The Slice: Was that Pepe LePew or Sylvester the feline?

Black and white cats that use the predawn darkness to startle certain cyclists into thinking they have come upon a skunk are not being nearly as funny as they seem to believe.

Let’s move on.

How to note Labor Day: A) Swap stories about jobs you had where you punched a clock. B) Read to your older kids about the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1911. C) Recall the amount of your first paycheck. D) Express skepticism about management’s benevolence and commitment to social justice. E) Share memories of picket lines. F) Never mind yesterday. Work for improved working conditions today. G) Other.

What to say to someone declaring summer over: “I guess you weren’t here for the first part of September in 1988.”

Just wondering: What animal paw, beverage spill, dropped book or act of god created a keyboard situation that left you flummoxed?

Just wondering 2: How does it sound when your last name is prefaced with “Old Man” or “Old Lady”?

Ways in which the S-R has improved over the years (No. 73): We used to let anonymous online commenters rip writers of letters to the editor (which require a name). How on Earth we ever thought that was fair is a mystery.

This date in Slice history (1995): Slice answers: Readers said they roll their eyes when the local media suggest unbridled development and our area’s famous quality of life can coexist, that local colleges are inferior just because they are local, that everyone likes the same kind of summer weather and that everyone around here is a WSU Cougars fan.

Warm-up question: On Labor Day 25 years ago, The Slice launched a business card contest. It became an annual event for about 10 years, despite my once referring to it in print as “America’s most boring newspaper contest.”

Actually, we devoted the entire cover of IN Life (as this section was known then) to the winners in multiple categories and it looked cool.

I would go to lunch with the overall winners at a downtown Spokane restaurant that no longer exists. I’m pretty sure I still have the hundreds of cards stashed away somewhere. Maybe it’s thousands.

But here’s my question. Do you still carry a business card?

Today’s Slice question: Do you think of yourself as having a career or do you think of yourself as having a job?

Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Today would have been my father’s 100th birthday. Two things about him: He had nightmares from air combat and he really got a bang out of dispensing Halloween candy to little kids.