The Off Ramp hosts Bob and Marcia Smith discussed various trivia topics. They explored the misconceptions surrounding Looney Tunes, revealing that coyotes can run faster than roadrunners. They delved into the origins of the “x” symbol in greetings, tracing it back to medieval times and the Cross of St. Andrew. The Vikings’ extensive trading networks were highlighted, including their interactions with the Byzantine Empire and the discovery of ancient artifacts. They examined the major organs essential for life, the evolution of the “Final Four” basketball court, and the impact of aging on time perception. Additionally, they touched on the persistence of Apollo astronauts’ footprints on the Moon and the rise of certain surgeries in the U.S.
Outline
Loony Tunes Cartoon Accuracies
- Bob Smith discusses the accuracy of Road Runner and Wiley E Coyote scenes in Looney Tunes cartoons.
- Marcia Smith suggests that a coyote is typically faster than a roadrunner.
- Bob Smith confirms that a coyote can run more than twice as fast as a roadrunner, ruining the cartoon’s premise.
- They speculate on possible jokes behind the cartoon’s portrayals.
Origin of Kiss Symbol in Texts
- Marcia Smith asks about the origin of the “X” symbol at the end of letters or texts, suggesting it represents kisses.
- Bob Smith initially assumes it was due to illiteracy but learns its history from Marcia.
- Marcia explains that the “X” symbol dates back to medieval times, representing the Cross of Saint Andrew, which ensured contracts were valid.
- Over time, the “X” evolved to represent a kiss, possibly influenced by the tradition of kissing the cross during ceremonial acts.
Vikings’ Trading Exploits
- Bob Smith reveals that Vikings were skilled traders, not just raiders, and had a vast mercantile empire.
- They used rivers like the Volga and Dnieper to reach markets in Russia and were known in the Middle East.
- Recent discoveries in Viking graves in Scandinavia reveal artifacts like a sixth-century Buddha statue and silk textiles from China.
- The Vikings traded various items, including fur, hides, ivory, amber, honey, weapons, metalwork, and even slaves.
Major Human Organs Essential for Life
- Bob Smith lists several major organs essential for life, missing two crucial ones.
- Marcia Smith completes the list with kidneys and liver, noting that humans can live with only one functioning lung or kidney.
- They discuss the importance of the brain and heart, emphasizing that losing either is fatal.
- Bob Smith humorously adds that skin holds everything together, contributing to the discussion.
Expression “A Penny For Your Thoughts”
- Marcia Smith asks about the origin of the expression “a penny for your thoughts.”
- Bob Smith incorrectly believes it dates back to the 1920s or 1930s but learns it originated in the 16th century.
- Sir Thomas More coined the term in his book “Four Last Things,” implying significance rather than monetary value.
- The expression reflects the historical value of pennies compared to modern perception.
Cell Phone Service on Mount Everest
- Marcia Smith shares that cell phone service is available on Mount Everest since 2007.
- In 2007, Rod Baber made a one-minute 48-second phone call, leaving a voicemail and setting a Guinness World Record.
- The cell tower was updated to 5G in 2020, offering increased capacity and efficiency.
- Despite the technological advancements, the experience remains expensive, highlighting the remoteness of the location.
Unique Features of Final Four Basketball Courts
- Marcia Smith notes that each Final Four basketball court is uniquely designed for the event.
- The courts are constructed annually from 100 maple trees harvested in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
- The wood is processed in Idaho and shipped to the host city, where it is installed for the tournament.
- Winning teams have the option to purchase the court, often displaying it in their facilities.
Perception of Time Passing Faster With Age
- Marcia Smith observes that time seems to pass faster as people age.
- Bob Smith attributes this phenomenon to the brain’s slower processing of new information with age.
- Studies suggest that older individuals take longer to absorb new data, leading to a perceived acceleration of time.
- They share humorous analogies, comparing learning new technology to experiencing rapid time passage.
Mickey Finnegan and Its Historical Context
- Marcia Smith explains that a “Mickey” is an altered drink intended to incapacitate the victim.
- The term originated from a Chicago bar owner named Mickey Finn, who used diuretics to remove problematic patrons.
- The practice became dangerous, particularly for young women, and led to the widespread use of the term.
- The story highlights the darker aspects of historical drinking practices.
First Organized Ice Hockey Game
- Bob Smith quizzes Marcia Smith about the first organized ice hockey game.
- She provides a vague timeline, mentioning the 1800s without a specific date.
- Bob Smith clarifies that the first organized ice hockey game occurred in Montreal in 1875.
- The earliest rules of hockey were published in the Montreal Gazette in 1877, shaping the modern sport significantly.
Bob Smith 0:00
We’ve all been entertained by the Road Runner running circles around Wiley E Coyote. But how accurate is that scenario?
Marcia Smith 0:07
Why do we use x’s to signify kisses at the bottom of a letter or a text?
Bob Smith 0:12
Answers to those and other questions coming up in this episode of The Off Ramp with Bob
Marcia Smith 0:17
and Marcia Smith.
Bob Smith 0:18
Welcome to The Off Ramp, a chance to slow down, steer clear of crazy and take a side road to sanity with fascinating facts and tantalizing trivia. So Marcia, those Looney Tunes, cartoons, they’re not entirely accurate.
Unknown Speaker 0:49
No, no!
Bob Smith 0:53
Okay, what do you think the answer is? Why is it inaccurate? Why is the roadrunner running circles around Wiley E Coyote? Inaccurate.
Marcia Smith 1:01
Well, I would assume that a coyote is faster than a roadrunner.
Bob Smith 1:04
That’s right, the top speed of a sprinting Roadrunner is less than 20 miles per hour, but a coyote, a coyote chasing prey, can exceed 40 miles per hour.
Marcia Smith 1:14
Well, maybe he was just supercharged, and that was the joke of the cartoon.
Bob Smith 1:18
A coyote might have just been very tired that day. Yeah, every day they did the cartoon anyway. So the facts are reversed. A coyote can run more than twice as fast as a roadrunner, and that just ruined everything.
Marcia Smith 1:33
Okay, so Bob, people use X’s and O’s at the bottom of letters and texts itself, and the x’s signify kisses. What’s the origin of that designation?
Bob Smith 1:43
I just assumed it was illiteracy, illiterate people making their mark. But I don’t know why it became a kiss.
Marcia Smith 1:49
It goes back to medieval times. Most people could not read or write, or even those who could write would have to sign their names, followed with an X. They had to sign their names followed with an X. X symbolized the Cross of St Andre, or their contract would be invalid.
Bob Smith 2:06
Oh, my goodness. So they had to reference a religious figure?
Marcia Smith 2:08
Yes, and if you couldn’t write, you just did the X to make it legal.
Bob Smith 2:12
So how did that become a kiss?
Marcia Smith 2:14
To prove their intention, everybody was required to kiss the cross, which through time, is how the X became associated.
Bob Smith 2:24
So you signed your name, you put an X next to it, and you have to kiss.
Marcia Smith 2:28
Kiss the cross.
Bob Smith 2:29
Wow.
Marcia Smith 2:30
It was those good old days.
Bob Smith 2:32
Well, that didn’t ruin everything. That just made it more believable.
Marcia Smith 2:35
Not a guest. It would turn into Valentine’s cards everywhere. Okay?
Bob Smith 2:39
Marcia, who were the first peoples to visit these four continents, Europe, Asia, Africa and America, the first peoples to visit all.
Marcia Smith 2:50
It’s the same culture?
Bob Smith 2:50
That’s correct.
Marcia Smith 2:51
All the cases, well, then you have to go back to China.
Bob Smith 2:54
China?
Marcia Smith 2:55
Yeah.
Bob Smith 2:56
No.
Marcia Smith 2:56
No? it wasn’t the Romans.
Bob Smith 2:58
No, no. The Romans never made it to the Americas. Who?
Marcia Smith 3:02
I don’t know.
Bob Smith 3:03
The Vikings!
Marcia Smith 3:04
Oh, of course.
Bob Smith 3:05
The Vikings had a mercantile empire that stretched from the North American continent in the west to the Caspian Sea in the East. And the Vikings used river routes like the Volga and Dnieper to reach markets in Russia. Their long ships weren’t just war machines. They were cargo trucks in the medieval world. Now, Viking doesn’t refer to an ethnic group, like we might think it does. It refers to their occupation. They were traders or Raiders, depending on the situation, pirates, some called them, but that trading made them known as far east as Baghdad. In the Middle East, everybody knew who the Vikings were. And guess what? They recently discovered among Viking graves in Scandinavia.
Marcia Smith 3:45
Got me
Bob Smith 3:47
Something you wouldn’t believe. They found the statue of Buddha dating from the sixth century, probably made in India or Pakistan.
Marcia Smith 3:55
You mean, they took it with them.
Bob Smith 3:56
It was traded by the Vikings. The Vikings had it in Scandinavia.
Marcia Smith 4:00
From their trading?
Bob Smith 4:00
Yeah. So they traded on the Silk Road, and they also found silk textiles in Scandinavia that can be traced all the way back to China itself.
Marcia Smith 4:08
Did they pillage in marauder?
Bob Smith 4:10
I don’t think they did it, unless they felt they had to. Okay, they were big traders. They found trading partners in the Byzantine Empire that unlocked the whole Middle East to them and that area, Russia, yeah.
Marcia Smith 4:21
Do you know their era? Y
Bob Smith 4:23
es, from the eighth to the 11th century, they were at their heights.
Marcia Smith 4:26
Huh? So what did they trade?
Bob Smith 4:28
The Vikings, you mean?
Marcia Smith 4:29
Yeah
Bob Smith 4:30
Okay, a variety of things, furs, hides and leather, including arctic fox and beaver and saber pelts. We know that they traded walrus ivory, because a lot of things were carved Amber, the fossilized Baltic tree resin, was a luxury item in Asia and the Middle East. And honey, beeswax, weapons, metalwork and slaves. Unfortunately, human trafficking was part of the Viking trade, especially with Arab merchants.
Marcia Smith 4:55
And it goes on to this day.
Bob Smith 4:56
Yeah, it goes on to this day.
Marcia Smith 4:57
Isn’t that something? Okay, Bob, what are the five major organs in our body that are essential for life?
Bob Smith 5:06
Okay? The brain, the heart, the lungs, uh huh. Let’s see the nose or the smell or the
Marcia Smith 5:14
No.
Bob Smith 5:14
No? Okay. Skin. Skin is an organ.
Marcia Smith 5:17
Not on this no, just major organs.
Bob Smith 5:20
The skin holds it all together, Marsh!
Marcia Smith 5:21
All right, but no.
Bob Smith 5:23
Okay, so I got three of the five. What are the other two?
Marcia Smith 5:25
The kidneys and liver.
Bob Smith 5:27
That makes sense.
Marcia Smith 5:27
And with the lungs and the kidneys, you can survive just fine with one. So you don’t need two of each of those. No, but the other ones are only one, and you better have the brain or the heart.
Bob Smith 5:38
And like I said, you need the skin to hold it all together. That’s the bag that keeps it all together,
Marcia Smith 5:44
Or the sag, depending on your situation.
Bob Smith 5:47
Okay Marcia, where does this expression come from? A penny for your thoughts. Where does the expression a penny for your thoughts come from?
Marcia Smith 5:55
Well, does it go back to the 20s or the 30s?
Bob Smith 5:58
It goes back to the 16th century.
Marcia Smith 6:00
Oh, all right, I was wrong.
Bob Smith 6:01
The Englishman, Sir Thomas More in 1522 in his book four last things, he wrote a variation on the idiom, a penny for your thoughts, not thoughts. We think of a penny as being something of little value, but 500 years ago, that was not the case. A penny for your thoughts meant, I’m going to give you something significant for your
Marcia Smith 6:21
thoughts. Oh, okay, I’ll be darned. Okay, Bob, can you get cell phone service at the summit of Mount Everest?
Bob Smith 6:29
Well, let’s see. That’s a good question. I know you could probably get satellite service, cell phone service. Are there towers up that way? Okay, I will say yes, but I don’t know how.
Marcia Smith 6:41
I don’t know how it goes back to 2007 rod. Baber had a one minute 48 second phone call where he left a voicemail account. He called a voicemail account to leave a message, and it cost him $4.72 that’s because China Telecom set up a cell tower so he could do this, and they got in the Guinness Book of Records. Oh, no kidding, but the cell tower remained, and they kept updating it. And in 2020 the mountain got the 5g upgrade, which offers 20 times more capacity at 1/3 the size. Wow. That means that if you want to find some excuse to unplug from work climbing, Everest ain’t going to do it. Oh, my goodness, later, as the cell phone service was upgraded, barber also sent a text to a Motorola employee, and he said, one small text for man, one giant leap for mobile kind. Well,
Bob Smith 7:33
isn’t that funny? Would you imagine having a voicemail from the North Pole? Yeah, that is just weird. Okay, Marcia, you know about the Final Four in basketball? Yes, happens every spring. How is each Final Four basketball court unique?
Marcia Smith 7:49
Really? They change it for who’s playing, right? They put their insignias on there. Is that it? Yeah,
Bob Smith 7:58
it’s not only the change of the insignia, though there’s actually a new floor created every year. Why did you know that? No, each year a new basketball court floor is made specifically for the final four of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Now this comes from britannica.com the wood comes from 100 maple trees cut down in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and they’re sent to Idaho, where they’re measured, sanded and stained before they’re being shipped to the host city, and after these three games are played on it, the ultimate winner is given an opportunity to buy the floor. Oh, wow. So each floor in the final floor, it’s hard to say that three times each floor for the Final Four is unique,
Marcia Smith 8:40
huh? I’ll be done. Who buys
Bob Smith 8:44
it? The winning team can buy it. What did they do with it? Well, they would put it on their their court, their floor, say, hey, look, we were in the final floor. And for the next year floor, we were in the final we were in the Final Four, and for the next year we’re playing on that floor. Oh, okay, that is easy to it’s easy to say after you get
Marcia Smith 8:59
used to it. Yeah, okay. All right. Well, that is a bit bizarre. And remember, you and I always marvel at how you can repurpose bowling alleys right right
Bob Smith 9:08
into all kind of work benches. We’ve got one in the house.
Marcia Smith 9:12
I thought that’s maybe what they did with
Bob Smith 9:14
that. Cut down 100 trees. I hate to do that every year. Why do you have to redo that? Is it 100 trees, 100 trees from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, all right, Bob, why
Marcia Smith 9:22
does time seem to move along faster as we age? It sure
Bob Smith 9:27
does, doesn’t it? Yeah, I’ve told our kids that it kind of feels like a freight train racing. You know, all of a sudden,
Marcia Smith 9:33
hit 45 like us, yeah,
Bob Smith 9:37
when we hit 45 I remember that it has something to do with the way your brain I suppose, well, I assume it’s your brain changing the way it thinks. Is
Marcia Smith 9:46
it? Well, studies have shown that one of the reasons it seems to move along faster is that processing new information as you age can take longer. You do it much faster when you’re young. But it. Much slower when you’re older, and that may cause time to seemingly move faster. Does that make sense? Processing information slower makes time seemingly move faster? No, it makes no sense. But okay, I know, but that’s just it. But it’s true. You do process new things, like, let’s figure out this new phone, okay? And by the time you figured it out, they’ve come out with another one. Gee, an hour has passed that flew by. See, I’m trying to make an analogy. I’m
Bob Smith 10:28
sorry about that. Yeah, did you hear it? Yes, I did. Okay. I just was thinking a new phone would have been developed by that time. And, you know, yeah, now you have to learn a new one. Yeah. Okay,
Marcia Smith 10:36
this is interesting. I think. Why is an altered alcoholic drink called a Mickey, wasn’t
Bob Smith 10:43
it Mickey Finn? Isn’t it a Mickey Finn? Oh for God, is named after the the character or the writer.
Marcia Smith 10:50
He’s a real person. Okay, tell me, a Mickey is an alcoholic drink that has been altered to incapacitate the person who drinks it. It’s become very dangerous. I did especially for young women today, but it started out innocently enough in a Chicago bar owned by a man named Mickey Finn. Why do we all know that? Right there’s a bar here in Milwaukee called Mickey Finn. Around the turn of the 20th century, Finn discovered he could get rid of obnoxious customers by putting a diuretic into their drink. So within minutes, the troublesome drinker would have to urgently leave the bar to go to the bathroom. Oh, my goodness, he would try to get home before it all hit the fan or whatever. Oh, dear Lord, a diuretic. So that’s how the Mickey started out, and why it was called Mickey
Bob Smith 11:37
goodness, because a bartender’s like, get that guy out of here. Yeah. Wow, yeah. Okay,
Marcia Smith 11:42
that’s it a little bit of folklore right here, dear friends. Okay, amaze and amuse you.
Bob Smith 11:49
All right. Marcia, the game of hockey. When was the first organized game of outdoor hockey, and what city hosted it? Was it Quebec, Ottawa, Montreal or Toronto? And when? How far back does it go? Say again, I didn’t hear the first ever organized ice hockey game. I’ll say 1800s Yeah, when?
Marcia Smith 12:10
1800s I’m not, I
Bob Smith 12:12
don’t. Well, it was an 1803 is
Marcia Smith 12:14
it 1899 ridiculous? You have 100 years. That’s a real the
Bob Smith 12:18
ridiculous thing is, you can’t give me an answer. Marsh, okay, give me a half answer. 1850 it was in 1875 the first ever organized ice hockey game in Montreal, and the earliest Rules of Hockey were also published in the Montreal Gazette in 1877 so it’s a pretty recent game. I thought it went back much farther than that. There is evidence of ice hockey being played before 1877 in England, but the Canadian rules have largely shaped the sport that’s played today,
Marcia Smith 12:47
which is pretty much what they follow around here. Midwest is big on ice hockey, too. That
Bob Smith 12:51
came from the Canadian encyclopedia. Oh, thank you, Bob. There are
Marcia Smith 12:55
only three types of snakes on the island of Tasmania, and they all have something in common. What is it? They’re
Bob Smith 13:02
all blind, no, okay, they’re all, they’re not poisonous. No, okay, they are poisonous. Okay, they’re all No, they can climb trees. I don’t know. They
Marcia Smith 13:13
are all deadly poisonous. Ooh, so you were there almost, well, I don’t want to be there, yeah, God, every snake there, I’ll kill you. Okay, another animal question. No vacation in Tasmania this year. Not this year. A Viking cruise that goes to Tasmania. I don’t I’m sure there are
Bob Smith 13:30
probably what do horses and owls have in common? Well, I have no idea. Well, you gotta try some things Marsh. You’re not trying
Marcia Smith 13:39
too hard, specific enough. I mean, what do horses
Bob Smith 13:42
and owls have in common with regard to the way they can
Marcia Smith 13:45
see? Oh, the way they can see. They both have to they both can’t see out of the they can only see forward. I don’t know.
Bob Smith 13:55
Okay. They both have a very wide range of peripheral vision. Oh, okay. You know that owls can rotate their necks about 270 degrees. Yeah, that’s weird, huh? Horses can see even better than that. Because of the way their eyes are positioned on their heads, they can see nearly 360 degrees. Wow. And not only that, horses can focus on two objects at once, one from each eye, really. Yeah, how about that? How do you do that? Well, that’s the way their brain works. Wow. Our brains kind of work where you kind of try to, yeah, that goes bring division together, you know. But when you got things on either side of your head, your brain is looking at them separately, yeah, interesting. I love your expression. You’re doing your expression, you’re looking like both sides of your head. It doesn’t work for us, honey. Okay, okay, I said it was horses and owls, not people. Okay, let’s take a break. You’re listening to the off ramp with Bob and Marcia Smith, we’ll be back in just a moment. Okay, we’re back with more questions. You’re listening to the off ramp with Bob and Marcia Smith, we do this each week for the Cedarburg Public. Library Cedarburg, Wisconsin, and then we put it on podcast platforms, where it’s heard all over the world.
Marcia Smith 15:07
Okay, time for aka Bob, also known as which is a card game, all right, the topic the category is, you’ll like this Clint Eastwood movies, okay, so if I said the name of this movie is filthy Harold. That would be Judy Harry. I’m gonna hear that. Okay, how about a handful of money? A Fistful of Dollars, correct? Apology not accepted. Let’s
Bob Smith 15:35
see Apology not accepted. Know something, right?
Marcia Smith 15:38
No, no, you’ve seen this movie, okay, if you don’t accept an apology from someone, you are not what. You are not forgiving them,
Bob Smith 15:46
unforgiving, unforgiven. Yeah, I never thought of it as being Apology not accepted, yeah, okay, yeah, you’re right. That is true.
Marcia Smith 15:53
Okay, ready? Seven figures. Infant, seven figures. Infant, yeah, this is good. You’ve seen this. Seven figures
Bob Smith 16:01
infant. Yes, Million Dollar Baby. That’s it. Okay, very good.
Marcia Smith 16:06
Okay, Ryan Reynolds, superhero.
Bob Smith 16:10
That’s got something to do with Clint Eastwood. Yes, it does. Oh, man, I that’s, that’s one. I don’t, I don’t picture that one. I didn’t get it either. He didn’t direct the film.
Marcia Smith 16:19
No, okay, okay, the answer is the Deadpool. The Deadpool is a 1988 Dirty Harry film. I thought there was a film like that. Yeah. And then in 2016 Ryan Reynolds played the superhero the Deadpool in a movie called the Deadpool. Oh, I
Bob Smith 16:34
didn’t know that. So there were multiple films called the Deadpool. Okay, I just haven’t paid attention to that part of the action either. So 1988 Deadpool was a film of Dirty Harry, yeah, Eastwood. And 2016 was Ryan Reynolds playing Deadpool in a film called the Deadpool. That’s correct. Okay, you got it last Clear as mud, finally,
Marcia Smith 16:54
last Eastwood movie, San Francisco jailbreak.
Bob Smith 16:58
Okay, that was Alcatraz. What
Marcia Smith 17:01
was the name of the movie?
Speaker 1 17:02
Escape from Alcatraz? Oh God, escape from Okay, baby, move on. And he did. He found a way out.
Bob Smith 17:11
All righty, that’s good. All right. Gave me a chance to use one of my characters. Thank you so much. All right, another question for you, Marcia, Marcia, you’ve been in a bistro before once or twice in Paris, yeah. What is a the word Bistro? Where does that come from? The Bistro? The origin of the word Bistro? Oh, one story, the most colorful story. Okay, you tell me all right. It comes from France, but not from the French themselves. Russian soldiers in 1815 ordered Paris waiters to bring orders. Bistro, bistro meeting faster, quickly, quickly. Oh, and a bistro is kind of a casual restaurant, uh huh. It’s not a fine dining establishment. You can get food a little faster. I think of that. It’s that’s how it became known as a bistro,
Marcia Smith 17:53
okay, yeah. I think of a bistro as a bar and food and drink, yeah, kind of place that it’s part Bar, part
Bob Smith 18:01
restaurant, and then brasiere, that’s a little more sophisticated restaurant, yeah, and you have fine dining,
Marcia Smith 18:06
so Bistro, Bistro, get your food over here. That’s funny. All right, Bob, are the astronauts footprints still
Bob Smith 18:15
on the moon? Yes, they are. How do you know? Well, I just assume they’re there because there’s no wind on the moon.
Marcia Smith 18:20
That’s right, there’s no atmosphere up there. And yep, the footprints and rover tracks from the 1969 Apollo mission are still visible on the moon because there’s no atmosphere, so there’s no wind or rain, earthquakes or volcanic activity to wipe it away. So they’ll be there forever. No, in human terms, no. They say they will eventually degrade, but it’s going to take a quite a while.
Bob Smith 18:44
Well, I said in human terms, yes, like they’re there forever. That’s like a couple 100 years.
Marcia Smith 18:49
Oh, so that’s what you’re saying. That’s right, I’m wrong. Is that what you’re saying? Oh, yes,
Bob Smith 18:52
I am saying that that is true. Thank you very much. Okay, you got
Marcia Smith 18:55
that you always need a win, don’t you?
Bob Smith 18:59
Okay? Recently, in the news, yet another Apollo astronaut died, William Anders. He was an Apollo eight astronaut. Any idea how old he was 80? No, he was 90. He was 90, and he was piloting a plane when he died. He actually flew down into, I think he flew into the ocean. He was piloting a plane alone. Dived into the water near Roche Harbor, Washington, northwest of Seattle. He was 90. His son confirmed his
Marcia Smith 19:24
death. Well, he’s the guy, isn’t he? That took the picture of the earth
Bob Smith 19:28
that’s right on the Apollo eight mission. He took that famous picture of the Earth rising over the surface of the moon, called Earth rising
Marcia Smith 19:36
that was a fabulous picture, recreated, reproduced.
Bob Smith 19:39
Yeah, remember, there was a postage stamp, the US postage stamp with that picture. And underneath it, it just said, In the beginning, God, oh, really, yeah, on the postage stamp, yeah. It’s amazing. You read about these guys when they’ve died, and they were all in their 30s and maybe early 40s, when they went on these missions, when we were kids, and now they’re in their 90s or 100 dying. Why? What accomplished human beings these people were. This is a little bit from his obituary. I had no idea. First off, he had a degree in nuclear engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton. A year later, he joined the third class of astronauts NASA, and while at NASA, he became a specialist in space radiation. And then later, after he retired from NASA and the Air Force in 1969 he was the Executive Secretary of the National Aeronautics and Space Council, later a member of the Atomic Energy Commission. He was the first chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Ambassador to Norway for the United States. And then he held positions with General Electric and Textron, and was chairman and chief executive of General Dynamics. Then he retired from the Air Force Reserve in 1988 as a major general. My God, what an accomplished guy. This man
Marcia Smith 20:51
was nice. Resumes, Bob doesn’t
Bob Smith 20:55
sound like my LinkedIn profile. No, no, by the way, we did explore that Apollo eight mission with recordings I made from network television as a teenager in episode five of the off ramp. It makes for very interesting listening. If you go to any of the places where you see our show, you can scroll and add more episodes and just keep going all the way down to number five. And you’ll find remembering Apollo eight again using recordings I made as a teenager from network television in 1968 it puts you right back there when it was taking place. Walter Cronkite and all,
Marcia Smith 21:27
okay, Bob, can you name the top three surgeries in the United States? The top three? Yeah,
Bob Smith 21:36
okay, I would say, are we talking like oral surgery, like for teeth or
Marcia Smith 21:40
something else? No, just, just any kind of surgery. It’s not teeth. No, okay, well,
Bob Smith 21:45
I’ve ruled that out. Thanks. All right, so, LASIK surgery, eye
Marcia Smith 21:49
surgery. No, the first one does connected with the eyes. LASIK, it’s for cat. That’s it. Cat.
Bob Smith 21:58
Our racks, cataracts. There we go. I couldn’t think of the rest
Marcia Smith 22:01
of the word, yeah, cataract removal, 3 million a year. Wow. Number two. Number two is probably knee or hips. That’s number three, very good. Okay, it’s joint replacements, over a million each year.
Bob Smith 22:13
Well, joint replacements would include knees, yeah, okay, gotcha Yeah.
Marcia Smith 22:16
And number two is cesarean sections, oh, which is, yeah, about 1.3 million a year. So
Bob Smith 22:23
it’s cataract, cesarean sections and joint replacement, replacement.
Marcia Smith 22:27
And what was the fourth? Was there a fourth one? Not that I have in my list, and joint replacements, those are the top three. Yeah. Okay. And then curious, and we’ve had them all. No, we haven’t. No, we haven’t had them all. No, I know. I just had two of them. I had two of the three. Good for you.
Bob Smith 22:42
You want a badge? Do you want a medal? Cherry Pie. Cherry Pie. Okay, we’ll give you cherry pie. Okay, okay. This is a food question in a strange way. What current cereal mascot was created by Jay Ward and Bill Scott, who drew Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons?
Marcia Smith 23:00
What famous mascot? There’s a cereal mascot now, Tony the Tiger. Not Tony the Tiger. No, was, I don’t know my cereal mascots. They
Bob Smith 23:09
have one that’s still on the shelves, introduced by Quaker Oats in 1963 Captain crutch. Oh, really the captain the captain crutch character, the image on the cereal box was drawn by the same cartoonist who drew Rocky and Bullwinkle. I wouldn’t have guessed that. Okay, Marcia, I want you to name the brand of an American potato chip in a can launched by General Mills in the 1970s
Marcia Smith 23:32
was it Pringles? Oh, no, no, okay. Was
Bob Smith 23:36
it munchums force? Mrs. Bumby’s, or ruffles? Ruffles? No, it wasn’t ruffles, Mrs. Bumby. It was called Mrs. Bumby. So how do
Marcia Smith 23:45
you spell that?
Bob Smith 23:45
It’s m, U, it’s b, u, M, B, y, s. It’s so funny. Now, these were, you know, the ruffles were invented in 1948 and purchased by what became Frito Lay in 1968 but seeing their popularity, General Mills decided they would develop their own potato chips in a can. They called them Mrs. Bumbys, uniformly round chips sold in a circular container, just like Pringles or ruffles. And Mrs. Bumbys were advertised and packaged. They packaged with the this is probably what killed it. It’s the graphics of the advertising and the packaging.
Marcia Smith 24:19
But it wasn’t like grandma’s market.
Bob Smith 24:23
Yes, it’s an elderly, bespectacled woman with text saying these chips were made from dried russet
Speaker 2 24:29
potatoes. Oh, God. And you see a dried up old lady? Well, that’s a terrible thing to say, Marcia,
Bob Smith 24:34
but we are at that age, so we don’t care if you say that. Right? Anyway, they failed. General Mills discontinued Mrs. Bumby’s After a few years,
Marcia Smith 24:42
it’s not appealing, Mrs. Bumby doesn’t even sound good, does it? Fried potato chips in a can? I’m sorry, not a marketing ploy. Okay, here’s a quick one. What percent of all cancer is skin cancer?
Bob Smith 24:56
That’s probably the biggest cancer in the world. I would imagine it is. So I would say that’s like 50% of all
Marcia Smith 25:04
kids, exactly, right. Wow. And 90% of those skin cancers are caused by the sun, so be careful out there.
Bob Smith 25:12
Marcia, one more question, okay, what is the most popular zip code in the United States? Not the most popular, the most populated, the biggest zip code.
Marcia Smith 25:20
I would think it would be LA or New York City. I would have thought that too. But no, oh, maybe it’s Arizona.
Bob Smith 25:27
No, no, I would have thought that would have been one of those. Or maybe the capital, Washington, DC, maybe, you know. But no, Texas is home to the most populated zip code. It’s in Katy, Texas zip code 77449, population, 128,294 people. That’s a suburb of Houston, 30 miles west of Houston, and interestingly enough, the second most populated zip code in the country also belongs to Katie. Another 118,005 of the top 10 zip codes by population are located in Texas,
Marcia Smith 26:03
huh? Wouldn’t have guessed that. Yeah. All right. All right. We’re going to wrap it up with a quote on integrity here. This one’s from Mark Twain. It is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not deserve
Bob Smith 26:17
them. That’s true. I think he felt that way about some of the things people bestowed upon him, you know, yeah, he was such a celebrity, people were giving him awards for
Marcia Smith 26:25
everything. I think so, so. And George Bernard Shaw, I learned long ago, never wrestle with a pig. You get dirty. And besides, the pig likes it. I guess the pig is standing in for somebody with no integrity. The
Bob Smith 26:42
important thing is to catch that pig so it doesn’t get loose. That’s the important thing. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed catching our trivia show this week, we want to invite you. If you have any questions or things you’d like to contribute, you can do so by going to our website, the off ramp dot show and scrolling all the way down to contact us. There’s a box there you can leave us information. Okay? I’m Bob Smith. I’m Marcia Smith. Join us again next week, when we return with more fascinating facts and tantalizing trivia here on The Off Ramp, you
Bob Smith 27:29
announcer, The Off Ramp is produced in association with the Cedarburg Public Library. Cedarburg, Wisconsin. Visit us on the web at the off ramp dot show at.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
