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The Slice: The key is finding room to sign the presidential stationery

If George Washington had your middle name …

In Lloyd Daigre’s case, he would have been George deWolf Washington.

In Fran Gorton’s case, he would have been George Maxine Washington.

And in Jerry Williams’ case, he would have been George George Washington.

Re: That noise-making flicker: “Those birds are actually setting up breeding territories now, with males trying to be the loudest among their peers,” wrote state wildlife official Madonna Luers. “So that bird wasn’t so dumb in choosing a metal chimney instead of a tree to pound on.”

Slice answers (memories of having braces): “I had braces on my teeth in ninth grade while also playing trombone in the Coulee City High School band,” wrote Marsha Neihart. “I think I still have impressions on the inside of my upper lip.”

Dorothy Yeaw can’t say she enjoyed her time in the orthodontist’s chair. “But looking back, it was kind of fun as I got to go to the ‘big city’ once a month (we lived in Newport). I was able to watch the progress of the building of Expo ’74 from the window of an upper floor of the Paulsen Building and I remember going to the Crescent lunch counter afterward.”

Slice answer (childhood homes): “Yes, the house I lived in for 16 years is still there,” wrote Collin Galloway of Hayden. “I was raised by my grandparents in Alma, Colorado, in a house which was built in 1913. It has been turned into a pot dispensary, and is painted in garish colors of red, green, and yellow. My grandparents would roll over in their grave.”

Life of a salesboy: Long ago, when Roger Cochran was 10 and living in an arguably sketchy part of Portland, he discovered that the women in a certain building were good customers as he went around selling magazines. They were prostitutes. “I remember how kind they were to me.”

What you say when you get the mail and see a jury-duty notice: “Objection!” wrote Vince Roland.

Today’s Slice question: How many married people fantasize about disappearing their spouse’s boss?

Write The Slice at P. O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Although I had believed for years that my in-laws lived next to pre-fame Stella Stevens when they were in St. Louis, that actually happened while they were living in Memphis.

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