The Slice Video Phone Is A Wish Away

Dawn Shaw-Sands was trying without success to change the channel on the television.

Eventually she discovered the problem. She was holding not the remote but her cordless phone.

Kid stuff: Mead’s Margo Pritchett was lecturing her 5-year-old son, Riley, about him having way too many toys.

“Mom,” he fired back in all seriousness, “toys are us.”

One thing you can say when someone wants you to join in a round of whiny and pointless Spokane-bashing: “Maybe you’d be happier if you moved.”

Take our advice: Don’t drive up Mount Spokane with someone whose ears are all stopped up from a sinus infection or head cold. The pressure change might not be a happy thing.

Slice answer: One of the first nominations for the title of Spokane’s favorite excuse was “I was stuck on Division.”

States of mind: When you are far from home and people discover where you live, do they expect you to be an expert on apples or potatoes?

Planning for Friday the 13th: It’s good luck to give a black cat a bowl of tuna. Good luck for the cat anyway.

You’re not alone: If, when you see the word “Tacoman” in print, you initially read it as “Taco man.”

Halloween candy poll: Kids voted for all kinds of name-brand candies. There was, however, no helpful consensus other than the fact nutritious snacks received zero support.

Warm-up questions: How hard is it to find silence in your life? What’s the biggest lie people told you while you were pregnant? What can you say when asked to admire a house you hate? What is the lamest story you’ve heard the driver of a car in which you were riding tell in an attempt to get out of a ticket?

Today’s Slice question: If Spokane and Coeur d’Alene were a married couple, what would people say about them behind their backs?

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Drawing of a black cat

MEMO: The Slice appears Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; fax (509) 459-5098.