The Slice: Ready, set, jump into the computer age

Sarah De Ryan’s 5-year-old grandson Zachary was visiting her and the two of them were playing with a balsa wood glider. “He loved it,” she wrote. “So did I.” Some things never change.

But other things do.

The customary countdown lingo prior to takeoff is usually something along the lines of “Ready, set, go!” or “Three, two, one, blastoff!”

But one time, as Zachary was about to hurl the aircraft into flight, he solemnly intoned a pre-launch sequence that marked him as a child of the computer era.

“Control-Alt/Delete,” he said as he tossed the glider.

“Who let the dogs out: A Slice reader named Gail got a phone message from someone complaining in detail about barking dogs. The caller wasn’t out of control or anything. She just wondered if the dogs could be kept in a little later on weekends, instead of being let out at 5 a.m., when their barking never failed to wake her up.

The problem is the caller dialed the wrong number. Gail isn’t the person with the dogs.

The caller had identified herself only as “a neighbor.” She didn’t leave a number.

So there wasn’t anything Gail could do. Still, she’s worried that the relations between these neighbors, wherever they happen to live, isn’t apt to improve if the woman who left the message assumes the other family simply ignored her request.

So let this be a lesson. When you leave a message like that, be sure you say your name and phone number. Either that or go speak to the dogs personally.

“Soundtrack of sales: “Have you ever wondered about the music played in different businesses?” wrote Eunice Gillam.

She recently visited half a dozen antique shops. And in four of them, Norah Jones recordings were playing.

Eunice, here’s The Slice’s theory about music in businesses. The selections are carefully selected to do one or more of the following:

1. Give customers a sense of well-being that helps them rationalize making unnecessary purchases.

2. Discourage employees from thinking about sex.

3. Help the assistant manager take his mind off the fact that he hasn’t had a day off in something like three weeks and if they think he’s going to put up with being taken for granted forever they’ve got another thing coming.

4. Drive out rats.

5. Plant a tune in your head that you’ll be humming for the next 11 hours, even if you can’t stand the song.

6. Annoy that guy in the back who hates this radio station.

“Different eras: Cash register operators of a certain age sort of enjoy an occasional power outage. It gives them a chance to note that more than a few wet-behind-the-ears cashiers don’t know how to count change.

“Today’s Slice question: What one word best describes the prices of food and beverages at Seattle’s Safeco Field?