Bob Smith and Marcia Smith discussed the origins and evolution of various words, phrases, and concepts, including ‘pistol,’ ‘beginning,’ and ‘telemarketing.’ They explored the history of these terms in politics and advertising, and highlighted the fascinating meanings behind everyday words. Later, they discussed popular items sold in grocery stores, including carbonated beverages and cereal, as well as the least sold item, baby food. Bob and Marcia also shared their preferences for concession stand treats, with Bob favoring popcorn, cotton candy, and nachos, while Marcia preferred popcorn. Bob noted that the most profitable items are those with the most sugar, such as cotton candy, while Marcia questioned the nutritional value of these treats.
Outline
Camels, Airbnb, and acting awards.
- Camels originated in North America, not in the Middle East or Asia.
- Airbnb’s origins traced back to an air mattress in a San Francisco living room in 2007.
- Bob and Marcia discuss the origins of the word “pistol” and its connection to politics and gun control.
- Marcia shares her thoughts on the characters from the Wizard of Oz books and their connections to the original stories.
- Bob and Marcia discuss the meaning of “beginning” in a song and its connection to dancing and states with billboard bans.
Board game origins and toilet malfunction in WWII submarine.
- Marcia Smith and Bob Smith discuss the number of billboards in the United States, with Marcia estimating 623,000 and Bob correcting her to around 360,000.
- Marcia and Bob also discuss the origins of the board game Candyland, created by Eleanor Abbott in 1948 for polio patients in a San Diego hospital, and later published by Milton Bradley in 1949.
- Captain Schlitz’s toilet malfunction sank a German U-boat in WWII, killing 50 men.
City names, grocery items, and plant growth.
- Bob and Marcia Smith discuss the Milky Way and its different names in various countries.
- They also play a game where Bob provides city names and Marcia guesses their meanings.
- Bob Smith discusses the largest city in the world in 1519, revealing that it was a flower-covered, whitewashed city in the Americas, occupied by Native Americans, which was unknown to the European world.
- Marcia Smith lists the most profitable items sold in a grocery store, including packaged goods, prepared foods, brand-name cereals, and over-the-counter meds, and advises avoiding cosmetics and beauty supplies due to higher prices in grocery stores.
History, architecture, and grocery items.
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith discuss various historical facts and trivia, including the building of the Kremlin in Moscow, the installation of the first escalator in Harrods department store in London, and the poisonous properties of the hemlock plant.
- Socrates is mentioned as a famous philosopher who killed himself with hemlock.
- Marcia Smith: Carbonated beverages are the most sold item in grocery stores, followed by milk, bread, and salty snacks.
- Bob Smith: Glasgow, Montana is the most isolated town in the continental United States, with the nearest metropolitan area of over 75,000 people being over 4.5 hours away.
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith discuss the profitability of various snacks at a concession stand, including popcorn, cotton candy, and nachos.
- Eckhart Tolle is quoted as saying, “Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.”
Bob Smith 0:00
Where on earth did the camo originate?
Marcia Smith 0:03
And what put the air in the air b&b answers
Bob Smith 0:07
to those and other questions coming up in this half hour of the off ramp with Bob and
Marcia Smith 0:12
Marsha Smith
Bob Smith 0:29
Welcome to the off ramp a chance to slow down steer clear of crazy take a side road to sanity and get some perspective on life. We do the show every week for the Cedarburg Public Library and we love to find new facts that I’ve got one Marcia, where on earth did the camel originate?
Marcia Smith 0:47
Well, that sounds pretty weird to me. I thought it was in a desert like maybe over in the Middle East or whatever. But no, apparently not like, okay, Pittsburgh? Well,
Bob Smith 1:00
it is here in North America, believe it or no Yes, the camel originated in North America before it went extinct here groups of camels had migrated to Asia and South America. Now the Asian group includes the single humped Arabian camel, and the two humped camel of Central Asia. And then what famous South American animal is a descendant of the North American camels, the llama that is a descendant of the original camels. other South American camel family members are the wild Quantico, the by kupuna and the domesticated alpaca.
Marcia Smith 1:37
So you’re telling me that before anywhere in the world, that camel was here in North America? Yeah, that’s right before anywhere. That’s from
Bob Smith 1:47
Isaac Asimov’s book of facts, and I always go by Isaac. Okay did great research for his books, but there are other sources too paleo. sleuths.org says that 46 million years ago, camels originated and only lived in North America 6 million years ago, they crossed the Bering bridge to Asia, and 3 million years ago camels crossed the Isthmus of Panama to South America now there is evidence DNA extracted from bones collected in the Yukon to show that North America’s last camel camel ops, which went extinct 13,000 years ago, lived long enough to be hunted by people. There is direct evidence of hunting and butchering of cantaloupes by humans and that comes from the earth archives. So there you go.
Marcia Smith 2:31
Okay, Bob, I think you have a fair chance of actually answering this as many of our listeners do. What is the air in air b&b?
Bob Smith 2:41
Air b&b, wasn’t it an air mattress? Yes, it had to do with an air mattress. The two fellows I think the two guys who came up with the name.
Marcia Smith 2:47
That’s correct, that it’s 2007 Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia realized that hotel rooms would be hard to come by in San Francisco for the upcoming tech conferences. So they let visitors sleep on air mattresses in their living room for a fee. And they call this humble venture air bed and breakfast, now known as air b&b. And it’s worth almost $600 billion.
Bob Smith 3:14
No kidding. Oh, 600 billion. Yeah,
Marcia Smith 3:18
we missed the boat on that one baby. And it has 6 million listings worldwide.
Bob Smith 3:24
Wow. I always thought Airbnb before I learned this was because of where you’re going to fly somewhere you need to have a b&b And here’s the place to go. You know, so air meaning aircraft? No as air mattresses so funny. Hey, I want to update something. Remember a couple shows ago we did a thing about of the 24 actors who have won an Oscar and Emmy and a Tony. Yeah. And we said that Viola Davis had a unique distinction. What was it? Do you remember that? That Well, she won. She was the only African American to
Marcia Smith 3:54
have a Tony. Tony the Emmy and the asker
Bob Smith 3:58
Well, another actress just recently joined that group Jennifer Hudson. Oh, she she just earned a Tony and she has a Grammy to oh wow she’s got the Emmy the Oscar the Tony and a Grammy. Now what show did Jennifer Hudson rise to fame in was it Dream Girls Dream Girls smash American Idol Sex in the City or America’s Got Talent? She
Marcia Smith 4:22
rose to fame in the movie Dream Girls but she was in America’s Got Talent or what’s what’s that American Idol? Yeah, that’s what it well, American Idol. Yeah.
Bob Smith 4:30
So I wanted to make sure we updated that, that question. Now there are two African Americans who want all three of those acting awards. All right,
Marcia Smith 4:39
Bob. What are these characters from? Mr. Ute? hip hopper to the who chew? Tali Diggle? Woof, the wonder? Grutter swine. Any any thoughts?
Bob Smith 4:50
I think it’s from the latest hip hop musical on Broadway. No, I don’t I have no idea what granter
Marcia Smith 4:56
swine grunters why I think I went to school. All with him. Yeah, along with tally dico.
Bob Smith 5:02
Yeah, they sat in the back row. Grunter Swine was always making noise
Marcia Smith 5:08
well, you’ll appreciate this. They’re all from a series from the original Wizard of Oz books. Oh no kid. Yeah.
Bob Smith 5:15
My original Frank Baum books. That’s
Marcia Smith 5:17
right. l Frank Baum and his Wizard of Oz. It was a series of
Bob Smith 5:20
books like I said one of the earlier shows like Harry Potter series. Yes,
Marcia Smith 5:24
it was and I did not know that until you enlightened me, but
Bob Smith 5:28
I didn’t know about Grutter swine. Yeah, why didn’t he make the Wizard of Oz movie? I
Marcia Smith 5:31
don’t know Mr. Youth and there’s somebody like called tater tot but I heard it mentioned on the radio, but I couldn’t find that character was very funny made me laugh out loud. But I do like tally Diggle tally Diggle
Bob Smith 5:43
yeah how you spell that
Marcia Smith 5:44
tally te o ll y and Diggle di je je le be good name for our granddaughter someday dolly
Bob Smith 5:51
Diego let’s talk to the kids about that. Okay, see what they think. All right, Marcia. Speaking of words, where does the word pistol come from? Ta pistol.
Marcia Smith 6:01
Where does it come from
Bob Smith 6:02
a city in a certain country? Oh, okay. No, don’t know. Pistoia Italy, where handguns were made as early as the late 15th century. They were supposedly invented there by a man named Camilo via tele, an Italian nobleman who had a core of mounted marksman the first to use guns while on horseback so they think that pistols are their name to Thanh. Did you know they’ve revolutionized politics pistols revolutionized politics because of duels. No. Why? assassinations cheese, because they could be easily hidden pistols became the perfect weapon for thieves highway men and Assassins. And the latter have prompted Emperor Maximilian of the Holy Roman Empire to outlaw the manufacture of pistols in 1517. That was the first gun control and see how well that worked. It didn’t work at all. So 1517 the first gun control what police department made the word pistol, an acronym and what does it stand for?
Marcia Smith 6:58
Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t know. Something like Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh officers has nothing
Bob Smith 7:04
to do with the name of the town.
Marcia Smith 7:05
Oh, that I don’t know.
Bob Smith 7:06
Tell me the St. Petersburg, Florida police department’s information system. Paperless information system, totally online. Pistol.
Marcia Smith 7:15
Okay, Bob. We both wondered what the heck begin the beguine meant. Yes,
Bob Smith 7:20
that’s song that began
Marcia Smith 7:23
biggie. It’s an old Cold partner song from the 30s or 40s. And even Julio Englacies sang it much later,
Bob Smith 7:31
when Artie Shaw that was his theme song. bandleader. Yeah, fact he said, I got so sick of that song.
Marcia Smith 7:36
So what is beginning?
Bob Smith 7:38
Is it the name of a river? The beginning?
Marcia Smith 7:41
It’s a type of dance. Oh, really? Yeah. When they begin to begin, the singer recounts how when he hears the music for that dance, it brings back memories. But it was a dance. I didn’t know
Bob Smith 7:53
that. Yeah. When they begin the beginning. Yeah.
Marcia Smith 7:57
And it reminds him of when he met his girlfriend.
Bob Smith 8:00
All right. And what was her name? But going yeah, now.
Marcia Smith 8:04
One of the great all time dancing teams dance to that song. It was Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell in an old movie. Oh, really? Yeah.
Bob Smith 8:12
All right. Marcia, Hawaii, Alaska, Maine and Vermont. are the only four states to have banned. What? I’ll give you four choices here. Okay, telemarketing, door to door solicitations, billboards, or printed phone books. I’ll say number two door to door solicitations. Yes. No. They have banned billboards, otherwise known as outdoor signs. Yeah, kidding. They’re everywhere across most of the United States, but they’re noticeably absent in Alaska, Hawaii, Maine and Vermont. I got this from travel trivia.com. I’ll be darned now, which was the first state to outlaw billboards any idea of those for Hawaii? That’s right. And they did it in the 1920s. Smart Vermont followed in 1968, Maine and 78. Alaska. 1998. Now is it any wonder that all four of those states are known for their robust tourism? Could it be because advertising Mars the natural beauty of landscapes that indeed is the reason they all decided not to do it? But
Marcia Smith 9:15
did they borrow those Burma Shave signs?
Bob Smith 9:20
How many billboards Do you think there are across the United States? idea of how many I’ve worked with? This number is amazing.
Marcia Smith 9:27
I worked for an outdoor advertising agency once Bob. So I’ll just take a guess and say 623,000 Well, no,
Bob Smith 9:37
not that many 12,000 No, no more than that. My shout to more than happy just take control here. Okay. You just sit back and be quiet. More than 360,000 billboards. Wow. 360,000. So what states have the most this is my last billboard question.
Marcia Smith 9:57
Okay, thank you. I will say In the south, two of them are alright. I’ll say Florida,
Bob Smith 10:04
Florida is number one, they have 11,109 billboards and
Marcia Smith 10:08
90% of them are lawyers. That’s true. And then the other one at Texas
Bob Smith 10:15
know Georgia is the second one the south with 9871. That’s followed by California third with 8700. And believe it or not, the fourth state is little New Jersey 8500. All crammed into that little area, almost the same amount as California has in that huge state. In New Jersey,
Marcia Smith 10:36
I’ll be darned. That’s amazing. Well, you may or may not find this interesting, but I think you will, well, maybe I won’t. Okay, maybe you won’t. So I’m going to skip and go to the next question. What are the origins of the indomitable game of Candyland? Oh,
Bob Smith 10:52
the wicked Candyland. You were so mean to the kids and playing Candy. Let
Marcia Smith 10:56
me just let them win. That teaches them nothing. Let them win once in a while, Marsha.
Bob Smith 11:01
They’re 38 years old. Now. Let me see. Candyland. Where are the origins of Candyland was that because somebody was a shut in and they had to have something to keep them occupied.
Marcia Smith 11:14
That’s not far off. In the late 1940s. Polio was still a looming threat to the population and wild convalescing in the polio wing of San Diego hospital in 1948, a retired school teacher named Eleanor Abbott decided to create a board game that would keep the children her fellow patients occupied and happy and distracted. And she came up with a game she called candy line, fanciful and easy to understand. And the game was so popular in the polio ward that she decided to submit it to Milton Bradley, a game manufacturer. That’s right. And she drew it out on butcher paper. Oh, really, to show them. And they said well, okay, and they decided to publish it in 1949. And Candyland helped put Milton Bradley on the map.
Bob Smith 12:04
I had no idea it had been around that law. Yeah.
Marcia Smith 12:07
They hadn’t had any big success until she came with her butcher paper and her sketch, so Candyland is over. 70 years old. Yeah. 1948. But Candyland was the one that put them on the map and really, yeah, took them to the tap. Oh, that’s hard to believe it is
Bob Smith 12:23
okay, Marsha. Have you ever heard of the Third Reich that turn?
Marcia Smith 12:28
I’ve got a story for you. Family shows a
Bob Smith 12:31
family show but everybody has a toilet and everybody has a toilet malfunction once in a while.
Marcia Smith 12:35
Marsha. All right. No, I haven’t heard of that. Enlightened. Well, I’ve
Bob Smith 12:39
got this interesting story. It’s about a toilet malfunction that sank a German U boat in World War Two. I came upon this the other day and Mental Floss. It’s so funny. And here’s what happened. It happened in 1945 when a brand new submarine the u 1206. Arrived off the coast of Scotland. This was so far advanced with all kinds of new technology including new plumbing, that the crew didn’t really know how to operate. So it required training to use properly and not everybody felt a need to take the toilet training. Enter German Captain Carl Adolph schlitt schlitt went to the toilet that day to do number two. After he finished his business. He couldn’t figure out how to flush the new toilet. So a sheepish Captain schlitt called it an engineer. That’s when something went wrong. Apparently someone turned the wrong valve. And immediately the bathroom began filling up with both saltwater and feces. Oh geez. Oh, until it was literally full of shit. Captain schlitt I’m talking about the submarines designers located the toilet just above the submarines battery compartment and when the mixture overflowed, chlorine gas resulted. They had all kinds of problems. They had to surface the submarine immediately because there were fumes racing through I’m talking about chlorine gas now, before he had to go up he had to fire torpedoes to increase the buoyancy of the ship. So guess what? The Allies heard these torpedoes going off. So when the subsurface they opened fire on him, and then Captain schlitt Abandon the UVO which sank 50 men were taken prisoners. 10 men evaded capture Four men were killed or drowned all because of a malfunctioning toilet. On Captain Schlitz German submarine and
Marcia Smith 14:26
the slit hit the fan. I there’s so many takeoffs on that
Bob Smith 14:30
the Third Reich. I thought that
Marcia Smith 14:32
was funny. Well, okay, it’s time for a break.
Bob Smith 14:35
I think it’s time for a break a potty break. We’ll be back in just a moment. You’re listening to the off ramp with Bob and
Marcia Smith 14:40
Marsha Smith.
Bob Smith 14:43
Okay, we’re done with our break and we’re back. This is the off ramp with Bob and Marsha Smith. Do you have a question, Marcia? Yes. All right.
Marcia Smith 14:50
Okay. What is called the silver river in China and Vietnam. The backbone of the night in the Kalahari Desert in In South Africa, and it’s called Winter way in the Faroe Islands and some Nordic countries. What is this?
Bob Smith 15:07
Is this something up in the sky? Yes. Is it the milky way it is.
Marcia Smith 15:11
Okay. It’s the band of stars and dust we call the Milky Way. And it was so named by the ancient Greeks. And so there are several, you know, countries in the world that have different names for what were the other names for its silver river backbone of the night and winter way. The
Bob Smith 15:28
silver river is what got me I kept thinking silver river and so visual, the description I thought that’s got to be the Milky Way.
Marcia Smith 15:35
And you’re right, okay,
Bob Smith 15:37
okay. All right, Marcia, I have a couple of city names and I want you to tell me what they are. I’ll tell you what the meaning of the city names are. Okay. This is an Africa. New flower is what the city’s name means. Am I talking about Cairo, Egypt, Jimena. Chad PortoNovo beneath or Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. CHIARA new flower.
Marcia Smith 16:02
The last one, are these Ababa Yes, that’s
Bob Smith 16:04
your favorite city name. Wanna go there someday? No. That was founded in 1887 by Emperor Menelik. The second his wife to persuaded him to replace the old capitol. And the newly created Addis Ababa was given the name new flower by the princess. But that’s what it means Addis Ababa. Now, you know, when you use that name, ID sub
Marcia Smith 16:27
about you’re talking like Sorry, my bah, bah, bah, bah, what plant to BB can grow up to three feet in a day? Bamboo. Very good, isn’t it? Yep. It’s considered one of if not the fastest growing plant in the world. It grows in dense forests where little sun reaches the ground. And according to the BBC Science Magazine, which I read every night, it has a strong evolutionary pressure to reach for the sunlight as quickly as possible. Okay, isn’t that interesting? So we’ve seen sequoias and they’re going for the sun to it’s just reaching out there. Yeah.
Bob Smith 17:04
And it’s very strong. They use it for scaffolding for buildings for construction in I saw it in Hong Kong. I couldn’t believe it. Just straight up. Just amazing. Three feet a day. That’s more than I ever grew. Yeah. Alright. London, England was long considered the world’s largest city, Marcia. For centuries. It had that distinction. But where was there another city five times as large as London in 1519.
Marcia Smith 17:28
Really? around Rome? No,
Bob Smith 17:31
it was unknown. This was unknown. Unknown to the European world. Oh, 1519. Okay, what city was five times bigger than London at the time? It’s not. It’s in the Americas.
Marcia Smith 17:44
I’m thinking I’m thinking in the America, Mexico City, Mexico City.
Bob Smith 17:48
Right. And when it was invaded by Cortez in 1519, it was a flower covered whitewashed city five times as large as London built and occupied by Native Americans. Can you imagine what a mind blower that must have been for the Spanish to see that there’s a city bigger than anything they’ve ever seen in your just amazing.
Marcia Smith 18:08
This is kind of curious. Bob can you name some of the most profitable items sold in a grocery store? What do you think is
Bob Smith 18:17
oh the things with the highest margins? Yeah. Well, it’s not milk that’s a loss leader. I know. Often it is yes. Are these packaged goods or these produce or what? Well that’s
Marcia Smith 18:29
just it. What are they? Let’s say meat meat. No, you won’t be surprised at the number one most profitable non grocery items like light bulbs and motor oil. You always see those are more expensive at grocery store buy him here Bob don’t buy them here. I always buy them there. And number two prepared foods like your deli foods you buy and so forth salads and fruit prepackaged things so those are number two way up there with most profitable three brand names cereals, that’s the most profitable and number four is brand name over the counter meds you know if you go and that
Bob Smith 19:04
makes sense. The last one makes sense especially Yeah, you know that when you reach for that Kaopectate or whatever it’s going to cost more than the cost in the in the drugstore. Yeah. So what are the five things we should avoid buying in a grocery store because they cost more they’re non
Marcia Smith 19:17
grocery items, light bulbs, etc. prepared foods like deli brand name, cereals, brand name over the counter meds, cosmetics and beauty supplies. Hmm See, I get those potions and lotions via the mail so they’re better priced history
Bob Smith 19:33
question, Marcia. When Christopher Columbus was sailing off to the New World, some of his fellow Italians were in another country working on a building project where and what was it?
Marcia Smith 19:44
Can you repeat that?
Bob Smith 19:46
When Christopher Columbus was sailing off to the new world? Some of his fellow Italians were in another country working on a big building project. What would that be?
Marcia Smith 19:55
Were they building out somewhere in Europe? Pizza Parlor? I don’t know. They
Bob Smith 20:00
were building the Kremlin in Moscow. Are you kidding? That’s how old that that complex? Yeah, tiny engineers, Italian engineers. They were actually rebuilding the Kremlin in Moscow. It goes back earlier than that. I thought that was interesting. Yeah. All right. A London department store Harrods remember, we went there. I loved Harrods. They installed the very first escalator on its premises at the turn of the 20th century. What precautions did they take for passengers? What did they worry about? For certain passengers? I don’t know an escalator. Now. People had never been on moving staircases before
Marcia Smith 20:36
freight they walk off and to the wall. They were worried that they would
Bob Smith 20:39
faint. Oh, so they served brandy to them.
Marcia Smith 20:44
This works for me.
Bob Smith 20:46
Yeah. Isn’t that funny? Wow, they’d
Marcia Smith 20:48
serve them brand. Yes.
Bob Smith 20:49
When they first put in this escalator because this new technology is gonna whisk you up the stairs or whiskey down the stairs that you might feel faint here have a little brand. Oh, that’s hilarious. A good excuse for a little alcohol.
Marcia Smith 21:02
We still get live piano music at what Vaughn Mars don’t wait. And I
Bob Smith 21:08
have another question here. This is an architectural question. Okay. How large are the foundations? How deep are the foundations of many European cathedrals?
Marcia Smith 21:16
Well, how many I don’t read Pillars of the Earth. Fantastic book. And I should know this. And the answer is pretty darn deep.
Bob Smith 21:25
Well, the answer is 40 or 50 feet. In some instances, they form a mass of stone as great as that of the visible buildings above ground.
Marcia Smith 21:33
That was kidding. Yeah. All right, Bob. What part of the hemlock plant is poisonous? The
Bob Smith 21:40
flowers, isn’t it? Yeah. Just the flowers of the hemlock. No, no, no.
Marcia Smith 21:44
It’s all of it. flowers, leaves, roots, stems and seeds. We’ll all make you dropped in. Just a little heads up there. Okay. That’s
Bob Smith 21:54
so funny. I don’t know why they use this prefix. But when we were growing up Oh, for
Marcia Smith 21:59
telephones? Yes, hemlock. 263. Ours was hemlock.
Bob Smith 22:02
77429 I didn’t realize we were saying poison. Yeah. 7742
Marcia Smith 22:07
wacky too. So I guess all the cities had. Who
Bob Smith 22:11
were the famous people who killed themselves with hemlock.
Marcia Smith 22:13
Oh, well, wasn’t that well, there was a famous philosopher. It was Socrates. Yeah.
Bob Smith 22:18
Socrates killed himself that way.
Marcia Smith 22:20
Yeah. One and done. I guess. Okay, Bob, I’m still on grocery stores. What’s the most sold item in grocery stores? Well,
Bob Smith 22:30
groceries does not do it. No bomb. Corn. Milk, baby foods. Bread.
Marcia Smith 22:37
Number one. Carbonated beverages. Oh, you’re kidding. Beer cereal, frozen dinners. Those are the top four followed by salty snacks. And finally something really edible milk and bread.
Bob Smith 22:51
Carbonated beverages are the number one item and we’re talking Pepsi’s
Marcia Smith 22:56
their cereal, frozen dinners. I
Bob Smith 22:58
can see beer being at the top of the list. Oh, yeah. And then milk and bread are entered bottom and you don’t get the fresh food until you get and here’s
Marcia Smith 23:06
the one I found very unusual. What’s the least sold item in a grocery store? It’s something you named as one of the most sold but it’s the opposite? I don’t know. I had a double check this on statistica.com. It’s baby food. Oh, no kidding.
Bob Smith 23:21
Yeah. One of the least sold items in a grocery store. Where do people buy it? Oh, that’s
Marcia Smith 23:26
what I was wondering at the hardware store.
Bob Smith 23:28
Don’t know. Get Home Depot and get some huge. I don’t know hubs of baby food.
Marcia Smith 23:33
I don’t know. I’ll have to ask people with babies. Oh, my
Bob Smith 23:37
goodness. All right, Marsha. I have a quick question here. Let’s just think of the world think of travel what is the most isolated town in the continental United States? I will give you four potential places. Maine, Florida, Montana or Kansas? Which state is the state with the most isolated town in the continental United States?
Marcia Smith 23:59
Maine? No, it’s
Bob Smith 24:01
not. Maine,
Marcia Smith 24:02
Florida. What were the other two Montana or Kansas? Okay, Montana. Yes,
Bob Smith 24:06
it is Montana. All right, Glasgow in northeastern Montana, near the Canadian border. Here’s the definition. The nearest metropolitan area of more than 75,000 people is more than 4.5 hours away in any direction. That’s the definition of how isolated you are. Okay, you can’t find a city of 75,000 people you have to travel almost five hours.
Marcia Smith 24:28
Okay. Now before I give my closing quote, I’ll finish up with this. And you might get this bite Okay. named the most profitable concession stand items. I’ve got three of them today you know it was a rabbit hole I went down and I found it fast
Bob Smith 24:47
corn dogs are big concessions items. Okay, they are but they’re
Marcia Smith 24:50
not the most profitable got the top three here.
Bob Smith 24:53
When you say concession stand. What are you talking about? Like
Marcia Smith 24:56
if you’re at a ball game or you’re at the fair Okay.
Bob Smith 24:59
Hot Dogs I think would be a big item. No,
Marcia Smith 25:02
no most profitable. Okay, think about give me give me like,
Bob Smith 25:06
give me a moment here. How about lemonade? No, because that would be easy to make. Yes
Marcia Smith 25:11
it would.
Bob Smith 25:12
Okay. What is it?
Marcia Smith 25:13
Popcorn? Oh, that’s gonna be the most profitable don’t yeah I guess that makes sense yellowed by what is it air on a stick with different colors air on a stick?
Bob Smith 25:23
Oh yes, cotton candy right
Marcia Smith 25:25
and nachos cotton candy. The
Bob Smith 25:26
least nutritious? Is this sugar. It’s just sugar on a stick? Yeah, a cloud of sugar on the stands. Right.
Marcia Smith 25:33
So popcorn, cotton candy and nachos. All right.
Bob Smith 25:37
Sounds like a really great meal. Too many of them are
Marcia Smith 25:40
good for popcorn isn’t too bad. But they’re the big they’re the big moneymakers.
Bob Smith 25:45
That’s the concession stand. Yeah. All right. All right. So I guess the wine doesn’t make it there. Apparently. Oh, gosh, no. Wow. All right. Hell no. Okay.
Marcia Smith 25:55
All right. My last question before my quote. How big is the biggest full functioning toolbar?
Bob Smith 26:01
The biggest full functioning toolbar, as opposed to all those other tools that aren’t fully functional? They
Marcia Smith 26:06
make prop kind of two tiny, tiny tubas? Okay, I’ll
Bob Smith 26:10
say it’s a 20 feet tall. Oh, geez. And it’s 165 pounds. Okay. What’s
Marcia Smith 26:17
110 pounds? seven feet tall. And the guy imagined carrying something. 100 Well, that’s fine. But yes, you can hear Flight of the Bumblebee on this incredibly large dooba
Bob Smith 26:28
one of my favorite records was when Yuba plays the Roomba on the tuba. Did you ever hear that? No. Oh, this was a novelty song. It was one of the 70 eights my mom had in her collection for when she was a waitress in restaurants because to Data Data Data nananananana that added added we’ll have to play it so yeah, when you Roomba plays the Roomba on the toolbar
Marcia Smith 26:49
and I’m going to finish up up with a quote from Eckhart Tolle. Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.
Bob Smith 27:00
No. Okay, I’ve got two quotes. Once funny ones just a very nice one. This is from The Return of the Jedi a Yoda.
Speaker 1 27:07
When 900 years old, you will reach look as good you will not.
Bob Smith 27:14
You won’t look that good when you’re 900 years old.
Marcia Smith 27:17
Well, here’s another Okay. truly
Speaker 1 27:20
wonderful. The mind of a child is uncluttered.
Bob Smith 27:24
The mind of a child is uncluttered wisdom of the ages.
Marcia Smith 27:30
I think I should have stuck with Eckhart Tolle. But okay, Bob, let’s wrap it up. All
Bob Smith 27:34
right. That’s it for today. I’m Bob Smith. I’m Marcia Smith. Join us again next time when we return with more fascinating facts and tantalizing trivia here on the off ramp. The off ramp is produced in association with CPL radio online and the Cedarburg Public Library Cedarburg, Wisconsin.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
