The Slice: Hope floats and so do our plans for summer

You can’t tell just from looking at him.

There’s no sign on his forehead.

In fact, he would not even realize it himself.

But somewhere, here in our midst, is the Inland Northwest boat owner who has gone the longest without ever putting his watercraft in a lake.

Maybe it has been years.

Why? Maybe it’s something to do with health issues. Or maybe nobody wants to go with him. Perhaps the timing just never seems right.

Maybe it is in need of expensive repairs.

It could be that he actually intends to sell it, but just hasn’t gotten around to it.

Could be any one of a great many reasons.

So it stays in the carport, the side yard or wherever.

I wish I knew this gentleman’s identity. I’d like to ask him about his plans.

There’s something melancholy about a boat that never gets wet.

Just about everyone looks forward to summer here. I wish he could, too.

Agree or disagree: You can build all the beautiful, nutritious, low-cal salads you want. But they always taste better after you have added about 1,000 calories worth of dressing.

Warm-up questions: What board game would you have found in most Spokane area Cold War backyard bomb shelters? Considered just by itself, the Idaho Panhandle is larger than how many states in the Northeast? Do proms still have lofty themes? If so, what would you suggest?

Today’s Slice question: What Spokane boss of decades ago was most like Larry Tate on “Bewitched”?

Yes, I know that show is ancient history. Well, except for reruns. But the Monday Today section is aimed at readers who have been around the block a few times. So indulge me.

And consider this. To have been a real-life local version of that ’60s sitcom advertising executive, the boss you nominate would have…

♦ Brought clients over to your house for dinner every week, usually on short notice.

♦ Fired (and rehired) you approximately once a month.

♦ Stolen credit for your ideas (if the client liked them), or disavowed them (if the client didn’t).

♦ Had a good heart, if you could see past the bluster.

David White, the late actor who played Larry Tate, was born 100 years ago today. Or 100 years ago Wednesday, depending on what sources you go by.

Write The Slice at P. O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. If you are old enough to have been around on this date in 1968, what was said in your home after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.?