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The Slice: Planes, Trains and a memorable line

Do you feel this vehicle is safe for highway travel?

How would you answer that question, originally posed in 1987’s “Planes, Trains & Automobiles”?

A) “Yes. Yes, I do.” B) “Well, the car is OK, but like many drivers in Spokane, I have a suspended license.” C) “Define ‘safe.’ ” D) “I’ll have you know this rig was once the Bloomsday pace car.”

E) “Well, considering the condition of the roads, that’s a fair question.” F) “It’s all relative.” G) “Are you honestly asking for my opinion or have you already made up your mind?” H) “Safe enough.” I) Other.

Just wondering: How many flashlights (with good batteries) did you have last Tuesday? How many do you have now?

Just wondering 2: How many times in the past week have you quoted Linus Van Pelt and said “I never thought it was a bad little tree”?

Artfest: As you no doubt know, Norman Rockwell’s famous Thanksgiving painting was called “Freedom from want.”

But if another artist were to capture your family’s typical holiday celebration, what would his or her work be called?

A) “Freedom from football.” B) “Freedom from sobriety.” C) “Freedom from serenity.” D) “Freedom from coherence.” E) “Freedom from the state penitentiary at Walla Walla.” F) “Freedom from specious definitions of freedom.” G) “Freedom from stereotypes.”

“Back in my day…”: When Spokane area little kids who were around for last week’s high winds grow old and recall the windstorm, how will they describe it?

A) “Well sir, let me tell you. It was a mighty wind.” B) “I remember my mom had to go without coffee in the morning. It wasn’t pretty.” C) Other.

What you would call your place if you turned it into a B&B: “Since we live on The Ranch of the Rising Sun, I suppose it would have to be The House of the Rising Sun,” wrote Diane Newcomer. “My daughter-in-law says hers would be Get It Yourself.”

The Slice question from this date in the year 2000: In your family, when people refer to “the saying grace incident,” to what are they alluding?

Warm-up questions: Do fresh trees make good firewood? What did you do when your power came back on?

Today’s Slice question: What did you learn about your neighbors last week?

Write The Slice at P. O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. If the Indians had a do-over on the first Thanksgiving, they should have …

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