The Slice: Marmot Lodge looks ahead to a big ‘08

There won’t be any Marmot Lodge meetings until 2008.

And I’m not even sure there will be any then.

But we’re cooking up something I’ll report in due course.

Meantime, keep buying the newspaper.

“Don’t try this: “Reading the Slice piece about the woman who wanted to make sure that she wrote her 10,000th check for something special reminded me of something a roommate and I did in college,” wrote Rick Hosmer.

“He drove a ‘67 Dodge Dart, and as it approached 100,000 miles on the odometer we HAD to do something special.

“We decided that when the odometer read 98,000 we needed to be driving 80 mph. When it turned 99,000 miles, we had to be going 90 mph, and when it turned 100,000 miles? Well, I am sure you get the picture.

“We actually were able to pull off that stupid stunt on the back roads around Ellensburg. The 100,000 mile celebration happened on a straight stretch of the Yakima River Canyon Road south of town. As the car was a ‘67 Dart (after all), it took several miles of approach before we achieved 100 mph…but as the odometer rolled to 000000, the speedometer was pegged at 100 mph and we were both screaming our heads off.

“I am really glad that I survived my freshman year.”

“Just wondering: What’s the secret to throwing a truly awful holiday party?

“Speaking of holiday parties: I would love it if a medical person would weigh in on this. In terms of the potential for catching something, how risky is kissing strangers?

“Uff da: Ray Kosse pointed out that Garrison Keillor’s recent radio flub — calling Sandpoint “Sandy Point” — wasn’t Keillor’s first time having trouble getting the North Idaho city’s name straight. In his book, “Lake Wobegone Days,” the man who made Minnesota famous refers to “Sand Point, Idaho.”

“The guy just can’t seem to get it right,” wrote Kosse. “Maybe Sandpoint is a fictional town.”

Well, that would explain a few things.

“On the other hand: Several readers said most of those they deal with in the course of making or receiving wrong-number phone calls tend to be perfectly polite.

“If you feel like saying “Good grief” is stealing from Charles Schulz: A reader suggested saying “Nuts.”

I like that. And I’ll mail a coveted reporter’s notebook to the first reader who sends an e-mail or leaves a phone message briefly explaining why, because of a moment in U.S. military history, that expression is especially appropriate in December.

“Today’s Slice question: At what age should it be embarrassing to not know anything about Pearl Harbor Day?