The Slice: Don’t leave car battery in the dark

Let’s start with a one-question multiple-choice quiz.

On overcast days at this time of year, it’s not unusual for Spokane area motorists to drive with their lights on before it is dark.

This certainly increases a vehicle’s visibility. That’s a good thing.

But it also ups the chances that you will forget to switch off the lights after arriving at your destination.

So how do you make sure to remember to turn them off?

A) I reach up and confirm that I did about three times. Then, after I have gotten out of the car and closed the garage door behind me, I double back and check again just to be on the safe side. B) I have a new car and the lights switch off automatically after a few minutes. C) When I come inside, my spouse asks if I remembered to turn them off and I say, “I guess I’ll find out tomorrow morning.” D) I don’t remember to turn them off. That’s why we have an expensive battery-recharger. E) There’s a Post-it note reminder on the dash board but it’s sort of hard to read because of a tartar sauce smear from 2006. F) I’ve had OCD about this since a dead battery incident back when Jimmy Carter was president. G) I take the bus. H) Other.

Marching toward invisibility: “Since I have turned 50, the cute twentysomething baristas are calling me ‘Sir’ with alarming frequency,” wrote Spokane’s Tomas Lynch.

Oh, fudge: This sequence of events, related by Chewelah, Wash., retiree Jim Allen, happened a few years ago in Medford, Ore. He swears this is a factual account.

“Going out for an ice cream treat, our daughter asked her older kids to avoid talking about what they wanted in front of their baby brother because she wanted to order him something a bit less messy than what they typically ordered,” wrote Allen.

So a big sister, 6-year-old Aria, devised a plan.

When it was her turn to order, she asked for “A hot F-word sundae, heavy on the F-word.”

Today’s Slice question: Do those around here with suntans at this time of year get quizzed about it by strangers?