The Slice: Some serious baggage issues

Here are the telltale signs that a suitcase is overstuffed.

1. It emits a low rumbling.

2. The zippers and snaps are hot to the touch.

3. Everyone who sees it shouts “It’s gonna blow!”

All you have to do to be a nonconformist in Spokane is … : “Quit complaining,” said Faye Gallagher.

Hearing voices: Nancy Lindberg and her mom, Dalice Snyder, have both been known to talk out loud to themselves. So they have been pleased to see the popularization of those hook-over-the-ear portable phones.

Said Lindberg, “Those of us that talk to ourselves blend right in with the rest of the world now.”

It’s not marked on the calendar: But today might be the day that refrigerator doors are held open for the longest stretches, as snack seekers try to figure out which leftovers are in which foil-covered bowl.

At this very moment, someone in the Spokane area is observing just such a scene and saying, “Why not just take everything out and put it on the counter?”

No escape: Spokane teenager Deanna Wade was in an airport in Ethiopia earlier this month when she encountered her kindergarten teacher, Connie Williams.

Slice answers: Bill Schwerin, Darrell Libby, Larry Kent and Bonnie Nelson were among the dozen or so Slice readers who said they have glimpsed wolverines in the wild – mostly at Glacier National Park.

“I can still see that look that seemed to say, ‘Don’t even think about coming any closer or I’ll rip you a new one,’ ” said Schwerin. “My dad said that sounded like one of his ex-wives.”

Richard S. Williams said he has seen many wolverines in their natural habitat: bars near the University of Michigan.

And George Robinson offered a few lines of verse.

We know they are there

But can’t be seen

Only God gets to see

A wolverine.

Today’s Slice question: Am I the only one who initially thought the expression “Black Friday” was a commentary on mindless consumerism and joyless purchasing, not realizing it is a reference to retail bottom lines?