The Slice: What a great way to start TODAY

The Slice asked about ways family members show love.

Gabriele Grover of Coeur d’Alene had an answer.

Her husband of 31 years, Rick, always has the coffee ready and brings her the newspaper at about 5 a.m. “He has it separated by section and stacked in the order he knows I like to read it.”

•DVR as time machine: If you record a fair number of TV programs and don’t always get around to watching them right away, you’ll probably notice that a lot of the commercials you’ll be zipping through are campaign ads.

•Today’s “good dog” story: “Her name was Daphne,” wrote James Dodds. “Sadly she left us almost two years ago at the ripe old age of 14. She was a black Lab/border collie mix — beautiful, fleet and smarter than many people I know.

“We got her when our son was 6. She was probably about a year old when this took place. We were out for a family walk in the country, our son, Austin, as usual dawdling a good way behind us. As we came up to one cabin, three large dogs came bounding out and swarmed around us. Not really in a threatening fashion, but just wanting to let us know we were on their turf. Daphne was quite cowed by these larger dogs and hung close to Robin (my wife) and I with her tail between her legs until we’d passed by and the dogs went back to their porch.

“A minute later, Austin came up to the same spot and out came the dogs, swarming around him. He made a startled noise, obviously not comfortable with the attention. Seeing this, Daphne streaked back to him and got between him and the other dogs – her own safety and fears cast aside at the perceived threat to her young human. I knew right then we’d gotten a very special dog.”

•For Washington motorists: When it came time to replace your license plate, did you pay the extra $20 to retain your old number?

•Leaf raking: About 50 Slice readers requested my yard-care services. But I wound up raking for Carol Couch, a personable widow in Coeur d’Alene.

She has a big yard and a big cat named Opal.

My visit was arranged by her neighbor, Dorothy Hatch, who helped with the raking on Saturday.

•Today’s “Spokane” sentences: “Soft pumpkins or kittens are not equal.” — Karen Buck

“Simply put, only knowledge and nurture endure.” — Jerry McGinn

“Spokane police often kiss a nude entertainer.” — Kurt Sears

•Today’s Slice question: What’s the surest way to tell that someone claiming to be a military veteran is lying?