Richard V. Rupp

July 12, 2021

Good Monday morning. I'm author Richard V. Rupp, writing from Burbank, California. Welcome to Rupp's Notes/FBI Special Agent Hartman Series posts.

 

Here in California, we may soon be replacing our water heaters with water coolers. It doesn't make any difference which tap you use. Hot water comes out of both. The heat dome has taken over. 120-130 degrees? Really? But then listening, to our Governor, we may not have any water coming out of either tap. While the doctors tell us to drink more water because of the heat (stay hydrated, they say), the politicians tell us to use less water because we are running out of it. In my mind, this can only result in a stinky conclusion.

 

Then there is this CNN headline about our friends up North – "Extreme heat cooked mussels, clams and other shellfish alive on beaches in Western Canada." And the NBC NEWS report on the Alaska pipeline that "Thawing permafrost threatens to undermine the supports holding up an elevated section of the pipeline, jeopardizing its structural integrity and raising the potential of an oil spill in a delicate and remote landscape.  . . . This is a wake-up call," said Carl Weimer, a special projects adviser for Pipeline Safety Trust, a nonprofit watchdog organization based in Bellingham, Washington. "The implications of this speak to the pipeline's integrity and the effect climate change is having on pipeline safety in general."

 

Climate change is here, baby!!! As our Governor says, "Just look around."

 

I'm going to blame the hot weather rather than my aging process memory loss on sending out my last post on the wrong day. My posts are scheduled to go out every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. For some reason, I thought the past Friday was Saturday. But I've been telling people for several years now I have no idea what day of the week it is. I'm retired. They are all the same.

 

Congratulations to Richard Branson, who turns 71 this week, on his successful voyage to the edge of space. I watched live as Branson and his crew of two pilots and three mission specialists were carried to an altitude of more than eight miles by the aircraft VMS Eve, named after Branson's mother. He may be contacted by the Bowman Twins in my upcoming novel SKYWARD to help supply their moon colony. Or maybe they can work out a tourist business.

 

Last night I was writing about a dinner at the Cliff House (a restaurant I loved) for SKYWARD –

 

* * *

 

Alise Bowman looked out the Cliff House window at the white sand of Ocean Beach. The view was breathtaking as the restaurant sat high atop a precipice on San Francisco's western border. The Pacific Ocean. As John walked to her, she pointed out the window. "John, look at the sea lions on those rocks over there. They are enjoying life playing in the sun."

 

"That they are. I'm somewhat jealous. Sometimes I feel human life is a difficult thing to master."

 

With a smile and a sarcastic voice, Alise responded, "Oh, my poor, suffering husband." Then she asked, "How does our table look?"

 

"Absolutely great. We have a round table in a corner by the windows."

 

"Our guests should like that."

 

"By the way, you look beautiful in that gown."

 

"Thank you, sir. And you look pretty yummy in that tuxedo."

 

The evening was part of John and Alias's plan to break into San Francisco's high society. They were hosting diner for James Leary "Jimmie" Flood and his second wife Maud and Colbert Coldwell and his wife, Johanna. John had met the men at the Fairmont Hotel's Cirque Room bar several days before. Alise had done the homework on their wives.

 

"Mr. Bowman, your guests have arrived," said the maître d'.

 

* * *

 

To update my mind on the Cliff House, I Googled it and learned that it had closed to my chagrin. Here's part of the press release of December 13, 2020. "The Cliff House restaurant, which first opened 157 years ago, announced Sunday that the restaurant will close permanently on December 31, a victim of the COVID-19 pandemic."  What a loss. The virus has been disastrous to many old famous restaurants.

 

I look back at my education and realize much of it involved On-the-Job training (OJT) and apprenticeships. My personal experience comes to play in writing SKYWARD. While I love teachers, it is my feeling the traditional schooling process is not efficient. It is discriminatory in many ways, often too structured (having to follow explicit lesson plans), inefficient because of the union-based "protect your own attitude," and the tenure concept does not work to the student's advantage.

 

 As the children born at the Bowman Moon Colony start to grow up, a decision must be made about their education. Rather than establishing a structured school, the decision was made that the learning process would be personalized/tailored to each child. The expansion of the knowledge process would involve forms of homeschooling, E-Learning using Technology, Experience Learning/On the job training, and apprenticeships. There would be an encouragement for children to follow in their parent's footsteps, but this was by no means mandatory.

 

The Bowman Twins, who were homeschooled by their mother Daniela, enlisted her help back on Earth to virtually help colony parents decide and monitor their children's education. She keeps detailed records of each moon child's education. It is conveyed to the children that everyone and what they do is essential to the Colony. No one or job was superior to another. All were needed for the survival of the Colony.

 

Remember, the Bowman Colony is comprised of American millennials with STEM educations at the top of their classes. It should be noted that most manual construction, manufacturing, maintenance, and cleaning jobs on the Colony are accomplished by robotics. Interest is also growing in the development of the arts (creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation). But there is little interest in looking back at what is happening on Earth or its history. The colonists want to look ahead, not in a rearview mirror.

 

Oh, there are four exceptions to the Colony being comprised of STEM millennials. An FBI office is established in the Bowman Colony, led by Special Agent Dick Hartmann. It was agreed to by the Bowman Twins with POTUS to gain American financial, technical, and legal support. Hartmann's staff include Special Agents Coleen Ryan Hartmann, Daniel Lee, whose specialty is computer science and information technology, and Denise Jordon, a legal administrative specialist with a degree in international law.

 

Shortly after the Bowman Colony is established, the United States of America declared it as a territory. An American territory is a clearly defined geographical area and refers to an area of land, air, or sea under the jurisdiction of the United States federal governmental authority.

 

Guess what the Chinese do?

 

Cheers,

 

Richard V. Rupp, Author

Website – www.richardvrupp.com

Email – rupprisk@gmail.com

Copyright©2021 by Richard V. Rupp