The Slice: Season no longer Topps in our books

The advent of baseball season can be a melancholy time for those of us who let hundreds of now-collectible baseball cards get away.

Sigh. Let’s move on.

•Two-fer: 1. Thanks to all those who volunteered to help me greet my childhood friend at the train station.

2. I am still hearing about S-R subscribers discovering plastic-wrapped December newspapers in their yards.

•Assumptions: “When people hear you are from Spokane they assume you know how to ski and love winter sports,” wrote Sarah Wasicek. “WRONG.”

Barb Beck said people assume she is a Gonzaga University basketball fan. She isn’t.

Lan Hellie said his living in Colville has prompted some to assume he is a redneck moron. He is not.

Tomas Lynch said some people discover that he lives near Manito Park and assume that he is rich. “I work in a bike shop,” he wrote. “You do the math.”

Johnny Erp, who has a “Sopranos” accent acquired growing up in the Northeast, said people occasionally wonder if he is here through the witness protection program. Nope.

And several North Idaho readers said they routinely encounter incorrect assumptions that their politics are ultra-conservative.

•Speaking of assumptions: A Spokane reader said The Slice ought to ask about the ones made about some drivers of hybrid cars.

•Five for Friday: 1. Some families have a playful fantasy about opening a restaurant. And when something cooked at home turns out really well someone inevitably will suggest that it should be included on the menu.

2. Some families stop having people over because they grow weary of issuing the special instructions re: the tricky toilet handle.

3. Does it seem like there’s always a jail prisoner and a guard in the waiting room when you go see a doctor?

4. Do you refer to the faded roadway lane markers as ghost stripes?

5. Slice reader Eric Rieckers wonders what some baby boomers’ habit of listening to the same music decade after decade suggests about their ability to cope with change.

•Going on the record: Danielle Price doesn’t consider herself a true salsa snob. But she regards as “sissy” any that has peach, mango or pineapple flavor.

•Today’s Slice question: How would you describe the change over the years in the sort of things you wish for before blowing out birthday cake candles?