Richard V. Rupp

July 31, 2021

Good Saturday morning. I'm author Richard V. Rupp, writing from Burbank, California. Welcome to Rupp's Notes/FBI Special Agent Hartman Series posts. I will advise you as I write this I'm on a pain killer for additional work they had done in the area where a tooth was pulled six days ago. Remember I live in La La Land.

 

Here's what's happening in my neighborhood of La La Land. The construction of a new movie studio was just announced. It will include seven soundstages, stage-adjacent support space, offices, and set and prop building space. The expected cost is $190 million. This is just one of several such projects. Soundstages are one of the hottest categories of real estate in my area. The surge for video-on-demand streaming has provoked an insatiable appetite for media-oriented facilities. The movie/media industry is going great guns, as most of you stay home to avoid what's happening with the pandemic. And, apparently, from the numbers I've seen, not that many of you are watching the Olympics. Sorry NBC and your Peacock.

 

NEW PANDEMIC RULES – How many times have we seen that in the past eighteen months?

 

There is an old saying about there being 'too many cooks in the kitchen' that applies to how our layers of government are handling the pandemic. The logic of the expression is that when too many people are working on the same project, the final product is negatively affected. I can understand that we have a divided public on the taking of vaccines. But, that problem is compounded by too many government spokespeople who are constantly giving out mixed messages. Our economy is business-driven. And, private enterprise business works best with stability and knowledge of the rules. It can not exist if you change the rules every other day. The mental and financial burden eventually becomes too much, as we have already seen by how many restaurants and other small businesses have permanently closed.

 

After writing the above paragraph, I have sat here in front of my computer, trying to think of solutions for responding to the pandemic. It's good to understand the problem, but it's better to offer or find a solution. At least for the moment, the only thing I can come up with is that the 'cooks' have used up all the ingredients in a spoiled pot of stew that needs to be thrown out. Hopefully, someone out there has a clean kitchen, and a new recipe book, resulting in a banquet for at least 70% of our population. Let me know if you do.

 

I was up early again this morning, watching U.S. Women's Soccer Team. Like many of you, I have followed them for several years. They look out of sorts in Tokyo. I think the pandemic, the resulting rules, and silent venues have something to do with this. They lost their first match, and yesterday morning their play against the Netherlands looked uneven. They eventually won in an exciting shootout. Their next game is against Canada. Another sleep interrupted night is ahead for me. The game will air live Monday, August 2, at 1 a.m. in California.

 

May as well stay on the subject of the Olympics. I give a one-handed clap to the Tokyo Olympic Committee for their stance on sexual activity during the games. A new statistic comes to mind when I think about what they have done. When you combine the cardboard 'anti-sex beds' (that's what the athletics call them), the distribution of 160,000 condoms (37 condoms per athlete), and isolation, what do you get? Besides a confused athlete? A collapsed bed and/or standing sex. Or, you take the mattress off the bed and throw it on the floor. What's the I.Q. Requirement for Olympic Committee members? What I want to know is the broken bed count? I want to know it by country. Do the French, Italians, or Americans win? Of course, my suggested picks are based on stereotypes. I'm sure there are other countries in this competition. In fact, I'm not even sure the Americans would be in the top three.

 

A bit of history about sex at the Olympics. In Sochi, news quickly spread that athletes were using Tinder, the dating app, at the Olympic Village. Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte said that before the 2012 Summer Olympics, "70 percent to 75 percent of Olympians" have sex at the Olympics, later adding: "My last Olympics, I had a girlfriend — big mistake. Now I'm single, so London should be really good. I'm excited."

 

At the 1988 games in Seoul, there were so many condoms littering the landscape the Olympic Association "outlawed outdoor sex." That's what the article I read said. So, I assume this implies that indoor sex is okay.

 

The reporting on this might even encourage young people to want to get into the Olympics.

 

Oh, to be young again!

 

For those who have not read my novels -DEATH & TAXES and DEATH ON THE HIGH SEAS, there is sex in them. My upcoming novel SKYWARD includes sex, and maybe some Olympic sports played on the Moon (certainly there will be the high-jump). The beds in the Bowman Moon Colony are not made of cardboard but instead of Moon brick sides, which support plastic slates (formed on the Moon) that support the mattress-in-a-box from Earth. Very sturdy. Definitely not 'anti-sex beds.'

 

Enjoy your weekend. Hopefully, you will find time to read one of my novels. They are available on Amazon.com.

 

Cheers,

 

Richard V. Rupp, Author

Website – www.richardvrupp.com

Email – rupprisk@gmail.com

Copyright©2021 by Richard V. Rupp