The Slice: One sign of premature aging

Maybe I need a younger looking mug shot.

Got a phone message here at the S-R from an older gentleman who asked if I was the Paul Turner who was his Scoutmaster back in 1949.

I guess there are different ways to do the math. But in order for that to be true, I would have to be, at the very least, almost 90.

Let’s move on.

Unexpected references to Spokane: Pat Cadagan watched a rerun of “King of Queens” long enough to hear actor Jerry Stiller mention a “Clothing optional B&B in Spokane, Washington” while talking about vacation spots.

It put Pat in mind of some local B&B operators who might cheerfully embrace that hospitality concept.

Slice answers: Regarding the favorite topic of people who don’t know what they are talking about, not every answer was “politics.”

“Themselves,” wrote Wayne Pomerleau, Ray Dickelman and Carl Eklund.

“It would have to be a tossup between climate change and weather,” wrote Frank Werner.

Updated kitchen and secret ammo closet: Kathy Konek wondered if being able to market residential real estate as “defend-able space” might be a plus in North Idaho.

Aloha: As of this writing, Shirley Kneff was the only reader who signed up for The Slice’s Never Been to Hawaii Support Group.

“I have friends who have been there a couple times. My brothers were there when they were in the service. I will never go there. Not because I don’t like Hawaii, but I would not like the five-hour flight across the ocean.”

Asked and answered: A reader noted that novelist John Sandford had referred to someone having a “marmot smile.”

He then asked, what would make a marmot smile?

That’s easy. A marmot will smile when a bully gets his comeuppance or when someone pays back borrowed money.

Slice answers: Who around here receives the most catalogs in the mail?

“The former residents of where I now reside,” wrote Carol Baxter.

“My husband thinks I do,” wrote Patti Green.

The answer the other day was “false”: In “It’s a Wonderful Life,” Mr. Potter did not say to George Bailey “And happy Thanksgiving to you – in jail!”

It was “And happy New Year to you.”

In jail.

Warm-up question: When people in customer service jobs are having computer problems, what sort of troubleshooting suggestions do they often hear from those in line?

Today’s Slice question: What Inland Northwest married couple most closely resembles a pair of siblings?

Write The Slice at P. O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Many pets are still adjusting to the time change.