Chapter 1: Section 6: Page 55: Line 185 (978)

 Not the ballooning profession as the boys had learned it.

* * * * * * * * * *

The Chums of Chance owe their ballooning legacy to the 1870-1871 Siege of Paris, as they described at some earlier point in the story. But with science changing so quickly in this liminal place and time which Pynchon chose for a reason (that reason probably being the Michelson-Morley experiment of 1887, according to my speculation and nonsense), the boys now have a lot more to contend with than filling a balloon with hot air and gauging which way the winds are blowing. They're not even flying through Æther anymore. I think?

Anyway, how long ago could the boys have learned ballooning anyway?! They're just lads! Unless they're ghost lads!

Chapter 1: Section 6: Page 55: Line 184 (977)

 Presently, as the Inconvenience began to acquire its own sources of internal power, there would be other global streamings to be taken into account—electromagnetic lines of force, Æther-storm warnings, movements of population and capital.

* * * * * * * * * *

That's what I speculated and see? I didn't turn mption into an ass at all! Although Pynchon fills out the variables a little more thoroughly because he's Pynchon and he loves to be thorough unless he's currently being vague or abstruse? I guess he could be both thorough and abstruse as well! What do I mean "guess"?! I know he can be!

"electromagnetic lines of force, Æther-storm warnings, movements of population and capital"
Remember, the Frontier is dead, America has just finished its first period of history, technology is changing beliefs, and the population of the world is in constant flux. That last bit, "movements of population and capital," is probably meant to suggest the current "Scramble for Africa" going on by white Europeans, possibly also Americans obsession with mining precious metals and evicting Native Americans from their homes whenever any hint of those metals turned up in their current homes.

Chapter 1: Section 6: Page 54: Line 171 (964)

 Cheerfulness, once taken as a condition of life on the Inconvenience, was in fact being progressively revealed to the boys as a precarious commodity, these days.

* * * * * * * * * *

"a precarious commodity, these days"
Because times are changing or because they're growing older?

Are they growing older though? I still have some serious issues with the Chums of Chance timeline! Perhaps some of them are growing older, the ones who aren't horny angels.

Chapter 1: Section 6: Page 54: Line 166 (959)

 But the broader issue remained.

* * * * * * * * * *

"the broader issue"
Gun control onboard the Inconvenience. Or, perhaps taking "broader issue" a littler more broadly, gun control in America. Would a gun offer the Chums more security or would they create one more risk to considered aboard an already risky affair of living in a hydrogen balloon floating across various nations of the world? The argument against gun control is a paradox because it relies on the foundational argument that guns are deadly weapons and therefore guns are needed to protect people from guns. But in America, the argument for guns, and why America has so many, has always come down to racism. White Americans treated Black Americans like shit (I know, a totally reductive statement) for, well, ever. So when Black Americans were freed from slavery, white Americans were afraid of what they would do to them. So obviously they needed as many firearms as possible. And that same feeling continues on through every aspect of Black Americans trying to gain equality in this country. It's not just, "I need my guns to protect myself." It's almost always, "I need my guns to protect my property from those impoverished by the systemic racism of a white supremacist country." It's a projection of who are criminals and shouldn't be allowed to have guns and who are proper citizens and should be allowed to shoot whomever they want whenever they want.

Americans exist who don't believe they're accommodating white supremacy or that systemic racism isn't a real thing. But anybody who looks into the history of what white Americans chose to do to public pools once pools were integrated will see reflected in it the way the accommodation of white supremacy informs how the American government's decisions are often made. If a public good or service exists and Black Americans benefit from it, the government (the GOP, mainly, but Democrats are too often willing to compromise with racism, or accommodate white supremacy) will generally do away with that public good or service and allow private enterprise to take over, meaning those whom systemic racism keeps impoverished will lose out on that good or service. Just look to the pools.

Chapter 1: Section 6: Page 54: Line 164 (957)

 The boys thanked him sincerely enough, but that night after Evening Quarters argued late over the recurring question of introducing firearms aboard the Inconvenience.

* * * * * * * * * *

"recurring question of introducing firearms aboard the Inconvenience"
This isn't the first time the Chums considered arming themselves. What led to the other moments deemed dangerous enough to even broach the subject? Possibly the encounter with the KKK when they recruited Chick to the team. That one mission in South America with the gambling ring probably saw them in some precarious situations which a gun may have helped extricate them (or, perhaps, simply escalated the situation. That's probably why the arguments over the recurring question). But this time, the firearm came their way innocently enough, as a gift and an oddity. But still quite dangerous, not simply because of the possibility of an accidental wounding but the possibility of blowing the entire balloon to bits.

Obviously the solution is to remove the single bullet and putting it in Randolph St. Cosmo's sock. No wait. Lindsay would demand custody of the bullet, being chief hallway monitor and a huge narc. Probably better to just toss the bullet over the side. It probably won't kill anybody.

Chapter 1: Section 6: Page 52: Line 132 (925)

 The visibility today was unlimited, the Lake sparkling with a million highlights, the little electric launches and gondolas, the crowds in the plazas adjoining the mammoth exhibition buildings, the whiteness of the place nearly unbearable. . . .

* * * * * * * * * *

"The visibility today was unlimited"
Lew Basnight has a nearly paranormal ability to perceive his surroundings, as noted by Nate Privett when he first encountered Lew. Today he is up in the Inconvenience and nothing in the Fair can escape his vision, even, possibly, past the limits of the real. "Unlimited" seems pretty specific here. Just try to keep in mind Basnight's extra-sensory perceptive abilities and Pynchon's historical use of the term "inconvenience." By perceiving the world as it truly is, and not limiting what we see to what we desire, the inconvenient truth of it all will be exposed.

"the Lake sparkling with a million highlights"
The Lake being Lake Michigan (that's for my fellow West Coasters whose knowledge of U.S. geography really shits the bed east of the Rockies). This is the first mention of light and electricity in this opening line. The lake shines with reflected light. But the light only reveals the surface of the lake. Bodies of water beneath the surface are generally metaphors for the subconscious, or that which remains hidden from view. Perhaps a knowing, winking paradox at the unlimited visibility, or just a reminder that we are often blinded by that which we see, believing what is visible is the extent of what is actually there.

"the little electric launches and gondolas"
Next Pynchon mentions the "electric launches," reminding us of the electricity illuminating much of the fair at night. During the day, the sun makes everything sparkle, allows us to visualize our surroundings. But now, with electricity, the night has also been harnessed in much the same way. Better, stronger, more clear than lanterns and torches. It is a vehicle, as a launch or a gondola, to move us more easily through our surroundings. Perhaps much like a balloon through the air moving us across vast distances, through time and space. Technology as a means of propelling evolution forward faster and faster.

"the crowds in the plazas adjoining the mammoth exhibition buildings"
After that, crowds in the areas between the buildings, flowing to and fro, as a current might. The plazas being mere conduits for people to pass from experience to experience, and the experiences within the pavilions meaning nothing without the people passing through to light them up, to acknowledge them, to marvel at them, to illuminate them.

"the whiteness of the place nearly unbearable"
And finally, the unbearable whiteness which can be read as the new and flashy brightness of the electric light's ability to expose what was previously hidden, or to, you know, make visibility unlimited. Of course there is the other way to read the unbearable whiteness which I've covered earlier in the sections with Miles and Lindsay's foray into the fringes of the Fair.

". . . ."
Always an odd bit of punctuation for me but here it seems to say, "And so many other things I could mention, going on and on, being that visibility was unlimited, but I shall choose to stop here by adding this fourth period. Done!

Chapter 1: Section 6: Page 52: Line 131 (924)

 In the short time he'd been riding with them, he'd almost come to feel more at home up in the Inconvenience than he did at the Agency.

* * * * * * * * * *

Well of course Lew did! The Chums are right good fellows who must be a lot of fun to pal around with (excepting Lindsay, of course). And who is there to joke around with back at the Agency?! Nate? Rewind? The dozens of nameless coworkers Lew named who would have been better suited for the Denver transfer? The ones who, daily, tried to convince Lew that Anarchists were around every corner blowing things up and destroying America? Why would Lew ever feel at home at the Agency? Why would Lew ever feel at home anywhere since he obviously isn't even in his proper timeline! I say "obviously" because it seems obvious to me but I guess it's just theory and speculation. But what do you expect from somebody whose formative years were spent watching In Search Of which begins with "This series presents information based in part in theory and conjecture." I was five years old when I began watching that show! My whole world became based in theory and conjecture!

"come to feel more at home up in the Inconvenience"
Lew has begun the transformation into a ballooner, more comfortable in the heavens than on the Earth. Already on the Earth, he had begun to see things in ways he couldn't unsee: weird hidden districts, labyrinthine hotels, union workers as human beings, chaotic and violent rulers. He was learning inconvenient truths which were edging him out of the comfort of the status quo. The Agency was where one believes what those in power want you to believe, grounded and sure; the Inconvenience is where one can see the true scope of things, throwing a wrench in the comfort of life trying not to care too much about anything but themselves. As Pynchon so starkly stated in Gravity's Rainbow, the "inconvenience of caring" was a thing so abhorred by so many that they would contort their world view and beliefs into pretzels of logic to continue to ignore it.

Chapter 1: Section 5: Page 36: Line 5 (587)

 Inconvenience would fit right in, as one more effect whose only purpose was to entertain.

* * * * * * * * * *

This fits with how this book has started, as an easily accessible boy's adventure novel. "Don't worry, readers! This big airship is just a standard entertainment! Just a bit of adventuring fluff! It doesn't represent anything else at all!" Even though it probably does represent something else. Early on, I speculated that the Inconvenience represents the book Against the Day itself. This sentence is pretty good evidence toward that supposition. Here we have a book, Against the Day, whose only purpose is to entertain. But that's the illusion of it. It's actually there to observe the people. And what else does good literature purport to do other than reflect a mirror back on the reader, as if it had been spying on us all along.

Chapter 1: Section 3: Page 25: Line 85 (370)

 "We have carried up to a dozen well-fed adults with no discernible loss of lift," replied Randolph, his glance not quite able to avoid lingering upon Mr. Privett's embonpoint.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Mr. Privett's embonpoint"
Privett has a few extra pounds is what Pynchon is saying. Probably from all the drinking.

"a dozen well-fed adults"
Hmm. Like the Last Supper, right?! This could suggest more supranatural evidence that the Chums of Chance and their balloon aren't quite what they seem. Maybe not the Second Coming, which a new Last Supper aboard the Inconvenience might suggest (and what would be more inconvenient than the Second Coming?!), but certainly a suggestion of a Godly or religious hand in what the lads are doing.
    Or maybe Randolph just looked at Nate's gut and thought, "Eleven, maybe twelve, adults worth of pudge there?"

Chapter 1: Section 2: Page 19: Line 165-166 (270-271)

 "News to me. Inconvenience, we're only the runts of the Organization, last at the trough, nobody ever tells us anything—they keep cutting our orders, we follow 'em, is all."

* * * * * * * * * *

Now Darby's shrugging really comes into focus. How does he care so little about these strange sightings and strange lights in the sky?! When I was Darby's age, I read every book I could find about the Bermuda Triangle or the Loch Ness Monster or the Money Pit or the Abominable Snowman or UFOs! I even read The Amityville Horror in 5th grade because it was about paranormal shenanigans! Is Darby just acting all pouty because of the Organization's leash about his neck keeping him from exploring files from the X folder? Is this a kid's way of pretending not to give a dang darn because he has no control over his own life and his excitement for something which he can't explore on his own terms just causes emotional pain and turmoil?!

"the runts of the Organization"
Who is this mysterious organization?! And why are the Chums of Chance the runts of it? Being that they're running into another crew of child aeronauts, I suspect they aren't the runts because the other members of the Organization aren't children. Or maybe that's a poor suspicion. The Organization is probably run by a secret cabal of adults doing who knows what. But they need eyes and ears all over the globe and the balloons are only capable of holding a crew of children. The number of adults needed to man a balloon would probably weigh it down too much. So the Chums of Chance have no real leadershp role in the organization; they are just the eyes and ears to report back, and the hands to accomplish far off errands.

"nobody ever tells us anything"
I suppose nobody ever tells Darby and Chick anything. And possibly Miles. But I bet Randolph and Lindsay know far more than they're willing to tell the rest of the crew. Like how Randolph earlier wandered off on his own in formal attire for some secret rendezvous.

Chapter 1: Section 2: Page 14: Line 62 (167)

 In short order, the boys had set up their mess-tent, gathered wood, and ignited a small fire in the galley stove, well downwind of Inconvenience and its hydrogen-generating apparatus.

* * * * * * * * * *

The phrase "hydrogen-generating" has the syllable "gen" repeated twice in a row. This isn't a secret code or anything but it reminds of the time I came up with a phrase to repeat the same syllable the most times in a row while still making sense. Recently in one of his songs (I forget which one! Sue me!), Tim Minchin has the phrase "ala La La Land" and that's pretty good! Four "la's" in a row! Mine sort of involves ships like the Inconvenience and the Enterprise. Sort of, I said! Anyway, it's this:

Class 'A' SS Ass Assassin.

Sure, you have to believe the screw steamer's name is the Ass Assassin and that the steamer have varying levels like in a video game. The Class 'A' ship is better than the Class 'C' ship but not as good as the Class 'S' ship (because 'S' stands for Super. Duh). But that's five asses in a row! Take that, Minchin!

Pynchon has mentioned the danger of the hydrogen-generating apparatus enough times that I think it's eventually going to blow! I bet Chick Counterfly dies saving Lindsay Noseworth!

Chapter 1: Section 1: Page 3: Line 7

It was amid such lively exclamation that the hydrogen ship Inconvenience, its gondola draped with patriotic bunting, carrying a five-lad crew belonging to that celebrated aeronautics club known as the Chums of Chance, ascended briskly into the morning, and soon caught the southerly wind.

* * * * * * * * * *

The Chums of Chance! I haven't been this excited about reading the adventures of a bunch of kids since I read Alan Moore's Jerusalem starring that celebrated club of dead children, the Dead Dead Gang! I'm not familiar with any specific children's adventure book series that feature a bunch of kids running about the world finding mummies and fomenting revolutions against tyrant kings. But that's probably because I grew up in the 70s and 80s and was too busy watching Scooby Doo and the Outerscope series from Vegetable Soup. I mention children's adventure book series because both Moore's Dead Dead Gang and Pynchon's Chums of Chance are well-known in their worlds for the books detailing their adventures. (This is kind of cheating since I'm discussing something that isn't in this sentence. I hope that you, and God, will forgive me.)

We'll learn more about the Chums of Chance and how they're literary heroes in a series of semi-fictional books in a semi-fictional book later. Or are they literary heroes in a series of non-fiction books in a fiction book set in a semi-historical setting? What am I in all this?! Probably the only real person in a simulated setting created for my own entertainment.

The name of the ship has probably launched a thousand essays but it doesn't do a lot for me. Reading anything is an inconvenience, especially when you know there are new episodes of Animaniacs to watch on Hulu. I suppose to people who aren't super intelligent and literate like I know I am (and not like how stupid dumb dumbs all think they're smart! I would know if I were a dumby who thinks he's smart! I'm sure of it!), reading a Pynchon novel would be the biggest inconvenience of their lives because they'd keep looking up from the pages with a look that is the only way they can express how inscrutable the text is seeing as how they don't know the word "inscrutable."

Oh yeah! I know I just sort of casually put that out there but yes I did indeed read Alan Moore's Jerusalem. Talk about an inconvenience!

If I could feel shame, I'd feel shame for using that whole "talk about an X" bit. Especially since it barely makes sense. The most inconvenient part of reading Jerusalem was that I desperately needed reading glasses while doing so and instead of purchasing some, I just held the book further and further away from my face as I continued to read it. I finally got reading glasses so I could draw detailed colored pencil maps of the Apple IIe game Deathlord.

The patriotic bunting indicates the Chums of Chance are super into the American dream. What side of the labor movement will they be on? Union busting or shorter work weeks with safer working conditions?! Is that a question I should be asking after reading this statement? Probably not, according to my Children's Literature teacher. She'd be all, "Stick to only information you can glean from the words in this sentence, you dumb bastard!" Then she'd force me to do a deep dive into the word "bunting" to figure out why, exactly, Pynchon chose that specific word. I'd respond by resenting the entire assignment and deciding I'd rather get a C- than do what she wanted me to do.

The last bit of information that I've gleaned from this sentence is that the Chums of Chance are heading up to Chicago from the South where they probably just finished a thrilling adventure that modern audiences wouldn't feel comfortable reading about due to all of the casual racism. Not from the Chums of Chance, I'm sure! Most of them are probably as woke as a character could be in 1893!