The Slice: Pet rescuers deserve a pat on the back

As the weather turns unforgiving, I’m reminded of the people in our midst who quietly rescue pets dumped and abandoned by damaged, hellbound ciphers.

I’ve always been awed by the generosity of spirit of those who step in and do the right thing for scared and hungry dogs or cats.

You should know that many people admire you.

Couples with different last names, continued: Terry Kolemaine’s wife goes by her own last name, which is Rainwater.

For one thing, that’s a great name. But there’s an additional incentive for keeping it.

Her first name is also Terry.

“I felt that the world only had enough room for one Terry Kolemaine, and I’m it,” her husband wrote.

They considered hyphenation, but decided that would just be too long.

Just wondering: How many nuts and bolts have to fall off a chair before you question its structural integrity?

A pointless conceit: I have long thought that if I were a smoker I would do a better job than some in downtown Spokane of determining who to ask “Can I bum a cigarette?”

Slice answer: “The most interesting thing about Benjamin Harrison is that, when I was a kid, my parents told me I was a direct descendant of his,” wrote Mary Ann Barney.

Four things you could talk about with your dental hygienist: 1. The pros and cons of Billings. 2. Spokane’s most underserved restaurant niche. 3. The work involved in owning a sailboat. 4. The likely oral health of zombies on “The Walking Dead.”

Slice answer (how long to give a book to win you over): “My daughter heard this advice from a librarian at the Seattle Public Library,” wrote Una Zeck.

Give a book “100 minus your age in pages” to hook you.

So, if you are 35, it gets 65 pages to impress you. But if you are 90, it only has 10 pages to grab you.

Warm-up question: Anyone around here profiting from the North Dakota oil boom?

Today’s Slice question: What is the Inland Northwest’s longest friendship between a horse and a barn cat?