Richard V. Rupp

May 10, 2021

To all you Mom's out there, I hope you had a great Mother's Day!

 

I have not watched SNL for quite some time. I gave it a try this Saturday to watch Elon Musk as host. I follow what he is doing because of his interest in space and going to Mars. Also, I own some Tesla stock. There is no question in my mind that electric cars are the future, including autonomous ones. I can understand why I stopped watching the SNL. I did enjoy the skit with Elon and his mother, where she commented about a possible Mother's Day gift. "I just hope it's not Dogecoin." And, later in the show, Elon indicated that Dogecoin was just a "hustle."

 

Apparently, CBS has given up on moms. After eight seasons, the final episode of their T.V. show "Mom" airs this Thursday. I always liked Allison Janney and her humor.

 

Back to "hustle" for a moment. Did you know that May is National Bike Month? As we slowly return to normalcy after a year of staying at home, the coming months are a perfect time to start exploring the countryside again by bike. It's important to keep in shape.

 

Here's good news for us older folk. I noted an article in THE WEEK, which indicated us old people are taking over the world. Well, not quite, but the number of centenarians – people in their 100s – is soaring worldwide as lifespans continue to grow. In 1990, there were about 95,000 centenarians, but by 2015 there were 450,000. By 2100, the U.N. projects there will be 25 million. I suspect the current pandemic may have set these numbers back some. Between January 2020 and April 28, 2021, of the 557,486 deaths caused by COVID-19 in the United States, 69,545 had occurred among those aged 85 years and older. 

 

I still read the insurance industry trade journals. I was interested in one piece because of my current interest in Millennials. They are the main characters in my upcoming novel SKYWARD.  The NATIONAL UNDERWRITER is going to have a seminar on Millennials and insurance. Their promotion piece indicates – "As the largest generation in North America, Millennials are dictating the standards of commerce across most industries – and insurance is no exception. In the P&C (Property & Casualty) industry, the technology-driven expectations of Millennials are effectively being met by digital native insurance carriers. These disruptors are using tech to adapt to this generation's P&C policy needs while providing the intuitive user experience Millenials expect. . . Join this complimentary webcast to keep pace and improve retention with this influential generation." I suspect that my old industry is starting to be run by Millenials. At least this piece was written by one – "digital native insurance carriers, disruptors, intuitive user experience." WOW!

 

It's going to take a while for people to mentally get back to normal from the pandemic. Parents and Gen Z are being cautious, as indicated by an article in today's L.A. TIMES.  It indicates that only 7% of high school students have returned to campuses in the Los Angeles Unified School District. This is true even with extensive safety measures being provided.

 

There is a saying that applies to our recovery from the pandemic – "time heals all wounds." But, I must note others have added to this expression – "The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue, and the pain lessens. But it is never gone."

 

Only time will tell.

 

Cheers,

 

Richard V. Rupp, Author

Website – www.richardvrupp.com Email – rupprisk@gmail.com

Copyright©2021 by Richard V. Rupp