Blogroll

May 27 – The other day, I mentioned the practice of referring to neighbors by nicknames.

That prompted a note from a South Hill waitress. “We have plenty of code names for some of our customers,” she wrote.

Among the examples she shared were “The good son,” “Bionic couple,” “Churchies,” “Werewolf,” and “The pissers.”

She concluded by saying she’s sure this is standard practice for servers who routinely find themselves waiting on regulars.

I wonder if Werewolf is a good tipper.

May 24 – If David Condon proved anything at his campaign kickoff breakfast for Spokane mayor it’s that he can raise money. Probably, lots of it.

Condon spoke for about 20 minutes praising the city and criticizing the bureaucracy of city government. At the end of his speech, he gave his pitch. More than 350 people attended the $40-a-plate breakfast.

“An individual can give $1,600. A couple $3,200, and companies can also give another $1,600,” Condon said. “But I’ll tell you, you know what, if everybody in this room gave $100 or pledged $100 we’d have over $35,000 to start this race. That would put me leaps and bounds above my opponent and make sure that we can continue to grow the vision for Spokane. But of course there are some of you –  this recession hasn’t hurt you so much. You can give $1,600, your spouse can give $1,600 and, of course, your business can give $1,600. So will you consider that?”

Condon says he wants to raise more than $400,000. In 2007, all five candidates for mayor raised a total of around $450,000. Outdoors blog

May 24 – Perhaps, for the long-term benefit of the human race, there are occasions when we should NOT call 911 in an apparent emergency. 

Case in point comes from a reader who lives along the runoff-raging Spokane River near Flora Road – near Flora Rapids and Sullivan Rapids:

“Three Darwin Award candidates came down near our house this evening in a small rubber raft with no life jackets and one paddle. Hell, we had our life jackets on fishing the flat water of Badger Lake a couple of hours earlier.”

For the record, It’s illegal to be on the Spokane River without a lifejacket anytime, even in sane summer river flows and warmer water temperatures.