For reasons that now elude me, I once offered to help some reader walk his or her dog.

And the deal was that I would pick up any canine droppings that were produced along the way.

Quite a few dog owners raised their hands.

This was back in the spring of 2014. That's how I met North Siders Mike and Sue Cain.

I arrived at their house armed with a pocket full of plastic newspaper delivery sleeves. And I thoroughly enjoyed my time with them and their great corgi dogs. I hope to have a beer on their patio again someday.

Anyway, that was the first time we met in person. But it was not my first contact with the Cains. They have contributed several Slice items over the years. One I especially liked was Mike's submission after I posed a reader challenge: Rewrite the movie "Chinatown" with the story set in Spokane.

Mike's answer ran on July 28, 2011.

"Chinatown" Spokane would be about a railway company that used political clout and absurdly antiquated federal statutes to build a huge railroad refueling depot over the Spokane Aquifer's most vulnerable spot, and dared the region's residents to do anything about it.

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