The Slice: Consult farmer’s wife’s almanac

Louis DeHan has heard the local folk wisdom about when it’s OK to plant your garden.

But he goes by a guide much more reliable than the snow being gone from this or that peak.

“I know best when it’s OK to plant,” he wrote. “It’s when my wife tells me it’s OK.”

Those men who carry a cloth handkerchief include.… : Mike Busch, Lisa Hussey’s husband, Jeri Hershberger’s husband, Roy Almeida, Liz Schatz’s husband, Marvin Lake, Tom Sherry (not that one), Steve Baumann, John Fienen, Dennis Whistler and Don Culbertson.

Ignored request: A number of readers with “Ask to see ID” on the back of credit cards said hardly any clerks or cashiers ever do.

Heather Taes appreciates it when someone does ask. “It makes me feel like they care if someone stole my card and was trying to use it.”

Others said you should always sign your card regardless of what other messages you add.

Slice answer: Children’s vitamins in the shape of a marmot might sell well here, said Scott Walker and others. In lieu of that, the Garbage Goat or carrousel horses might do, he added.

In the matter of how fast people drink that first glass of wine: Dave Whipple shared a cartoon in which a guy is watching a woman toss one back. The guy says, “You should put racing stripes on your glass.”

Knowing when a car’s interior has gone from messy to out of control: “When you realize that in a rollover accident you would be killed by flying debris rather than any impact,” wrote Forrest Schuck.

Another indication might be when a dad (Mike Carlson, in this case) wants to put a “Don’t play on or around” dumpster sticker on his daughter’s vehicle.

Re: Monday’s Slice: “As for those ‘old’ navigators, I’m proudly married to one who not only remembers the names of the navigational stars, but knows their locations in relationship to nebulas and such, and even knows of any mythology assigned to them,” wrote Carol Voogd.

Today’s Slice question: Who in the Inland Northwest inspires the most jealousy?