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The Slice: That new-car smell was all in her head

Beamer up, Scotty.

“I find robo-calls irritating, especially on my cellphone,” wrote Mildred Scheel. “But one yesterday provided a bit of hopeful excitement.”

The recorded message reminded Scheel it was time to get her BMW serviced.

Until that moment, Scheel had been unaware that she owned a BMW. Funny how things can slip your mind.

“Had there been a real person on the other end of the line, I would have answered, ‘Can you use your internal GPS to tell me where my BMW is right now? I seem to have misplaced it.’ ”

Still, Scheel looked on the bright side. “It was fun owning one for a few seconds anyway.”

Speaking of cars: Bill Robinson in Hillyard had a question.

Whatever happened to the 18-year-old kid who, back in 1988, conned an employee of the Ridpath into handing over the keys to a $77,000 red Ferrari being stored in the hotel’s underground garage. Eventually an arrest was made after a police chase and a collision with a telephone pole. “I have always wondered what became of that kid,” wrote Robinson. “Sometime, when you are between inspirations, maybe you could follow that and enlighten us.”

OK. First, I’ll start by asking Slice readers if they know.

My guess is that the young man grew up to be a consultant.

Re: Having a preference for the sort of weather being experienced when and where you were born: Lois Bender said that certainly does not describe her. Born during an April snowstorm in Cleveland, she is not a big fan of blizzards.

And Terry Kolemaine wrote, “I was born and raised in Seattle and have lived in Spokane for five years. And while I’m definitely not a fan of rain, I’ve never once had to shovel it.”

In the matter of that cat dropping toy mice into the dog’s water dish: Sandra Jones has a different theory. “I think that, rather than taunting the dog, Johnny is issuing an invitation to play. He is obviously a creative and bright cat and sees the dog as a friend.”

Today’s Slice question: What do your faraway relatives who have never been here imagine our area is like?

Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Jeannie Maki’s computer suggested “In helium” as a spelling of “Inchelium.”

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