Roamin' Rich: 0:00

Contentment, to me, is very important. You have to be content with the life, the hand that you've been dealt, the blessings you've been given, and you have to just work with what you got.

Porter: 0:15

Alrighty folks, welcome back to Transacting Value, where we're encouraging dialogue from different perspectives to unite over shared values. Our theme for season four is intrinsic values, so what your character is doing when you look yourself in the mirror. Now, if you're new to the podcast, welcome, and if you're a continuing listener, welcome back. Today we're talking our October core values of creativity, simplicity and giving with Roman rich and yes, that Roman rich from the hooked on Route 66 YouTube channel, talking all things history, culture and small town Americana as it applies to that primarily two lane road from California to Illinois and what makes that two lane road world famous. So, folks, without further ado, I'm Porter, I'm your host and this is Transacting Value. Rich with some man How's life?

Roamin' Rich: 1:07

Life is awesome. Thanks for having me on the show.

Porter: 1:11

No problem, dude, I appreciate you making some time out of your day to. I understand you're in Nevada or mountain time somewhere. Where are you?

Roamin' Rich: 1:18

I'm in central time.

Porter: 1:19

I'm located just in the suburbs of St Louis, Missouri, on Route 66 because it cuts through Missouri right.

Roamin' Rich: 1:26

No, I'm just probably around 20 to 30 minutes away from the closest alignment of Route 66, not too far removed.

Porter: 1:36

Okay, well, we're going to clear some of this up, because it's been in songs, it's been in books, it's been in movies, it's been in mob stories, it's been in all sorts of murder mysteries and all the intrigue surrounding Route 66 and all the, frankly, fame that it's generated. It's still just dirt and asphalt. There's really nothing special about it, right? What makes Route 66 such a big deal?

Roamin' Rich: 2:00

You know it is a bit of a mystery. There's such a fanatical romance driven towards Route 66 that is kind of at face value, unexplainable. Why is Route 66 any more special or popular compared to, say, the Lincoln Highway or the Loneliest Highway? Us 50? And I think it's simply put is the number 66, when they came up with the delineation of that number, it just has a special ring to it. And when Bobby Trub put it to song, I think that's what really made it take off and it really gave it a personality. When he did that, what was that? In the 60s? See, nat King Cole sang it. So I want to say that was in the early 50s.

Porter: 2:52

Oh man, that's a total missed opportunity. It should have waited a decade.

Roamin' Rich: 2:57

There's been a lot of people that have covered that song Depeche Mode and Rolling Stones, to name a few and lots of people have covered that song and have all done their own certain creative spin on it. Chuck Berry is my favorite that sings it and he's also a St Louis resident or St Louis native.

Porter: 3:17

Is there a lot of Route 66 or even maybe more generically, americana influence in and around St Louis, just because of its proximity?

Roamin' Rich: 3:26

Sadly I hate to report it, but not really If you know what you're looking for. Yes, there are nooks and crannies of nostalgia and vintage leftovers and things of that nature, but maybe a subject for a different time. St Louis is a creature of its own and Route 66 is heavily shrouded in the area, unfortunately.

Porter: 3:50

Fair, fair. Well, just overshadowing, I suppose, in and of itself is a. I don't know phenomenon a social phenomenon, I suppose societal phenomenon, it's just bound to happen. But like with a lot of things, I think, especially the ones that we tend to personify or romanticize it comes down to the people, like you said Chuck Berry, for example, nat King Cole and Depeche Mode, others but it comes down to the people that make it. When it comes to Route 66, outside of musicians, outside of singer-songwriters or lyricists of any kind, that's mob history too Chicago all the way to LA, just outside Vegas. Coincidentally enough, it can't be all that circumstantial. I'm sure it was somewhat intentional.

Roamin' Rich: 4:30

Yeah, I believe so. Al Capone was supposedly a strong driver towards improving the roads through Illinois, so much in fact that many people probably don't understand this. But the country the United States didn't come up with this numbered designation for highways until 1926. Illinois already had their section of what eventually became Route 66, was already paved in Portland Cement pretty much all the way from Chicago to St Louis, before Route 66 was even thought about. What does that tell you? If you got good roads, you can get your products to and from where it needs to go much faster.

Porter: 5:13

Okay, I've got a quick theory, I guess, to run by you. Anything that the mob was into, especially as it applies to Cement and I've learned this exclusively and explicitly from Hollywood means there are bodies under it, True or false. About Route 66?

Roamin' Rich: 5:28

That is true, in fact. One of my acquaintances who's also a Route 66 fanatic she's a bit older than I am, but she came from the Chicago area. Her family came from the Chicago area. Allegedly she reports that her grandfather used to prepare cars for Al Capone and his gang and he would line the doors with Cement with Portland Cement to make them bulletproof.

Porter: 5:57

We know all of this inspiration. I suppose in your life you pave roads, right, that's your job.

Roamin' Rich: 6:04

Yes, I do it with asphalt, a little bit different material, but yeah, I was born and raised in asphalt.

Porter: 6:10

But I'm glad you were able to wash it all off. That says a lot.

Roamin' Rich: 6:16

I clean up pretty good.

Porter: 6:18

Yeah, man, yeah, for everybody listening. Rich and I talked a couple of weeks ago and we're actually on a video call right now. But, Rich, for everybody listening, we're only recording the audio. So let's start with a little bit of relatability here, Aside from just your day job. That way everybody knows who to listen to. Who's the guy behind the streets, so to speak? Where are you from? What kinds of things have shaped your perspective? Take the floor.

Roamin' Rich: 6:41

OK, so I was literally born and raised in a town called St Charles, missouri. For anyone who follows history, that is where Lewis and Clark embarked on their big journey to explore the Louisiana Purchase and there's a lot of things around our town promoting that. Side note, william Clark is buried right on Route 66 in St Louis. Oh cool. But yeah, I always found myself fascinated with all the different stories that emanated from growing up in small town St Charles about Lewis and Clark and Daniel Boone, all these explorers and stuff, and how they blazed paths across the countryside into places unknown, with all these different perils and risks and pitfalls that lie ahead agitated Native Americans and things of that nature. And back then you had lore and things as well. You had all these stories and stuff. So I was always really captivated by that. And then my parents were big into taking road trips. So my father he was the proprietor of the asphalt paving company that I eventually inherited. My mother was an archaeologist. She was avid in history. She loved all things Egypt and basically anything that came out of the soil that was some sort of a relic or artifact or anything historic. She was into it. She did digs at the Scott Joplin House and she was big into the Cahokia Mounds and things like that, and so I guess my personality somewhat culminated from those two my mom and my dad in those road trips that we would take. I was born in the 70s and grew up in the 80s, and so we didn't have entertainment devices in the car. When we were doing road trips I was left to either reading a book, playing with toys or staring out the window, and most of the time I elected to stare out the window. So I found myself seeing all these stranded, orphaned, relegated landmarks or buildings and businesses and homes and stuff right on the edge of the interstate. At this time we're talking about I-44, because my dad was a destinationist, you had to get to where we were going. There was no touring.

Porter: 9:04

Yeah.

Roamin' Rich: 9:05

And I was enamored by some of the road signs, like the Ozark courts, john's Modern Cabins, archway Motel, just to name a few. There were so many that stick out in my brain that I just love seeing those. We took multiple road trips to the Branson area when I was a kid to experience the country, get away from the busy city or suburban life and get out to the country. My dad had bought property out there and so we would go quite often and I would always see these familiar roadside relics and they just became ingrained in who I am, sort of the fabric of who I am. And John's Modern Cabins was one that really stuck out because I always wanted to get out when I was a kid. Like dad, stop, let's go, look at those old log cabins. He's like we'd stop it on the side of the interstate, what's the matter with you? And so, yeah, that's kind of who I am. I'm a product of my mom and my dad and the road trips that we took and always fascinated with dead ends why is that a dead end? Where does that path go? And just really questioned a lot of things that were out there in life to see.

Porter: 10:16

Okay, that's a lot to unpack, so let's just start there, fascinated with a lot of things in life, to see small town Americana, the influences of things on the sides of the road, obviously, the roadside relics, right, all of these things. Like your mom was an archeologist, you didn't have a choice but to get interested in history, I'm sure. And then literally building roads that are going to convey history for everybody else. It was like a calling to be a historian that works in asphalt, of all things. You're, I don't know, preserving the logistics of history, the social status and structure and stories for that matter. Let's start here. This is a segment of the show called.

Roamin' Rich: 10:53

Developing, character Developing.

Porter: 10:55

Character, and of all the things that you mentioned, the one thing that I'm curious about, primarily because it's the point of the show, are some of your values that influence your perspective throughout. All of those things Maybe even help focus and aid some clarity, but for everybody listening, if you're new to the show, Developing Character is two questions, and Rich as vulnerable as you wanna be. It's totally fair game and up to you. The first question, though what were some of your values growing up?

Roamin' Rich: 11:22

You know, growing up I was just. I had a different upbringing. I had this abridged freedom. I could pretty well come and go and do as I wanted, so long as I didn't get caught getting into major trouble and which happened a handful of times but for the most part I was pretty good at either not serving carrying a truck or not getting caught, and so I maintained a high level of freedom. At seven, eight years old probably don't even go home from school, because back then we would walk or ride our bikes. I never had a bus ride until I was in middle school and actually had changed locations, but we would walk and ride our bike in the snow to school. I would come home I wouldn't even go in the house, I'd throw my backpack either on the porch or next to the garage and take off. I was just merely shedding weight so that I could go out and explore my community and I guess, as far as values go, as I valued my freedom, so I was very cautious as to, as my sister would put, if you get caught in doing something, it better be worth, whatever the punishment was that followed. I really valued my freedom. I valued being able to go out and explore and meet with friends and play games and make forts and make clubhouses and do all those things that a lot of kids did, probably in the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s, and it started tapering off in the 80s with the advent of personal entertainment and I never really had any of that. I was excluded from Nintendo's and Sega's and all those game consoles and stuff. At the time I was pretty miffed about it, but later on I'm pretty happy I was excluded from that and I got to really experience life. But yeah, if I had to name one thing in my youth, it was my freedom, because today the kids don't have it.

Porter: 13:23

Well, it's a little bit different, I think. Obviously, the controls are a little bit tighter, a lot a bit tighter than they were even three decades ago, let alone longer, but you're still forced to creatively interpret whatever the inputs are around you. In this case, maybe it involves controls like in video games, I suppose not like handheld controls, but like mental creativity limitations, because you can only interpret to the extent that the game allows. But you're in the middle of outside the city, especially at that time it was a lot of undeveloped area, right, so you could do what.

Roamin' Rich: 13:57

I mean, you were the Tom Sawyer of your day, you know you said it, man, I compare myself to Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn all the time. In one of these days I'll write a book about this. My very first clubhouse and I shared it with several neighborhood kids on the block was an old abandoned outhouse that sat behind an old abandoned house which hadn't been lived in since 1974 and still to this date still hasn't been inhabited. It's been abandoned that whole time. The property owner at one point got tired of his kids meddling and after a few years he tore down the outhouse. But if you can wrap your imagination around what it would be like roaming around an old sandlot, an old community block style, that's how St Charles is, it's block style, just like St Louis. I lived in French town and it was laid out like the French would have it, all in blocks and all these old homes made out of brick and these kind of small yards and everything. Houses are pretty close to one another and you have some older homes, abandoned homes, but you have all these little alleyways and nooks and crannies that go in between. But most of these houses, what they share in common is that they were all. When I say old, I mean old. The house that I lived in was built in 1855. That's right during right around the Civil War time. That's when the house I lived in was built. A lot of the houses that were around me they were all turn of the century, 1900. So if you can visualize what those would look like and what the neighborhood would look like in the 70s and 80s, some of these things were at the turning point where they needed restoration but weren't quite there and were kind of dilapidated or rundown for being lived in for 75 plus years. So that's the neighborhood. I grew up in working class and we ran the streets. We ran the streets with gangs of kids, not necessarily bad gangs, but still gangs of kids.

Porter: 15:58

Yeah, Well, sometimes it's the simplicity that brings the beauty and I imagine, the homes. It's not like they were big, Not like they were flamboyant and flashy. You just use what you have learn to survive. Yeah.

Roamin' Rich: 16:09

It didn't know any different. The house I lived in was probably 900 square feet, had one bathroom, three bedrooms and no air conditioning. But we didn't know any different and it was just more reason to get out of the house because you weren't comfortable inside the house.

Porter: 16:25

Yeah, I imagine not. No, at least there's a breeze outside some days, yeah. So let me ask you this this is my second question for this segment. All that being said, that's when you were a kid and you've learned a lot since then, I'm assuming. So my second question what are some of your values now, if it's changed?

Roamin' Rich: 16:44

I would say my values today are much better well-honed, because of a lot of that freedom I had growing up and I don't wanna condemn anything so I hope not to offend anybody out there but I grew up in the public school system and I feel strongly that I picked up a lot of habits and behaviors that I otherwise wouldn't have picked up if I went to public school. I was also well-educated on the street so I gained a really strong street sense that has come in handy today. I use my street sense all the time and I know how powerful it is because I see people that don't possess that skill and they get taken advantage of pretty often there or they're just ignorant to different things that could occur to them in life. But I would say honing in those skills and becoming wiser in my older age. My values today they revolve heavily around sticking up for what's right and honoring the truth. You can run away from the truth, you can run away from facts, but at some point you're gonna have to reckon with it in some way. And that story about crying wolf as a kid you kind of understand it but you don't understand the full gravity of what that means until you get older and I just have the utmost value for truth and facts and people live in these make-believe worlds inside of their heads and when they do that they kind of live out a delusional life and they have unrealistic expectations and all this agony and strife and frustration and stress emanates from that To me. Yeah, being truthful, being honest, can be stressful, because I see it. I see the people that resist it on the outside. I have to engage those people on a daily basis who don't value that, and so that's a frustrating experience for me. But when I do encounter somebody who's somewhat of a kindred spirit or like-minded, it's very refreshing and I usually develop these friendships and relationships with those types of people very quickly. But yeah, I'd say every day, as I'm working through family, through work, through hobbies such as Route 66, dealing with the outside world, the most valuable thing, both internally and externally, is truth.

Porter: 19:17

All right, if folks stay tight, we'll be right back on Transacting Value. Alrighty, folks, here at Transacting Value, we write and produce all the material for our podcast and house game perspective alongside you, our listeners, and exchange vulnerability and dialogue with our contributors every Monday morning. But for distribution, buzzsprout's a platform to use. You want to know how popular you are in Europe or how Apple is a preferred platform to stream your interviews? Buzzsprout can do that. You want to stream on multiple players through an RSS or custom feed, or even have references and resources to take your podcast's professionalism, authenticity and presence to a wider audience. Buzzsprout can do that too. Here's how. Start with some gear that you already have in a quiet space. If you want to upgrade, buzzsprout has tons of guides to help you find the right equipment at the right price. Buzzsprout gets your show listed in every major podcast platform. You'll get a great looking podcast website, audio players that you can drop into other websites, detailed analytics to see how people are listening, tools to promote your episodes and more. Podcasting isn't hard when you have the right partners. The team at Buzzsprout is passionate about helping you succeed. Join over 100,000 podcasters already using Buzzsprout to get their message out to the world Plus following the link in the show notes lets Buzzsprout know we sent you gets you a $20 credit if you sign up for a paid plan and helps support our show. You want more value for your values. What can do that too?

Roamin' Rich: 20:50

Dealing with the outside world. The most valuable thing, both internally and externally, is truth, truth.

Porter: 20:58

Okay. Clarity, facts, truth Again, being a historian still seems like it was unavoidable for you. All of those things obviously we've throughout. Now we hear it present day, or maybe not as well publicized, but it's certainly in circles present day we need to change the way history is written. You're a historian, all right. You're a historian. You've obviously got experience and exposure with what? 1,100 miles of highway in history. So let me ask you this Do you think history can give us clarity or do you think history is custom, tailored to manipulate nonfiction and facts and clarity?

Roamin' Rich: 21:42

History, to me, is the most powerful asset we have as human beings. What does that mean? We don't understand what happened to these early civilizations, because they weren't able to convey their history as well as what we have done in the last 150, 200 years. I'm talking about the earliest civilizations, so those are lost. And what's the saying? Those that don't know history are doomed to repeat it. When I was younger, growing up and I hate to beat this down, but I think it's the necessary part that paints a picture of me I always surrounded myself most of the time with older people, older men and older boys. I'm talking like when I was 15-year-old kid, I had friends that were 22,. If you can believe that, I had friends that were 19. Oh yeah, and you know what I did mostly with those friends?

Porter: 22:36

Probably not what they learned, they learned, yeah, okay.

Roamin' Rich: 22:40

I learned from their mistakes. I learned from their accomplishments, yeah, and thank God for that. It was a blessing. People questioned it why is a 15-year-old hanging around with a 22-year-old stuff like that? But I learned so much from having older friends. One thing I'll say to that is I'm a natural born non-conformist, so peer pressure has never been a thing for me. Peer pressure has never had an effect on me, ever. In fact, it's always probably had an adverse effect, and such that if there was peer pressure present, I was going to avoid it that much harder. So I learned a lot from having older friends and so, as a result, I didn't make a lot of the mistakes that they had made.

Porter: 23:29

So let me ask you this Well, you're talking about peer pressure and you know, as, for example, a 15-year-old hanging out with 19 and 22-year-olds. You're learning from their experience, from their perceptions, from the histories that they have created, taken part in lessons. They've learned from history, they've been exposed to. Even all the above, but let me lend a little bit of clarity here. Do you think, as a historian, history still brings clarity, or is it tweaked a little bit Because the victor writes the books right? That's the rule.

Roamin' Rich: 24:01

I agree with that just a certain level, that the victor writes the story. Here in the United States we're not all spotless here. We've written some history that I think may have been false. We definitely have a certain level of indoctrination that's been pushing the citizens of this country for decades. Whether that be good or bad, that's for each individual to judge. But as it pertains to trying to rewrite history, as far as a lot of the things that happened in the last four or five years removing civil war, sculptures and statues and things like that I'll go on record and say I disagree with it. The story needs to be told. The story of this country needs to be told. The story of previous civilizations needs to be told. Otherwise we're doomed to repeat the mistakes that others made. It's pretty simple. I've never met anybody. Well, I've met a few. I've met too many people that had a real good knowledge of history that usually are immoral was put it that way or didn't have a moral compass. Most people that are well-grounded in history and facts of things that have happened over the course of the last 50 years or 100 years or even 250 years. Most of those people have a pretty good, strong moral compass because it's all been done before. Maybe different ways, but it's all been done before.

Porter: 25:27

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Roamin' Rich: 26:23

Most of those people have a pretty good, strong moral compass, because it's all been done before. It's all been done before.

Porter: 26:32

Well, the same thing could be said for business. This is a vibe, for that matter. The same thing could be said for podcasting or making YouTube videos. There's no new wheels. We had a guy on the show I don't remember the month now I want to say it was October last year His name was Mark. We had another guy on the show. His name was Scott. The two of them both said similar things in separate industries, separate conversations. There's no new wheels. Maybe new applications of the same hard skills, new interpretations of the soft skills or whatever applied in any given situation, any given era, for that matter. But it's not new, like social media, even the technology, sure, because far as I know, it didn't exist, not to the extent it does now or the integration it does now, but people communicating through a medium and being social within it is not a new concept. It's just how it's applied. I think there's a lot of those things. I agree with you that we can learn from history, but the way things are explained adds to that. I mean, that's the benefit of humanities. As a culture, we can add and contribute. Let's say, add value and contribute to those storylines, because now, in well, this decade, the 2020s, for example, of whatever happened in the 50s, 60s or even 1850s, 1860s, doesn't change what happened then, but our interpretation of what happened then now should still be recorded as well. This is our interpretation of it, and you had mentioned not even just present day communities, but throughout history, along these, even Route 66, roads in general, nostalgia, americana-type themed stories. These different communities pop up all over the place to influence those stories throughout history too, and contribute little bits and pieces of how they interact, how they interpret whatever. Here's an example have you ever been to a little city, basically just outside of Vegas, but it's in the Mojave Desert, called Amboy?

Roamin' Rich: 28:25

Oh, of course.

Porter: 28:26

Yeah, amboy is a little burg in the middle of the desert, yeah, yeah, for anybody listening, if you're unfamiliar, it's actually a pretty cool experience, not because there's a lot of things to do In fact there's nothing to do but because of the area. As I'm aware, at least, as the legend goes there's only two places in the world where Joshua trees grow naturally at the entrance to heaven and the entrance to hell, which just so happens to allegedly and I don't know this for a fact, but allegedly correlate with, essentially, joshua tree National Park Amboy, the Mojave Desert and Jerusalem. I don't know if that's a fact or not. Anybody listening feel free to let me know. But the reason I'm bringing that up is because Amboy also has its own sort of what myths. I don't know where Charles Manson was born, but the rumor I heard was Amboy. He did a lot of things that aren't the most moral. It's an understatement.

Roamin' Rich: 29:22

Yeah, I'm not sure if Charles Manson was born in Amboy or not. I've never heard the Joshua tree correlation either, but I'm certainly intrigued.

Porter: 29:31

Maybe it's a local legend. I don't know, because I lived in the Mojave Desert for four and a half years, a little more than that, four and three quarters but it's not important. The point is so there's a lot of locals that have lived there for decades longer than I did and this is where I got these stories. All these communities that pop up, local legends drive history. That's what becomes the cool. I don't know murder mysteries or any other type of story. So sure, legends, yeah. And so what's your take on these local communities? Are they amplifying the facts and the truth? Are they just contributing their own versions of it? Are they creating it because it hasn't been recorded before? What do you think about these little local communities along, say, for example, route 66?

Roamin' Rich: 30:15

I think you got a mixed bag. Whenever I give a discussion or a speech or a presentation, I usually preface it with heavy disclaimer that I wasn't around, so any figures or facts or dates or anything that I give you is loosely interpreted through somebody else's discussion or books or anything like that. I'm simply regurgitating things as I've heard them, unless I see a smoking gun. I take everything with the grain of salt and understand that there is some probably bias in the story, but 100% accurate as it's depicted or as it's been the pictures and painted. You could watch a car accident unfold right in front of you and you could be two people standing shoulder to shoulder and watch the whole thing intently. You could get two completely different perspectives on what happened in that car accident.

Porter: 31:15

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Roamin' Rich: 32:18

You could watch a car accident unfold right in front of you and you could be two people standing shoulder to shoulder and watch the whole thing intently. You could get two completely different perspectives on what happened in that car accident. Humans, we like facts, we like history, we enjoy all that, but sometimes we get the story wrong. So, yeah, I think a lot of stories that were created in these small towns, where some of them were exaggerated, some, not Just. Again, I have some street knowledge, some street sense, so you just got to have some intuition about how accurate things are being told.

Porter: 32:55

Well. So how do we preserve the accuracy or the history, or whatever? What do we do about it? You've got 100 years of experience. Let's just say 1926 to 2026. How do we keep it accurate?

Roamin' Rich: 33:09

We just do the best we can. We try to cite as many references that there may be, like, if there's newspaper articles or journals or postcards and things of that nature, photographs that are dated. You try to basically piece the puzzle together as best as you possibly can, but then there's always going to be this facet of imagination that fills in the gaps. So we're never going to know 100% what it was like to live in the dust bowl. Unless you did it, unless you lived it, all you can get is a story, and so you just either have to have faith in some of these stories or not. I just know that I've debunked things and found conflicts and statements in my research of Route 66, to know that not all accounts should be taken at face value.

Porter: 34:05

Yeah, could you imagine, 100 years from now, the stories that are being written and people being like we're actually not too sure what was actually happening or what was made up, because some of these stories aren't too logical? Take that for what you will, listeners. But, rich, you mentioned creativity and interpretation and you mentioned obviously trying to ensure your citing references and all these other things, and so I want to dive real quick just for a couple of minutes. Is that what you do on your channel, also on YouTube? How do you present these things?

Roamin' Rich: 34:36

My YouTube channel. It's purely out of my desire to extend goodwill to humanity, and so in saying that, I cover multiple topics, anywhere from how to fix your RV to traveling an old dirt road on Route 66, to hosting a guest that is also a Route 66 authority or enthusiast that has some knowledge or something entertaining. But the number one driver for my YouTube channel and my Facebook stuff is to promote small town, promote people across the world if it's possible, but to bring that to the globe. There's people out there who will never get to see Route 66 in person, but they'll get to live it vicariously through people like me and other content creators on YouTube the goodwill to humanity. I want to see people be successful. I want to see people be content. I want to see people, I say, happy, but I say that with loose definition. Contentment to me is very important. You have to be content with the life, the hand that you've been dealt, the blessings you've been given, and you have to just work with what you got. And so when I do my videos, I'm trying to help people out, and if there's some entertainment value to it, great. But that's my channel. I'm trying to help people. It's finding a refuge from all the rhetoric and nonsense that you find on TV. I'm happy to oblige people with that.

Porter: 36:10

Well, that's ultimately the same sort of I guess you'd call them virtues, values, principles that made all these small towns to begin with right, like resiliency and faith and contentment, all of those things eventually breeding some level of peace, but making sense out of the hand that you're dealt and building something with it, not begrudgingly but out of necessity, and finding the that's correct, yeah, the silver lining to grow through life. Already folks sit tight and we'll be right back on Transacting Value, wondering how to keep history alive over a summer or fall break. Serious, how to make tech savvy generations passionate about more of society and culture than only what's popular on social media. Did you know that, as the current number two search engine in the world, youtube can be used for more than just how-to videos, background music, watching clips of other people playing outside or shouting over animated video games? Imagine if there were a channel that could invigorate the sense of nostalgia you feel for 20 to 40 years ago. Imagine, add mobsters, corrupt businessmen, shady small towns, honest entrepreneurs with all the folklore and legend to keep anyone inspired for lifelong learning, no matter the season. Add, hooked on Route 66. On YouTube there's all of that excitement, insight and practicality. Join historian Roman Rich as he travels sections of the famous and infamous mostly Tulane Highway and discovers the small towns supporting its transit. Or is it the other way around? For appreciation, gratitude, authenticity and resiliency to make the best of all the opportunities and moments of today? Look to the past. Follow Roman Rich as he preserves and promotes small town Americana at Hooked on Route 66 on YouTube. Now, making sense out of the hand that you're dealt and building something with it, not begrudgingly but out of necessity and finding that's correct, yeah, the silver lining to grow through life. I love what you do, man, I think it's super cool. Antiques, americana, small towns I haven't lived any more than the last 35 years and whatever that comes with. Oh, no, sorry, 36 now and whatever that comes with. But I appreciate what came here. I think it was even in. What was it? Maybe the matrix? The lady down underground, way down in the center of the core of wherever they were, I can't remember told Neo at one point people just care that it works, they don't care how it works, or something to that effect. I think that's the case with history too. Right, generally speaking, not to insult anybody's intelligence, but that present moment, that present day, that present area, wherever we find ourselves. Generally speaking, we just care that it's moving along, not necessarily what contributed to make it happen and how it came to be.

Roamin' Rich: 39:10

It takes a lot for granted.

Porter: 39:11

Yeah, I think it's such a cool perspective you're bringing in man. If people wanna find your YouTube channel, your website, more information, where do people go, how do they do it?

Roamin' Rich: 39:22

You can find me in a number of different places, but if you wanna search for me, you can just use Google for Roman Rich, which is spelled R-O-A-M-I-N-R-I-C-H, or you can Google Hooked on Route 66. You'll find me. I'm on YouTube, I'm on Facebook, do a little bit on Twitter, Instagram too. Yeah, I'm on the popular places where people are usually finding their content.

Porter: 39:51

Along the major thoroughfares. You might say yes. Yeah, dude, I love what you're doing. I think it's really cool for everybody listening. If you're unfamiliar with some of these videos or not and you are familiar with some of these videos jump back in. Check out some of Rich's new material. You put stuff out how often.

Roamin' Rich: 40:09

So I started a thing earlier this year called 66 Minutes with Roman Rich and we take for an hour and six minutes every week. We stream live Cool. It's mostly unscripted, it's uncensored. I bring on guests most of the time. Sometimes I'll do some on-screen research live and I take requests live and sometimes I'll open up the lines for people to come in on the show totally spontaneous. They can tune into the show and be on the show live on screen through their webcam. It's really cool. I really like the premise of it and I've done 22 shows in a row so far, which that for me is impressive, because it's hard for me to commit to this stuff with all the other irons in the fire I have.

Porter: 40:58

Yeah, I bet, but consistency is key, man, and so, yeah, stick to it. I think it's a crazy cool idea, but, all things considered, saying that we're out of time and this conversation is history, man, so I appreciate the opportunity to talk to you, dive a little bit more into who you are, not just what you study and what you prefer to discuss, and, all things considered, I'm sure, a little bit more vulnerable than maybe you care to be normally, also, especially in a public venue. So I appreciate your perspective, man. Thanks for joining the show.

Roamin' Rich: 41:26

Awesome. Thanks for having me on and be sure to go your own way.

Porter: 41:29

Yeah, I love it. Yeah, and folks, thank you for tuning in to our conversation and listening to our October core values of creativity, simplicity and giving. Also, I've got to thank well, frankly, all the small towns along all the major roads and some of the small towns along some of the smaller roads throughout the US, because all those inspirations obviously rich your parents, the road trips, the stories they told you, the experiences you had, even seven year old. Thank you for all of those experiences and inspiring this conversation because, frankly, it made it all the more worthwhile and gave it all the more depth. So I appreciate that. But, folks, I've also got to thank all of our show partners Keystone Farmers, market Hope and Clucker Farms, buzzfraut. Obviously, thank you for your distribution. But, folks, if you're interested in joining our conversation, checking out our merchandise we've also got a member's only page now or just listen to our other conversations. You can check out our website at transactingvaluepodcastcom and follow along on social media, where we continue to stream new interviews every Monday at 9 am that's Eastern Standard Time and all your favorite podcasting platforms and Rich for your website and Facebook and all your social. Those will be linked in the show description as well. So, folks click See More, click Show More on whatever your platform or streaming player is, and you'll be able to find Rich's links to his material as well. But that's all I've got, and so until next time that was Transacting Value I'll see you then.