The Slice Think Hard, There Must Be Something

Let’s start with some answers.

One thing the Spokane area offers that Seattle and Portland can’t match: “Winter.” - Phil Mulligan

“Idaho.” - William Frey, Coeur d’Alene

“Dust storms.” - John Krom, LaCrosse

“Small-town atmosphere.” - Rita Peterson

“The carillon at St. John’s Cathedral.” - Carl Bangs

“Nothing.” - Erin Cannon

“I can’t really say that we do have anything…,” wrote Mike Bacon. “Unless we promote the pavilion as the ‘World’s Largest Hair Net.’ “

Others offered, among other things, bad air, sunshine, relative ease of getting around town and the fact that you don’t have to travel far to find yourself alone in the woods.

A gadget is a gadget: We heard about a little girl who was watching her grandmother operate a coffee maker. Apparently this kid assumed that the woman needed instruction. Because at one point, she chimed in with “OK, grandma, now hit ‘Play.’ “

Parking with two wheels on the sidewalk, Part 3: One reader said people do it because the police don’t discourage it.

Another suggested it’s done to keep extended side-mirrors on parked trucks from getting hit.

Margaret Evans wonders: “Does anyone else have a pet peeve about people who can’t make change?”

A dream about work: Nurse Lita Karlstrand has had this one more than once. “I am working the night shift (I never work nights) in an unfamiliar hospital. I fall asleep and wake up about an hour before the day shift is due to arrive. Complete panic. How many of the IVs have run dry? How many meds have I missed giving? I haven’t even done rounds yet. How am I going to know what’s going on with the patients so I can give report? Worse, how many crises have occurred and I haven’t been there to intervene. I always wake up in a panic just as these thoughts are running through my mind.”

Maybe he meant “squid”: When Elmer City’s Michael Vieira and his 6-year-old son Jesse get bored, they call each other animal names. You know, “You’re a giraffe,” et cetera.

Well, one day the selection of zoological labels had pretty much been exhausted. Young Jesse looked at his dad and said “You’re a squig.”

Today’s Slice question: What does your family call the place where cash is stored in your home?

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Drawing

MEMO: The Slice appears Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; fax (509) 459-5098. A teenage boy with a sweet-faced puppy on the skywalk between Crescent Court and the STA Plaza recently proved that cute dogs are still a great way to attract girls.