The Slice: It’s time to store energy for next year’s spring forward

If you know someone confused by the time change, some poor soul babbling “So is it lighter later or darker earlier or…,” just sit that person down, pat him or her on the shoulder and fix you both a nice cup of tea.

Let’s move on.

Looking ahead to next Monday: In addition to being Veterans Day, Nov. 11 is Washington’s statehood day. Plan accordingly.

Do you know what year Washington became a state? The answer is buried in an unrelated item below.

Name game: A friend mentioned that she knows people who refer to certain businesses by nicknames. For instance, Fourbucks instead of Starbucks, et cetera. She wondered how many people around here do this.

I could have raised my hand. Referring to an odd line in a TV commercial from 15 or 20 years ago, those in my household still occasionally call a certain grocery store “Fear of food shopping.”

How about you?

Slice answer: “I have been watching my 3-year-old grandson, Ben, since he was born,” wrote Laurie Ryser. “I refuse to allow my son and his wife to pay me for my services. I thought it would ease any financial burden of paying a day care and let them have a better chance to get ahead.”

At least that was her plan. But soon Ryser started discovering various household staples had been restocked in her home without her having purchased them. And cash started appearing in all sorts of places.

“I confronted the kids about not wanting any payment but they insisted they just felt better if they did ‘something.’ I finally gave up trying to pay them back because I was losing the Hide The Money Game.”

Still, she regards watching Ben as the best job she ever had.

Warm-up questions: Ever been told that your speaking voice brings to mind a cartoon character? A certain actor? An appliance or power tool? It was 1889.

Today’s Slice question: How much time elapses between the alarm clock waking you up and you going over a mental list of what you need to accomplish before the end of the day?