Richard V. Rupp

September 1, 2021

Happy first day of September.

 

I know at least 1,000,000 people out there will not be seeing this post today. Those are the people living on the Gulf Coast and are without power because of Ida. My thoughts and prayers are with them and for those in the Lake Tahoe area whose homes are threatened by fire.

 

For those of you with power who follow the FBI SPECIAL AGENT HARTMAN SERIES on Facebook, I strongly urge you to follow it on my website instead. As numerous press articles indicate, FB is not easy to work with. Their algorithms often pick up a word in what I write and restrict the publication of my post. To get the series regularly from my website, here is what you need to do. Go to www.richardvrupp.com. Next, on the line just below my name, click on "Rupp's Notes" (in baize) located between "Events" and "Contact." Then on the lift side of the page, enter your email address in the "email**" box and click on "Submit."

 

You will get nothing from me but the FBI SPECIAL AGENT HARTMAN SERIES posts if you use my site. My site is maintained by The Authors Guild, America's oldest and largest professional organization for writers. As the "Private Policy" statement below the "Submit" button indicates, "Your email address will not be passed on to any third parties, under any circumstances. The only emails you will receive are periodical newsletters from the author."

 

Hopefully, my Facebook friends will select this method of receiving my three times a week FBI SPECIAL AGENT HARTMAN SERIES posts. It will make life easier for both of us.

 

Now to the subject of wine. Sitting next to me as I write this is a page I tore out of September COSTCO CONNECTION. It is to remind me to pick up a few bottles this afternoon of their Kirkland Signature Brunello di Montalcino wine. It's new to me, and I'm looking forward to giving it a try. For those of you who have read my novels DEATH & TAXES and/or DEATH ON THE HIGH SEAS, you know that my character FBI Special Agent Hartmann, loves this wine. Here's part of what I wrote in one of my first newsletters (August 17, 2020) -

 

Why is FBI Special Agent Hartmann always' checking wine lists for a Brunello di Montalcino wine? Because it is one of my favorite wines.  

 

Many years ago, I took an Italian wine tour that included vineyards near the town of Montalcino, a traditional Tuscan hilltop village 20 miles south of Siena, Italy. I tasted the Brunello and fell in love with it. It is one of Italy's most famous and prestigious wines. This resulted in my ordering a case to be delivered to me in San Francisco. My wines of preference are bold reds. Brunello is made from Sangiovese grapes and is garnet in color. It is described as having the aromas of red and black fruit with underlying vanilla and spice and a hint of earthiness. Its alcohol levels are at 14 to 15 percent. 

 

There is some humor around the arrival of the case of Brunello I ordered from Italy. One morning I received a phone call from the doorman at my San Francisco condo, who advised me that my medical supplies had arrived from Italy. Having forgotten about the wine order, I'm going, what in the heck is this about. I go downstairs and pick up a sizable box from Italy marked as medical supplies. Of course, it was the wine. Over the next few years, I periodically received additional Italian medical supplies.

 

Now I can get it from Costco.

 

Back to SKYWARD and the continuation of the French Laundry meetup from my last post.

 

"To keep our costs down, we are going to have to improve on how goods are transported to the moon," suggested Jeff.

"Yeah, the major problem is powering the rockets to get through the Earth's gravitational pull," responds Elon. Then if we are going to use reusable rockets, which I think is our best option, we need fuel for a reverse thrust for landing on the Moon and then again back on Earth." 

 

"Okay, we've taken care of part of the fuel problem by the use of a catapult to launch the rocket from the Moon," says Norman.

 

"Yes, that helps a lot, but you're still talking about the rockets leaving Earth. They will need over 50 percent of their weight taken up by fuel. If we can't refuel them on the Moon, then you're talking about 80 percent or more of their weight designated for fuel," replied Elon.

 

"Well, obviously, that won't work. So we need to refuel them in space or on the Moon. My wife tells me she heard a rumor the Chinese plan on orbiting a rocket refueling station. So to provide more carrying capacity, their rockets will refuel in orbit after launch. Then again, before returning to Earth from the Moon. This means they will have to keep sending fuel up from the Earth to their orbiting refueling station," continued Norman. 

 

"By the way, where are your wives," asked Jeff? "They are as much a part of what we are doing as we are. And, in some ways, are into this more than we are."

 

Chris responded, "They are having dinner with our mom. She said if we can have a boys' night out, she can have a girls' night out."

 

"Ut oh. Are you guys in trouble?"

 

"I don't think so. Mom's just as much into what we are doing as we are."

 

"Yeah. But, how does she feel about Diana and Lexie?"

 

"I guess we'll find out when we get home. Let's get back to our propulsion problem. Diana has been doing a lot of research on this and believes we can produce both oxygen and methane on the Moon. If that's true, we can refuel the rockets there. So our or your rockets will need enough fuel to get to the Moon, including a soft Moon landing. Will that work?"

 

"It will have to. I like our plan better than what the Chinese are rumored to be doing."

 

Enough for today. Off to Costco for that wine.

 

Cheers,

 

Richard V. Rupp, Author

Website – www.richardvrupp.com

Email – rupprisk@gmail.com

Copyright©2021 by Richard V. Rupp