Richard V. Rupp

October 9, 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.

 

Headline – CHRISTMAS SUPPLY DISRUPTION. CNN reports that "More than 18 months into the pandemic, the disruption to global supply chains is getting worse, spurring shortages of consumer products . . .Unresolved snags, and the emergence of new problems including the Delta variant, mean shoppers are likely to face higher prices and fewer choices this holiday season. Companies such as Adidas, Crocs, and Hasbro are already warning of disruptions as they prepare for the crucial year-end period."

 

I point this out because copies of my novels DEATH & TAXES, and DEATH ON THE HIGH SEAS, are not subject to this problem and will not be going up in price for the holidays. They could easily be added to your Christmas shopping list for friends and family that like crime novels. Just go to Amazon.com: Richard V. Rupp: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle

 

I'm on the computer most of the day, and something I should pay more attention to is cybersecurity. To a degree, I ignore it because it's complicated. I just noticed that October is designated as Cybersecurity Awareness Month by the U.S. Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA). Neither, of which I even knew existed. You should visit their websites as they have a lot of interesting and helpful information. These agencies want us to practice cyber hygiene and set basic habits that can help keep you and your family protected from identity theft, scams, and other online dangers. Examples of practicing good cyber hygiene include: using strong passwords, setting up multi-factor authentication on your accounts, and regularly updating software on your devices. 

 

In some parts of the financial/legal world, the terms society and trust are used interchangeably. The concept of trust plays a pervasive role in maintaining society, even sustaining acts of cooperation among strangers who have no control over each other's actions. But, the importance of trust usually does not come to light until it breaks down. Another critical factor to the continuation of a society is the ability to exchange information.

 

Is American society as we know it on the verge of a breakdown? I've heard and read a number of comments recently that it may already be broken. This is from an October 7, 2021 GALLUP POLL article by Megan Brenan titled "Americans' Trust in Media Dips to Second Lowest on Record" – "Americans' trust in the media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly has edged down four percentage points since last year to 36%, making this year's reading the second-lowest in Gallup's trend. . . .In all, 7% of U.S. adults say they have "a great deal" and 29% "a fair amount" of trust and confidence in newspapers, television, and radio news reporting -- which, combined, is four points above the 32% record low in 2016. . .   . . . Just as Americans' trust in the three branches of government is faltering, so too is their confidence in the fourth estate -- the media." 

 

It is interesting to me that Megan inserts in her comments, "Just as American's trust in the three branches of government is faltering . . ."

 

Then I see an ad for renowned foreign policy expert Fiona Hill's new book titled THERE IS NOTHING FOR YOU HERE: FINDING OPPORTUNITY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY, that reads – "An urgent warning that America is on the brink of a socioeconomic collapse and authoritarian swing that could rival modern Russia's."

My last post was devoted to humans and their concept of time, and this one is dedicated to humans and their need for space.

 

When I started with Marsh & Mclennan in 1963, the Los Angeles Office was located in the Cosgrove & Company Building (a large Californa brokerage Marsh purchased in 1957) on West 6th Street, near downtown. They moved to the newly constructed C.L. Peck Building at 3303 Wilshire Boulevard a couple of years later. Peck was the largest contractor in California and a significant client of Marsh. I did the first insurance wrap-up program (a liability policy that serves as all-encompassing insurance that protects all contractors and subcontractors working on large projects) out of the Marsh LA Office for Peck on the 73-story First Interstate Bank World Center on 5th Street. It is said that building brought Los Angeles to a new level as it was at the time the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. Our move to the Peck Building created a "space vanity" problem for one of our Senior Vice Presidents. When the building was nearly finished, he took his wife there to show her his new office. The story goes that she paced off his office and compared it to others on that floor and indicated to him that it was the same size as the adjacent offices of people who reported to him. The next day, the contractor moved several office walls on that floor to make his office two feet wider than the others. I suspect that cost Marsh a pretty penny.

 

That story tells me there is such a thing as "vanity space." On the other end of the spectrum, there is "claustrophobic" space. That being said, the suitable size space a person needs really depends on the person. Some people need a ton of space to feel sane or for their egos, while others can work with very little.

 

The "claustrophobic" space problem is recognized by THE ENGINEERING TOOLBOX guide, which has a table suggesting a person's minimum required area inside a typical building or room. I have extracted some examples of needed square footage to feel comfortable from their table –

 

Apartment Living Space – 100 to 400

Dormitory Living Space – 100 to 200

Computer Room – 80 to 150

Dining Hall – 10 to 50

Cocktail Lounge – 15 to 50

Hospital Patient Room – 80 to 200

 

In writing my novel SKYWARD, I wanted to get a feel for the size of the structures needed in the Bowman Moon Colony. The above table gave me a sense of how large a facility needs to be and how many new colonists can be sent up as the living and working space in the Colony expands. In each case, I used the lower number. To maintain "trust" among the colonist, there is no "vanity space," but there is great concern over "claustrophobic space."  The Colony concept is that everyone is equal and needs to feel comfortable in an unusual environment. This requires some vanity or ego screening in the selection of colonists.

 

As a Star Trek and William Shatner fan, I love this one - "I'm Captain Kirk, and I'm terrified going to space," William Shatner, 90, told the audience at a New York Comic Con panel. He has an upcoming voyage to the final frontier aboard Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin New Shepard on October 12.

 

Have a great weekend. I'll be watching both my DODGERS and my CHARGERS. It was an exciting Thursday night game for my RAMS, who beat Seattle, and a tough first loss last night for the Dodgers against the Giants.

 

Cheers,

 

Richard V. Rupp, Author

Website – www.richardvrupp.com

Email – rupprisk@gmail.com

Copyright©2021 by Richard V. Rupp