Trivia

Q. In banking, what’s the “float”?

A. “Money in transit” that’s what it was. But much of it’s gone. Technology now lets 90 percent of the checks clear by the next business day. Money handlers creamed a lot of revenue off the float. They took great interest in it. And from it. Still do.

Robots in Japan pay union dues. All right - at the Fujitsu Panuc factory, robots replaced some employees. The union screamed. The company ponied up robot dues.

List 68 mph as the spurt speed of a sailfish.

One police statistic now puts the average dollar loss per burglary at $1,246.

In the making of maple syrup, the ratio of sap to syrup is 10-to-1.

Q. If cheetahs can’t roar, what do they do?

A. Purr, moan, chirp.

Pretty wary, that mother coyote. She remains standing while nursing her young.

“Vanessa” comes from the Greek for “butterfly.”

“The number of lawbreakers goes up in direct proportion to the number of laws enacted.” China’s Lao-tze said something pretty close to that.