The Best Of Both Worlds College

A college decision can change your life, but a good campus visit can change your mind even faster. We sit down with Blair Suttles, assistant director for first-year admission at Baldwin Wallace University, to talk about what admissions work actually looks like when it’s done with care. Blair explains how BW coordinates personalized visits that go beyond a standard walking tour, helping prospective students meet professors, connect with coaches, and see the parts of campus that match their goals.

We also dig into what makes Baldwin Wallace University feel like “the best of both worlds”: a smaller campus where you’re known by name, paired with the kind of internship and career connections students often expect from a bigger school. If you’re comparing colleges in Ohio, looking at private universities near Cleveland, or trying to understand how student support and faculty access affect outcomes, this conversation gives you a clear lens for what to ask and what to look for.

Then we keep it real. Blair shares her Cleveland picks like Playhouse Square, the Great Lakes Science Center, and the West Side Market, plus thoughts on the East Side vs West Side debate that locals take very seriously. We even talk DoorDash as a side hustle, what it’s like when gas prices climb, and why flexibility matters. We wrap with a simple message that hits hard: be yourself, embrace your weird, and stop policing other people’s harmless joy.

If you like honest conversations about college admissions, campus culture, Cleveland life, and figuring things out as you go, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show.

All music brought to you by former guest of the show Speedo

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 4:48

Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ride Home Rants podcast. This is, as always, your host, Mike Bono. I have a great guest for us today. She is the current assistant director of admissions at Baldon Wallace University up in Cleveland. And that is Blair Suttles joins the show. Blair, thank you for joining.

SPEAKER_01 5:08

No problem. Happy to be here.

SPEAKER_00 5:11

We're happy to have you on. Anyone who works closely with Johnny, we're always happy to have them on there at Baldwin. But you, like I said, you're the current director of admissions there. So you how long have you been at BW and you know what exactly is that role?

SPEAKER_01 5:26

Sure. So I actually just started at BW in September of 2025. So I haven't been there long, just a little over six months. And currently I am the assistant director for first-year admission. And so I work with a territory population of first-year students that are interested in maybe coming to BW, whether they're incoming first-year students or if they're still in high school, just kind of searching. I also am our campus visit coordinator. So being a small, smaller school, one of the things BW really prides itself on is getting to know students. And so we want people who come to visit us to really get a chance to see that up and close. And so we allow students, especially college or high school seniors, to schedule personalized visits. And so I work with our faculty across campus and our coaches to make sure anything that a prospective student wants to see while they're visiting with us, they can do so if they want to sit in on a class, if they want to just sit and talk with a professor, if they want to meet with a coach, it's usually easier for them if they're not doing the reaching out. You know, maybe they don't even know who to reach out to. And so they contact admissions, and I'm the person who sets all of that up.

Why Personal Visits Change Decisions

What Baldwin Wallace Does Differently

SPEAKER_00 6:41

Nice. Yeah. So I'm, I mean, heck, I remember, you know, it seems like forever ago when I was taking my tours of campuses to decide where I was I was wanting to go. Having that personal experience at a smaller school like Bethany, where I graduated from and almotar Bethany College was nice. I actually sat with the president of the college, you know, on my visit and got to actually, you know, talk to him face to face, got to meet him, know who he was. He wasn't just a name on a piece of paper, you know what I mean? Right. I definitely liked the smaller school aspect of it. And it didn't hurt that I had they were giving me a scholarship to swim there. That kind of helped the decision a little bit, you know, being an absolute I got to meet the coach, uh, even though I didn't really have a decision made in mind at that time when I was taking my visits. So yeah, I get I get that a lot with you know making it more personal. I was the only one on the tour, I wasn't with 15 other prospective students. They made it like, okay, Mike, this is your visit day. You know, we're gonna do what you want to do, and you're gonna get to see everything and ask as many questions as you want. And it really helped make my decision. So I think that's a crucial role for anybody looking for that higher education. So kudos to you for doing that work because I think it's awesome. Um so speaking of that, you know, we've had a lot of people from BW on. Why should a student want to attend BW? Like, what are some things that might be interest in there for the college?

SPEAKER_01 8:12

Sure. So I always tell people that BW is kind of the best of both worlds, in that it can offer a lot of the same internship and co-op opportunities and like cutting-edge education that a larger school can offer. I was actually pleasantly surprised when I joined BW to see some of that because I have worked at a larger research-based institution in Cleveland, actually Cleveland State. And so knowing that they have some of the same connections being a smaller school really surprised me. So students get that aspect, but on the flip side, they also get that really intimate, everyone's gonna, you know, all your professors are gonna know you. Right. You're not just another number sitting in a class. And that really is important, especially, you know, college is so expensive nowadays. And you really want to make sure for the students it really prepares them for their career. And when your professors who are currently working in their field get a chance to know you and can give you advice based on their current knowledge and based on them knowing you and your personal likes and dislikes, you can't get that at every single school. Right. You know, and some students don't want that, and that's fine. But for the students who really do want that connection, you know, a school like BW that is smaller is great, but they're also not going to miss out on some of the things that they can get at a larger school, too.

SPEAKER_00 9:39

Yeah, that's that's huge. I think it go back to my time at Bethany. Everybody knew me there as Bono. Like nobody really knew they didn't know me as for those of you who don't know, it's not my real name, Michael Bonaventure. You know what I mean? They they knew me as my nickname, so that was huge. Professors had your number to be able to text or call them if you needed anything. It wasn't like, hey, I'm gonna send an email. Hopefully they see it and it doesn't get buried in their email. And you know what I mean? I had a lot of buddies that were at WU and Marshall and these bigger D1 schools where you know, talking to them, they're like, Yeah, I'm I'm student 46752134. You know what I mean? They they were a number, they weren't they weren't their name, which is just it was huge for my whole college experience, and it helped out a lot. I still I still connect with some of the professors from there to this day. I'm I'm 37 years old and I'm still able to pick up a phone and call them, and I know they're gonna answer. You know what I mean? For the short time that I was there, it's great to have those relationships, and you know, you can bounce ideas off of them, and it's just good networking for the word that everyone's looking for, you know what I mean? To to have that. And I think BW is closely like a Bethany College, you know, it's a little bit bigger, has the the city of Cleveland near it, where Bethany was literally in the middle of nowhere, West Virginia. You know what I mean? It was a very small school when you're going out there. If anybody's ever seen the movie Wrong Turn, the road to get there, it's just trees on both sides of you, and it's just like I don't I think I'm going the wrong way. Then all of a sudden, here's campus. And just you come around and turn, and here it is, and it's a beautiful campus, you know, out in the hills in West Virginia. So and I'm sure you get that at BW too, with the the scenery being that close to the city. Yeah, so good.

SPEAKER_01 11:33

Oh, I was just gonna say, yeah, it's really nice that you know BW's located in Berea, which is a small town, very cute and quaint, but literally only 20 minutes from the city of Cleveland. Right. And so that's another situation where the students get the best of both worlds. You know, you get the safety and secure feeling you get from being in kind of like a college town. You know, and again, it's just cute. It has like little mom and pop shops in downtown Berea. But if you want to go where the action is, Cleveland is 20 minutes away. And especially, you know, we have a conservatory for performing arts, and so it's really nice. You know, Cleveland Symphony Orchestra is really like amazing here, and also the theater district, I mean, can't beat it's second largest theater district, Playhouse Square, second largest theater district in the country, second only to Broadway, and it's 20 minutes away. So you really can't beat that.

DoorDash As A Backup Hustle

SPEAKER_00 12:28

You know, me, you know, being a comedian for the past 14 years, I do a lot of shows in Cleveland. You know, I mean, there's a lot of opportunities up there, and it's nice to have that. You know, you're in the city, you know, even for BW students. So when I get off campus for a little bit, you know, go and relax, they can go and see a show, you know, and like you were saying. So, you know, that's that's huge for for that. I think that's great too as well. But BW isn't your only role, knowing that a little bit about you. I hear, and I I gotta, I always gotta fat check Johnny when when we make these outlines. I believe you do a little bit of DoorDashing too as well, on uh, you know, to help out. Are you still doing that? Was your kind of because I've done so? I've been a DoorDash driver, so yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:06

So I always kind of keep it in my back pocket. I first signed up for DoorDash with probably maybe 2019 and didn't really do it too much. I was going on a trip to Vegas with my cousins, and I was just like, you know what, let me DoorDash a little bit just to cover the cost of the flight so I'm not just paying out of pocket for everything. And so I did it then, and then I took years of hiatus, but I still kept it, you know, still was enrolled as a dasher. And I've done it a bit more this year just because, you know, times are are a little rough right now. Gas is over four dollars.

SPEAKER_00 13:44

Gas is almost four dollars a gallon, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 13:47

Yeah, actually, I saw it over four today, um, which was really disappointing. It was 419 on one of the it was a BP off the highway when I was driving home, and I was just like, I am not ready for that. And so recently I haven't been door dashing just because sometimes it's hit or miss, especially not everyone tips, and and drivers really do kind of rely on those tips as well, and especially with the wear and tear on the car. So it's it's great to kind of keep in my back pocket. I'm not gonna deactivate my account anytime soon. I have no plans. Um, but I love the fact that I can just kind of do it when I want to. And so, yeah, so I haven't done it in probably maybe a month and a half, but I also don't like driving in the wintertime. I will do it, obviously. I've born and raised in Cleveland, like I I know how to drive and it I just don't like to. And then also wear and tear on my car. My car right now has a lot of miles on it, and so you know, I don't want to push it too far. I gotcha.

SPEAKER_00 14:47

You're talking to a guy who typically travels a lot for what I do as a comedian. So the wear and tear on your vehicle is just it's important. So I didn't DoorDash long was mainly through COVID when that started, you know. It was lucrative then, you know, nobody could leave, and you know, so it made sense. But yeah, I mean, a little extra cash here and there never hurts, obviously. Right.

SPEAKER_01 15:09

And I only signed up for promos because you know, when they offer like extra two dollars, you know, on top of like delivering.

SPEAKER_00 15:19

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 15:20

That's the only time I do it.

First-Time Cleveland Must-Sees

SPEAKER_00 15:22

Gotta take advantage of when you can. I ain't mad at the hustle. You know, you preach it to the choir here on that one. You mentioned it a little bit there, uh, that you, you know, you grew up in Cleveland, in the Cleveland area, and we we ask everybody who's from Cleveland this this question. So, Blair, you're not you're not getting out of that one. Things you would recommend in Cleveland, you know, visiting, you know, first-time tourists, you know, there's a lot of stuff to do up there. What are some personal recommendations?

SPEAKER_01 15:48

Definitely Playhouse Square. You just have to, just by the nature of it, especially as someone who hasn't been to Broadway, I haven't been to New York City. You know, I don't feel deprived because we have Playhouse Square. I know it's not the same thing, but again, second largest theater district, so still really good. I also really love the Great Lakes Science Center. I haven't been there in a couple of years, but I just love the fun, interactive exhibits. And I don't think it's called the IMAX anymore. I don't know what it's called, but like the big the huge dome screen watching things on there. It was really fun. I honestly am pretty much a homebody, so I don't do an awful lot. And I until I started working at Cleveland State, I did not know downtown or how to navigate downtown. I don't do well with one-way streets, I don't parallel park. So like it was just an area that I'm just like, you know what, let me just not go here. And granted, working at Cleveland State, I kind of had to. And so I I had learned that and I got a little bit more familiar with the city. I will say that even though I grew up here, I did spend eight years away, four in Cincinnati for school and then four in California. But I I think I was 28, 29, maybe even in my 30s before I ever went to the Westside Market, which growing up in Cleveland, that that is it's tragic that I was at all before I went there. So, and in fact, it was my boss at Cleveland State, my first role at Cleveland State, and she could not believe that I had never been there. And so one lunch rate, she's like, we're going.

SPEAKER_02 17:28

So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:30

I get wow. Yeah, like I mean Cleveland, I don't, I it's my city, but like again, I'm a homebody, so like I probably do things that you can do in any city, which you know I I get it, you know.

SPEAKER_00 17:45

Growing up in West Virginia where I did, you know, there wasn't a lot of big cities. I grew up near Pittsburgh in West Virginia, so we had that.

SPEAKER_01 17:54

So did you grow up near the Fiesta Ware outlet?

unknown 17:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:58

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. I was about 45 minutes out of Pittsburgh in a little town called Fallsby, West Virginia. Fiesta ware was a huge thing there.

SPEAKER_01 18:08

I've been there, and so that because I had a roommate that loved Fiesta Ware, and so we went down there one day, and then we were just like, Oh, let's drive to IKEA, and so that's how I know how close it is to Pittsburgh.

Working At Cleveland State Together

SPEAKER_00 18:21

Yeah, yeah. I live at the the where I live, there's a stretch of road where you can literally get from PA to West Virginia to Ohio in the span of five minutes. Yeah, like that's that's where I'm at. So we spent a lot of time in Pittsburgh, a lot of one-way streets in Pittsburgh. I tell everybody if you don't know where you're going in Pittsburgh, get somebody who does to drive you because you will get lost. And especially leaving Pittsburgh, coming across that bridge. Like, I don't know who designed it, but it's it's the most terrifying experience if you're not from there. Because like two exits merge like into one, and everybody coming from the left needs to get to the right, everybody coming from the right needs to get to the left, and like, here's a hundred yards, make it happen. You know what I mean? So it's just a terrifying experience, but it's it's awesome getting to go to Pittsburgh when you can. Anyone who isn't from there, just that drive through the tunnels, and then the city just comes out and pops up right there, and it's like going into a whole different world, a whole different dimension, especially if you're driving through there at night, going to a game or something, you know, seeing the city lit up, it's like nothing. Anybody everybody has to experience that, I think, at least once. But keep your head on a swivel if you're driving through Pittsburgh. Anyone going there for the draft this coming week? Be prepared because you're gonna need to pay attention to the pros because there's a lot of one-way streets. And if you don't know where you're going, you'll get lost pretty quick. And if you're gonna have to go all the way around the city to get back to where you were to to get there. So that's the I guess the only downside I have about Pittsburgh is the one-way streets because I'm not a fan of them either. Like, can we just keep traffic going both ways? You know what I mean? Like, it's we're in 2026 now. We I think we can have the technology to finger this around. Absolutely. One thing, like I said, you you worked, you said it mentioned you worked at Cleveland State University there. Former guest of the snow step show, Stephanie Nunley worked there too as well. Oh, yeah, I'm really good friends with Steph. We loved having Stephanie on. So, what was it like working with her? Like, she's been on the show a couple times now, so I always like to see how the connection happens with guests.

SPEAKER_01 20:31

Oh my gosh, yeah. So she is just great. So I had two different positions when I was at CSU. I was there for I think seven and a half years, and in the first three and a half-ish, I was in well, it first the position was in the registrar's office, but then it kind of transitioned to admissions. But it was behind the scenes processing, and I did international applicants, so like reviewing international transcripts and converting their GPAs to like our GPAs and issuing immigration documents known as I-20s, so um students who needed to get F1 visas, they can get those. And so I knew of her then because especially once we our department moved to being under admissions, even though we were still in two separate buildings, she was the kind of administrative assistant for the admissions department. And so if I needed anything in terms of like credit card payment for anything, like I would contact her because I wasn't recruitment staff yet. I didn't have my own kind of purchasing card. And so I would see her maybe once a month at like our big staff meetings. But then when I transitioned to a recruitment role, I moved down to where the recruitment office is, and that's where she was. And so um, she's just really good people, and so we kind of like hit it off right away. You know, we were the only two black females in the office, so naturally we kind of have some sort of like kinship, and then yeah, she's just a good person, and so like we would get to talking, she's very easy to talk to, and so now even like she still sends me memes on Instagram constantly, still meet up, and I haven't worked with her since I don't know, it's been at least at least five years, but we still will like meet up, so yeah.

ER Fandom And Set Stories

SPEAKER_00 22:15

She, you're you're absolutely right, she is super easy to talk to. We got we got the show rolling, you know, just sitting here talking through everything. And I looked up, I was like, Oh, we're out of time. Oh my god, I had so many more questions to get to, and I just know we're out of time, you know what I mean. It she was that easy to talk to, and it she's just great. You're you you hit the nail in it. Great person to talk to. We loved having Stephanie on. She's been on the show twice now, and always always eager to come back on. So yeah, so don't think just because you're on once, Blair, we want we're not gonna ask you to come on again for anything that we might have coming on. Me and Johnny like to like to stay close with all the guests that come on the show too as well. So anything that you got going on, we're definitely gonna keep in contact, make sure you're still doing all right. And that's just you got two pisons that are running a running up over running a podcast. Family is everything to us, and you be you become part of the ride home rants family when you're on the show. So we're we're always here, we're always happy to have people on the show. So let's get to know Blair a little bit more. And Vidy says you know you're you're a big fan of the TV show ER. Yes, how did you get into being you know a big fan of that? And are you currently watching the season and thoughts throughout the years?

SPEAKER_01 23:30

Okay, so the show ER, I don't know because I mean it was so long ago, it came out in what '94. Yeah um, and so I think 94, I was probably like 11 or 12. And so I don't know. I love medical dramas, not all, not all, because there's some popular ones that like I just never got into. But usually if it's a good show and I've seen a couple episodes and they write their characters very well, it sucks me in. And that's what ER did, and it sucked me in from the very beginning, and especially back then, it was very cutting edge. You know, there was not a show like that at the time, and they really did do care great character development, and I think that's also why now I'm in love with the pit because I fell in love with Noel Wiley back then in '94. Back then I thought he was cute, and now he's kind of moved into that daddy kind of category where he's just like, oh, you've aged and have gray hair, but you are like hot in a different way. But yeah, so like ER, I just you know, I've seen all 15 episodes I have or 15 seasons. I have almost every season on DVD, even though like I never break out the DVD player. I still have them. So yeah, I just really like it. And fun fact, so again, it's one of my top five shows like ever. And my dad is actually an actor. And when I moved to California after college, he actually booked two episodes of ER and I was able to go to set with him. And so I was like, I mean, you can tell me anything. I absolutely loved it. And unfortunately, Noah Wiley was no longer on the show because my dad's episodes were in season 12 and he left the show in season 11. So I didn't get a chance to meet him, but I did meet most of the cast because unfortunately Mikai Cypher was not on set those days because I would have loved to meet him, but I did meet most of the cast, and so it was really nice.

SPEAKER_00 25:33

That's awesome. Just being to see, you know, a TV show set and you know what goes into that production. It's a lot, you know what I mean? Like that no one really realizes what that like they think they just say action, and people just start going and then boom, TV show. There's a lot of work that goes into it. It's but it's that that's just an awesome experience and something you'll get to have, you know what I mean? For that that that's a memory that you you'll just never gonna forget that, right? But I I I had to laugh real hard at the the the zatty comment, is you know what I mean? Because no, I that is it's hysterical to me because you know I'm getting to that stage, gray hair starting in the beard, the salt and pepper starting, the hair's thinning, it's about to go. I'm about to just start picking it and just being that.

SPEAKER_01 26:22

I was gonna say shave it off. Do not try and hang on.

SPEAKER_00 26:25

No, I'm I'm not hanging on. No, I stop the aging process. There's not a follicle on a male in in my family. I know it's gonna happen. It's just yep, it's just light, and I'm okay with it. Uh, my wife wants me to hold on to the hair right now, which I don't understand because I am literally a spitting image of my father. I'm taller, a little bit thinner, and I have a full beard instead of just a mustache. That's the differences. And she's always bragging him. She's like, Your dad's a stud with that salt and pepper and his mustache. My dad's been shaving his head for years. She's never seen my dad with hair. And I'm a spitting image of him. And she's just, and I was just like, okay, you say I will look weird if I if I shave my head. However, you think that my dad's a stud. By your logic, I should be shaving my head right now. That's what I should be doing. But no, yeah, the hairline's just running away. And it's just like, okay, it's we're getting to that point. But she's just like now she sees the gray hairs, and now she's just like, okay, I can't, you know, and she's looking at me differently as they've been together for 10 years. So I get that. That's what it just kicked me right back to that with you know the the Zaddy comment. I'm never I I don't okay. Can you explain Zaddy? I don't know what that means.

SPEAKER_01 27:46

I don't fully know what it means to full transparency. I've never looked it up, but I stay on the internet, stay on TikTok way too much. And so what I think it means is just an older guy that's kind of hot. And you know how, like, you know, they're sugar daddies, or sometimes girls will call like older guys daddy or whatever. Yeah, I think that's just kind of a newer way of saying that. At least that's what I think. I could be completely wrong. The new Gen Z terms for it.

SPEAKER_00 28:17

Yeah, yeah. Okay. Because I didn't know what it meant. Like my wife and I hear she's like, Are we getting to that age where we don't know what the slang terms are meaning? Is that what oh decimate we I was like why are we stopping the aging process? I'm still gonna talk like I'm in the 90s because that's when I grew up. So those are the slang terms that I'm gonna be using. I don't care what it is. But yeah, I had to ask because I yeah, I keep hearing people saying this is like I should probably know what this term means, but I don't.

SPEAKER_01 28:45

I mean, urban dictionary is a great reference. I mean, I may have used it a time or two to look up slang that I don't understand, and then sometimes it introduces you to slang that it's just like, oh, I did not need to know this.

East Side Vs West Side Debate

SPEAKER_00 28:56

No, yeah, I yeah, there's stuff on Urban Dictionary that's just like I went down a rabbit hole or I don't know why I'm here now, but I'm this this is the room I live in right now. This is the mistakes were made, but it happened. We're here now, you know. Yes, uh, but quickly here, I want to circle back to this here for you, you know, being back from Cleveland. You live on the east side of Cleveland. I know you mentioned that you know, took you a little while to get to that west side market, and that there's always been a great divide east side and west side of Cleveland. What are your thoughts? Is this a real debate with Clevelanders? Because I've asked everybody and I kind of like we're doing a little poll here on the show to kind of see. And what do you say about that?

SPEAKER_01 29:38

So it's definitely a very real debate among Clevelanders. You really are, you know, an east cider or you're a west sider. And usually, you know, you kind of stay that that way, or at least that's how it's been in the past. I will say my past two jobs, and then actually three of you include Cleveland State because that's more central. That's when I've really gotten a chance to maybe see some more things on the West Side. Whereas growing up, I think I maybe went to Great Northern Mall twice. That's where I got my prom dress, and that's about it. I'm definitely team Eastside because that's where I grew up and that's what I know. And I think Eastsiders are gonna hate me, but the more I get to know the west side, I mean it's it's pretty great too. I mean, it actually has a lot of newer things than the east side does. Although recently there's been a couple updates over here on the east side, but like by and large, a lot of the newer, more modern things and modern shopping plazas and whatnot are over on the west side. And so, I mean, the the west side is nothing to sneeze at, but like I mean, I always have to say east side just because that's where I've I've always lived.

SPEAKER_00 30:50

You know, people ask me all the time. I've lived in Ohio for 10 years now, but people always ask me, like, hey, where you from? It's always West Virginia, you know what I mean? That that's always that's that's always gonna be home for me. And I I always say I'm there. I was like, I live in Ohio, I I love Ohio, I I've lived here, but if you said, Hey Mike, we can we got an opportunity for you to be back in West Virginia, where do I sign up for that? Where can I get back to the to the hills and the mountains of West Virginia? But yeah, so I kind of I kind of get that debate because I literally grew up literally on the Ohio River where I could look across and I could see Ohio. So there's always been that debate, and I I have to laugh because if you look at Google Maps and you zoom in to my hometown, it actually calls it East Stupenville, Ohio. And it's a completely different yeah, Stupenville is where I grew up right across the river in West Virginia, and if you look on the map, it says East Stupenville. Oh, and it's just like kind of like St.

SPEAKER_01 31:53

Louis and East St. Louis, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:55

You know what I mean? It's like it's a completely different state, like it's not the same state, but I mean we're close. Apparently not, yeah. We're close enough that it it is what it is, and but yeah, so like I that's just always a funny little tidbit. I just happen to be trying to show somebody, like, okay, here's how you get to here. And I zoomed in and I was like, does that say East Steubenville? Like, that's my hometown of Falls Bay, like that's not East Steubenville, it's West Virginia.

SPEAKER_01 32:24

So funny story about Steubenville. I've never been there, never stepped foot in Steubenville. Okay. But when I was in high school, the Franciscan University of Steubenville, oh my goodness, they sent me so much stuff. They tried to recruit me so hard to go there. And I'm just like, I have like, where is this? I have no clue where it is. But yes, that's the only only thing I know about Steubenville.

SPEAKER_00 32:47

A lot of what people know about Steubenville. It's you know, I I love Steubenville. I lived there for a little bit when I, you know, left West Virginia, came to Ohio, and there's a lot to do there. Dean Martin's actually from there. Uh really, yeah. Dean Martin Boulevard. They have a street named after him and everything. Bunch of famous athletes. Bill Masarowski is from there as a baseball player. In the 70s and 80s, I was saying in the 70s and 80s, you know, it's fine. But yeah, like it's it's a great little town that has a bigger city feel to it when you're in it. But it grew up in that steel mill town too as well. So it's a lot of blue collar mixed in there too, as well. So you get a very good mesh of people there, but yeah, I love Steubenville. All right, one of my cats is messing with the wind chimes in my window, and it just threw me completely off. I just heard chiming and I was like, what is going on? My cat's just up. It's just it's the joys of animals. But yeah, so Steubenville's great. I tell everybody, you know, if you haven't been there, you need to at least go and see. There are a lot of little mom and pop shops there, too, as well. So you get that there it is. You get that feel too as well with it. So yeah, it's it's awesome. I tell everybody, at least drive through it. I mean, it's not like it once was ever the you know, the steel mills being starting to slowly shut down. It it hurt the area. I hate to say it, yeah, but you know, being from a steel mill town, when they start to go, the town tends to start to go with it. But it's battling back, and I and I'm happy to see that it's coming back around to to where it was in its heyday. But that's always been a funny thing to be because people like they either know Franciscan and they recruit everybody hard. They are they whoever the recruiting team is is on their game because they they they try to recruit me to go there, and it just I just wasn't gonna go there. When at the time when they were recruiting me, I had D1 offers to to swim. That was always gonna be the dream, and then senior year hurt my shoulder. So all those offers went away, but Franciscan and Bethany were still like, hey, I mean, we we'd love to have you. So it's like all right, but yeah, Franciscan, I just couldn't go there. It's just that there's a lot of rules there being being a Catholic university, like that's one thing that they they pride themselves on.

SPEAKER_01 35:19

I think it depends on what Catholic University, because I went to a Catholic university and have worked at two, yeah, two, and they weren't rule heavy.

SPEAKER_00 35:29

This one is the Franciscans are different, yeah. Franciscan's a different animal. They I'll tell you this because I yeah, I've heard a lot of because Bethany was, you know, Catholic liberal arts college that I went to, not very rule heavy, you know what I mean? So I get that, but yeah, Franciscan, they they love their rules and they they abide by them.

SPEAKER_01 35:50

Yeah, I went to Xavier in Cincinnati, so it's Jesuit, so no, no, no rules.

Fast 55 Rapid-Fire Questions

SPEAKER_00 35:57

All right, well, at least there's still some out there like that for sure. But Blair, we are running down here near the end of the episode. I do need to get this last segment in here. Um, and because if I don't, Johnny will kill me. And that is for the current listeners out there, you know what's coming up for the new listeners out there. That is the fast 55. Five random questions from the wonderful manager of the podcast, Johnny Fitty Falcone. These are kind of rapid fire, but you can elaborate if you need to. They have nothing to do with what we've been talking about for the better part of 40 minutes here. So Blair, if you are ready, I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 36:34

Rapid fire.

SPEAKER_00 36:35

They're not that hard. I promise you, they're not that hard.

SPEAKER_01 36:38

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 36:38

Question number one Are grapes an underrated or overrated fruit?

SPEAKER_01 36:43

Grapes? I think they're underrated because they're really good snacks, they're you know, easily portable, so you can take them wherever, but also like they go nicely in certain dishes. Like, I love having chicken salad with grapes in the and then I mean wine, like hello. Right.

SPEAKER_00 36:59

I'm a huge grape fan. You're not wrong, they are underrated. Alrighty. Question number two: what is your favorite flavor of pie?

SPEAKER_01 37:08

Apple for sure, but like a Dutch apple pie, so the crumbly kind of crust and not the traditional pie crust.

SPEAKER_00 37:15

I got you. I'm I'm on board with that for sure. Question number three the most overrated place you've ever visited was this might be the toughest question he has here for you.

SPEAKER_01 37:32

Most overrated. Oh, this is gonna give me some haters for sure. The Grand Canyon.

SPEAKER_00 37:39

Oh, I've never been there. I'll take your word for it. I've never been there.

SPEAKER_01 37:42

It's beautiful, but like I hopped out my car, looked at a giant hole, and I was like, all right, let's go. Um, yeah, that's kind of I'm not an outdoors girl, so like maybe that's what it is. Um but yeah. I mean, it's nice because it's man or it's not man-made, but it's still just kind of like uh still looking at a big hole.

SPEAKER_00 38:03

Gotcha. Question number four What's the best letter in the alphabet? B for sure. Absolutely. I've had a feeling that was where you were going on that one. Last but not least, question number five are coffee tables an overrated or underrated piece of furniture for a living room.

SPEAKER_01 38:23

They are underrated because right now I don't have one. I'm in, I wish I did, because you know, you can put things on that. Yeah, they can be just decorative, but they're also functional. And especially the table I want is one that I kind of you can lift up and it converts into like a desk kind of table. So they're underrated.

Embrace Your Weird And Wrap-Up

SPEAKER_00 38:43

I have very useful. I have one of those, they're phenomenal. I at first I was fighting my wife when I was like, I don't know if we'd ever use it. I use the crap out of that. I lift it up, we eat and we typically are eating quick or just watching TV, you know. So lift that up. We're still sitting together, we still have a table, we're still on the couch watching TV too. So I yeah, I'd have to say underrated on that one. Well, see, that was the fast 55 player. That wasn't that bad. He took a little he took it a little easier on you. The overrated plays, that was the toughest question. That was a tough question. That was a tough one, but typically this these are typically just the mind of Fitty, like some of his random thoughts. I know probably working with him, you've gotten a little taste of that. Yes, because he still texts me, and it's not these questions because like he would text me before we even started this segment, like just random questions, like, all right, you're in a racquetball court, it's you, Batman, and Connor McGregor. You have uh Flair, a boxing glove, and something else. Who comes out alive? I'm like, It's five in the morning, Fanny. What are we doing with this question? So we got to thinking, I was like, How about we make this a segment on the show? Just a fun way to get into the mind of you and just end the show in a fun way. And we've been doing this for the better part of five years now, and on the show with this segment, and we love it. And I don't know how he keeps coming up with questions, but he still does. But all right, Blair, like I said, we're running down here near the end of the episode. I do give every guest this opportunity at the end of every episode. If there's anything you want to get out there, anything you have going on that you want to promote, or even if it's just a good message for the folks out there, I'm going to give you about a minute and the floor is yours.

SPEAKER_01 40:23

Oof, okay. I think one of my kind of just like life mantras is to just be yourself. I fully embrace that I am weird, and that's okay. You know, and what's weird to me might not be weird to someone else. As long as you're not hurting anyone or doing damage to someone, like it's okay. Like I love paper planners and planner stickers, and I have spent a lot of money in the past, not recently, but in the past on planner stickers. I know that that's not everyone's cup of tea, but you know what? At one point it really made me happy, and so that's okay. It's not hurting anyone. You know, I'm not into sports at all, like at all. I know nothing about them and don't really care to know. A lot of people are into it. It's just like, you know what, that's fine. Like, you do you, it's okay. But like, I just wish that everyone would just embrace who they are, and then also on the flip side of that, leave other people alone. If they're doing something that's not hurting you and it's not your cup of tea, that's okay too. You don't need to police them. Like, let's everyone just like, you know, like let's just get along. And again, if we're not hurting anyone, it's okay to be different.

SPEAKER_00 41:36

I couldn't have said that better myself, Blair. I love it when just have a good message at the end of the show. That was spot on with I think what people needed to hear.

SPEAKER_01 41:45

Kind of put me on the spot there, so I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 41:47

I I do it to everybody. I I apologize, but I do it to everybody. I don't tell them about that, and it's just like, yeah, here's a here's a minute. Say to see what happens, this we see what comes out of your out of your mouth, and it's always genuine. That's why I do it because it puts you on the spot, and I love it when it's a good message for sure. So, yeah, everyone just uh like Blair said, just do you boo-boo, embrace your weird. I I love it, embrace the weird. I'm a weirdo myself, I'm a comedian. Obviously, I'm weird, so yeah, do that. And with that being said, that is going to do it for this week's episode of the Ride Home Rants podcast. I want to thank my guest Blair Suttles for joining the shows. It was a lot of fun to get to talk to you, get to the mind of you here a little bit, and always good to have people on that we know and are going to follow. And as always, if you enjoyed the show, be a friend, tell a friend. If you didn't, tell them anyways, they might like it just because you didn't. That's gonna do it for me, and I will see y'all next week.