The Slice: Shortest move nominee connected lonely hearts

Bari Cordia Federspiel shared the story of how she and her husband got together.

“In 2002 Frank’s wife, Gail, died.

“In 2003 my husband, Pete, died.

“Frank lived next door to me, but I didn’t know him very well. He was a geologist and always ‘in the field.’

“He called me on Valentine’s Day of 2004 from somewhere on the road (he drove a truck after retiring from the Bureau of Mines). He said he knew I’d be lonely on that day as he was in the same situation I was. We talked two hours and I burned my brownies I was baking for a church dinner.

“When he came home, we went to Home Depot together. Then WalMart. Then a movie. We got married after dating a few months. Frank moved into my house and sold his house.

“So Frank thinks he has the shortest move on record.”

Slice answers: Wayne Pomerleau saw the question about what co-workers said (or will say) when you retire.

“Having long ago passed normal retirement age, I surmise that, when (if) I ever actually do retire, my colleagues might say, ‘Finally! The gadfly’s gone. Thank heaven for small favors!’ Some who recall the old commercial tag-line may even sing, ‘Oh, what a relief it is!’

“They just shouldn’t hold their breath waiting for that dreaded day to dawn.”

Nick Suksdorf took a guess about what his co-workers said when he called it a day. “Probably something like ‘Praise the Lord!’”

Fire danger: “As I exited a grocery store in the Spokane Valley (Wednesday), I saw a couple in the parking lot both wearing surgical masks,” wrote Marge Huntington. “Since air quality has been in the ‘Unhealthy for all’ range lately, people with surgical masks are not an uncommon sight. What struck me as odd, however, was that the couple both had their masks pulled down and were smoking cigarettes.”

Remembering the names of your sixth-grade classmates: For some Slice readers, such as Elsie Hollenbeck and Dick Wandling, that wasn’t hard.

They were the only sixth graders at their tiny schools.

Today’s Slice question: Can you name the friendliest guard dog in the Inland Northwest?