The Slice: Wonder if they’d be able to spare another one for free

Sometimes you get what you pay for. When Henry Sego of Post Falls last bought tires, it was one of those “buy three, get one free” deals. Well, last week he got a flat. And as he and his wife stood there staring at it, she posed a question: “I wonder if this is the free one?”

“Slice answer: Here are a few of the Christmas carol/TV show combos Cindy Anderson came up with.

“Silent Friday Night Smackdown,” “Joy to the World News Tonight,” “NYPD Blue Christmas,” and “Charlie’s Angels We Have Heard on High.”

“Rethinking the map: Slice reader Jim McCall said he has been puzzled by some Americans’ perspectives on geography. “I lived in Michigan for a few years,” he wrote. “Six hundred miles from the East Coast and 2,100 miles from the West Coast. Native people there considered themselves to be in the Midwest despite being close to the East Coast. Using that reasoning, wouldn’t Montana be in the Mideast?”

“Slice answers: Pat Smith, David Tiffany, Matt Galloway and Lynn Aus were among the readers singing the praises of train travel. “Who is going to hijack a train?” asked Smith. “Where in the world would you divert it to?”

When Ruth Genco and Vicki Ball look at wedding pictures in IN Life, they find themselves scanning to see which couples look like separated-at-birth twins.

Sherry Kisamore said she would be more likely to reattach a snowman’s head than knock it off. “While shopping, I am always picking clothes up off the floor and straightening,” she wrote.

And Lauren Hopkins, Jeanette Schandelmeier and others agreed that plausibility doesn’t play a big role in their fantasies.

“When plausibility raises its ugly countenance in my fantasies, I banish it,” wrote one reader. “How can it be a fantasy with plausibility?”

“Behind the scenes here at Slice Headquarters: I sometimes ask readers about their names. People are usually good sports about it.

Here’s one recent example. The exchange took place after I heard from Samantha Ogden about driving behaviors one witnesses between Spokane and Deer Park.

Slice: “Was your mom a ‘Bewitched’ fan?”

Samantha: “No, but I was asked to wiggle my nose a lot as a child. There were also lots of jokes about marrying a Darren and naming my daughter Tabitha. Fortunately for me, I married a Patrick and have a Ruth and Maggie.”

“Slice answer: Sheila Jacobson thinks she knows what people would say about her outdoor decorations: “Attractive, tasteful, restrained.”

“Warm-up question: What TV commercial prompts people in your household to shout “Mute!” at the person with the remote?

“Today’s Slice question: Members of what Inland Northwest family have lost the most gloves over the years?