlantis has been tied up at the dick. :wacko: :wacko: Another type of goof I'm noted for is anatomical. For example, in the pre beta version of the charter in Florida (early in the story) the three sisters had four suitcases in total, and Trevor carried then aboard Atlantis, one in each hand. Too much information, eh? (and yes, you're contagious: I'm using "eh" now!) Fear not; now that we know Bridget's backstory, plus a few little additional facts like the debris from Ares, things calm down a bit. I don't have an adoptive brother, but as an only child, I was often jealous of close sets of siblings, so I knew how attractive that kind of closeness would be to Trevor. Sanchez... He's a riddle, isn't he? He kind of gave the game away regarding his actual position; he said his superiors had concerns that needed addressing before they could decide, and then he went and approved it all himself. So, we can safely surmise that he's one of the top people. He just prefers (for obvious reasons) not to be too open about that fact. He's not a hitman, though. CJ

Wildone is teasing me over a typo! It's gone now (thanks to Wildone alerting me to it) but originally, one particular island was referred to as the Geek island of Samos. :wacko: And typos are anything but rare for me. My team finds several in every chapter. That is why I call myself the King of Typos. :king: Typos are kind of like cliffhangers... I don';t like either one, and do my level best to avoid them, but typos, unlike cliffhangers, slip through on occasion. Speaking of cliffhangerlessness... Paging MikeL: Would you please amphibiously certify this chapter as cliffhanger-free? We know what Joel wants in Turkey now, so there are no questions left hanging.

Sorry for the short chapter (that is the last short chapter in the story) but I felt it had to stand alone as a chapter. Yep, Jake loves the "competition", he's very aggressive sexually. Jake also likes risk. Brett is indeed a surfer. He's also very competitive by nature. Thanks on the sex scene... I rarely write those and usually find ways to avoid them, but this story demanded them. Could be... but if so, does Corey know? BTW, the title of the next chapter is "Party Time". It's one of my favorites.

Well, okay, I don't think the iPod is even mentioned between chapter 10 and chapter 39, and it's not plot critical, but it is one of those technical goofs that I try to avoid making. But it could have had an impact... what if Trevor had settled into his beanbag to listen to some tumes, and suddenly his waterproof iPod had vanished, due to there being no such thing. Then, in the confusion caused by the impossible vanishing of his impossible iPod, he didn't notice the tanker bearing down on him.... ROFL!!! Good point; it was in the dialog, so it probably could have stood as is... The waterproof cases, BTW, are plastic enclosures for the iPod. I just assumed that they made a model of iPods waterproof, because I know swimmers use them while swimming laps sometimes, but as it turns out, they are just snap-on cases. I found this goof myself... I was reading an account of a solo circumnavigation, and one of the things on the gear list was waterproof cases for iPods. I though hat was weird: why not just use a waterproof iPod? So I googled, and learned that there is no such thing.

I've had to make a change to chapter 10, "Launch", and I feel that it's only fair that I report changes to posted chapters (other than typo and spelling fixes). When posted, one of the paragraphs in chapter 10 read;

Chapter 33 has even more information than this one, plus the answer to the "Turkey question". No one is going to bite at my idea: that Joel is just really, really hungry for gyros? 0:) Goat, I'm shocked! How could there be a kaboom in one of my stories? Isn't everything all sweetness and light? And yep, in just about any business dealing with the public, you have to put up with a lot of BS, and moreso in the tourist biz. Trevor would be far, far better off with a rifle. Rifle rounds have a lot more accuracy and stopping power. If it was me, I'd go with a scoped 30-06 with AP ammo; those will do an engine block even at long range. A .45 handgun is good, but range and accuracy are issues. It would take out an outboard, but hitting a moving target at range would be difficult. Trevor was very, very lucky in his shooting match with Joel; with a handgun, I miss on most shots at a bottle at that range on land. I've never shot anything other than shotguns off a moving deck and the motion does make it harder for that, and I'm assuming the same holds true for handguns. Of course, one strategy, if all you have is a handgun and you've got people trying to board you, is wait for them to get close before opening fire; take them by surprise as they pull alongside. As for a bomb, why worry about it? Trevor isn't. We should all take a cue from my all-time favorite movie, Dr. Strangelove: Learn to stop worrying and love the bomb :nuke:

But but but... I didn't do that, the scar did! And the grenades in glass jars was the general... And how could poor, innocent me be dangerous? Turkey is indeed a great place to buy jewelry. I can't comment on whether you're right or wrong, but I can mention that the title of the next chapter is "From Turkey, with Love." Is no one going to bite at my suggestion that he wants to spend a day eating a thousand euros worth of gyros? Joel does love to eat. Ah, but we don't know that yet. They aren't mutually exclusive propositions. But Mike... that is clearly you! Look at the last chapter, where you're described as looking green... And the name; Mike Grenoulle, which clearly means Mike the Frog. And just how many frogs from Tennessee do you suppose have experience in artillery? Yep, that's you, the hero of the chapter. (and, of course, the source of any perceived cliffhangers). And BTW, could we get a cliffhanger-free certification for this chapter? Joel wanting to go to Turkey surely does not qualify!

WARNING: Graphic, disgusting image below. If you have a weak stomach, STOP READING NOW!!!! :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: Mark, if you think Vegemite is bad, have a look at pie floaters... Pie Floaters are known throughout Australia, though they are most common in Adelaide. <Shudder> Actually, I've had one, and it wasn't bad. But then again, I love Vegemite, too. (and yes, I'm crazy, but you knew that already. )

The answer will actually be in chapter 33, along with all the backstory on Bridget, including her reasons for fearing that Trevor will find Ares. Blake was a difficult one, wasn't he? And poor Mike, looking a bit green... Welcome, Flyboy! Thanks for joining. Good call on Trevor... he's very resourceful, and he's an excelent seaman who knows his boat very well. Why Turkey? What is one thing Joel loves to do... eat! And in Turkey, they have great gyros! So, maybe Joel is really really hungry and wants to go spend a lot of money on gyros? Okay, a serious answer to part of it; Joel wants to go to Turkey before leaving from Cyprus. The flights out of Paphos airport in Cyprus, where they are heading, don't go to Turkey due to the Cyprus conflict; Paphos is on the Cypriot side of the dividing line (UN buffer zone, called the "Green line"), not the Turkish occupied zone, so there are no flights to Turkey from there. And yes, Mike did lead them to safety, which makes me wonder if he's still denying being there??? I'll second the motion to declare MikeL our hero of the chapter, for keeping calm and knowing what to do regarding those unexploded arty rounds. HOWEVER, please, let's not blame the goat in the chapter for this! Actually, there was no goat, just goat trail (though, one can thus surmise a goat) but the goat was innocent in all this; he wouldn't know about the explosives. CJ

Ahh, Australia. Truly a magnificent land, though it's wildlife can be a bit on the deadly side... Box Jellyfish, Blue Ring Octopus, Deadly snakes, giant Saltwater Crocodiles, Echidnas, just to name a few that will kill you in particularly horrific ways... Australia; a land where the primary spoken language is screaming... Here's a good primer on some of Australia's wildlife. Oh, and let's not forget the Cassowary! There are estimates that between 120% and 135% of Australia is completely uninhabitable. Now you know why Australians have a reputation for being tough; they have to be to live there! However, Australians do manage to cope. One way is tourism; Australians learned long ago that they don't need to outrun the wildlife that's trying to eat them, they just need to outrun the tourists. And now you know why Australia does so well in sports that require speed (running, swimming, etc); slow Australians tend to be eaten. :ph34r:

Ahh, but here's the definition of antagonize: So, what has Bridget done to antagonize Trevor? Trevor doesn't know what she's up to, so therefor she hasn't incurred his dislike, nor provoked hostility or enmity. She also has no So, I stand by my claim: Bridget has done nothing to antagonize Trevor. As for Bridget being the antagonist (which has a different definition) how can she be an antagonist without actually antagonizing anyone? BTW, yep, the Atlantis resort... That's ironic indeed! One of the lovable characters in LTMP and Changing Lanes had a grand love of irony. He would have been overjoyed at this development. I can say that there is more than one antagonist (in the literary sense) in the story, but I cannot confirm that Bridget is one, for that would be a spoiler and the Echidna would get me! Yep! Good find! That's what a Meltemi is.

Remember, we don't actually know yet whether she's actually an antagonist in the story; we've seen nothing to indicate that she plans to antagonize Trevor or Joel. . BTW, the next chapter is entitled "Meltemi". That's not a place name, it's a term for... something.

Yep, Mike Grenoulle is our very own MikeL! It was quite a surprise to me when I found out that he'd paid a visit to Trev and Joel, and gone on one of their charters. I was jealous! Well, except for the unexploded munitions part... :nuke: I really don't see how you can deny it... And I'm jealous! You were the first member of the team to set foot on Atlantis... Bondwriter was nearby, but he didn't get on Atlantis... You'd better pull him (and Trev and Joel) out of that artillery range... Mike seems to have a natural affinity for high explosives. :nuke: Hey now! I'm afraid of heights!

It is? That's news to me... And I'm sure it will be news to Trevor and Joel as well. Besides, how could you have paid a visit to fictional characters? Hrmmm, sorry, but that's an obviously flawed argument... It's far more believable that a frog would have an amphibious specialty. And, um, your user title? "Grenouille Gendarme ®"??? See, Grenouille... as in Mike Grenouille! And from Tennessee! Yep, it's you... and you led Trevor and Joel into the most dangerous of the unexploded ammo... And you DO have experience with artillery. Why won't you just admit it? That's you! This does not qualify me, because it was Mike, not me, who led the guys into the ammo.. That does, however, qaulify MikeL for the 2010 King of Cliffhangers award, if this is a cliffhanger. Don't give him any ideas! Oh, and I just noticed something... Wildone called this my FIRST cliffhanger... therefor, he's clearly saying that I've never used one before. (and this one, if it exists, isn't me doing, it was Mike's.).

As many of you have noticed, the character Mike, in chapter 31, is very familiar. His name is Mike Grenouille, and Grenouille is French for frog! Mike Grenouille (or, translated, Mike the Frog) is from Tennessee, and is a specialist in herpetology, focusing mainly on.. frogs! And he is trained in Amphibious Assault! Now, who does that remind you of? He's our very own resident amphibian, MikeL! So, unbeknownst to me, MikeL decided to drop in and see Trev and Joel. And what does he do? Why, he leads them towards the most dangerous area of unexploded munitions! This is why MikeL will not claim that this is a cliffhanger; it's because he can't! He caused any cliffhanger, so he'd only be blaming himself. So, I think the only reasonable thing he can do is to certify this chapter as cliffhanger-free. Shall we all call on him to do so? Ir should he, instead, admit that, if there is a cliffhanger, he's the cause? Hrmm, this question needs a poll. Added. CJ

Benji, thank you for seeing the obvious: that this cannot be seen as a cliffhanger! Bridget does indeed believe that Dirk killed Rachel (that's stated in both dialog and narration, and the narrator cannot lie). Bridget also said she believes that Jim and Dirk are lovers. And good catch; Detective Alfred has been spending a lot of time on the island runs... But, fear not; as a senior detective, he's not clocked in and out, so he's not likely to get into trouble with the department. Trevor isn't worried; he can't be, he doesn't know what's going on. Welcome to the forum and GA, watcher! BTW, don't let the others here corrupt you and mislead you into thinking that this was a cliffhanger. As I often say, I never use cliffhangers. 0:) Cliffhanger?!?! Cliffhanger!?!? ACK! But but but... you know I never use cliffhangers! However, though I am not responsible in any way for it, I will opine that there might possibly be one in this chapter. I'll explain in a thread I'm about to make, about MikeL. Please don't read what I'm about to say as pertaining to the plot, but just as some background: yachters tend to be a very friendly and welcoming community, so Bridget is most likely right about Trevor meeting more. Of course, Bridget is a yachter too, so might know a lot of people. We'll find out the answers to your questions in chapter 32:) As for not trusting Bridget... We still don't know, really, whether or not she's a bad person... She could simply be... misunderstood.

Ah, but we know that there can be no cliffs on these islands! Why? Because it's mentioned that there are goats on the islands. And, as we all know, a goat would never go anywhere near a cliff, so therefor, there cannot be cliffs on the islands. So, the chapter ends with... ...and you want me to do what? And yes, I noticed someone very familiar. Not funny, goat. I'm only asking for the well-deserved amphibious declaration of cliffhanger-free. :snork: After all, unless you consider it a cliffhanger, you should declare if cliffhanger-free, right?

Great comments, HH5!!! Trevor has, in essence, stumbled into something big, that he knows nothing about. Now we know why Bridget told Trevor that the Bahamas were unsafe; she doesn't want him finding Ares. We find out the backstory there in the next two chapters. This is the major revelation I've been rambling on about. However... Don't assume that it's the whole story. Bridget and her friends are part of it, but there's more, that even she is unaware of. No one in the story knows all of it, yet. I can't comment on whether Bridget is an antagonist (Graeme would get me for giving spoilers) but I can say this; if she is, she's not the only one, and she does not know of the others. And now, a request for our resident Amphibian, MikeL: Could you please amphibiously certify this chapter as cliffhanger-free? Oh, and did anyone notice anyone... familiar in the chapter?

One other thing that struck me is the way you can see, if you look back, a lot of Adam in the very alien Iswirl. It is stated that it an online game, so Herk and Bret are most likely other players. Do they know each other offline? Do they know Adam? There were certainly many doors left wide open to continue this.

My favorite part was where the Demon Queen found out that things had not gone as she'd planned. Thanks Nephy!!

What a unique first name: Cyan, short for cyanide. Cyan was lucky indeed, on many levels. Thanks!!

Thanks! Space hotels are probably closer than we think. My guess is that a space hotel will be the next manned space station after ISS. It's the best way to make a space station pay. It sounds nuts in some ways, but there are plenty of historical precedents; the massive hotels built by the railroads in the American and Canadian west, in what became national parks. Those were incredibly remote, and so expensive that only the very rich could afford them. They played a vital role in opening up the West, and something similar may be the route to space. Here's one company that's already building the modules for a space hotel. The only thing they are waiting for, really, is a lowering of the price per pound to low earth orbit. SpaceX's Falcon 9 might be enough to make this viable, in which case we'll see a small (one or two module) space hotel within about eight years. Something like Club Leo would be second generation, and require an even lower price per pound to LEO. Yep, cells drain quick, even in standby mode, when you're in marginal or no-signal areas. That's one reason why many people in my area carry then shut off, and only activate them for outbound calls. They're out of reception areas most of the time anyway. Cliffhangers!?!?! But, but, but.. I'd never use those! And tension? in one of my stories? never! Okay, a question for everyone; Did having the graphic of Club Leo in the text help visualize what it looked like? I tried hard to describe it, but it's complicated, and sometimes a picture makes things easier. That's what I was thinking, anyway. Any opinions? Thanks!!