On page 287, I am still kind of confused on why Ursula said that Americans think that auto repair is funny. Is it a play on words, am I overthinking it, is it supposed to be a play on cars which is why Americans find it funny? I do not understand at all. I do not even know if it is something that is meant to be understood.

While reading the rest of Part 5 a passage of the book really stuck out for me. On page 290, after the talk about the “Longevity plague” Maya says “We’d better do it twice tonight. While it’s still us.” I still do not quite have a thorough understanding of what she means by this but it still weights on my mind as something worth noting as I continue to read the book.

I found the shifts from wanting to be on Mars and not Earth to wanting to be on Earth and not Mars that are found within the book fascinating. Every different instance of it I find in the book like on page 303, “With the space elevator we are in the Terran market. Without it we will never get off Mars.”

But on Page 307 – 308, the scene between John and Phyllis is quite interesting. At first John had quite a high outlook on her “John stared at Phyllis, impressed as always by her fevor. She was like a convert giving witness, a preacher in a pulpit, quietly and confidently triumphant.” Then “…fire flickering from her mass of auburn hair, which in the storm light looked like a cap of jewels.” And finally “Phyllis and the rest of them looked like they were in church.” To me throughout these two pages the outlook on the people and what is going on is positive, uplifting even. But the middle paragraph following it was so totally jarring to me. In the next paragraph John says “He was sick of Phyllis” and “Phyllis was just another part of the game, after all…”